Gaurang Bhatt
Have you ever wondered how these big Indian or multinational companies like Tatas, Reliance, ICICI Bank, Unilever manage their business and coordinate their different departments or functions like Purchase, Manufacturing, Sales, HR and finally Accounting as well as Reporting? Such companies have their operations spread across various locations across states or even countries. They need to have standard business processes and record of all their business activities in an interlinked system – called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System. Such systems are implemented with the help of IT Consulting companies and ERP Software providers like SAP, Oracle and many others.
Today, I would like to share with you how one can make a career in this particular field called Business Analyst (BA) in a larger career path known to all as Information Technology.
IT as a field is like an ocean and depending on your academic background, interest and skills you want to develop; you can choose a technical or functional path. Technical skills are mainly programming, system security, system Infrastructure and system networking. These roles are known as Technical Analyst roles.
However, there is a need to implement system modules of such ERPs or large business systems which is done by Business Analysts. So let us know more about how one can become a Business Analyst and what are different skills required for the same.
By now, you must have got an idea that a Business Analyst plays the role of a bridge between Business and Technology. He or she is a person who understands business requirements from a system and translates it into technical requirements by setting up it in a system or working with technical analysts. His / her main responsibility is to effectively integrate the business requirements of a client with the best technology solutions.
What does a Business Analyst do?
Let us understand now when one starts working as business analyst what duties and responsibilities they perform:
Project or Support Team member: Generally the setting up of a business related IT system is managed like a project where members of different teams and departments work together like a project team. After the system is implemented there are still support issues or change / modification requirements in the system to improve it to fulfill changing business needs or build new features into it (similar to our mobile application upgrades).
Business Requirement Analysis: The BA asks different questions to business department people on their requirements related to any issues in the system or new or changing requirements. He completely understands the requirement before coming up with different options to solve the problem.
Execute the Project or deliver the solution: Depending on the size and scope of the project mentioned above, a business analyst works to build (configure) the feature or solution or develop it with help of other technical team members. He also needs to test the same in the Test system before implementing it in the final system which is used daily by business. Nowadays the different role of Testers is gaining importance and it is moving away from BA’s.
Project Management or Leading the team: A Senior Business analyst can also become Coordinator of project or support teams to manage the project or Lead of BAs in IT consulting companies.
So, there are two options to work as business analyst: either in large corporates being part of the in-house IT Function or work in IT consulting companies who implement and support such business systems for other companies.
Education Qualifications for Business Analysts
Qualification for business analysts may vary from company to company. The two common basic requirements for business analysts are 1) Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in business, accounting, finance or a related field or/and 2) On the job experience via internships or entry-level jobs in business, finance or IT working with senior-level decision-makers.
Business Analysis has grown into a great career option after MBA in India and is quickly growing towards becoming one of the highest-paying career profiles in the field of management. A growing number of colleges and Ed-Tech Institutes are offering it as Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) courses.
However, even a graduate from Finance, Engineering or Science Field can become IT Business Analyst in this field by taking up an entry level job in the companies through their College campus drive or job portals and upgrade their business process understanding or educational qualification along with the job to grow in this career path.
Roles and Responsibilities in career path
IT Business Analysts are often part of the Information Technology team where they provide support and assistance to technological development by being a bridge between developers and management. They also help in post-implementation tech-support for customers of IT and Management consulting companies. They help analyze the processes, systems, models of operation of a business domain or a commercial organization to determine its performance and develop, improve, change or redesign them.
With the growth of Data Science, IT Business analysts can also now get an opportunity to work on data (financial, marketing, people-related, and other ancillary data available) analyzing them, and modeling them, to help a business make better decisions and optimize the performance.
Opportunities for high income and growth
More than educational qualification, there are some skills which are required to grow in this career path.
One needs to be analytical in thinking and problem solving along with being detail oriented and able to connect different parts of the bigger problem or processes.
By working with business teams, one develops a strong and deep understanding of different processes and systems with which business operates.
Other basic skills needed are effective communication skills and strong interpersonal skills as the Analysts are working in teams with people from diverse backgrounds and at different levels in the organization.
In today’s times, handling pressure, working in a challenging global business environment and continuous learning of the new technology and way of working is what makes this career exciting and high-paying for youngsters.
Pay Scales
Usually, reputed companies like TCS, Amazon, Accenture, Deloitte, etc., pay higher salaries. Same is the case with big corporate organizations. Further, the institute or business schools from which you have graduated or mastered also matters. However, with more work experience, your market value will go higher. Salary packages also differ based on location and the system or technology in which you work so one needs to keep oneself updated about the changing job market scenario in this field.
The role of a business analyst is constantly evolving and changing — especially as companies rely more on data to advise business operations. Every company has different issues that a business analyst can address, whether it’s dealing with outdated legacy systems, changing technologies, broken processes, poor client or customer satisfaction or siloed large organizations.
About Me
Let me end this with giving some more details about myself and my experience. I am Gaurang Bhatt, son of Vijay Vaijnath Bhatt & Bhavna Vijay Bhatt based in Mulund/Mumbai. I have more than 15 years of IT Business analysis and project management experience working in a multinational manufacturing organization. I have managed SAP System which is the leading ERP across the globe specializing in Finance and Test Automation application support and implementation. I was fortunate to travel to different countries as a part of my projects and that has helped me to learn about the different business processes, technology and also professionals.
This career has widened my perspective and also helped me grow as a leader in my organization. Being enthusiastic about technology, data and Process improvement, I will be very happy if I can help you in any of your queries about this career or any other questions you may have. Do not hesitate to reach out to me at gaurangvbhatt@gmail.com or on +91 9833825474.
