Uni of Melbourne, SAS enter analytics partnership

The University of Melbourne and SAS have entered a major collaboration to support the development of advanced analytics talent.

The university’s Melbourne Business School will work with the IT giant to research advanced analytics strategies and establish a Master of Business Analytics degree program.

The three-year collaboration is primarily aimed at boosting the number of qualified analytics professionals entering the job market with both technical skills and a strong understanding of the business analytics environment.

Melbourne Business School professor Ujwal Kaynde said there are currently far too few qualified analytics professionals to meet demand, both in Australia and worldwide.

“In early 2014, we started thinking about how we could effectively address the big changes that are now occurring in the business world, and particularly changes related to organisations needing to become more data-informed - more evidence-based in their decision-making,” he said.

“This led to our aim of establishing Melbourne Business School as a global thought leader in analytics for business and since SAS is the dominant player in this area, we started the conversation with them that led to our collaboration.”

Besides SAS, the centre has the support of businesses including Woolworths, AT Kearney, SEEK, Brightstar, Suncorp and Telstra. The commercial partners will provide funding for scholarships, assistance with data sets, workplace secondment and other forms of support.

The Master of Business Analytics program is a one-year, full-time course to teach students a variety of analytics methodologies, as well as the business contexts in which they are set. As well as the masters degree, graduates will receive an SAS Certificate in Business Analytics.

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