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How To Become A Business Analyst

July 19, 2007 |

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HOW TO BECOME A BUSINESS ANALYST

A business analyst is an information technology worker who improves the efficiency and productivity of business operations. The business analyst achieves this by closely analyzing the business processes in an organization for inefficiencies.

When inefficient business processes are discovered, the business analyst makes recommendations for business process improvements. If the recommended solution is approved, the business analyst works with computer programmers, lead software developers, software managers and other information technology workers to implement the recommended solutions.

The business analyst works in a team, acting as a liaison between the business team and the software development team.

The business analyst is the information technology worker who lives in two worlds, one being the business world and the other being the software development world.

A business analyst needs to understand software development enough to discuss the details of the business process improvement project with computer programmers assigned to the project in a technical language programmers understand.

Roles and Responsibilities of a Business Analyst
The roles and responsibilities of a business analyst include: 

• Acting as a liaison between the software development team and the business team.

• Writing feasibility studies, project briefs, cost analysis, testing schedules and user manuals for new business processes.

• Analyzing business processes to identify problems and implementing solutions that improve the business process.

• Communicating and presenting technical solutions for business problems to business stakeholders and owners.

• Documenting or explaining complex business operations to software developers.
 

Career Outlook and Prospects for Business Analysts
 Like the other professions in software development, business analysts also have well-paying jobs. In 2006, business analysts in the United States earned an average of $68,579 annually, with bonuses amounting to $3,783. The total increase from the figures of 2005 is 3.1%.

Business analysts who become contract information technology workers can earn six-figure salaries. I recommend that you read two of my previous articles on contracting if you are interested in becoming a contract business analyst. The first article is the secret path to contract programming. The second is Full Time Permanent Employee Or Contract W2 Programmer Pros and Cons. Both articles will help you decide whether to be a full-time business abalyst or a contract business analyst.

Skills and Requirements for a Business Analyst

In some organizations, the business analyst works with a team of computer programmers and does not need to master computer programming.

In other organizations, the line separating the business analyst and the computer programmer is fuzzy, therefore the business analyst must know how to code. In cases like this a beginner or entry-level mastery of computer programming is all that is needed.

Generally, a basic computer expertise in computer programming will help a business analyst perform their work better. To gain this basic expertise in computer programming, an aspiring business analyst should have a solid understanding of SQL, data analysis, reporting, UML, Visual Basic programming, Microsoft Office Automation and a few other software packages. Just bear in mind that this varies from organization to organization.

The ability to work in a team and to coordinate among people is also a skill that the business analyst needs to cultivate. Good writing skills and communication skills are also helpful in this career.

Comparing Computer Programmer Careers To Business Analyst Careers

1. Technology Skills: Computer programmers spend the majority of their time writing code while business analysts spend a minor amount of time writing code.

2. People Skills: Business analysts invest a lot of time interacting with business users a lot, so they need good communication and relationship skills. Computer programmers tend to invest most of their time working on software that will be used by people. So communication and relationship skills are secondary to technical skills for software developers.

3. Entry level requirements: Business analysis positions tend to have lower entry level requirements than computer programming positions. Business analysis positions tend to pay lower than computer programming positions as well.

One of the advantages of learning computer programming is that you instantly have a lot of well-paying career options including software project management and business analysis.

The business analyst career stands out because it gently introduces you to the software development industry. It also provides you the opportunity to use more of your communication, relationship-building and data-analysis talents.

After more than a decade in software development, I’m convinced that many people don’t realize they have the option of becoming a business analyst. I hope that you do decide to become a business analyst if you are not really cut out to be a computer programmer.

Whatever track you choose, begin by reading “the street-smart guide to high-paying computer programming careers” to get the foundation you need to succeed in software development.


READ MORE ABOUT ...


read moreHow To Become A Business Analyst

read moreHow To Become A Computer Programmer

read moreSoftware Developer Boot Camp - Professional Training For Computer Programmers

read moreBusiness Analyst Boot Camp - How To Quickly And Easily Master Business Analyst Skills

read moreSQL Boot Camp - How To Master SQL Programming Or Database Development

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Comments

7 Comments so far

  1. Gaurav on July 19, 2007 11:30 pm

    Thats really good article. Can you tell what will be opportunity for a person who have done computer programming then after management studies go for Business Analyst. Because that person possess fair technical skills and people skills.

    Business analyst is a bridge between customers and company. When they communicate with clients then they must show both their people skills for relationship building and technical skills to understand the problem. And when they discuss problems with development team they must demonstrate excellent people skills.

    Because to be very frank people dont want to work and its majorly responsibility of business analyst and project manager to motivate their people to work.

  2. Business Analyst on July 22, 2007 4:53 pm

    I really enjoyed your article on becoming a business analyst (from the programmer’s perspective).

    What intrigued me the most was your thought that most programmers/developers do not realize that they do have a career option of becoming a business analyst.

    I agree with you that for those programmers who realize they are not cut out to keep coding, business systems analysis is probably a logical career move.

    Best regards,
    - Adrian

  3. Kingsley Tagbo on July 25, 2007 4:58 am

    Gaurav:

    A person who has done management studies with a background in computer programming has the required technical skills to become a business analyst. To succeed as a business analyst, the person will also need good communication and interpersonal skills.

  4. Craig Brown on August 19, 2007 4:07 am

    Nice article. For people who want to learn more about the role I have collected a bunch of blog posts on what the role is about

    One comment about pay rates - While I agree entry level people are paid less then technical specialists, I find senior BAs are paid pretty well; similar rates to project managers and architects.

  5. charu on September 13, 2007 7:46 am

    I founf the article relly good.I wanted to know that if a person is appointed as a business analyst.For understanding the requirement well,one should know how to prepare the test cases.Do this,really help BA?

  6. Kingsley Tagbo on September 14, 2007 3:21 am

    Charu:
    Learning how to document business requirements using test cases will definitely fall under the duties, roles and responsibilties of a Business Analyst (BA), so you are right in your analysis.

  7. Vish on September 15, 2007 5:55 am

    Do we have any websites that offer some good online tutorials for BA’s, If Yes could you Please pass them on

    Thanks
    Vish

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