India today is a booming ground of startups. It is really the Indian startups and the training institutes that play a vital part in turning a term into a buzz word, then a trend and before we realize it becomes a part of the regularity or just disappears with time. Whether we should apply such a theory about business analytics in India is totally irrelevant because the term is trending, sustaining and undoubtedly becoming more than just a cool term. The world is a well aware of business intelligence or BI as we popularly call it. Business analytics is rather a new idea and many like to believe that it is an offshoot or a part of business intelligence. The SMDs often merge the roles of data analyst and business analyst. How feasible is that? We are going to look at some aspects of the Indian industries and try to find out the answers to some asked by most aspirants who are taking up our premium business analytics learning materials.
What is the basic idea of Business Analytics?
In very simple terms business analytics deals with the data regarding the business in order to understand what is needed for its success in the future. Business analysts are usually responsible for reviewing the industry trends and align the business proceedings with that for maximum profit or best possible and sustainable results in the case of Non Profit Organizations or Government organizations. They also recommend necessary changes in various systems that are put into work for the business. Communicating with the management team and convincing them about the requisitions is also a vital part of the job.
What is expected from a Business Analyst?
The role of a BA (Business Analyst) changes depending on the organization or the project he or she is working on, that is to say that the business analysts goal may be to secure maximum monetary profit or development of some other kind but there are certainly a few qualities that are essential for every BA.
• An understanding of the industry and the business environment – The business analyst should be able to assess the chances of the success of a certain project in the contemporary industrial scenario and should be able to think out ways to enhance the chances. The person has to be insightful enough to gauge the business environment and navigate the proceedings in a very functional level.
• Excellent Communication skills are essential. It is often said that the business analysts bridge the gap between the technological and managerial factions of an enterprise. A BA has to understand the technical proceedings; make sure that it is in line with global industry standards; point out the problems and areas requiring investment and bring them in the management’s knowledge and convince them about the necessities. This requires a great deal of written and verbal communication skill.
• A bit of analytical knowledge could not suit anyone better. The necessity for a business analyst to analyze a business environment has been pointed out earlier in this document but what I wish to refer to by ‘analytical knowledge’ is data analytics. There is hardly a better means of understanding a company’s position in a given environment than data analysis. Quite obviously a BA is required to know a bit of data analysis and data visualization. In a lot of enterprises the roles of data analyst, business intelligence expert and business analyst are merged in one role bearing any of the three names.
• Knowledge of the system and ability to code is often expected from a BA. As a business analyst you may be asked to create a wireframe for a system that you have proposed. This is not at all rare.
Believing that business analyst is an essentially non-technical role should receive several reconsiderations. These are the basic reasons that should push you to undergo a business analytics course in India, where the industry is just opening up.
How to segregate between Business intelligence and Business Analytics?
In the Indian scenario as well as the global scenario the departments are often merged though it is not very difficult to understand the basic difference.
Business intelligence keeps track of company data and recognizes the essential things that are responsible for keeping the business running and prospering. This faction makes sure that the essentials are kept functional. At the other hand business analytics is responsible for analyzing the environment as well as data and find the required modifications to run the business better.
Business analytics courses in India are playing a commendable part in building a capable workforce with business analytics skills. Business Analysts may not necessarily have the glamour of a data scientist but they are becoming an absolute essentiality.
2 Comments
Good article on Business Analytics
Very Good article