What Does it Take to Become a Business Analyst?

The Second World War was definitely the greatest man made catastrophe ever but it also came up with phenomenal technological developments and revolutionized the way industry was looked at. The World War gave extensive coinage to operations research, a precursor of business analytics which analyzed data in order to direct military operations. This is probably the first notable use of business intelligence in the modern era. Since then it has evolved over time to enhance business and generate revenue. As we stand now in the brink of 2018 it is imperative that we take a look at the current stand of this age old stream of business management.

Role and Importance

A company is like a society with people using different languages. And therefore every company needs an equivalent to a multilingual agent. This is to convey that there can often be spotted a gap between different segments of the company. The business analyst is often assigned with the role of the communicator. He is the one who bridges the technical team with the executives – the head with the limbs. He understands the business acumen as well as knows the technical verse. He can synthesize the needs and the resources in order to find the best possible result for the business. A business analyst can help the management get perspective of the future possibilities in light of the current situation and the historical information.

The technical side of it

There are a number of tools that can come to aid of a business analyst.

• Excel is one tool the efficiency with which can help out the business intelligence manager in many ways. The charts and various functions offered by excel, if used properly, can make it easier to make sense of numbers.
• An analyst should keep a working knowledge if not immaculate prowess of big data tools. In today’s market the roles of business analytics and data analyst often merge. Experience with tools like SQL, Spark, HBase can help you find better employment.
• Visualization tools like Tableau play a great part in a business analyst’s life. Tableau, for instance, is not only a great tool for visualization but for descriptive analysis as well. Visualization of the data is the communicative platform that lets the company understand the suitable course of action.

What does it take to become a business analyst?

It is really important for a business analyst to be friends with numbers – numerical data can yield a lot of decisive insight if you are able to look into it the right way. A person from any quantitative background – knowledgeable in statistics and computer sciences, enjoys a definitive upper hand but anyone with an understanding of business situations and an analytical mind can excel in this profession. Qualification wise, a bachelor’s degree in business administration should do just fine, but people from other educational backgrounds getting into the shoes of a business analyst is not rare. In today’s job market, the right set of skills matter the most.

• Great communicative skills
• A knack for analysing quantitative details
• Strong intuition for developments in the market
• A sense of visualization

These are among skills which are expected to be in possession of an able business analyst.

Training

Those days are over when business analysis was somewhat ignored in the Indian market. Now companies from all fields and of all sizes have realized the importance of having good business analysts on board. The demand for business intelligence experts has risen over the span of last couple of years. Consequently the business analytics courses have been developed with the current needs in mind. There are a number of centres around the country that are offering top notch business intelligence training. Undergoing a business analytics course does not only enable you to use the tools needed for the job, it also makes you ready for the real time situation, trains your brain for the various situations faced by an analyst. The training should ideally be a combination of case studies, practical use of the tools and corresponding theoretical details.

There are a considerable number of openings for business analytics professionals in India and around the globe. It is a great time to get trained. Get ready for the career that awaits you.