Business intelligence is a combination of strategies and technology that will help a business reach its goals. The data found in these processes is then used to help businesses make informed decisions.
If you want to learn about business intelligence (BI), there are many methods to choose from. You can find classes near where they live, watch training videos online, or take self-paced online courses covering all the necessary BI software.
Throughout this article, we will go over the best business intelligence courses, training, and resources available to you if you are looking to enter the field.
What Is Business Intelligence?
The term business intelligence refers to the use of technology and strategies to find and analyze data that can help a company gain insight before making an important business decision.
What Is Business Intelligence Used For?
Business intelligence has a few main purposes within an organization. Some of these key uses include providing customer insight, measuring and tracking performance, and analyzing data. Furthermore, BI is very commonly used by any organization that is looking to improve their business and to make smart decisions.
Among the major companies that rely on BI are American Express, Starbucks, and Amazon. They all use BI software to make choices and simplify tasks.
There are many jobs open to someone interested in working in BI, including:
- Business intelligence analyst
- Business intelligence administrator
- Management analyst
- Business intelligence developer
- Market research analyst
Business Intelligence Software and Tools
There are many types of BI software and tools, all of which help with the following tasks:
- Dashboards
- Visualizations
- Data mining
- Data exploration
- Data cleaning
- Predictive analytics
The most common types of software used in BI are:
Learning Business Intelligence
If you want to learn more about business intelligence, there are many online courses, training, and resources to help you get a better understanding.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Business Intelligence?
According to estimates, you can learn business intelligence in just 30 days. But, it depends on what specific aspect of the field you want to learn about and what software you plan to use.
You should take your time to make sure that you have fully grasped the concepts and have a strong understanding of how to use the software.
How to Learn Business Intelligence: Step-by-Step
Let’s go over how you can learn business intelligence step-by-step so that you can get started.
- Find courses. There are plenty of courses available, so do your research to pick one that’s right for you.
- Earn a professional certificate. Most courses will offer a certificate once you have completed the work to show that you have an understanding of BI.
- Learn the basics. Learning the fundamentals is everything. You will learn about what BI is, the different software, and the proper tools. These fundamentals will give you a good grasp of the field as you prepare for your career.
- Learn data warehousing. Data warehousing is a big part of business intelligence. Having a good data warehouse is important because it determines how the whole BI system performs. Without a good warehouse, the results of your analysis will not be accurate.
- ETL (extract, transform, and load). While studying business intelligence, you will also learn about ETL. It is important because you’ll most likely work with big data sets and you’ll need to know how to transform and extract data.
- Find work. After you feel you know the basics of business intelligence, look for work or an internship to gain experience and put your skills to the test.
The Best Business Intelligence Courses and Training
There are many ways to learn business intelligence. Start by choosing from among the online and in-person courses listed below.
Best Online and In-Person Business Intelligence Classes
If you’re ready to study BI, there are many courses available to you, both online and in-person. Virtual courses are taught online by certified instructors in real-time, as opposed to a self-paced online course. Virtual learning is like learning in an actual classroom but from the comfort of your home.
Below is a list of the best BI courses. However, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, some classes that are normally taught in person may be offered online for the time being.
General Assembly
Cost: Varies
Course: Intro to Power BI: Training For Beginners | Online | Dallas
General Assembly offers an online Intro to Power BI course, in which students will learn about Power BI software. In this course, students will learn how to build and improve data models, import data, and process business analytics.
Cost: Must have LinkedIn Premium
Courses:
- Become a Business Intelligence Specialist
- Power BI Essential Training
- Learning Data Science: Understanding the Basics
- Excel Business Intelligence: Power Query
LinkedIn Learning offers various courses for those interested in BI. In these courses, students will learn about Microsoft Excel’s power query feature, data science as it relates to BI, financial forecasting, and Google analytics.
Udemy
Cost: Varies
Courses:
- Business Intelligence: Strategies, Tools, & Techniques
- SQL – MySQL for Data Analytics and Business Intelligence
- Microsoft Power BI – Business Intelligence for Beginners
- Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence for Managers
In these Udemy courses, students will explore data warehousing, analytics, custom visualizations, SQL, and data mining applications. These courses will prepare students with all the basics they need to enter the BI field.
Coursera
Cost: Free
"Career Karma entered my life when I needed it most and quickly helped me match with a bootcamp. Two months after graduating, I found my dream job that aligned with my values and goals in life!"
Venus, Software Engineer at Rockbot
Courses:
- Data Warehousing for Business Intelligence Specialization
- Business Intelligence Concepts, Tools, and Applications
- Business Intelligence and Data Analytics: Generate Insights
- Business Intelligence and Competitive Analysis
Coursera has partnered with universities and training institutes to provide these free BI courses. The lessons cover analytics models, industry classifications, market trends, microstrategy, data warehousing, and dashboard visualizations. They focus on the services that BI professionals provide within a company and help students understand the real-world applications of BI.
IntelliPaat
Cost: Varies
Courses:
IntelliPaat offers wonderful BI courses that center on the tools within BI software. Some of these courses are self-paced, while others are taught in real-time by an instructor, so make sure the method is right for you before signing up.
In each of these courses, students will learn about reporting solutions, data warehousing, SQL, BI software, data mining, ETL tools, and star and snowflake schemas.
Best Business Intelligence Books
If online courses and training aren’t your thing but you still want extra BI knowledge, then consider flipping through one of the many books about business intelligence. The books listed below are packed with information about everything related to BI.
Business Intelligence for Dummies – Swain Scheps
This book covers all the basic concepts of BI. Readers will learn the different approaches to business intelligence, how to design a BI plan, and will learn how to identify how a business can be improved. This book is for beginners who know nothing about BI and want to learn.
Successful Business Intelligence: Secrets to Making BI a Killer App – Cindi Howson
In this book, individuals will learn the uses of BI and how it relates to apps. The book covers big data, mobile applications, and how to make a business profitable using BI.
Business Intelligence Roadmap: The Complete Project Lifecycle for Decision Support Applications – Larissa T. Moss and Shaku Atre
This book talks about how to develop apps for BI software. Throughout this visual book, the author carefully details each step of the process. Readers will learn best practices for developing and managing an app. This is a resource for those who want to dive deep into learning about business intelligence.
Business Intelligence Guidebook – Rick Sherman
This book covers different concepts of business intelligence and the design process. Some key takeaways include: how to design architecture for BI, data integration applications, and how to launch and manage a project. This book is great for those who want to learn about the structure and essentials of BI.
Best Online Business Intelligence Resources
If you have already finished a course but still have questions regarding BI, there are plenty of resources available on the Internet. Below is a list of the best online resources for BI.
LinkedIn Learning is a great resource if you want to learn more about BI. Along with the numerous courses, it also has many video resources. These videos go over detailed aspects of BI and how to apply it to various fields.
YouTube
If you’re bored of watching funny videos on YouTube, you can use it to search out BI techniques. There are thousands of videos with information about BI, including how to use certain tools and software. So if you’re already browsing on YouTube, try checking out some of these videos.
Sisense
Sisense is another great website for tech industry information. It offers great resources for people interested in BI. It has a blog with many articles covering BI and business analytics topics.
Should You Study Business Intelligence?
There are a lot of aspects to BI, and it can be a very complicated field. It involves data analysis, data visualization, and big data, and can lead to many types of jobs.
One of the jobs available in business intelligence is as a business intelligence analyst. According to LinkedIn Salary, an average salary in BI in the US is $72,100 per year.
After reading this article, we hope you have all the information you need to choose a BI course to get started on your career. If you are already employed, consider taking extra courses to learn more about areas of business intelligence that you aren’t familiar with.
About us: Career Karma is a platform designed to help job seekers find, research, and connect with job training programs to advance their careers. Learn about the CK publication.
