Dustin K MacDonald

Menu
  • Home
  • About
  • Economic and Community Development
  • Nonprofit Management
    • Counselling and Service Delivery
    • Suicide Prevention / Crisis Intervention
  • Politics and Governance
  • Math and Statistics
  • Salesforce
Menu

Business Analyst versus Data Analyst

Posted on August 15, 2019August 15, 2019 by Dustin

Table of Contents

Introduction

There are a lot of “Analyst” careers out there. Some people analyze information for national security or criminal purposes (Intelligence Analysts.) Some people are Help Desk Analysts, where their job involves understanding a person’s computer or technical issues so they can help. Financial Analysts help companies understand financial information in order to make decisions. And two other popular positions in companies today are Data Analysts and Business Analysts. These positions have many transferrable skills but they are not the same. Understanding the difference will be key in making the most of your career trajectory.

What is a Data Analyst?

Data Analyst is perhaps the easier of these two roles to understand. A Data Analyst analyzes information in order to exact insights. They may use computer programming, mathematical and statistical analysis, and visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI and Excel to produce charts, tables and infographics. These visual representations of the data help senior leaders and other stakeholders understand what’s happening in their company and to make decisions more easily.

Data Analysts often have a Bachelor’s degree in a quantitative or scientific field such as Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science or Engineering, but it is also common for people with “domain knowledge”, who have worked in a field like Healthcare, Oil and Gas or Retail Management to move into a Data Analyst role. By learning the tools used in Data Analysis they can make the most of their deep understanding of the decisions senior leaders need to make.

What is a Business Analyst?

A Business Analyst is someone who analyzes a company or business unit in order to determine how best to improve or implement processes or other changes. Business Analysts may be internal to a company, such as the Business Analysts that help you implement a new piece of software in your organization, or external consultants. McKinsey and other large-scale consulting companies hire Business Analysts in order to examine organizations and recommend process changes that will be effective.

There are no specific degrees in this field – Business Analysts most frequently have an undergraduate degree in Business, Finance, or Technology. This makes sense because Business Analysts are frequently working to improve the integration of technology or the processes used in an organization, and they need to be able to understand how the various pieces fit together.

Skills Required

There are many overlaps in the skills required for a Data Analyst and a Business Analyst. Some of these include:

  • Strong communication skills
  • Ability to problem-solve
  • Creativity and critical thinking
  • Teaching and training experience
  • MS Office skills, especially Excel

Some skills are unique to Data Analysts by virtue of their more mathematical and statistical focus:

  • Knowledge of programming and query languages like Python, R, SQL
  • Understanding of statistics including hypothesis testing and exploratory data analysis
  • Knowledge of visualization or Business Intelligence tools like Tableau and PowerBI

Some skills are unique to Business Analysts by virtue of their focus on business processes:

  • Writing use cases and activity diagrams to model processes
  • Conducting Pareto and Root Cause Analyses
  • Facilitating Requirements, Risk Analysis and other meetings

Being a Successful Data or Business Analyst

It’s clear that the skills required to be a good data or business analyst are a deep understanding of the domain you’re working in – in order to conduct the data analysis or build the process flows that will accurately model the environment you’re working in. Beyond that, your technical skills will ensure that you can recommend improvements that truly make a difference while strong communication skills will make sure you can craft a narrative to your stakeholders that is both true and compelling for the changes that are necessary for the best results.

Conclusion

Are you a Data or Business Analyst? I’d love to hear your experiences in these fields.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Privacy Policy

See here for our privacy policy. This site uses affiliate links and Adsense ads to provide targeted advertising.

Tags

analytical technique assessment communication community development counselling crisis chat crisis intervention data science eastern university economic development education empathy evaluation forecasting fundraising governance information technology intelligence intelligence analysis keokuk county language learning legal management peer support personal development phd politics professional development protective factors psychosocial risk factors safety planning salesforce sigourney social media statistics suicide suicide assessment suicide risk assessment technology terrorism training university of the cumberlands violence risk assessment youth

Recommended Posts

  • Conducting Psychosocial Assessments
  • DCIB Model of Suicide Risk Assessment
  • ABC Model of Crisis Intervention
  • My Friend is Suicidal - What do I do?

Recent Posts

  • ITS833 Information Governance
  • Enhanced Care Management (ECM) with Salesforce
  • ITS835 Enterprise Risk Management
  • Glorifind Christian Search Engine
  • Sigourney Iowa Election Results, 2023

Archives

  • November 2023 (6)
  • October 2023 (1)
  • September 2023 (3)
  • August 2023 (1)
  • July 2023 (1)
  • May 2023 (1)
  • March 2023 (1)
  • February 2023 (2)
  • January 2023 (4)
  • December 2022 (2)
  • May 2022 (1)
  • April 2022 (2)
  • March 2022 (1)
  • February 2022 (1)
  • December 2021 (1)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (2)
  • May 2021 (3)
  • December 2020 (1)
  • November 2020 (4)
  • July 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • April 2020 (1)
  • March 2020 (4)
  • February 2020 (7)
  • January 2020 (1)
  • November 2019 (1)
  • October 2019 (2)
  • September 2019 (4)
  • August 2019 (2)
  • March 2019 (1)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (1)
  • December 2018 (4)
  • November 2018 (3)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (19)
  • October 2017 (2)
  • September 2017 (2)
  • August 2017 (1)
  • July 2017 (39)
  • May 2017 (3)
  • April 2017 (4)
  • March 2017 (4)
  • February 2017 (4)
  • January 2017 (5)
  • December 2016 (4)
  • November 2016 (4)
  • October 2016 (5)
  • September 2016 (4)
  • August 2016 (5)
  • July 2016 (5)
  • June 2016 (5)
  • May 2016 (3)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • March 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (2)
  • January 2016 (4)
  • December 2015 (2)
  • November 2015 (2)
  • October 2015 (2)
  • September 2015 (2)
  • August 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (2)
  • May 2015 (5)
  • April 2015 (3)
  • March 2015 (8)
  • February 2015 (12)
  • January 2015 (28)

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Comments

  • Dustin on Starting a Crisis Line or Hotline
  • HAPPINESSHEALTHCOURAGE, LLC on Starting a Crisis Line or Hotline
  • ITS833 Information Governance - Dustin K MacDonald on University of the Cumberlands PhD in Information Technology
  • Elected Officials in Sigourney, Iowa - Dustin K MacDonald on Sigourney Iowa Election Results, 2023
  • ITS 835 Enterprise Risk Management - Dustin K MacDonald on University of the Cumberlands PhD in Information Technology

Tags

analytical technique assessment communication community development counselling crisis chat crisis intervention data science eastern university economic development education empathy evaluation forecasting fundraising governance information technology intelligence intelligence analysis keokuk county language learning legal management peer support personal development phd politics professional development protective factors psychosocial risk factors safety planning salesforce sigourney social media statistics suicide suicide assessment suicide risk assessment technology terrorism training university of the cumberlands violence risk assessment youth
© 2023 Dustin K MacDonald | Powered by Minimalist Blog WordPress Theme