5 Free Microsoft Courses to learn Data Analytics in 2024

Data Analytics is a crucial discipline in today's data-driven world, involving the processing and analysis of data to derive meaningful insights for informed decision-making. Its importance has grown immensely as businesses increasingly rely on data to drive their strategies and operations.

In this blog, we will introduce you to free data analytics courses provided by Microsoft. These courses are designed for various skill levels, from beginners to those with intermediate knowledge. They cover a range of topics to help you build a solid foundation in data analytics or enhance your existing skills. 

Let's explore these offerings and understand how you can start your journey in the field of data analytics.

‍

Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

Level: Beginner

Duration: Approx. 5-6 hours

Fee: Free

What you’ll learn: Foundational level knowledge on cloud concepts; core Azure services; and Azure management and governance features and tools.

This learning path can help you prepare for the Microsoft Certified: Exam AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

‍

‍

Description: This course is great for people who are new to working with Azure, especially those in IT. It's for those who want to learn about what Azure offers and try it out themselves. In this course, you’ll mainly use the Azure portal and command line to make things without needing to write complex scripts. You'll become more confident to take other courses and certifications like Azure Administrator after finishing this one. The course includes teaching sessions, demonstrations, and practical exercises. It will also help you get ready for the AZ-900 exam.

‍

2. Power BI Data Analyst associate

Level: Beginner

Duration: Approx. 20 hours

Fee: Free

What you’ll learn: You will Learn Power BI, a suite of tools and services for data analysis and visualization. This learning path can help you prepare for the Microsoft Certified: Data Analyst Associate certification and Exam PL-300: Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst.

‍

‍

Description: In this course, you'll learn different ways and the best approaches to organize, show, and study data using Power BI, which is helpful for businesses and technical needs. You'll discover how to get information from various types of sources, like databases and other data sets. Towards the end, we'll also cover how to handle and present your reports and displays for sharing and making the content available to others.

This course will help you in preparation for exam: PL-300

‍

3. Azure Enterprise Data Analyst associate

Level: Intermediate to advanced

Duration: approx. 26 hours

Fee: Free

What you’ll learn: Learn how to use Azure cloud platform to model, query and explore data on Azure synapse, Design and develop tabular models in PowerBI, implement and manage analytics environment and development cycle.

‍

‍

Description: As a candidate for the Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate certification, you should have subject matter expertise in designing, creating, and deploying enterprise-scale data analytics solutions. In this course you will be learning the followings:

• Cleaning and transforming data.
• Designing and building enterprise data models.
• Incorporating advanced analytics capabilities.
• Integrating with IT infrastructure.
• Applying development lifecycle practices.

‍

This learning path can help you prepare for the Microsoft Certified: Azure Enterprise Data Analyst Associate certification and Exam DP-500

People who will be taking this exam need to know that you should have advanced Power BI skills, including managing data repositories and data processing in the cloud and on-premises, along with using Power Query and Data Analysis Expressions (DAX). You should also be proficient in consuming data from Azure Synapse Analytics and should have experience querying relational databases, analyzing data by using Transact-SQL (T-SQL), and visualizing data.

‍

4. Introduction to Data Analysis using Excel on Edx

Level: Beginner

Duration:4 weeks (2-4 hours/week)

Fee: Free to audit

What you’ll learn: You will learn to explore data, create powerful Pivot tables, summarize and generate valuable insights.

‍

‍

Description: In this course, you'll learn to analyze data using key Excel features. you'll focus on creating pivot tables from rows and columns in Excel to summarize and explore data effectively. Pivot tables are widely used across industries for performance reporting. You'll also learn how to use Excel formulas to aggregate data for meaningful reports. Additionally, you'll cover creating visualizations and dashboards using pivot charts and slicers. Basic understanding of Excel formulas and cell referencing is needed for this course. 

‍

5. Analyzing and Visualizing Data with Excel on Edx

Level: Intermediate

Duration: 6 weeks (2-4 hours/week)

Fee: Free to audit

What you’ll learn: Learn data import, mashups, and preparation, utilize DAX for business calculations, visualize and share data with Power BI, and create interactive dashboards across devices.

Description: In this course, you'll discover how to use Excel, a widely used tool for analyzing and presenting data. You'll focus on the improved features in Excel 2016, which help handle larger amounts of data and create better visual displays. You'll learn to import data from various sources, combine data, and organize it for analysis. You'll  also cover using DAX to perform business calculations. Finally, you'll see how to share and visualize the data on the Power BI cloud service for easy access and usage.

‍

These courses by Microsoft on their platform, as well as on edX, are a gold mine for anyone starting their career in data analytics or someone already in the IT field. I’ve only highlighted a few relevant courses here, but if you visit Microsoft, you’ll see there are a ton of courses related to Data Analytics and AI. Until then, happy learning!

‍