What is Data Analytics and Why it Matters?

Data Analytics is an emerging field under the domain of Big Data, which is becoming increasingly popular and thus creating a buzz among fresh graduates. A key reason behind the popularity of this field is the large amount of data that is being generated every day and thus needs to be processed properly.

The world is generating roughly 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, out of which almost 73% goes unutilized, as reported by Inc.com. There’s no point in collecting data if no insights are being drawn from it, especially when companies invest thousands and millions in gathering it.

Thus, IT firms and business firms are realizing the importance of hiring a Data Analyst who can perform appropriate analysis on these datasets and develop insights that can help the company grow its revenue.

Data Analysts have skills that help them identify patterns in a given dataset and develop ideas from it.

These skills can be earned through various modes like online certification courses, a Data Analytics Bootcamp, and even full-fledged degree courses. Data Analysts help companies serve their customers in a better way, by providing them solutions for their exact needs, aligned with their preferences.

Another key reason why Data Analytics is becoming popular is the good remuneration it offers to students, especially those who have good work experience.

As per Payscale, the average salary of a Data Analyst in India is ₹4,47,000 per annum. The career is extremely rewarding for candidates with experience, with the average salary staying in the bracket of ₹10-20 lakh per year.

Discussed below are some other features of the Data Analytics industry, which make it so popular and important.

Sectors Using Data Analytics

A key USP of data analytics is the vast number of sectors in which it is being used today. In the digital era, every website, mobile app, survey form, and all IoT device is collecting user information in the form of data.

Companies collect this data in order to understand their customer behavior so that they can serve them better and maximize their business. Some of the key sectors making use of Data Analytics include:

  • IT sector
  • Education
  • Health
  • Manufacturing
  • FMCG
  • Agriculture
  • Banking
  • Sports
  • Government Services
  • Energy
  • Transportation
  • Retail

Data Analytics: Skills Offered

Another key aspect of data analysis is the additional skills it offers to candidates pursuing it. While dealing with data, professionals need to perform tasks like scraping data, running algorithms on it, developing insights, converting them into visualized form, etc. All this helps them in earning a lot of skills which bring great laurels in their career ahead.

  • As goes with the name of the job designation, Data Analysts learn a great deal about analytics and master the tools like Google Analytics, Excel, and SQL.
  • Programming and coding languages are essential when dealing with datasets in order to develop quick insights. Candidates get to work in languages like Python, R, and SAS.
  • An additional requirement from data analysts is to convert the processed data into meaningful information, which is better conveyed through graphs and charts. For this, experienced data analysts make use of tools like Tableau and Cognos.
  • Data Analysts are considered important people in an organization and thus they often have to deal with senior managers and directors in a firm. Such exposure helps them in improving their communication skills and mastering other soft skills.
  • These professionals are also required to deal with employees across departments and thus they get trained on their negotiation skills.

In addition to these, Data Analysts also get to work on some tasks allied with Machine Learning and thus earn a great deal of hands-on experience on them.

Data Analytics: Job Roles

A certified Data Analyst gets to work in various kinds of job profiles and multiple doors stay open for them. The table below states some of the major job roles available for a certified Data Analyst and the average salary they offer in India.

Job Role Average Salary
Data Analyst ₹4,47,000
Data Scientist ₹8,54,000
Business Analyst ₹6,05,000
Data Engineer ₹8,53,000
DevOps Engineer ₹7,47,000
IT Project Manager ₹15,54,000
Research Analyst ₹7,25,000
Business Intelligence Specialist ₹5,97,000
Data Science Advisor ₹17,12,000
Senior Data Analyst ₹7,95,000

Data Analytics: Top Recruiters

Since Data Analysts are required in multiple sectors, there are various companies hiring them for roles like those mentioned above. The points below show some of the companies hiring Data Analysts in India, classified into different categories.

FMCG Data Analyst Roles

  • Pepsi
  • TalPro
  • GSK
  • Hindustan Unilever
  • ITC
  • Philips
  • Vardhaman
  • General Mills
  • Nestle
  • Britannia
  • Godrej
  • Colgate-Palmolive
  • Marico
  • Dabur India

Agro-Based Industries Data Analyst Roles

  • The National Collateral Management Services Limited
  • Bayer
  • DuPont
  • Rallies India Limited
  • National Agro-Industry
  • United Phosphorus Ltd.

Healthcare Data Analyst Roles

  • Innovaccer
  • Parexel
  • Vamstar
  • Emojent
  • GSK
  • Alexia Consulting Services

Banking and Finance Sector

  • Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
  • Unnati
  • HuQuo
  • EY
  • Pearson
  • Moody’s
  • Amazon
  • Deloitte
  • Citi Bank
  • HP
  • Mastercard
  • Optum
  • NVS Analytics
  • Glance

Transportation and Automobiles Sector

  • FedEx
  • Winning Edge
  • Honeywell
  • Ford
  • Cargill

How to Join a Data Analyst Course?

With so much to offer, Data Analytics is one field that can give flight to careers. For those interested, there are multiple online data analytics courses available which help students in earning the prerequisite skills.

Students can also pursue full-time courses and join online Bootcamps. One such amazing online Bootcamp is being organized by Simplilearn in collaboration with Purdue University.

The table below shows some online courses which students can pursue to become efficient in data analytics.

Course Name Provider Fees Duration
Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate Coursera + Google Coursera Subscription 6 months (Self-Paced)
Post Graduate Program in Data Analytics Simplilearn + Purdue University ₹1,88,999 8 months
Learning Python for Data Analysis and Visualization Udemy ₹3,499 21 hours (on-demand)
Data Analytics Basics for Everyone edX + IBM Free 5 weeks
Data Analytics Course IntelliPaat + IIT Madras ₹85,044 218 hours (Self-Paced)

An important feature of online certificate courses is that many of them are available with EMI options also, thus making learning affordable for all.

If the career prospects and remuneration offered by Data Analyst roles have impressed you, choose a particular online course that you like and start your journey today itself.