Business analytics and big data are being discussed everywhere right now. The objective of this paper is to provide a research and teaching introduction to business analytics. It begins by providing a quick overview of the three types of analytics. To assist the future analytics professionals, we identify various sectors of the analytics industry and provide a classification of different types of industry participants. Then it includes a brief description of some current research projects under way in our team. We also note some research opportunities in Big Data analytics. The paper also concludes with a discussion of teaching opportunities in analytics.