Looking For Business Intelligence Training?
This page is designed to help you understand what steps you need to take when looking to acquire or deepen your Business Intelligence skills (BI). Creating your own learning path by choosing the right Business Intelligence training courses will increase your knowledge and strengthen your abilities as a data analyst and give you a head start in mastering the elements required to create a data strategy for your business. Whether you are looking to create smart reports for a small business, dynamic visualisations for your scale up or create an entire data ecosystem from data lakes to AI enabled automation for your enterprise, we can help you find the right learning path using the power of Business Intelligence solutions.
Understanding the basics of Business Intelligence training
Business Intelligence training and data analysis courses are key elements in developing a comprehensive data strategy – proven to increase revenue, efficiency and results. When you learn how to efficiently organise, interrogate and report on your data you enable faster decisions based on the facts. Our Business Intelligence training courses will help you to collect, analyse and interpret data, shaping it into information your business can use.
Data analysts can choose from courses at all levels from fundamental concepts and the use of leading industry tools to more sophisticated techniques around storage, manipulation and the extraction of insights. Course attendees learn how to produce the visually engaging reports your decision makers need. From basic reporting to predictive analytics, we will help you master the leading BI platforms like Microsoft Power BI, and SQL Server.
Who benefits? Business analysts, managers and IT professionals can all benefit from a learning path that helps you gain practical BI skills that improve your competitive edge.
Data analysis course roadmap
At PTR we offer a wide range of training aimed at all levels, from beginner to advanced, providing you with a broad set of skills suitable for all situations. Because everyone has different and specific requirements, we would advise an initial chat with one of our training specialists to find the ideal programme for you. But if time is of the essence, we would always recommend starting with the two Business Intelligence courses we consider to be fundamental, Introduction to Power BI and SQL Database Querying. We believe these courses are essential stops on the learning path for any would-be or current data analyst seeking to deepen their skills.
Introduction to Power BI
This is an introductory course into the leading Business Intelligence tool Microsoft Power BI. This hands-on training is led by experienced instructors and will teach you how to take raw data and transform it into interactive visual reports, turning data into stories. Key skills you will learn include data modelling, DAX calculations, and report design. By the end of this course, you'll be able to create your own dashboards, telling complex data stories and uncovering hidden trends.
SQL database querying course
SQL database querying is a fundamental skill for data analysts working with relational databases and this course will teach you how to extract meaningful insights from complex data.
Skills you will learn include writing efficient SQL queries, selecting, filtering and sorting data from multiple tables and using techniques like joins, subqueries, and aggregations which is all part of breaking down large sets of data into manageable subsets. When you learn how to create effective SQL queries you can access, manipulate and analyse data more easily and enhance your capabilities as a data analyst.
Both these courses are offered either online or in person.
Creating a learning path - what skills do I need?
To excel in data analysis, you'll need a combination of skills according to your goals. Some of these you may already have - others may require a specific training course. Use our tick list below to benchmark where you are now and what you need to acquire to complete your data analyst training path. You can talk to us about how we can blend and combine them to create a roadmap for you.
1. Statistical analysis and mathematical proficiency
2. Programming languages like Python or R
3. Database querying with SQL
4. Data visualization tools (e.g. Power BI)
5. Machine learning basics
6. Critical thinking and problem-solving
7. Strong communication skills to present findings
8. Business acumen to understand data in context
9. Attention to detail and data integrity
10. Project management and organization
Please browse our course schedule for an idea of the learning we have available. You can choose to take them in a classroom or online.
FAQ
What is data analysis?
Data analysis is the art of extracting insights from the information you store. There are various steps in the process, from cleaning and shaping the data to modelling and visualising it - taking you to the point where you can start to draw useful conclusions. During a data analysis course, participants learn the techniques and tools needed to offer decision-makers reliable information in a format they can quickly understand, thus supporting them in their role.
So, whether you're pursuing a data analyst course in person or a business information analysis course online, these courses will equip you with the skills you need.
Data Analytics by company size
As a business grows there will be a natural progression of data analysis needs and skills, from basic Excel analysis to complex, integrated data ecosystems in enterprises.
To find out where you are now you may need to consider.
1. The volume and complexity of data you typically handle
2. The level of data integration required
3. The sophistication of analytics needed (descriptive, predictive, prescriptive)
4. The importance of real-time data processing
5. The need for data governance and security measures
Data Analysis for Small Business
Typical setup: Excel spreadsheets, basic databases
Key skills:
1. Excel proficiency (formulas, pivot tables, basic macros)
2. Introduction to data visualization with Power BI
3. Basic SQL for querying small databases
4. Fundamental statistical analysis
Data Analysis for Scale-ups
Typical setup: Cloud-based data warehouses, more advanced BI tools
Key skills:
1. Advanced Power BI (DAX, data modelling, custom visuals)
2. SQL for complex querying and data manipulation
3. Python or R for statistical analysis and basic machine learning
4. Data integration techniques (ETL processes)
5. Version control and collaborative data workflows
Data Analysis for Enterprises:
Typical setup: Integrated data ecosystems (like Microsoft Fabric), data lakes, advanced analytics platforms
Key skills:
1. Big data technologies (Hadoop, Spark)
2. Advanced data warehousing concepts
3. Machine learning and AI implementation
4. Data governance and security
5. Cloud computing platforms (Azure, AWS, GCP)
6. Advanced data visualization and dashboard creation
7. Predictive analytics and forecasting
Work with us
We hope the information above helps kick-start your Data Analyst Training Roadmap. To help you tailor your training even more closely we would love to work with you and find out more about your specific needs. Please call us on 0118 979 4000 or email info@ptr.co.uk for an informal chat about how we might be able to help you.
If you would prefer to have expert BI consultants at your side on your data journey the why not find out more about our Business Intelligence Consultancy services.
Typical Business Intelligence Job Roles
The following table list typical job roles involved in this data journey along with the data journey stage they might be involved in and the skill sets they may require:
| Job Role | Description | Data Journey Stage | Skills Required |
| Business Intelligence Project Manager | Ensures the overall success of the project delivery by coordinating the teams who build, develop, deploy, train and maintain. | Whole Journey | Project Management, Communication, BI & Business Requirement Awareness |
| Business Intelligence Solution Architect | Possesses in depth experience across all areas of business intelligence from data sources, ETL/ELT, data lakes, data warehouses, semantic models, cloud platforms and infrastructure, reporting and dashboard solutions. Collaborates with business stakeholder and IT teams to gather full requirements and plans and designs the overall solution architecture from end to end (data sources to dashboards). | Whole Journey | All aspects of data platforms, cloud platforms, networking, security, ETL/ELT, data warehouses, SQL, data lakes, data modelling, reporting & dashboard platforms, data science understanding, communication, business understanding |
| Business Intelligence Manager | Oversee the development of effective management information systems and associated reports and dashboards | Reports & Dashboards | SQL, Power BI |
| Business Intelligence Architect | Designs the BI platform infrastructure such as data modelling, report and dashboard design, but does not generally get involved with the Data Warehouse, ETL/ELT side of things. | Business Model | Azure Analysis Services, PowerApps, Power BI, PowerQuery, DataFlows, Shared Datasets, Tabular Modelling, BI and Cloud Architecture Design |
| Business Intelligence Analyst/ Business Analyst | Collaborates with business stakeholders to understand reporting and dashboard issues, challenges and requirements and liaises with BI developers to specify and develop dashboards and reports to satisfy stakeholder requirements. | Dashboards & Reports | Communication, Stakeholder Collaboration, BI Project Manager & BI Solution Architect Collaboration, Business Engagement, Understanding of Business Requirements |
| Business Intelligence Developer | Interprets business reporting requirements, develops ETL/ELT processes to gather and integrate all required datasets, develops and maintains data models and data structures, supports development of reports and dashboards. | ELT, Data Lake, Data Warehouse, Business Model | SQL, Data Warehouse Design, SSIS, Data Factory, Data Lake, Azure SSAS, PowerApps, Power BI, PowerQuery, DataFlows, Shared Datasets, Tabular Modelling |
| Business Intelligence Administrator | Manages the systems that support and host the business intelligence solution such as databases, ETL/ELT platforms, reporting platforms. | Whole Journey | ELT, Storage, Business Model, Reporting Platforms Administration |
| Business Intelligence Consultant | Supports the architects, analysts, developers, administrators and engineers from a wealth of experience that spans the whole BI spectrum and can provide a top view to assist with implementing best practice, optimum performance, trustworthy and secure solutions that are fit for purpose, futureproof and fit with an organisation's overall data strategy. | Whole Journey | All or any of data platforms, cloud platforms, networking, ETL/ELT, data warehouses, data lakes, data modeilling, reporting & dashboard platforms, data science understanding |
| Data Strategist | Possesses an in-depth analytical and technical knowledge combined with an ability to understand business requirements. Has excellent communication skills as well as technical skills and interacts with people from across the business. Gains a full understanding of an organisation's data storage & business intelligence needs, data estate, data compliance and business goals, and translates these into data-driven initiatives and in turn designs a future-proof data strategy and roadmap for an organisation. | Whole Journey |
Data Compliance, Data Management, Data Governance, Data Quality, Data Drriven Decision Making, BI & Data Science, Data Architecture
|
| Data Architect | Provides technical expertise in analysis, design, development, rollout and maintenance of data integration (ETL/ELT), data warehouse and business intelligence solutions to architect, design and develop data analytics solutions with the best fit infrastructure, tools and processes. | ELT, Data Lake, Data Warehouse | Data Lake, Data Warehouse, SQL, Tabular Modelling, DevOps, Data Architecture & Design. |
| Data Engineer | Possesses expertise in areas such as data warehouses, data modelling, ETL/ELT, Big data, data lakes and is responsible for identifying trends in data sets and developing algorithms to make raw data more accessible and translated into useful formats for analysis. | ELT, Data Lake, Data Warehouse, Business Model, Machine Learning | Data Lake, Data Warehouse, SQL, Tabular Modelling, DevOps, ML, AI, Python, R, Mathematics. |
| Data Analyst | Analyses datasets to identify trends and insights that can be used to drive business decisions. | Dashboards & Reports | Power BI, SQL |
| Data Scientist | Solving complex business problems and spotting trends, often from large "big data" sources, with data driven techniques and using their mathematical expertise and programming language skills (such as R and Python) combined with an ability to understand and interpret business functions and requirements. | Machine Learning | ML, AI, Python, R, Mathematics, Communication, Understanding of Business Requirements. |
| Data Mentor/Educator | Educates, coaches, mentors and trains team members and business users to get the best out of the business intelligence solutions. | Whole Journey | All skills across the data journey, teaching, coaching and instructing skills, Communication, Understanding of Business Requirements, Interact with all staff levels from stakeholder engagement, management overview, users and administrators. |
| Data Warehouse Designer/Developer | Plans, designs and builds a data warehouse. Works with Data Engineers to extract data from the data warehouse as part of ETL/ELT operations. Builds views and stored procedure to extract data from the data warehouse to pass on to business intelligence tiers. | Data Warehouse | SSIS, Data Factory, SQL, TSQL, Data Warehouse Design, Data Warehouse Query Performance Monitoring & Optimisation |
| Database administrator (DBA) | Manages the day to day security, performance, backups of database platforms. Monitors performance and tunes database instances to ensure optimum response times. Manages scalability. | Data Warehouse | SQL, Azure SQL Administration, Azure Data Warehouse Administration, Azure Portal Usage |
We would love to help you plan your data learning path so do get in touch.
You can also take a look at our Database & Business Intelligence Curriculum.
About PTR
PTR have held Microsoft accreditation since 2005, currently holding Microsoft Solutions Partner Status for Data & AI Azure. We have been working with clients on Data Strategy, Analytics and Business Intelligence solutions for over 30 years across a wide range of platforms and vendor solutions. We pride ourselves on combining first rate technical skills with an ability to communicate complex ideas, technology, and data effectively, and working with clients to develop a deep understanding of their business processes and data objectives.
