Jack G. Zheng 1. Morning! Asking for a bit of help please :) I am looking to network through you to see if you know anyone within.

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Business Intelligence Education

Jack G. Zhenghttp://jackzheng.net

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Morning! Asking for a bit of help please :)

I am looking to network through you to see if you know anyone within your networking circle that may be looking for one of the following job opportunities in a full-time permanent capacity (Salary up to $135K (for the right individual w/ possible sign-on bonus) + Benefits) in the Alpharetta, GA area:

* BI Analyst* BI Developer * BI Architect * ETL Informatica Developer

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My client is a $10B firm that is rapidly growing and using cutting edge technology.

…Executive IT Recruiter The Intersect Group

A request from LinkedIn

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What is BI? What is the job prospects of BI? Why should higher education care about BI? What are the ways to offer BI education? How’s BI education in Metro Atlanta?

Questions

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Business Intelligence is a set of methods, processes, architectures, applications, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information used to enable more effective strategic, tactical, and operational insights and decision-making.

- Forrester

What is Business Intelligence?

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Data management◦ Data warehouse, data integration, data modeling, etc.

Data analysis◦ Query, OLAP, analytics, data mining, etc.

Presentation and delivery◦ Reports, business information visualization, dashboards, etc.◦ Portal, knowledge management, web/mobile platform, etc.

(Business) Applications◦ Market research, strategic planning, budgeting,

performance management, CRM, etc.

Major BI Components

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Market growth◦ Forrester Research expects the BI market to generate more

than $12 billion in revenue in 2014, vs. $8.5 billion in 2008.

Job demand◦ BI software tops the list of technology priorities for

companies since 2007 (first from 2007 to 2009); only 27 percent of CIOs believe that they have the right number of skilled people to meet business needs – Gartner EXP CIO survey.

Growing student interests◦ BI Congress survey◦ My own experience

Why Do We Care About BI?

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BI Career Perspectives

Data from BI Congress Survey 2010

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Business skills requirements◦ Generate standard or custom reports summarizing business, financial,

or economic data for review by executives, managers, clients, and other stakeholders.

◦ Analyze competitive market strategies through analysis of related product, market, or share trends.

◦ Collect business intelligence data from available industry reports, public information, field reports, or purchased sources.

◦ Maintain library of model documents, templates, or other reusable knowledge assets.

Technical skill requirements◦ Create business intelligence tools or systems, including design of

related databases, spreadsheets, or outputs.◦ Maintain or update business intelligence tools, databases, dashboards,

systems, or methods.◦ Provide technical support for existing reports, dashboards, or other

tools.

Business Intelligence Analysts

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What are employers looking for?

Data from BI Congress Survey 2010

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Where is BI education offered?

Data from BI Congress Survey 2010

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Why business schools?

Data from BI Congress Survey 2010

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Gartner Reports:◦ By 2012, business units will control at least 40 per

cent of the total budget for BI.◦ IT divisions excel at building BI infrastructure; but

business users have lost confidence in the ability of them to deliver the information they need to make decisions.

◦ Business units drive analysis and performance management initiatives, mainly using spreadsheets plus analytic and packaged business applications to automate the process.

Why business schools?

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A combination of business knowledge and BI tool training

Understanding of the business◦ Prepared student with solid business background◦ Incorporate real world application domains and cases, like

marketing, finance, sales, etc.

Effectively use IT tools◦ Spreadsheet-based analysis and reporting is still common◦ OLAP application is common in today’s business to work with

large quantity of data◦ Work with multiple heterogeneous data sources◦ Business information presentation (through charting and

dashboard tools) is important◦ Use the right tool to design and deliver reports◦ Rely on IT tools for advanced analytics

What can business school offer?

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BI content in existing non-BI courses BI courses BI tracks, concentrations, or minors BI certificate/degree programs

What are the ways to offer BI Education?

Data from BI Congress Survey 2010

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Introductory/overview course

Courses that focus on a particular BI component◦ Data: data warehouse, data modeling, data integration◦ Analysis: business analytics, statistics, data mining◦ Presentation: report design, business information visualization,

dashboards

Management oriented courses◦ BI delivery/management◦ Domain specific BI: finance, CRM/marketing, performance

management, web analytics, etc.◦ Knowledge management and systems

Advanced/specialized topics◦ Visual analytics

BI Courses

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Saint Joseph’s University: undergraduate minor in BI, and MS in BI◦ http://www.sju.edu/academics/hsb/grad/msbi/about.htm

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The University of Northern Virginia: Master of Business Intelligence◦ http://www.unva.edu/mbi.htm

Texas Tech University: MSBA BI◦ http://ms.ba.ttu.edu/Concentrations/MSmis.asp

University of Denver: MSBI◦ http://www.daniels.du.edu/schoolsdepartments/itec/deg

reesprograms/graduate/graduate.html

Notable BI Degree Programs

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Foundation (prerequisite) courses◦ Database, system analysis, business analysis

An example BI track (3 to 4 courses)◦ 1 BI overview course◦ 1 or 2 courses focusing on a BI component◦ 1 domain specific course

An example BI program (6 to 8 courses)◦ 2 to 3 core courses: BI overview, OLAP and query◦ 3 to 4 specialized courses

Analysis/management track: business information visualization, performance management, knowledge management, health informatics, financial modeling, etc.

Technical/development track: data warehouse, data mining, report and dashboard design, BI system development.

◦ 1 or 2 selective courses on advanced/special topics

Example Curriculum

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Academic resources◦ Teradata University Network◦ AIS DSS-SIG◦ BI Congress

Industry softwaresupport

What BI Education Resources Are Available?

Data from BI Congress Survey 2010

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GATech: no major courses known

Emory◦ Business college: 2 or 3 courses that focused on analytics (using spreadsheets)◦ CS: courses focused on database and data mining

GSU◦ Business college: a general BI course and a data mining course is offered as

electives in the management science department (both under and graduate level)◦ CS: focused on data mining and artificial intelligence

SPSU◦ Engineering oriented; very few business oriented courses; a few courses focused

on data management

KSU◦ A track with 2 courses focused on data warehouse and data mining (electives)

Mercer: none

BI Education in Metro Atlanta

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BI is a discipline that combines the skills in business and information technology

BI market is growing as well as the job demand

Very few educational resources are provided in metro Atlanta universities

Conclusion

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Wixom, B. H. and T. Ariyachandra (2011). State of Business Intelligence in Academia 2010, BI Congress II.

D. J. Power, A Brief History of Decision Support Systems, version 4.1◦ http://dssresources.com/history/dsshistory.html

Gartner reports and new release◦ http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=856714

Forrester, Topic Overview: Business Intelligence◦ http://

www.forrester.com/rb/Research/topic_overview_business_intelligence/q/id/39218/t/2

References and Resources