IITM BS Business Data Management Project (BSMS2001P): Guide and Tips
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5 min readData ScienceOn this page
The Business Data Management Project (BSMS2001P) is a 2 credit diploma level project in the IITM BS Data Science programme. You pick a real business, find a problem it faces, collect your own data, analyse it and give the owner useful suggestions. It has no prerequisite. Business Data Management (BSMS2001) is a corequisite, so you take BDM before the project or in the same term.
| Code | Credits | Level | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|
| BSMS2001P | 2 | Diploma | None (corequisite: BSMS2001) |
The course page lists Dr. Ashwin J. Baliga and Dr. Aaditya Chandel as the instructors.
What the BDM project involves
The course page describes four stages, not weekly topics.
The business can be from the organised sector, such as a well run manufacturing, IT or automobile firm with proper data systems. It can also be from the unorganised sector, such as a kirana store or a vegetable vendor that keeps no proper records.
| Stage | What you hand in |
|---|---|
| Proposal | The business and its background, the problem, your planned method with reasons, a timeline and the results you expect |
| Midterm | A short video of your talk with the owner or manager, photos and field notes, a description of the data with summary statistics, and a first analysis |
| Final report | The whole process from start to finish, explained in full |
| Viva | A presentation of at most 10 slides, held after your final report is accepted |
The course page links a separate document with timelines and submission rules. Read it before you write the proposal.
What you learn from it
- Collecting primary data from a real business yourself.
- Turning a vague complaint into a clear problem, then cleaning and analysing the data.
- Justifying your method and writing a report where each section leads into the next.
Where it counts
The BDM project is part of Option 1 in the Diploma in Data Science. Option 1 is Business Analytics (4 credits) plus this project (2 credits). Option 2 is the Deep Learning and Generative AI course with its own project. You must finish one full option.
If you complete Option 1, the handbook says you cannot take the Option 2 courses later at the degree level.
How to plan the project
The DS handbook says students usually need at least 2 to 3 terms to finish this project, because of its stages and resubmissions. It recommends registering by your 2nd term at the diploma level. Some students missed their diploma checkpoints because they started it only in their checkpoint term.
A simple plan:
- Before you register: find the business. Choose one you can visit many times, such as a shop near home. Ask the owner early if a short recorded talk is fine, since the midterm needs it.
- Proposal: pick a narrow problem that data can answer. "Which items run out of stock most often" works better than "increase sales".
- Data collection: start early. A small shop may have no records, so you may need to note daily sales yourself for several weeks.
- Midterm: keep one folder with raw data, photos, field notes and a log of every cleaning step.
- Report and viva: write the report as you go. Before the viva, make sure you can explain every number on your slides.
For viva rules and project grades, see how IITM BS projects are graded. Entry to the BSc level needs a project CGPA of at least 7.0 across your diploma projects, so this grade matters.
Academic integrity
Do this project yourself, with a real business and real data. Do not make up numbers, edit data to get neat results, reuse another student's business or report, or buy a ready report. The midterm needs a video with the owner and field evidence. The viva tests your own choices. Faked work is easy to spot. Read the IITM BS malpractice rules before you begin.
Who finds it hard
Students who feel shy talking to business owners often lose weeks at the start. So do students who leave the report to the last few days. If writing in English is hard for you, draft early and ask a friend to read it.
What to take before or with it
Take Business Data Management (BSMS2001) first or in the same term. The theory half of Option 1 is Business Analytics (BSMS2002), which needs BDM as its prerequisite.
Common questions
Can I use web scraped data instead of visiting a business?
Yes. From January 2024 the handbook allows web scraped data if you share the source, and the BDM team outlines the steps. But the highest grade you can get this way is D, which can pull down your project CGPA.
Do I need this project if I choose the Deep Learning and GenAI option?
No. The BDM project belongs only to Option 1. Option 2 has its own project, BSDA2001P.
Can the business be a small shop with no records?
Yes. The course page names kirana stores and vegetable vendors as examples of unorganised businesses. You just need a clear plan for collecting the data yourself.
How many slides can I use in the viva?
The course page says your presentation must not go over 10 slides. The viva is held only after your final report is accepted.
Official sources
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