I recently completed the Advanced analytics program conducted by IIM Bangalore. It is a 1 year course that is designed to provide in-depth knowledge of handling data and Business Analytics’ tools that can be used for fact-based decision-making.
Prior to this course I have done a 3 month course at Jigsaw Academy – The Foundation course in Analytics. This course built my interest in analytics and helped me secure a job with Infosys as a business analyst. I then decided to opt for the IIM Bangalore program with the aim of further establishing myself in this domain.
In the last 12 months, I have received a number of queries for both the courses. Interested people wanted to know how my experience was with Jigsaw Academy as well as IIM Bangalore. I am writing this article to do an honest assessment of the 2 analytics courses I have completed. There are thousands of people looking at analytics as a career option and I hope they find this information useful.
The IIM Bangalore course is extremely useful for anyone entering into the field of business analytics. The knowledge provided by this course is comprehensive and the brand name associated with the institute is unparalleled.
The Jigsaw Academy course, on the other hand, has a much more concentrated approach. It focuses on that 10% of analytics which you need for 90% of the work. The course centres on a few techniques and goes in to a lot of depth on each one. The industry exposure provided through the numerous case studies used throughout this course is invaluable. And the class recordings and video lectures that come with the course make it a great career investment.
Here is a comparison of both the courses with regards to some of the most important criteria.
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Comparison of the course content
Here is a detailed comparison of the scope of the course. As I mentioned, IIM Bangalore’s course is very comprehensive and touches most important areas in analytics. The Jigsaw course is very focused and goes into a lot of detail for a few topics.
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Which course would I recommend?
I give a BIG THUMBS UP to both the courses. I think both the courses have been great career investments for me. The Jigsaw course perked my interest in analytics by exposing me to real life problems faced by businesses. It gave me the practical understanding of how analytics is applied in businesses. The IIM B course has given me a more comprehensive picture of the field of analytics. It has exposed me to a wider set of analytic techniques and also given me a globally recognized certification.
If I had to go back and choose, I would still opt for doing both the courses. I think they complement each other nicely.
