While there is a rapidly growing rise in the awareness of the methodologies involved in business analytics and the value that they provide to an organization, there are still many open questions involving:

• what types of employees should be recruited into a company interested in analytics
• where should these employees be placed within a company (eg. one core analytics group or divided between functional groups within a company such as marketing, HR, etc)
• how best to support, train and engage these employees
• how to have meaningful conversations that realize the true value of analytics while also appreciating that different stakeholders within a company will have different levels of knowledge around analytics (and different levels of aptitude and appetite for gaining this knowledge)
• how to identify the areas of a business where analytics can be employed (eg. marketing, HR, etc)

As part of this conversation it is also often considered that analytics refers simply to staff working specifically in the areas of statistics or information technology. In contrast it is often overlooked that business analysts have a role just as crucial as the data analysts in a well-functioning analytics team. Business analysts are needed who truly understand the business needs within an organization, the organizational structure, and the areas within a business where analytics can offer the greatest value. Business analysts play a crucial role as the interface between data analysts and the broader organization, and are needed to lead the conversations within a company.

Learning Objectives

• To briefly introduce the field of business analytics
• To describe where analytics fits within an organizational structure
• To recruit, train and support a diverse range of employees into analytics teams
• To give advice on how to manage conversations about analytics between a range of stakeholders
• To describe the role that business analysts play within analytics teams