Curious about a Business Intelligence Analyst Job? Here is your guide!

Introduction to the Business Industry

Have you ever wondered how India spread her wings after the painful and gruesome partition of 1947? How it walked on the path that progressed through 1951 which welcomed the five-year development plan, 1956 which saw the industrial policy revolution, 1991 which saw the abrogation of Licence Raj and the implementation of the LPG policy and finally 2016, when Start-up India came to life. All these initiatives were the steps our governments took to revolutionise the business industry. India and its business sector is a beautiful art painted by its communities. Sindhis, Gujratis and many more such communities share the piece of that business they built decades ago- businesses that set the foundation of India’s progress.

The business sector saw a whopping success for its potential to attract investments such as the Investor’s Summit. Businesses bring growth and prosperity to a nation’s economy. They are challenging and come with a multitude of responsibilities that are often so tricky to manage that they fail even the most brilliant ideas. What a business requires is not only a solid idea that keeps it together but also a professional who has the acumen for it. A professional who understands the ABCs of the most difficult aspects of a business. This is the work of a business intelligence analyst. In a world where change is the only constant, we need to frequently keep up with the trends. It demands an eye for detail, and an understanding of the dynamics of different industries and how they are interconnected. Additionally, how politics works, and how it affects our businesses is also an important consideration.

The growth of a business can never afford to be gradual to a point where it drains all its monetary assets. It is an investment that requires a seamless decision-making ability. Investing money is not the only kind of investment. It is accompanied by investing time, human resources, ideas, land, equipment, and extensive research. Perhaps, that’s why start-ups are not everyone’s cup of tea. They need a lot more than money to convert into successful businesses. Therefore, an industry can be very harsh and unforgiving if a business does not deliver what it promises. To stand up to that promise, a business requires analysis and data that are both managed by a Business Intelligence Analyst to ensure its growth. Let us try to understand this role and its responsibilities.

Understanding the Roles & Responsibilities Of A Business Intelligence Analyst:

Here are the roles and responsibilities a Business Intelligence Analyst  has to play:

1. Gathering information: The process begins by gathering all the information of the business. This information concerns the financial position, personal details, daily, monthly and yearly expenses and the revenue model with its reports. This helps the analyst to:

   • Understand where the business stands in terms of its finances

   • What are the fundamental flaws in its model and how to rectify them to grow

   • What are the goals that drive the business and how to meet them

2. Getting together: After extracting the necessary information, the next step is to get together all the reports and search for any potential problems that need remedies. This would ensure the smooth and seamless functioning of a business. Additionally, when the finances remain under check, it will also impact how well it manages the costs and the maximum benefit that can be derived from them to optimise the business’s performance.

3. Work and collaboration: Changes can be drafted by one, but need to be implemented by many. Therefore, a business intelligence analyst has to work as a catalyst in coordinating with the other employees or members to implement the changes. This process also involves checks and balances. Therefore, checking if the changes being implemented are yielding positive results is integral. This also involves accessing the resources in every form that can help us achieve the result desired.

4. Setting the target: A business cannot function without a set target. It needs strategies. It needs a leader and a seamless interaction between its stakeholders to work on the drafting and execution of these strategies. This leads to planning, and presenting it to the entire team to welcome any suggestions or highlight the errors before finally implementing them.

How Do You Become A Business Intelligence Analyst?

1. Qualifying as one: Typically, a certification that specifically emphasises Business Intelligence Analytics can help. You can also pursue a bachelor’s or a master’s degree that teaches you more about critical thinking and its significance in a business. There might not be a specifically designed degree for such courses but to master these skills, you should primarily focus on subjects like mathematics, data science and finance. Furthermore, a master’s degree in either of these three subjects or an MBA can work like a cherry on the cake!

2. Skills to the rescue: What a degree can’t give you, a skill always can! It prepares you for experiences. You can focus on developing skills such as:

3. Data Visualisation: There are certain tools such as Power BI by Microsoft or Tableau by Tableau software that you can learn to be more efficient. These tools are popularly used by Business Intelligence analysts to:

   • Collecting and analysing the data for a business to help them make decisions accurately.

   • Creating charts, and maintaining dashboards that keep track of the performance.

   • Maintaining charts and infographics that represent the data.

   The sole reason to learn these tools is to be able to understand how to break complex data into simpler formats to represent it to the organisation.

4. Language proficiency: While your verbal language also requires polishing, programming languages are equally important. These may not be absolutely necessary for you to qualify as a business intelligence analyst but they are definitely helpful in contributing to your profile. Languages such as Python or R can be studied to learn more about data analysis. This also gives you and your profile a competitive advantage. Learning an additional skill can help you tackle different responsibilities without much hassle. You can also take certification courses for such languages.

What Are The Job Profiles Of A Business Intelligence Analyst?

Here are the job profiles of a Business Intelligence Analyst, their descriptions, and the salary offered. The salary figures can vary depending on the job profile, recruiter, qualifications, educational background, experience, and skills.

Colleges that Provide Courses on Business Intelligence Analyst:

Here is a list of courses if you aspire to become a Business Intelligence Analyst.

Who Are The Leading Recruiters For Business Intelligence Analysts?

Key Takeaways

Whether you call it business intelligence, data analysis, data scientist or business intelligence architect, the core of all these professions remains similar. They all involve the work of data and an extensive decision-making process to ensure that a business functions smoothly with minimum to no risk that can potentially hamper its progress. Therefore, the analysis of its finances, its decisions and its history is made while keeping its goals in mind. An analyst has to dig much deeper into a business and its expandable scope to make sure the planning is accurate and the implementation is much simpler. Today, in a world of rapidly growing businesses and start-ups specifically, it is important to keep pace with the competition. Joining a business that has already been set up can be equally tricky.

Whether or not you have your own business, you can always join someone who you can help and guide with respect to their business and decisions. Similarly, you can also work for companies in different job profiles that can help you understand the functioning of different industries better. And that’s all, apart from the basic educational qualifications and experience, all you need is a keen eye for detail and a tinge of confidence.

All the best!

FAQs

Q.1 What are the four concepts of business intelligence?

The four concepts of Business Intelligence are

1. Data Collection

2. Data Analysis

3. Data Visualisation

4. Data-based decision making

Q,2 What is the other name for business intelligence?

The other name for business intelligence is business analytics. The two professions involve the analysis of data and decision-making on the basis of the same to ensure the successful operation of the business. Business analytics can also be understood as a broad term that includes business intelligence as well.

Q.3 Is business intelligence a part of artificial intelligence?

Both AI and BI are different from each other. In terms of analysis and decision-making for the business, however, they can be interchangeably used. Business intelligence, unlike AI, also involves coordination and consulting.

Q.4 Which company uses business intelligence?

Business intelligence is used in multiple forms such as a business intelligence manager, consultant and business intelligence architect by different companies such as Google, Oracle, Accenture, Deloitte and many more. Every business should ideally make data-based decisions for a seamless result.

Q.5 Who coined the term Business Intelligence or who found Business Intelligence?

Howard Dresdner, of the Gartner Group, contributed to coining the term business intelligence in 1989.