Greetings, dear readers!
Business is always a risky business. Before making important decisions for the company, it is necessary to analyze all available data and choose the strategy that will be best for the business. This is done by special people – business analysts. Let’s talk about them now.
These professionals work in almost every large and not so large company. They help organizations to become better, increase sales, open branches and expand, gather an extensive customer base, etc.
In today’s article, I will tell you who a business analyst is, what he does, what requirements employers have for him, how much a specialist earns, what pros and cons such a job has.
Features of the profession
A business analyst is, as the name suggests, a specialist who deals with analytics in business. He understands business processes, collects data and analyzes a company’s activities, functions and departments, finds its problems and then devises ways to fix them.
It is important that all the actions of a business analyst bring maximum benefit at minimum cost. Thanks to this, the company will be able to reach a new level of development and increase its profits.
This specialist may also be called BI analyst, Business Analyst, BI analyst and business consultant. In smaller companies, his or her duties are sometimes performed by other employees who are also involved in business analytics to a greater or lesser extent:
- Analysts;
- product analysts;
- financial analysts;
- Data Scientist;
- strategic analysts;
- product managers;
- marketing analysts, etc.
The specialist is in demand in various fields of activity – from financial and IT sphere to construction and telecommunication industry.
The work of a business analyst is similar to that of a data analyst. But if the work of the latter is more related to data, the former is most focused on meeting business needs. In simple words, for a data analyst, information is more important, and for a BI analyst, business is more important.
What a business analyst does
The exact list of tasks of a BI-analyst is determined by the scale of the employing company and its line of business. Therefore, we can only talk about an approximate list of duties of a specialist, among which are:
- Receiving the technical task from the customer.
- Collecting, processing, analyzing arrays of data from the company itself and from external sources.
- Creating dashboards, i.e. visual reports with infographic elements.
- Preparation and cleaning of data from errors and inaccuracies.
- Using BI tools, implementing them in the company.
- Analyzing and evaluating the efficiency of internal business processes based on the collected data.
- Design, support and development of analytical products.
- Support and development of data warehouses.
- Hypothesis testing.
- Data model building.
- Training and education of employees and business users on data and new systems.
- Business plan generation.
- Visualization of metrics, statistics and other data.
- Updating and optimizing methods for calculating metrics.
- Creating a user-friendly environment for business units to access data.
- Preparation of analytical work plan.
- Dynamic and static monitoring.
- Strategic planning and forecasting.
- Comparison of input parameters with achieved results.
- Performance evaluation of company structures and departments.
- Automation of work with data.
- Assistance in making important management decisions affecting the future of the company.
- Surveying the organization’s employees to identify details that need improvement.
skills, abilities and personal qualities
To be able to fulfill the duties of a business analyst, you need to have specialized skills and knowledge. These include:
- Knowledge of business analysis techniques.
- Understanding of management.
- Knowledge of basic economics.
- Ability to clearly formulate and express thoughts.
- Understanding of accounting and management accounting.
- Basic knowledge of interface design.
- Skill in searching and gathering information.
- Knowledge of SQL.
- Python or R programming skills.
- Ability to work in a team.
- Knowledge of how to manage company personnel and resources.
- Presentation skills.
- Proficiency in BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Visiology, etc.
- Knowledge of finance and budgeting basics.
- Skill in setting up an analytics system.
- Skill in processing data from different sources.
- Skill in creating dashboards.
- Knowledge of marketing basics.
- Skill in data modeling.
- Knowledge of English.
- Ability to create and design projects, reports and presentations.
- Skill in maintaining accounting and reporting documentation.
- Knowledge of the principles of project activities.
- Proficiency in Excel.
- Skill in data warehouse design and development.
- Knowledge of the basics of logistics.
- Understanding of the employer company’s operations.
- Skill in data visualization.
The specialist will be more effective in his/her duties by:
- Analytical mind;
- communication skills;
- diligence;
- stress tolerance;
- critical thinking;
- attention to detail;
- erudition;
- creativity;
- excellent memory;
- leadership skills;
- diplomacy;
- initiative.
Also, a business analyst needs higher specialized education such as IT, math, statistics, etc.
How much you can earn
Business analysts are very much in demand in the market. They can get a job both in a large organization and in a small startup. In this case, the company’s activities can be related to many areas of activity: IT, the agricultural sector, trade, medicine, media, industry, finance and even the space industry.
Specialists can be part of the company, working in analytical departments, or work in consulting agencies, providing services to organizations. Both office and remote work formats are available to business analysts.
The salary level is influenced by the work experience and qualifications of a BI-analyst, the scale and geographical location of the employing company, and the scope of responsibilities. On average, business analysts receive about $5,000-$10,000
BI-analysts go through the same stages of career development as employees in the IT sphere: Junior, Middle, Senior. Even juniors, i.e. beginning specialists, earn from $10,000. The salary of middles, workers with experience from 2 to 5 years, is at the level of $20,000. And seniors, experienced masters, can receive from $50,000 and more.
As for prospects, BI analysts are developing as generalists. They can grow up to the heads of direction or department, become specialists of the general analytics function.
Pros and cons of the profession
The activity of any specialist is always accompanied by certain advantages and disadvantages.
Pros of this profession:
- High demand in the market.
- Decent salary even for beginners.
- Acquaintances with different people, expanding the network of useful contacts.
- Career prospects.
- The opportunity to work both remotely and in the office.
- Insignificant competition.
Now let’s talk about the disadvantages:
- High responsibility. The future of the company depends on the results of work.
- Irregular working hours.
- It is necessary to possess a large list of skills and abilities, a wide range of personal qualities.
- Work at the computer and sedentary lifestyle negatively affects the physical condition.
Business Analyst Training
Employers in vacancies may specify as a requirement for specialists-newcomers to have documents on higher education. Therefore, it is mandatory to undergo training at a university in the fields of “Applied Mathematics and Informatics”, “System Analysis and Management”, “Management”, “Business Informatics” and so on.
Also, novice BI-analysts will need knowledge in finance, economics and, of course, analytics.
It will be very difficult to master the profession on your own. But if the specialist has previously worked in the IT sphere, there is a chance to make the transition to BI-analytics on his own.
For everyone else, however, it will be better to turn to experienced mentors and teachers-professionals. From them, you can get the most accurate and useful information and organize the knowledge you already have. You can find expert teachers in online schools. Plus, some of them also guarantee job placement.
The best courses for business analysts include:
- BI Analyst from zero to middle – Netology.
- Business Analyst – Netology.
- BI Analyst – GeekBrains.
- Power BI Trainer – SkillFactory
Conclusion
BI-analysts are highly demanded both in large organizations and in small companies. Therefore, the salaries of specialists are corresponding. However, there are serious requirements for business analysts, which should be taken into account when choosing a profession.
Most often, as training, beginners choose online courses, where they become real professionals. Training programs I have listed just above, you can take advantage of them.