Big Data Means Big Data Analytics
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Big data is changing the way businesses operate. If analyzed and leveraged correctly, big data can help companies cut costs, become more efficient, improve pricing, increase sales and customer loyalty, and more, according to Industrius CFO.1 Business analysts can help companies use big data to their advantage and avoid the pitfalls that come with its mismanagement.
What Role Do Business Analysts Play in Business Data Analytics, and How Do Companies Benefit?
In business data analytics, those use practice good business analysis use a specific set of techniques, procedures, and competencies to perform the continuous exploration, iteration, and investigation of past and current business data. They do this for the primary purpose of gaining insights about a business that can lead to improved decision-making. This enables professionals experienced with analysis to better support organizations and meet companies’ business analysis needs.
Business analysts’ data analysis skills enable them to play a major role in the management of big data. Robert Half stated, “The advent of big data promises to breathe new life into the business analyst job description, opening new avenues of responsibilities and corresponding increases in salaries.”2 Some of these responsibilities include:
- Translating data rapidly into value-add information
- Meeting the reporting needs of businesses
- Ensuring business data is verifiable
- Making sense of data and communicating its meaning to clients
- Filtering out irrelevant data to prevent customers from getting overloaded with information
In addition to analyzing big data and performing technical tasks, a business analyst can help businesses get the most from their data by ensuring company leaders are setting the right expectations for ROI goals.
How Business Analysts Can Help Companies Keep Big-Data Projects On Track
Big-data projects can be all-consuming. When team members don’t see results in the timeframe they anticipate, they can become discouraged and frustrated. In addition to analyzing big data and performing technical tasks, one way Business Analysts can help companies keep big-data projects on track is by recommending that company leaders set realistic return-on-investment goals. A contributor to TechRepublic gave an example of this: “Server utilization for big data can approach 90-100 percent. In contrast, transaction processing servers might only be active at 20-30 percent of capacity. This is what IT should be talking about when it comes to big data return on investment.”2 Likewise, this is what the analysis industry should be talking about with organizational leaders.
Get Certified in Business Data Analytics and Advance Your Career
Big data means big data analytics. As big data expands, so will the practice of business analysis, and it will be necessary for practitioners to understand business data analytics at a deeper level. By earning a data analytics credential such as IIBA’s Business Data Analytics certification, business analysts can prove their skills to employers and establish themselves as experts in the field of business data analytics. Learn more about the IIBA Business Data Analytics certification and how it can advance your career here.
Interested in learning more about why big data is a big deal for business analysts?
References
1. Industrius CFO. http://www.industriuscfo.com/7-benefits-using-big-data/.
2. Robert Half. https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/how-big-data-is-changing-the-business-analyst-job-description.
3. TechRepublic. https://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-ways-to-prevent-loss-of-big-data-enthusiasm/.