Business analysis has emerged as a separate management skill set distinct from other company skill sets such as financial analysis, project management, quality assurance, and T&D. Business analysis looks at business and attendant processes as a holistic whole, borrowing from a number of other distinct business disciplines to achieve overall business objectives – primarily, profitability.
You will find business analysts in every industry and are usually to be found handling the strategic issues and planning required that ensure business success. Given the amorphous nature of this emergent discipline, there are numerous job descriptions and titles that are all too ready to confuse the unwary.
We have already noted that business analysis (or BA as it is often referred to) draws on many other management disciplines such as financial management and so it should come as no surprise that many practitioners are qualified and experienced in these areas. Applicants for a role in business analysis must possess excellent personal communication skills as well as be highly numerate and literate, possessing an ability to look behind the obvious numbers and data to understand what is driving businesses.
Career opportunities are available at entry level for graduates and those with some business experience though academic entry requirements tend to be extremely high. Experience is valued very highly and many positions require a number of years experience before the applicant will be considered for a position.
Here we will outline the major career paths that are available within the business analysis field.
Business Consultant
A business consultant works at a senior level within an organization, typically within or at boardroom level, and will seek to identify and analyze the business objectives of stakeholders as well as formulating and recommending solutions to business problems and appropriate courses of action to maximize opportunities presented by discrete circumstances.
Business Process Analyst
A business process analyst works on analyzing, identifying, and defining business processes. This is more than a “categorizing” exercise as an integral function of a business process analyst is to formulate potential business processes and compare expected benefits against existing processes as well as variance analysis upon implementation of proposed business processes.
Data Analyst
Data analysts are primarily responsible for constructing the logical data model of a business. This employs a range of skill sets including an ability to interpret business data, understand the underlying cause and effect of business processes and strategies, and the ability to express this in a formal and logical analysis.
Business Architect
A business architect models a business in its entirety using the stated goals and objectives, data process, and the overall organizational structure. A key skill set with business architecture is an ability to relate business processes to a mission objective.
Requirements Analyst/Specifier
We are now moving to more tactical aspects of business analysis roles. A requirements analyst will look to identify and document the business needs and logistical delivery of work process products and requirements to achieve the stated objectives of a business process throughout the project life.
Systems Analyst
Stated business requirements that are identified as required for a project will need to be translated into the on-the-ground system and functional requirements. Application developers will use the functional requirements and ensure that practical logistical delivery of project requirements are met to achieve the overall mission objectives.
Management consultants operate at the most strategic level of a business and usually outside of it as they are brought into a company to look at the overall business with fresh eyes and unfettered by the detail of running a business. They are external consultants brought in to assist stakeholders with identifying and defining strategic goals and determining how they will achieve them and as such are truly “big picture” players in the field of business analysis.
Business Analysis as a Broad Church
It is clear from the varied descriptions of the business analysis roles that a very broad range of skills are utilized to achieve results. Business analysis demands a “big picture” mentality while at the same time an eye for detail is required. A deep understanding of business processes and the environment within which it operates is a necessity, as is the ability to quickly assimilate and manipulate business data beyond simple numbers.
Academic and professional qualifications are obviously an important aspect of the role, however the ability to communicate and understand what people at every level of a business are communicating is extremely crucial. It is the ability to understand the relevance and impact of data — whether it be a grumbling staffer or a complex sensitivity analysis model — in the context of the overall business framework that separates business analysts from other management practitioners.
Business analysts serve to translate the gap that exists between a business vision and the physical and practical resources that are required in order to achieve that vision. It should be no surprise to find that business analysts work at the most senior levels of an organization and with the most influential and powerful people in industry and commerce.
Conclusion
Business analysts are found in every industry and principally at senior levels within a company. Business analysis draws on a very wide range of skills and management disciplines. The work is all-embracing and provides an extremely interesting career path.
Entry level positions are available for graduates as well as more senior positions for those who have the business experience and acumen to operate at such strategic levels within an organization. Business analysts are dealing with the direction a business takes and its ability to maximize opportunities and minimize threats to the profitability of a commercial enterprise.
The work is extremely interesting and demanding, though the financial rewards are high with many practitioners in demand as businesses increasingly appreciate the broad skills and experience that practitioners possess. The ability to identify business situations and apply judgment and experience to steer a company through to profitability are highly valued, allowing many practitioners to occupy the senior most positions in the nation’s largest companies.
