In some job vacancies ads, you will see that some companies have vacant positions as business analysts. A business analyst is one of the most crucial roles in a particular business in any industry. Even many small to mid-scale businesses have seen this professional as an integral part of their premises. So, what is it anyway?
A business Analyst is defined as a professional person whose main role is to analyze the particular business processes, productivities, products/services, as well as systems in order to improve the overall premises through the appropriate insights and analysis. In this field, the existence of the business analysts in the organizations is not aligned to the attempt to earn income. However, how they carry their duties will have a direct influence on the organization’s financial works.
What is the main role of a Business Analyst?
To be a good business analyst, you will need to have ideas of the roles and responsibilities. As the name suggests, the main role of a professional business analyst is to address the issues found in the business systems or processes and provide recommendations to solve them. In modern premises, the solutions could revolve around technological niches. The role of the business analyst can vary from one industry to another.
Here are the main components wherein these professionals are responsible for:
Eliciting the roots of the problems
The business analyst will explore the business processes and systems to find out the underlying issues. They will transparently address the issues and disclose the information to the person in charge of the internal team of the organizations.
The analyst can work on different scales depending on the project scales or specific tasks assigned to them. It includes communicating the issues with the customers in order to document what they require. Eliciting the requirements from the clients is important so that the internal team of the project can tailor the products that will fulfill the demands. Eliciting can be done through various methods including interviews, questionnaires, analysis of the document, observation, and many more.
Requirements analysis and specification
The requirements coming from the resources can still be subjective. It is where the business analyst will process the documentation. They will make sure that the requirements are objective.
The scattered requirements need to be managed so that these can provide clear information to the stakeholders. Business analysts will make transferable reports that are understood by all of the involved parties.
Verification of the requirements
The requirements will be aligned to the business needs. The task includes ensuring if the requirements are unbiased and complete. These will need to meet the quality standards defined by the business or organization. A professional analyst will use various techniques such as item tracking, evaluation criteria, KPI, metrics, as well as reviews.
Risk identification
One of the most pivotal tasks of a business analyst is to identify particular risks. After finding the risks, analysts will need to find the solutions to overcome the risks.
In various projects, the risks might not show up until the middle of the progress. Therefore, analyst involvement starts from the very early phase to the end. The risks can negatively affect the business process.
For instance, a business analyst will identify the risks of launching a new product. Their finding will then be shared in the stakeholders’ meeting. They will also demonstrate the solutions to the concerned parties.
Testing process
Before launching the product, service, or particular project, a professional analyst will ensure that the project team has developed the right one. There will be a test before the product launch. the analyst will ensure that the outcome lives up to the stakeholders’ and investors’ expectations.
What qualifications do I need to be a Business Analyst?
Identifying inefficiencies in the core of the business analyst. If you are interested in becoming a business analyst, it is important to have a certain set of skills, an ample amount of knowledge, as well as good experience in the field.
The operations might be different depending on the tasks assigned to the business analysts. For instance, business analysts in productions might focus on resource wastage, bottlenecks, and so on. Meanwhile, business analysts in software development could be responsible for standardizing software development processes. In sales and marketing, an analyst could be looking at the consumer-centric experience, and so on
Regardless of the differences, you could take a look at the qualifications below:
Academic qualifications
The qualifications might be different from one company to another. Even the undergraduate degree could take the internship in some companies. The bachelor’s degree definitely has a much better chance. But the job requirements can vary depending on which industry you are applying to. The courses to learn can revolve around analysis, modeling, numeracy, and so on. In common, business degrees can be a closer choice. If you can go the extra mile to attain a Master’s Degree, it will definitely be helpful for your career path.
Certifications
There are many business analyst certifications that you can attain depending on where you live. But if you want to increase your international coverage, you could attain the certification of IIBA – International Institute of Business Analysis.
For the fresh graduates or novices, or students who want to step on the career track earlier, consider taking the ECBA – Entry Certificate in Business Analysis certification. This certification can be a good start to carving your career path.
The next level is CCBA – Certificate of Capability in Business Analysis certification which requires you to have at least 2 years of experience in the field.
Past experience
The past experience does not have to be the full-time job in the previous company. The internships can be a great way to start.
The internship programs are usually offered by the companies through the company websites. Many of them also work with particular universities to encourage their students to take the opportunities. These companies can assess their candidates’ working performance and ethics to find the true potential and reserve it.
Some advanced roles might require extensive work experience with at least 2 to 5 years of time.
Set of skills
Here are the set of soft skills that you need to have to be qualified as a business analyst:
• Analytical skills
• Patterns reading
• Data and insight analysis
• Motivation
• Presentation skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Modeling skills
• Business-centric skills
What does a Business Analyst get paid?
The average base salary in the US is $77,808 per year. At a high enrollment level, the business analyst can also get extra benefits such as a visa, green card, health savings account, and so on.
