What Is A Business Intelligence Analyst?

Data is becoming increasingly important in everyday work. A passion for data and the ability to positively impact an organization is what makes a business intelligence analyst. His position is to analyze complex data so that he can make a recommendation for the growth of the company.

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Business Intelligence (BI) can also be defined as data analysis or knowledge management. The business intelligence analyst transforms data into insights designed to drive business value. The data will be analyzed and visualized. Data modeling techniques help the BIA identify which departments or team members can help to optimize the processes. By the way, here you can find 5 tools for Business Intelligence.

What Does a Business Intelligence Analyst Do?

The BIA needs a degree of agility to inform and react. The role is to gather and communicate high-value information within the business intelligence system. He uncovers trends and patterns in data. Daily tasks include interacting and collaborating with stakeholders, giving presentations on metrics, and also writing reports to capture findings. The Business Intelligence Analyst compiles data on reported issues and recommends solutions to improve processes and system performance. He or she performs cost-benefit analysis for projects and optimizes the performance of organizations. And consulting with relevant stakeholders is also part of the business intelligence analyst’s responsibilities.

The following activities may be for the BIA to perform:

• Complex reports from existing databases
• Analysis of special projects to identify emerging markets
• Market tests for the introduction of new products and services – Enforcement of improvements
• Creating reports for effective communication of data

Skills You Need as a Business Intelligence Analyst

The skills required are highly dependent on the size and scope of the business. Technical, analytical, and problem-solving skills are required of the BIA. Background knowledge and qualifications in areas such as information technology, data science, and computer engineering are useful. The aim is not to provide specific technical solutions but to provide an understanding of data collection and analysis. The position also requires the use of complex tools and software. Effective communication and knowledge transfer are particularly important here. 

In addition, a marketing-oriented business intelligence analyst needs to know about social media and media analytics tools. 

A Typical Day as a Business Intelligence Analyst

The typical day of a business intelligence analyst is to collect data, analyze it and disseminate the information to the target audience. This can be done in the following way:   

• Data comes from various sources such as industry reports, field reports, or other insights. Therefore, it is helpful to follow relevant technology trends and identify emerging markets.
• The data is stored in a database where it needs to be updated regularly. This is where your skills regarding technical support and software maintenance are needed.
• The next step is to analyze the data that could have an impact on the company’s strategy. Recommendations for action are going to be generated from this data.
• This includes creating reports so that the insights can also be shared with stakeholders.
• You collaborate with other members of the team as well as outsiders at all times.

Salary

The profession of Business Intelligence Analyst became popular in the early 1990s and aims to gain insights that enable better operational and strategic decisions. According to gehalt.de, the average salary of a Business Intelligence Analyst in Germany is about 5,200€ per month and about 65,000€ per year. 

3 Tips for Becoming a Business Intelligence Analyst

1. Acquire Professional Certificate
   • One way to get started is to earn a certificate that shows skills and expertise. For this, various online business analytics courses can serve as preparation. The training courses help in gaining specific knowledge and skills on the tools and techniques needed.
2. Advanced Degree
   • A master’s degree in business analytics can also advance one’s career. Masters focus on different techniques to help businesses understand what their challenges will be in the future. There is also the opportunity to gain additional knowledge about machine learning or cloud computing.
3. Keep Learning
   • For business intelligence analysts, it can be useful to continue learning programming languages and data science tools as well. There are also various options for this, such as online continuing education courses or free resources.