Google Business Intelligence study materials
Google Business Intelligence study resources

Google Business Intelligence study plan

Google Business Intelligence · Give each week a clear focus.

8 weeks · About 6 hours per week

Week 1

Foundations of Business Intelligence

  • Define business intelligence and distinguish it from data analysis, data science, and reporting in a one-page written summary.

  • Map the BI lifecycle (requirements, data collection, processing, analysis, visualization, action) and label where stakeholders, analysts, and engineers act.

  • Compare at least four common BI roles and their responsibilities using a table you build from official course descriptions.

  • Identify the core question types BI answers (descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive) and write an example for each from a retail or service scenario.

Your checkpoint

A one-page BI foundations cheat sheet covering definitions, lifecycle stages, roles, and question types.

Week 2

Foundations of Business Intelligence

  • Explain how business objectives, KPIs, and success metrics connect, and convert two sample business goals into measurable KPIs.

  • Evaluate data quality dimensions (completeness, accuracy, consistency, timeliness, validity) using a small public dataset and document three issues found.

  • Describe the difference between structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data and give two examples of each relevant to BI.

  • Outline privacy, security, and governance considerations that constrain BI work, including access control and data retention.

Your checkpoint

A short data quality and governance assessment of a public dataset, listing at least five issues and recommended fixes.

Week 3

The Path to Insights: Data Models and Pipelines

  • Model a business process using a simple entity-relationship diagram with at least four entities, primary keys, and foreign keys.

  • Differentiate normalized (3NF) and denormalized (star schema) designs and justify a choice for an analytics use case.

  • Build a star schema from a flat sales dataset, identifying the fact table, dimensions, and grain.

  • Write SQL to create the tables from your schema and insert a small sample of rows.

Your checkpoint

An ER diagram plus a working SQL script that creates and populates a star schema from sample sales data.

Week 4

The Path to Insights: Data Models and Pipelines

  • Explain the purpose and stages of the ETL and ELT approaches and identify when each is preferred.

  • Describe common data pipeline components: ingestion, transformation, orchestration, and loading, and map them to a tool category.

  • Extract data from two sources (for example, CSV and a public API) and load it into a staging table.

  • Apply at least three transformation steps (cleaning, deduplication, type casting) and document each with SQL.

Your checkpoint

A documented mini-pipeline that extracts, transforms, and loads sample data into a staging table, with a runbook.

Week 5

The Path to Insights: Data Models and Pipelines & Decisions, Decisions: Dashboards and Reports

  • Write intermediate SQL using joins, aggregations, subqueries, and window functions to answer five business questions.

  • Validate pipeline output by reconciling row counts and key totals between source and target tables.

  • Define the audience, decision, and metric for a dashboard before building it, using a one-page dashboard requirements brief.

  • Select chart types appropriate to comparison, distribution, trend, and relationship questions and justify each choice.

Your checkpoint

A dashboard requirements brief plus a validated SQL query set that answers five business questions.

Week 6

Decisions, Decisions: Dashboards and Reports

  • Build a two-page dashboard in a BI tool that includes at least one KPI card, one trend chart, one comparison chart, and one filter.

  • Apply layout, color, and labeling principles so the dashboard communicates a single clear message without clutter.

  • Add interactivity such as date and category filters and verify that all visuals respond correctly.

  • Write a short narrative that interprets the dashboard findings and states a recommended action.

Your checkpoint

A working two-page BI dashboard with filters, plus a 150-word interpretation and recommendation.

Week 7

Decisions, Decisions: Dashboards and Reports

  • Design a report structure for an executive audience that leads with the recommendation and supports it with evidence.

  • Translate dashboard findings into three decision options with trade-offs and a recommended next step.

  • Identify at least three common cognitive biases or chart pitfalls (for example, truncated axes, cherry-picked ranges) and correct them in your dashboard.

  • Peer-review a sample dashboard against a checklist of accuracy, clarity, and actionability criteria.

Your checkpoint

A one-page decision memo backed by the dashboard, plus a completed peer-review checklist.

Week 8

Foundations of Business Intelligence & The Path to Insights: Data Models and Pipelines & Decisions, Decisions: Dashboards and Reports

  • Consolidate notes into a single review sheet covering domain 1 definitions, domain 2 pipeline and modeling steps, and domain 3 dashboard principles.

  • Complete a timed 40-question self-assessment spanning all three domains and score at least 80%.

  • Re-teach the three weakest concepts from the self-assessment in writing, with an example for each.

  • Finalize a portfolio-ready case study that links a business question to a data model, pipeline, dashboard, and decision.

Your checkpoint

A portfolio case study and a scored 40-question self-assessment with a written remediation log.

Milestones

Week 2: Can explain BI vs. data analysis, list the BI lifecycle stages, and convert a business goal into a measurable KPI without notes.

Week 4: Can draw a star schema from a flat dataset and run an ETL/ELT pipeline end to end, reconciling source and target totals.

Week 6: Can build a filtered, multi-visual dashboard and state in one sentence the decision it supports.

Week 8: Scores at least 80% on a timed mixed-domain self-assessment and completes a portfolio case study linking question, model, pipeline, dashboard, and decision.