Business Intelligence Analyst Explained

Information is one of the critical resources of modern times. In the context of business operation, useful information is called business intelligence. Today, almost everything is about gathering business intelligence to gain a competitive advantage. 

But you can’t gather data and expect it to work wonders on its own. It doesn’t work that way. To use the insights and make the most of it – you need a trained employee – a business intelligence analyst.

The problem is that not everyone understands what these folks are doing.

In this article, we will explain what a BI analyst is and how it contributes to the business operation. 

What is a business intelligence analyst?

A business intelligence analyst is a specialist who works with data analytics applications to: 

1. interpret the incoming data gathered by machine learning algorithms;
2. extract relevant insights out of it; 
3. use insights for the business operation. 

The term “business intelligence” refers to data sets formed by data mining and analysis applications. It includes valuable information for specific business operations. Business intelligence also informs particular business development goals. The information may affect the business operations and contribute to the decision-making process.

There are two types of Business intelligence:

• Internal – gathered from the enterprise systems like SAP or ORACLE and also drawn from other data capture systems within the company and its products.
• External – gathered from outside sources, such as market surveys, competitor analysis, or open-source data analysis

Business intelligence analyst is the one who

• handles it
• determines whether it is worthwhile
• and organizes it into a cohesive form

In a way, it is like turning coal (all gathered data) into diamonds (valuable insights).

You might ask, “machine learning algorithms can do that too, why bother with hiring an extra person?” Well, automated machine learning algorithms are capable of gathering and extracting data. It is not that simple. ML applications produce a significant amount of data that still requires a close assessment. You can’t throw it in as it is – you need to find relevant insights. 

In a way, the business intelligence analyst serves as a filter for the incoming information. BI is the person who goes through the data and identifies relevant and useful insights hidden in it. 

Machine learning algorithms gather information and cluster it into groups. Then business intelligence analyst identifies what patterns mean for business and how one should react to them.

A great example of BI in action is determining patterns in customer activity. It lays down how the whole thing works. For example, you have an eCommerce marketplace. And there is a significant spike in demand for pumpkins. BI analyst ties this data with the real world. And then, BI determines that need is motivated by Halloween later in the month. It means there should be more pumpkins in the supply chain to meet the product demand.  

What are business intelligence analyst skills & qualifications?

Speaking of skills. Business Intelligence Analyst performs analytical and problem-solving operations. How to become a business intelligence analyst? This position requires expertise in the following: 

1. Information Technology
2. Data Science
3. Computer Engineering (to operate tools, etc.)
4. Besides, BI analyst should understand the way the industry works.

The other important thing is communication skills. BI data analyst job contributes to the decision-making process. This person communicates information in an accessible manner to keep everybody on the same page.

What does a business intelligence analyst do?

BI analyst is to support the decision-making process with quality informational support. 

Business Intelligence Analyst’s work includes the following fields:

• Understanding the current state of things in the company and on the market
• Identifying the scope of the data analysis operation
• How much data is managed? How much information is available out there (i.e., available sources)?
• What types of data are available?
• How reliable is gathered data? How available is the data within the system?
• Is the information presented in the accessible form (i.e., visualized)?
• Applying the technology for data capture, storage, and processing.

Activity-wise, business intelligence analyst responsibilities include the following:

• Presenting relevant insights to those responsible for the decision making 
• Communicating current business requirements throughout the company or project
• Managing Business Intelligence databases
• Running various reports from the available databases;
• Managing BI tools and assessing their performance
• Testing the consistency of business intelligence with the current goals
• Performing the competitor analysis 
• Following relevant industry trends and check their relevance for the business goals
• Exploring the possibilities for improvement and cost reduction for the company’s data infrastructure

Benefits of Business Intelligence Analyst

Making data actionable

Making data actionable is one of the primary business intelligence analyst requirements. Pretty much every aspect of the business intelligence analyst job is aimed at that.

Business intelligence analysts serve as a bridge between the data and business goals. Together they cause the reaction in the form of valuable insight. 

Omit, making data actionable means: 

• overseeing the data gathering process
• performing data analysis 
• determining the value of available insights 
• presenting them in an accessible form

The thing with data is that you gather it as much as you like. It only starts to matter when you make sense of it within your specific context, determine its real value, and make decisions based on that. 

Technical Skill

Handling the information and determining its value is only one of the aspects of a BI analyst’s job. Assessing the effectiveness of data gathering and storage and figuring out the best way of doing it is another aspect. 

After all, it is tough to maintain an effective operation if your systems are: 

• lacking certain features (like streaming visualization), 
• inadequate for the current business needs (gathering customer feedback for competition study)
• unable to scale operation on an individual level. 

The BIA’s indirect responsibilities are keeping the system up to date and on the same page with the current business needs. 

For the most part, the need for updates or other changes manifests itself through the results of data analysis. It shows when the data is consistent or lacking certain features. 

Besides data analysis itself, a business intelligence analyst often serves as a system tester and auditor. This activity contributes to the next system updates or even overhauls. 

Identifying Weak Spots and Possible Threats

Identifying insights and determining their value to the business does not always mean finding the good stuff. Sometimes it means finding out the lousy batch too. 

That is the part of the Business Intelligence Analyst’s job that involves serious problems. This process includes:

• Recognizing the issues with the business operation. For example, the bottleneck in the customer support pipeline.
• Identifying weak points within the business process. For example, the system can’t process that many requests because it lacks proper scalability.
• Determining the influence of possible factors (like inconsistent or misleading data)
• Predicting the impact of outside threats (like server shutdown)

BIA’s main goal is to provide the full scope of available data for decision making – whether it is good or bad. The fact of the matter is – you need to know what is going on. And when the problem occurs, you need to understand its reason and find a way of fixing it. 

Conclusion

Companies can collect lots of different available data on a massive scale. Social media platforms, mobile applications, and websites have become business intelligence sources. 

At this point, a business intelligence analyst is one of the integral parts of any modern business operation. 

These are the people that can turn the tide and steer the wheel in the right direction. This aspect creates a significant demand for qualified specialists. Besides, this creates the need for what a Business Intelligence analyst is doing.