Introduction:
In the corporate and IT industries, business analytics has matured into a fundamental business discipline. Its main goals include recognizing and analyzing changing business demands, assessing their impact, defining and documenting requirements, and improving communication among all stakeholders. A Business Analyst’s job is quite similar to that of a Project Manager.
Business analysts serve as a bridge between the IT and business sections of a corporation, ensuring profitability and long-term viability. Corporate Analysis comes to the rescue when traditional methodologies fail to meet the changing needs of today’s complicated corporate world. Business Analysts help companies improve their processes and product/service quality while assuring timely delivery of client deliverables, thanks to their experience, agility, and passion for innovation.
What is Business Analyst?
The process of utilizing quantitative approaches to generate meaning from data in order to make educated business decisions is known as business analytics.
Business analysis can be done in four different ways:
- Descriptive: The process of interpreting historical data in order to spot trends and patterns.
- Diagnostic: The process of analysing past data to determine the cause of an event.
- Predictive analytics is the application of statistics to estimate future outcomes.
- Prescriptive: Using testing and other methods to determine which conclusion will yield the best outcome in a certain situation.
Business analytics combines excellent communication and problem-solving skills to turn data insights into knowledge that executives can understand.
Business intelligence, a related area, analyses data to help a company understand and inform itself. In terms of objectives, what is the difference between business analytics and business intelligence? While both professions use data to answer questions, business intelligence focuses on how an organization got to where it is now. This includes measuring and tracking important performance metrics (KPIs.) Company analytics, on the other hand, uses prediction models to disclose the impact of planned changes in order to inform company adjustments.
Challenges of business analytics:
- There are too many data sources – There is a growing number of internet-connected gadgets that generate commercial data. They are frequently producing various forms of data that must be integrated into an analytics plan. However, the more complicated a data set is, the more difficult it is to use it in an analytics framework.
- Lack of abilities – Employees with the data analytic abilities required to process BA data are in high demand. Some firms, particularly small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), may find it difficult to find personnel with the necessary BA knowledge and abilities.
- Limitations on data storage – Before deciding how to process data, a company must first select where to store it. A data lake, for example, can be used to store vast amounts of unstructured data.
Roles and Responsibilities of Business Analytics
Business analytics professionals’ major responsibility is to collect and analyze data in order to influence a company’s strategic decisions. Some of the initiatives for which they may provide analyses are as follows:
- Identifying strategic possibilities based on data trends;
- Identifying possible business problems and solutions;
- Developing a budget and business projection;
- Tracking progress on business initiatives; reporting progress on business objectives to stakeholders;
- KPIs must be understood, as well as regulatory and reporting requirements.
Required Essential Skills of Business Analytics
Hard and soft skills are required of business analysts. A business analyst does not need to be an expert in IT, but they must understand how systems interact. Some business analysts make the transition from an IT-focused career to a BA role.
Employers often look for the following skills when hiring for these positions:
- Cost-benefit analysis;
- Process modeling;
- Stakeholder analysis;
- Analytical problem-solving;
- Oral and written communication skills;
- A basic understanding of IT systems, especially databases;
- Capacity to generate visual representations of data;
- Detail-oriented; knowledge with BA tools and software; and
- Ability to produce visual representations of data
Qualification & Experience
Working as a business analyst requires a bachelor’s degree, with a master’s degree desirable. A career as a Business Analyst is well-suited to people with strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, interpersonal, and team-management abilities. While technical skills vary by organization and industry, a Business Analyst should have a working knowledge of C#, .Net, Oracle, PL/SQL, and MS Office. The following are the three steps to become a business analyst:
- Obtain a master’s or bachelor’s degree in the field of your choice – For entry-level positions in business analytics, a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management is highly desirable. Taking specialized accounting, management, or marketing courses could assist hopefuls prepare for an analytics career in their chosen industry.
- Get some job experience – if you’re applying for entry-level positions, look for internship possibilities at prestigious companies. Candidates with backgrounds in finance, marketing, human resource management, information technology, and other related industries are eligible to apply for entry-level positions in Business Analytics.
- Obtain a Certificate in Business Analytics – A professional who obtains a Business Analytics certification is considered an expert Business Analyst. When hiring for Business Analyst positions, several organizations demand certification in Business Analytics.
Salary of Business Analytics
Salary in India –
A Business Analyst’s salary in India is decided by a number of factors, including the organization’s size and reputation, the job title, location, academic requirements, and experience. TCS, Amazon, Accenture, Deloitte, and other well-known companies pay higher salaries. On the other hand, candidates from reputed institutes/business schools earn more than their counterparts. This holds true for employment experience as well: the more you have, the higher your market value.
Source – Payscale
Salary Based on Popular Companies – The top firms paying Business Analysts include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Accenture, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), and Capgemini. Capgemini and TCS pay around Rs. 7,03,178 and Rs. 696,132 per year, respectively, while Accenture pays an average of Rs. 7,04,965 per year. With average annual salary of Rs. 5,21,246, Rs. 5,79,188, and Rs. 6,02,435, HCL, Wipro, and CSC are among the lowest-paid firms.
Salary packages from well-known e-commerce companies like Amazon are likewise very good. A Business Analyst’s annual salary at Amazon in India ranges from Rs. 3,28,484 to Rs. 17,83,171, with senior-level positions paying the most.
Source – Payscale
Salary Based on Experience – For entry-level positions, salaries typically vary from Rs. 3,50,000 to Rs. 5,00,000. For example, a Business Analyst with less than one year of experience may expect to earn around Rs 3,59,807 per year (including gratuities, incentives, and overtime pay). People with 1-4 years of experience can earn as much as Rs 5,27,712 per year as a business analyst.
Pay rises in direct proportion to one’s level of experience. A Senior Business Analyst with over 15 years of experience can expect to make around Rs 12,09,787, while a Business Analyst with 5 to 9 years of experience can expect to earn around Rs 8,30,975. As you progress, your remuneration increases to Rs. 16,54,946.
Source – Payscale
Salary Based on Location – Salary packages differ significantly based on where you work. In Pune and Bangalore, for example, business analysts earn 17.7% and 12.9 percent more than the national average, respectively. Noida (8.2 percent less), Chennai (5.2 percent less), and Hyderabad have the lowest starting pay (4.2 percent less).
Source – Payscale
Final Words
To summarize, Business Analysts are well compensated in India. Companies in the IT and e-commerce sectors pay well to eligible candidates who can contribute value to their organizations. In addition to the regular academic qualifications and professional experience, advanced Business Analysis credentials can help you achieve high-paying professions.
