Over the last decade, the business world has significantly changed, and the rate of change shows no signs of slowing down. At the center of this shift are IT business analysts, the key players in facilitating successful business change initiatives. IT business analysts act as a bridge between the business and IT using data analytics to assess processes, determine requirements and deliver reports and recommendations to executives and stakeholders.
As organizations seek to adapt to changes in the business world, business analytics has become an important component of operations. Let’s take a closer look at the IT business analyst job description and what it takes to get a job in IT business analytics.
What is an IT Business Analyst?
An IT business analyst is a member of a product development team who analyses the business domain, outlines business requirements, documents them in BRDs (business requirement documents), and matches a software business model with the software being built. In this role, the analyst may also interact with the quality assurance and development teams. IT business analysts connect company leadership with IT staff, interpreting the stakeholders’ business goals into specific deliverables. They analyze the data and predict what changes in infrastructure should be made to ensure the company’s growth.
“While our profession is called business analysis, the vast majority of business analyst roles as they exist today deal specifically with software projects. Business change and software implementations tend to go hand-in-hand. Even so, some roles focus more on aligning the business team around the scope of a solution, and some focus more on detailed requirements for the technical team to implement. “
Laura Brandenburg, CBAP, the author of How to Start a Business Analyst Career
IT Business Analyst Job Description and Skills
Responsibilities of an IT Business Analyst
As we already mentioned, a business analyst must work in close coordination with diverse teams within the organization to understand the business more efficiently while providing solutions to the challenges faced by the company. In addition, a business analyst should also have a good understanding of the regulatory and reporting requirements.
Some of the typical responsibilities of an IT business analyst include:
- Communicating with the relevant stakeholders and transferring this knowledge to the project development teams.
- Analyzing data to inform business decisions.
- Understanding strategic business needs and plans for growth.
- Analyzing the design of business models and technical systems.
- Finding technological solutions to business requirements.
- Working together with the technical architect and development team to ensure the team understands the requirements.
- Producing reports on application development and implementation.
IT Business Analyst Skills
IT business analyst role requires both hard skills and soft skills. They usually need to know how to pull, analyze and report data, and be able to share that information with others within the organization. Not all business analysts need a background in IT, but they need a general understanding of how systems and tools work.
Here are some of the skills needed to land a job in IT business analytics:
- Strong analytical skills to offer recommendations and create reports.
- The ability to manage multiple projects from beginning to completion.
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- The ability to understand the organization’s challenges and develop solutions.
- Proficiency in spreadsheets.
- Knowledge of various types of business analysis and project management software.
- Knowledge of R and Python can be extremely beneficial
How to Find a Job in IT Business Analytics
The first step in the job search is to figure out what IT Business Analyst jobs you are qualified for and position your skills and experiences for those roles. Your IT business analyst resume needs to clearly demonstrate your skills and qualifications. With a resume that highlights your skills and experience, you can apply to IT business analyst jobs. A great place to start is checking out job opening on online job sites. If you already know a company you would like to work for, you can go directly to a career section of that company’s website.
If you struggle to find a job, you might seek professional help from tech recruitment agencies. A tech recruitment agency may help you identify and build up the skills you might need for an IT business analyst role and match you with an employer. Employa works with companies that are actively looking for IT business professionals, including IT business analysts. You can check the available vacancies under our “Find Jobs” tab and apply if you think you would want to become a part of our client’s team.