Vivekanand Education Society Institute of Management Studies & Research (VESIM), Mumbai - Introduction

I wanted to do PGDM after working for two years in the field of Banking and Finance but I also knew that only an MBA in Finance won’t help me get my dream job. It was then that I heard about VESIM’s offering of the Business Analytics PGDM programme in collaboration with SAS India. I have opted for Banking and Finance as my super specialization in which I will be getting to learn Core Finance, Accounting as well as various other aspects of the Banking Industry. With this, I will be learning the Business Analytics subjects which will include 8 modules to be taught to us by our faculty as well as guest lectures to be conducted by employees of SAS India. We have a rigorous study routine but with this, we also have many events which we are actively involved in organizing. We have had HR Summits, national conferences, a seminar on ‘Big Data: Turning Complexity to Simplicity’ in which many corporates had come to give their insights on Big Data and how it can be used to gain an edge, to name a few. Apart from these, the Student Welfare Committee is actively involved in organizing activities for the student body. To complete our all-round development and increase our sense of social responsibility we have a Yuva for Seva programme where we serve NGOs voluntarily. This is probably one of the most unique features of our course. I am definitely enjoying my time here.

When I found out about the Business Analytics PGDM programme in VESIM in collaboration with SAS India, I decided to go for it. Two trimesters into the course, I know that I have taken the right decision. In this course we are learning core management subjects like Accounts, Financial Management, Economics, and Management of Information Systems etc. In addition, we can choose a super specialization out of Business Analytics, Marketing and Finance. Unlike other courses, where common subjects are taught in the first year and specialization subjects in the second year, we begin to learn our specialization subjects from trimester 1 itself, which is an advantage as we get to learn more things in greater detail. I have opted for the Business Analytics super specialization in which we will be taught 20 modules of SAS. Study material is provided by VESIM & SAS. We also have lecturers from SAS which gives us immense knowledge in detail. This is a huge plus as SAS is increasingly being used as a data analytics solution in many companies worldwide. The faculties are excellent in their domains. The library is very good; having sufficient copies of the entire course books along with many other national & international publications and titles which are essential for management students. The IT and SAS labs are State-of-the-art.

 When I found out about VESIM’s PGDM course which had a super specialization of Banking and Finance along with Business Analytics in collaboration with SAS India, it seemed like a pretty good deal. The common management subjects apart, we are being taught modules of SAS like Base SAS, EGBS, EMINER and SAS Data Integration Studio. Books for these modules are provided by SAS itself. We recently had a two day workshop on Basic R Programming. More such workshops on Advanced R and Python are on the charts. Knowledge of these languages is essential for aspiring data scientists. VESIM has a tie up with NISM (National Institute of Securities Management) which is a great advantage for the banking and finance students. NISM certificates are industry valid and are a necessity for many finance jobs such as jobs in mutual funds, trading in stock exchange or derivatives. There is a lot more to VESIM than just studies. We have many committees where students are actively involved, including placement cell, student welfare, business analytics, entrepreneurship development, branding and marketing, corporate social responsibility and our monthly magazine - e Samanvay, to name a few. Working for these cells teaches us to handle the kind of challenges that can crop up in corporate situations and also enables us to practice what we study in our course.

Big data and analytics are quite the buzzwords in technology today. I am glad I have chosen VESIM’s Business Analytics course because it is highly relevant in today’s times. Learning to deal with a huge amount of data is crucial for any manager. This course enables us to do just that and also to develop our skills as a data scientist using SAS modules, R, Predictive Analysis, Statistics, Probability and much more. We not only get to learn the subjects from books, but also through practice in labs well equipped with modules of SAS like EMINER, EGBS etc. Our faculty are excellent and are able to give personal attention to all students. In addition, we have weekly guest lectures by industry experts and visiting faculty from SAS India. These lectures are very informative. Also, networking with the guest lecturers does us a world of good. My favourite of all our teachers is Dr. Sachin Deshmukh who is the area chairperson for Business Analytics. He has a way of teaching that makes even complex concepts appear easy. His speciality is that he never spoon feeds but encourages us to arrive at the right answer ourselves. He has taught us to always aim high in life and thus is always pushing us to keep doing better and better. He is not just our teacher but also our mentor. We are very fortunate to have a person of his calibre to guide us.