Analytics is the system of applying certain methods and techniques to understand the performance of data, generally in an organization or industry. The application of analytics can be used to uncover and interpret relevant patterns of data, which can be later used to make better decisions. Analytics relies on good data as part of its usefulness, as well as the aspects of statistics, computer programming, and operations research to quantify performance. Analytics exists in business when companies use statistics and software processes in assessing how a particular product, service, or project measures up in scope. Businesses perform analytics to pinpoint strengths, identify challenges or weaknesses that may exist, and pull out key data points to help make decisions regarding future growth for the organization.

Learning analytics is a key skill that helps you solve problems to existing challenges. When you use analytics tools to research data patterns, you use methods of analyzing performance characteristics that are essential to a business organization. This is important in today's world of big data. Understanding analytics can make you a valuable asset when assessing areas rich with recorded information, performance indicators, and target goals.

What are typical careers that use analytics?

Analytics is found in a wide range of careers, including business analyst, budget analyst, financial controller, data scientist, and operations researcher. Individuals who move into these and other careers in data analytics often work with raw data and algorithms through mechanical processes to make assumptions and theories. Essentially, with knowledge of analytics, you can move into a job that requires a familiarity with numeric relationships, data structures, and trends and metrics relevant to an organization.

How can taking online courses on Coursera help me learn analytics?

When you take online courses in analytics, you can gain a new understanding of key concepts like data analysis and visualization, mathematical optimization, regression analysis, predictive modeling, and other areas focused on business analytics. Taking online courses about analytics can help you achieve basic data literacy to help you make more informed decisions in any area you work in, like finance, operations, or marketing. As you branch out, you may advance your analytics understanding to include how to extract and manipulate data points, how to use different statistical analysis methods to break down the data, and how to eventually interpret and present your findings.

What are the benefits of taking an online Analytics course?

Online Analytics courses offer a convenient and flexible way to enhance your existing knowledge or learn new Analytics skills. With a wide range of Analytics classes, you can conveniently learn at your own pace to advance your Analytics career.

What Analytics courses are best for training and upskilling employees or the workforce?

When looking to enhance your workforce's skills in Analytics, it's crucial to select a course that aligns with their current abilities and learning objectives. Our Skills Dashboard is an invaluable tool for identifying skill gaps and choosing the most appropriate course for effective upskilling. For a comprehensive understanding of how our courses can benefit your employees, explore the enterprise solutions we offer. Discover more about our tailored programs at Coursera for Business here .

Top Analytics Courses - Learn Analytics Online

Explore the Analytics Course Catalog

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Applying Data Analytics in Finance
Skills you'll gain: Financial Data, Time Series Analysis and Forecasting, Portfolio Management, Performance Measurement, Financial Forecasting, Trend Analysis, Financial Analysis, Analytics, Forecasting, Financial Market, Statistical Analysis, Investment Management, Risk Management, Equities, Regression Analysis
4.4
Rating, 4.4 out of 5 stars
216 reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 3 Months
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Applying Data Analytics in Marketing
Skills you'll gain: Marketing Analytics, Regression Analysis, Network Analysis, Customer Analysis, Market Analysis, Analytics, Statistical Analysis, Customer Insights, Data Analysis, Text Mining, Trend Analysis, Social Media, Brand Management, Natural Language Processing
Build toward a degree
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
158 reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Meta
Data Analytics Methods for Marketing
Skills you'll gain: Marketing Analytics, Marketing Effectiveness, A/B Testing, Target Audience, Marketing Strategies, Marketing Planning, Customer Insights, Advertising, Sales Process, Regression Analysis, Forecasting, Data Analysis, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
257 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Amazon Web Services
Getting Started with Data Analytics on AWS
Skills you'll gain: Descriptive Analytics, Analytics, Data Analysis, Dashboard, AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Data Visualization, Amazon Web Services, Exploratory Data Analysis, Amazon S3, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Cloud Security
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
874 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
University of Colorado Boulder
Business Analytics for Decision Making
Skills you'll gain: Business Analytics, Risk Analysis, Decision Making, Business Intelligence, Predictive Analytics, Simulation and Simulation Software, Business Modeling, Data Analysis, Process Optimization, Market Analysis, Unsupervised Learning, Microsoft Excel
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
1.9K reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
Status: [object Object]
Google Cloud
Google Cloud Data Analytics
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Data Governance, Data Visualization, Data Management, Data Pipelines, Data Visualization Software, Dashboard, Data Lakes, Data Architecture, Cloud Infrastructure, Generative AI, Data Cleansing, Data Transformation, Cloud Computing, Data Access, Cloud Storage, Metadata Management, Data Ethics, Data Analysis, Google Cloud Platform
4.4
Rating, 4.4 out of 5 stars
138 reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
University of Colorado Boulder
Predictive Modeling and Analytics
Skills you'll gain: Predictive Analytics, Exploratory Data Analysis, Business Analytics, Data Analysis, Statistical Modeling, Data Visualization Software, Regression Analysis, Machine Learning Methods, Supervised Learning, Decision Tree Learning, Data Cleansing, Data Transformation, Artificial Neural Networks
3.6
Rating, 3.6 out of 5 stars
598 reviews
Intermediate · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Introduction to Business Analytics: Communicating with Data
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Data Presentation, Data Visualization, Infographics, Data Collection, Data Quality, Business Analytics, Data Visualization Software, Marketing Analytics, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Data Analysis, Analytical Skills
Build toward a degree
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
623 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Introduction to Business Analytics and Information Economics
Skills you'll gain: Business Analytics, Data Presentation, Analytics, Data Visualization Software, Data Analysis, Business Intelligence, Business Valuation, Data Quality, Asset Management, Information Management, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Trend Analysis, Advanced Analytics, Predictive Analytics, Digital Assets, Management Information Systems, Data Strategy, Data Warehousing, Financial Modeling, Data Science
Build toward a degree
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
386 reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Meta
Marketing Analytics with Meta
Skills you'll gain: A/B Testing, Marketing Analytics, Advertising Campaigns, Campaign Management, Data Presentation, Presentations, Marketing, Marketing Effectiveness, Advertising, Marketing Strategies, Facebook, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Data Analysis, Brand Awareness, Performance Metric, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Target Audience
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
217 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Google
Google Data Analytics (PT)
Skills you'll gain: Data Cleansing, Rmarkdown, Data Storytelling, Data Presentation, Data Validation, Spreadsheet Software, Data Visualization, Data Ethics, Tableau Software, Data Visualization Software, Data Analysis, Ggplot2, Analytical Skills, Stakeholder Communications, Presentations, SQL, Dashboard, Data Quality, Data Collection, Data Processing
4.9
Rating, 4.9 out of 5 stars
4K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
SAS
Data Analysis and Reporting in SAS Visual Analytics
Skills you'll gain: Trend Analysis, Data Manipulation, Data Analysis, SAS (Software), Exploratory Data Analysis, Analytics, Interactive Data Visualization, Time Series Analysis and Forecasting, Data Visualization Software, Data Storytelling, Business Reporting, Graphing, Statistical Programming
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
355 reviews
Mixed · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks