Introduction
In the age of generative AI, the role of a business analyst has become more critical than ever. As organizations navigate through complex data and market trends, these professionals are the linchpins in translating data insights into actionable business strategies. Recent studies reveal an escalating demand for business analysts, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicting a 14% growth from 2020 to 2030, faster than the average for all occupations. This surge is not contingent on traditional educational paths; rather, it highlights an emerging trend where practical, skills-focused training, like that offered by Dataquest in Power BI and Tableau, can efficiently prepare individuals for this dynamic field within 3–4 months.
Who is a Business Analyst?
A business analyst bridges the gap between IT and the business, using data analytics to assess processes, determine requirements, and deliver data-driven recommendations and reports to executives and stakeholders. Over the past five years, their role has evolved from traditional data analysis to a more strategic position that involves critical thinking, problem-solving, and influencing business decisions through data insights.
The Top 8 Business Analytics Job Roles with Salaries
1. Entry-level Business Analyst
Entry-level Business Analysts are often assigned to simpler or well-defined tasks and projects. They may assist with data gathering, documentation, and basic analysis. They focus on learning the basics of the role and the specific processes of their organization. They have limited interaction with clients or stakeholders and are often in more of a supportive role.
Salary: $55K–$86K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Involve in gathering and analyzing data for potential business expansion.
- Participating with stakeholders to support business projects.
- Coordinating with different departmental teams to produce better business outcomes .
- Write clear and well-structured business requirements/documents.
- Creating reports, dashboards, and visualizations to understand business performance.
Skills:
- Basic understanding of business analysis methodologies and frameworks.
- Knowledge on data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Knowledge of SQL or other database querying languages.
- Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills.
2. Business Analyst
Business Analysts have a broader scope of responsibilities. They work to understand the overall business needs, identify problems or opportunities, and propose solutions. They often bridge the gap between business stakeholders and technology teams, ensuring that projects align with business objectives.
Salary: $75K–$115K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Analyze data from multiple sources to identify trends and process gaps.
- Improve data quality and enable consolidated reporting using BI tools.
- Create customized reports and dashboards for operational teams.
- Develop resources for data-driven insights and efficiency improvements.
- Quantify opportunities and support strategic planning.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams.
Skills:
- Proficiency in Excel, SQL, and data visualization tools.
- Exposure to Python, R, Git, and DBT is a plus.
- Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills.
- Ability to balance attention to detail with swift execution and autonomy.
3. Business Intelligence Analyst
BI Analysts primarily focus on analyzing data to provide insights and generate actionable reports and dashboards. They often work with historical data and focus on reporting and dashboard creation. Their main goal is to assist organizations in making data-driven decisions by extracting valuable information from large datasets.
Salary: $80K–$115K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Manage and optimize a central data warehouse.
- Create and maintain datasets, pipelines, and relationships.
- Coordinating with different departmental teams to produce better business outcomes
- Write clear and well-structured business requirements/documents
- Creating reports, dashboards, and visualizations to understand business performance
Skills:
- Basic understanding of business analysis methodologies and frameworks.
- Knowledge on data visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Knowledge of SQL or other database querying languages.
- Strong communication, organizational, and analytical skills.
4. Business Data Analyst
Business Data Analysts specialize in working with data to provide insights and support data-driven decision-making. They may work with a broader range of data sources and focus on analyzing current data to inform real-time or near-real-time decisions.
Salary: $75K–$112K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Analyze current data to identify actionable insights.
- Utilize statistical and data analysis techniques.
- Ensure data quality and accuracy.
- Collaborate with business stakeholders to define analytical requirements.
- May work on data engineering tasks, data cleansing, or data transformation.
Skills:
- Data cleaning, analysis, and visualization skills.
- Proficiency in statistical analysis and data management.
- Knowledge of reporting packages and databases.
- Strong Excel skills.
- Critical thinking and attention to detail.
- Effective communication.
- Problem-solving and teamwork.
5. IT Business Analyst
IT Business Analysts are essential intermediaries between the IT department and business units within an organization. They analyze IT systems and processes, translating business needs into technical requirements, and ensuring IT projects align with overall business goals.
Salary: $82K–$127K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Analyze and improve IT systems and processes.
- Gather and document business requirements for IT projects.
- Facilitate communication between technical teams and stakeholders.
- Ensure IT projects align with business objectives.
- Evaluate the impact of IT changes on business processes.
- Perform data analysis to support decision-making.
- Test and validate IT solutions.
- Provide training and support to end-users.
Skills:
- Proficiency in data analysis, including data cleansing, transformation.
- Strong understanding of the SDLC.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Technical expertise in databases and IT infrastructure.
- Problem-solving and critical thinking.
- Familiarity with business analysis methodologies.
- Experience with SQL for data querying and manipulation.
- Business acumen to align IT solutions with organizational goals.
6. Business System Analyst
Business Systems Analysts play a crucial role in streamlining business processes and ensuring that technology solutions meet the needs of the organization. They are responsible for analyzing an organization's business processes and identifying technology solutions to improve efficiency and productivity. They bridge the gap between business needs and IT capabilities.
Salary: $88K–$128K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Collaborate with business stakeholders to understand and document requirements.
- Analyze existing systems and processes to identify areas for improvement.
- Translate business requirements into technical specifications.
- Recommend and implement technology solutions.
- Ensure that IT projects align with business goals.
- Test and validate system changes.
- Provide training and support to end-users.
- Stay updated on industry trends and technologies.
Skills:
- Proficiency in data analysis and data modeling.
- Strong understanding of business processes and IT systems.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Technical expertise in software and systems.
- Problem-solving and critical thinking.
- Project management abilities.
- Familiarity with business analysis methodologies.
- Knowledge of databases and data querying languages.
- Business acumen to align technology solutions with organizational goals.
7. Financial Business Analyst
Financial Business Analysts play a critical role in guiding financial decisions and ensuring the financial health of the organization. They examine financial data, assess investment opportunities, and provide insights to guide financial planning.
Salary: $88K–$127K/yr (Glassdoor)
Responsibilities:
- Analyze financial data to identify trends and opportunities.
- Assess the financial impact of business decisions and investments.
- Create financial models and forecasts.
- Provide insights to guide financial planning and strategy.
- Collaborate with finance and business teams to understand requirements.
- Prepare reports and presentations for senior management.
- Stay updated on financial regulations and industry trends.
Skills:
- Proficiency in financial modeling and analysis.
- Strong understanding of financial markets and instruments.
- Excellent quantitative and analytical skills.
- Knowledge of financial software and tools.
- Advanced Excel skills.
- Effective communication and presentation abilities.
- Attention to detail and accuracy.
8. AI Business Analyst
AI Business Analysts play a pivotal role in harnessing the power of AI to drive innovation and improve business outcomes. They specialize in leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to solve business problems. Tjey work with data scientists and business stakeholders to identify AI opportunities and implement AI solutions.
Salary: $93K–$102K/yr (ZipRecruiter)
Responsibilities:
- Collaborate with business stakeholders to identify AI opportunities.
- Analyze data and assess its suitability for AI applications.
- Work with data scientists to develop AI models.
- Evaluate the impact of AI solutions on business processes.
- Ensure compliance with AI ethics and regulations.
- Communicate AI insights and benefits to non-technical stakeholders.
- Stay updated on AI trends and technologies.
Skills:
- Understanding of artificial intelligence and machine learning concepts.
- Proficiency in data analysis and data manipulation.
- Strong collaboration and communication skills.
- Business acumen to identify AI opportunities.
- Knowledge of AI ethics and regulations.
- Ability to translate technical AI concepts for non-technical stakeholders.
How to Prepare for These Roles?
To break into these roles, aspiring business analysts should focus on developing key data skills. The Dataquest Business Analyst path, offering specialized tracks in "Power BI" and " Tableau", is an excellent starting point. This curriculum is specifically designed to equip learners with crucial data skills within a 3-4 month timeframe.
Skills covered include:
- Data Visualization: Understanding how to effectively present data using tools like Power BI and Tableau.
- Statistical Analysis: Mastering the techniques for interpreting and analyzing data sets.
- Data Cleaning and Preparation: Learning how to process and organize data for analysis.
- SQL and Database Knowledge: Gaining proficiency in SQL for querying and managing data.
- Python for Data Analysis: Leveraging Python's libraries like Pandas and NumPy for data manipulation and analysis.
- Business Intelligence Tools Proficiency: Developing expertise in using BI tools for data aggregation and reporting.
These skills are not only taught theoretically but also applied in guided projects that simulate real business scenarios. The Dataquest Business Analyst paths include several guided projects that are designed to apply key data skills in realistic scenarios. Here are some of the projects and the skills they focus on:
- Preparing Data with Excel: This project hones skills in data organization, cleaning, and consolidation, preparing it for further analysis.
- Visualizing the Answer to Stock Questions Using Spreadsheet Chart: This project applies skills in presenting stock data clearly, helping to answer crucial questions about the underlying data.
- Identifying Customers Likely to Churn for a Telecommunications Provider: Focusing on Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), this project creates customer profiles for a telecommunications provider, identifying those at risk of churn.
- Analyzing Retail Sales::This involves working with retail sales data to explore trends, relationships, and building basic models to confirm statistical significance of insights.
- Modeling Data in Power BI: This project applies data cleaning and data model building skills to real-world scenarios.
- Visualization of Life Expectancy and GDP Variation Over Time: Learners apply their skills to a real-world database, focusing on visualizing complex data sets.
These projects not only enhance practical skills in data analysis and visualization but also help in building a strong, relevant portfolio showcasing real-world application of the skills learned through the course. This hands-on experience is invaluable for those looking to establish themselves in the field of business analysis.
Conclusion
The importance of business analysts in 2024 cannot be overstated. With diverse opportunities across sectors and the potential for significant career growth, it's an exciting time to enter this field. For those aspiring to join this dynamic profession, Dataquest's "Business Analyst with Power BI" and "Business Analyst with Tableau" courses offer a robust foundation to kickstart your journey in business analysis.
If you are looking to get certified, our Business Analyst with Power will prepare you for the official Microsoft Power BI Data Analyst certification (PL-300)
Learning business analysis and AI doesn't need to be difficult. Completing these courses will not only enhance your resume but also your portfolio, setting you apart in the competitive job market.
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