Should you go for an MBA in analytics?

The data science platform market size is projected to grow from USD 95.3 billion in 2021 to 322.9 USD billion in 2026, at a CAGR of 27.7% during the forecast period, according to a Market and Market report. To meet the demand and bridge the skill gap, many reputed institutes such as IIM-Bangalore,  IIM-Ranchi, BITS Pilani etc, have started offering MBA in analytics.

"MBA in analytics has a powerful impact, especially for folks without a mathematics major or folks without any programming experience or knowledge. A quality MBA programme can empower a person from a technology background to appreciate business and problem solving and a person from a business background to appreciate technology," said Dipesh Lakhotia, head of analytics at Britannia Industries.

Below, we look at why a specialised MBA is a good option to build a rewarding analytics career.

Business understanding

In the age of Big Data, analytics professionals are expected to go beyond numbers and statistical concepts. Organisations look for analytics professionals/ consultants with business acumen who understand client briefs from a business perspective to build solutions. An MBA in analytics offers the right blend of business understanding and analytics expertise.

Opportunities abound

MBA in analytics offers students a variety of career options to choose from. The candidates can go for roles like analysts, business intelligence managers, marketing analytics specialists, analytics consultants, analytics managers, operations research analysts, market research analysts etc. In addition, the MBA curriculum prepares students for leadership roles early into their careers. 

Hands-on experience

MBA in analytics has good capstone projects and internships as part of the course to offer students a hands-on learning experience. Recruiters prefer analytics professionals with exposure to business case studies and can apply their expertise to solve real-world problems at scale. MBA courses at reputed colleges have faculty with decades of experience and domain knowledge who can nudge the students in the right career direction. 

Ideal for working professionals

A management degree can be a huge leg-up to analytics professionals looking to move up the corporate ladder. Many institutions offer part-time and weekend MBA courses in analytics, and such courses are perfect for working professionals who can't afford to leave their jobs. 

Pivot

We are seeing a growing interest from sales, marketing, IT professionals to switch to an analytics career. A full-time MBA in analytics can arm you with the domain knowledge (statistics, programming, business concepts) to successfully make the transition.

Curriculum

MBA in analytics has a strong focus on data mining, predictive analytics, visualisation, operational analytics, financial analytics, NLP, descriptive analytics, R, Python, and statistics for business analytics. Admissions are based on CGPA scores at some institutes, while a few others have entrance examinations like CAT.

MBA in analytics will help you learn specific skills like:

• Proper planning of product 
• A basic understanding of product architecture
• Setup communication among various teams
• Manage timely delivery of the product
• Make better decisions and enhance the critical thinking process
• How to brainstorm on a particular problem and arrive at a solution

"In my experience, business acumen comes with professional experience. It can be either in business roles or in data science roles. An MBA degree, especially in India, allows a person to truly understand how various tools of data science are connected and relevant while solving a business problem. An MBA student (more specifically Indian curriculum) does come with an inclination to be as excited about learning business as much as technology," said Lakhotia.

Should you go for an MBA in analytics?

According to Sachin Birla, data scientist at EY, listed professionals who can benefit from an MBA in analytics:

• People with experience of more than three years in the analytics field
• People looking to switch from pure tech to management/tech part
• People who are already managing any product or leading team
• People looking to upskill
• People involved in the decision-making process in operations
• People who are part of the manufacturing process