Pazhamalai Jayaraman

The Capstone project re-emphasized the importance of business domain understanding and data preparation which is the cornerstone of any data analytics project.

What made you opt for this Analytics program?

Information Technology is a very competitive and evolving domain. In my opinion, IT started as the means to cut costs and gradually transitioned to being a business enabler. With Digital strongly being embraced by organizations and IT Business becoming synonyms, we can simply say IT is indeed Business. The industry is changing at a rapid pace and it is essential for an individual to stay abreast with the latest industry demands and technology trends to avoid becoming obsolete. Among SMAC (Social, Media, Analytics Cloud), I thought Analytics will take me closer to business and hence, I opted for Great Lakes Business Analytics program. Today, after the successful completion of the PGP-BABI course, looking at the buzz amongst the recruiters, colleagues and peers, I feel delighted at my decision to choose the program offered by Great Lakes Institute of Management.

TOP 3 takeaways from GREAT LAKES PGP-BABI?

My 3 key takeaways from this program would be: (1) Significance of Business domain knowledge. (2) Technical know-how and hands-on experience in coding. (3) Importance of making impactful presentation by way of storytelling on completion of every analytics project.

How did Industry exposure during the course assist you evolve in analytics?

Industry connect sessions helped in getting exposure to real world corporate business problems as it provided the opportunity to apply analytics concepts and tools on data sets and see the impact of decisions taken based on data. Interactions with speakers from industry helped in gaining an in-depth understanding of the applications of analytics concepts, tools and techniques across enterprises in various domains.

Share your experiences where you have actually applied analytics skills to solve the real-time business problems?

Capstone project is a classic example where we got the opportunity to apply all our learnings, right from defining business problem to data exploration to modeling by iterations, including interpretation of results and further, presenting it in the form of a story line. Capstone project re-emphasized on the importance of business domain understanding and data preparation which is the corner stone of any data analytics project. If we need to state in a simple language on completion of a Capstone project and PGP-BABI course, we realized the beginning of our Business Analytics journey!

Any pearls of wisdom for aspiring data analysts/business analysts?

It is quite natural for one to get overwhelmed with tools and technologies in data analytics space. However, we should remember tools/technologies are there to solve business problems and will continue to exist. Let us keep exploiting them, and simultaneously, also stay focused in solving business problems and provide value addition through insights.

You have seen analytics evolve over the years? Any Insights?

Analytics is here to stay. But, while there has been the technology available to solve Big data issues, organizations still have some basic data hygiene issues to be sorted out. Some of the tasks at hand for the enterprises are making reliable data available, integration of systems, using common data taxonomy and creating of robust data architecture. Overall, in my viewpoint Data scientists and Chief Data (Digital) Officers are expected to play the role of Change Agent leading to the adoption of an Analytics driven culture and thereby making a difference.

Which course did you enjoy the most?

Statistical methods for decision making (SMDM), Predictive modeling (PM), Marketing and CRM and Financial and Risk analytics (FRA) courses are top class, both in terms of course design and delivery. Amongst the industry connect sessions Careers in Analytics and fraud analytics were the few best sessions.

Which faculty has inspired you the most and why?

The entire internal faculty (GLIMs) has taken significant efforts in imparting Analytics knowledge to us and our sincere thanks to each one of them. Given an option to choose best amongst the best (in no specific order): 1) Statistical Methods for decision making due to facultys (Dr. PKV) wisdom and passion in the domain of Statistics and the coverage of subject both by basics and depth. 2) Predictive Modeling due to Dr. Bharadwaj articulation of topics in simple and powerful way of teaching including humor where required. 3) Marketing and CRM by Prof. Sriram for explaining the concepts with number of practical examples from Corporations. 4) Financial and Risk Analytics by Dr. R. L. Shankar for explaining the concepts number of times with a determination every student must get an understanding. 5) Optimization Techniques by Dr. Vaidy Jayaraman in taking efforts for explaining concepts followed by practical hands-on sessions.