A question that many MIS professionals face on a day-to-day basis is:
“How do I change my career to work in advanced analytics?”
Many people have asked me this question. Although there was no clear path for this a few 3 years, the scene has changed today. At the moment, MIS industry professionals can earn multiple certifications in advanced analytics to launch their analytics career. This post summarizes various certifications available to people in India and ranks them based on their merits.
Consideration set
This analysis is aimed at people with work experience. I plan to write a similar post for beginners sometime later.. At the same time, I have only considered courses from well known educational institutes throughout India. I have excluded certifications from software companies (since they tend to focus on software training rather than the underlying concepts) and other smaller training institutes.
The following table summarizes various certification options available as of today:
Note: There are courses running right now in IIM Bangalore Y IIM Lucknow what's more, but I'm not sure if they will continue, since there is no information on the websites of these institutes..
Below are the details of each of the courses with a link to their websites:
Certification program in Business Analytics (CBA), ISB
The program is a combination of classroom and technology-assisted learning platform. As usual, Members will be on campus for a classroom learning program from 5 days each alternate month during a period of 12 months, which would ideally be planned to include a weekend.
In the month when there is no connection in the classroom, Classes will be conducted through a technology-assisted learning platform. The contact hours on this platform would be 24 hours per month and every alternate month. Another highlight of the program is the learning in action project, which has an extension of 3 a 6 months and asks students to solve a real business hurdle of an organization. For more information, visit:
http://www.isb.edu/certificate-programme-in-business-analytics
Advanced Certificate Program in Business Analytics (ACPBA), SJMSOM, IIT Bombay
Jointly designed by the Shailesh J Mehta School of Management at IIT Bombay and HughesNet Global Education, the program extends over a year and covers the theoretical and practical aspects of the discipline. Industry experts also contribute to the course by lecturing and presenting real-life consulting projects.. Towards the end of the course, there is 3 days of interaction on campus between students and experts. For more information, visit:
http://www.hugheseducation.com/ACPBA
Executive Program in Business Analytics, IIM Calcuta
Redesigned with HughesNet Global Education, This long-distance executive program is designed to expose members to the most advanced analysis tools and techniques. Program coverage would include discussions on topics such as data mining, design of experiments, survey sampling, statistical inference, investment management, financial modeling, advanced marketing research, etc.
There is 2 interaction sessions 3 hours each week (Thursday and Saturday). For more information, visit:
http://www.hugheseducation.com/EPBA
Advanced business analysis and optimization program (two certifications), POCKET, IIT Delhi
This program is designed by Ivory Education in conjunction with DMS, IIT Delhi. It is designed to develop advanced skills in business analysis and optimization and is divided into two parts. Follows a step-by-step approach where theoretical concepts will be followed by case studies and practical implementations.
Verdict
Then, What would you do if you were a MIS professional?
If I had 4 a 5 years of experience and resources, I would go to the course offered by ISB. There are some clear benefits of this course:
- You get the ISB mark on your CV
- The teaching method is mainly in the classroom, providing a much better learning experience
- Require more work experience than most other courses, so you can expect to learn much more
If I had less work experience (resources could still be calculated through educational loans), I would go to the IIM Calcutta course because I would spend more time covering similar course material. Hopefully, this would mean you have more time for interaction and hands-on experience.
Then, below is the summary of my recommendations for advanced analysis certification:
Which one would you join if you were a MIS professional? At the same time, if you know of a certification program that might be helpful, feel free to mention it in the comments or write to me.
PD All views mentioned here are my own and are in no way biased or influenced by any of the above institutes.
