Is the job of a Business Analyst a Technical Job?

Many people often wonder what a technical job is; and at the same time, many people confuse the meaning of a technical job for something else. Technical jobs are jobs that require hard skills for effective implementation. These hard skills are used to perform a particular task in a business or an organization. Also, business analysts are responsible for making, validating and analyzing various requirements that can cause changes in information policies, company policies and business processes. The same way people misunderstand technical jobs is the same way they also misunderstand the duties of a business analyst.

In this tutorial, we shall be looking at business analysis as a career and we will see if it can also be regarded as a technical job.

Technology as a field is an important aspect in modern business activities. But there are still areas where technological processes do not apply. This is where a business analyst is involved, as he/she closes the space between technology and business. In simple terms, we can say that a business analyst examines and detects hidden issues that create problems for a business.

Business analysts are now seen as key personnel in business organizations. This is because they are able to extract useful information from seemingly useless ones. The ideology of people thinking that business analysts are only employed to create income is misguided, as they also take decisions that can leave a huge impact on the growth of the business. Some of the Industries where business analysts are present include Banking, Telecommunications, Software services, Government agencies, Finance, Utilities and so on.

Roles played by a Business Analyst

There are various sections in a modern business organization in which the role of a business analyst can be utilized. This explains why there are various roles that a business analyst can play depending on the nature of the business organization. Some of these roles include Business Process Analyst, System Analyst, Business System Analyst, Data Analyst, Functional Architect, IT Business Analyst and Usability or UX Analyst. In a modern organization, these roles can be divided into two; Business analyst and Technical Business analyst. The Business analyst is in charge of sourcing for business changes, examining the effect of changes, inspecting and recording the necessities of the changes. The Technical Business analyst on the other hand is in charge of documenting the designs of the computer systems. They also make sure procedures are put in place so that adequate information can be given on business applications and systems.

Skills Possessed by a Good Business Analyst

For an individual to have a successful career in business analysis, there are four major characteristics that must be possessed. They include:

1. Business Process and planning: A good business analyst must be able to plan the entirety of a project objective. Also, he/she must identify the required resources required for a given project, and finally, he/she must understand and implement the requirement of the project.
2. Leadership Skills: A good business analyst must also possess leadership qualities. Examples of these leadership skills are in the form of assisting fellow team members, forecasting  
3. Analytical Skills: The level of analytical skills possessed by a business analyst determines the overall qualities that he/she possesses. Examples of these analytical skills include analyzing workflow, analyzing documents, analyzing data, analyzing user or stakeholder inputs and so on.
4. Technical Skills: For organizations involving Information Technology (IT), there are a few technical qualities that a good business analyst must possess. Aspects of Information Technology where technical skills include hardware capacities, networking, operating systems, Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) model, Database operations and concepts. 

For a technical business analyst, there are also certain skills that must be possessed in a business organization. They include:

1. System Analysis: a good technical business analyst must be able to perform system analysis. This means that a technical business analyst must be able to analyze enterprise and system architecture.  The information gotten from the business model should be well interpreted so that an advanced model can be worked upon when the need arises.
2. Data Analysis: The process of purifying, examining, styling and transforming data with the sole purpose of locating essential information that can be used to reinforce decision making. A technical business analyst must be able to perform data analysis. A good business analyst must also be able to correct faulty data when the need arises and to give useful information from the tonnes of data that is collected.

Certifications in Business Analysis

For an individual to have a successful business analysis career, it is important to have some recognized certifications. According to the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), the recognized certificate for a professional business analyst is the Certificate Business Analysis Professional (CBAP). Other organizations that provide certifications include IQBBA, Project Management Institute (PMI) and the International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB). The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) produces two kinds of certificates. They include:

1. Certificate of Competency in business analysis: The pre-requisite for the attainment of this certificate is a minimum of 3750-hour worth of work experience.
2. Certificate for Business Analysis Profession: The pre-requisite for the attainment of this certificate is a minimum of 7500-hour worth of work experience. This is a senior-level certification.

Other certificates given to business analysts by these organizations include:

1. IIBA Certificate of competency in Business Analysis (CCBA)
2. IIBA Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA)
3. IIBA Agile Analysis Certification (AAC)
4.  IREB Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE)
5. IQBBA Certified Foundation Level Business Analyst (CFLBA)
6. PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PBA)

Jobs in Business Analysis

The number of jobs that require business analysts is on an annual increase. In the case of the Technical business analyst especially jobs in the Information Technology (IT) sector, there is always a considerable increase in the number of jobs created on a yearly basis. According to the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), the rate of growth in terms of jobs created is exponential which means there is an increasing demand of business analysts and technical business analysts. Statistically, based on the United States Bureau of Labour Statistics, the job growth rate is expected to increase by a percentage of 19% between the year 2012 and year 2022. To date, the role of business analyst remains a major role in business organizations because of their close working relationship with other top stakeholders, executives and clients. 

Salaries of a Business Analyst

According to data retrieved from PayScale, the average salary of a technical business analyst working in an Information Technology (IT) organization is about $67,792 annually. In the United States, the state with the highest-paid business analyst is San Francisco. In San Francisco, the average salary received by a business analyst is about 28% more than the national average salary received by a business analyst in the USA. The state with the second-highest salary is New York, with a reported salary higher than the average national salary by 18%. Boston is the state that comes third with a salary higher than the average national salary by 7%.

Since there are various job roles under Business Analysis, the salaries earned by this personnel vary depending on the status of the job roles. The salaries are shown below:

The above data is sourced from PayScale, an American data and software company helping employers of labour to manage their employee’s compensation thereby making them understand their value. The salaries listed above are on a yearly basis and they depend on the nature of the company status.

Conclusion

Business Analyst as a job is an emerging role in modern business organizations which cuts across various layers of the organizational structure. As an individual intending to take up business analysis as a career, there are several business analyst courses for beginners available online, you can sign up for one to begin your journey. Since business analysis is useful also in Information Technology companies and is divided into Technical Business Analysis into some sectors; and in both of the scenarios, the use of technical skills is involved, then we can say in some way that Business Analyst jobs are also regarded as Technical Jobs.