It is easy to mistake a Business Analyst from a Business System Analyst but they are not the same. Let’s begin by understanding what systems are.
As technology advances, businesses are beginning to thrive on ‘autopilot’. Technically, they are called systems. In other words, business owners do not have to be necessarily present to ensure things run smoothly. He has implemented systems in which everyone knows what is expected of him and does it at the expected time.
By definition, systems are operations and processes a business undergoes in a bid to sustain a value-driven production. It basically includes everything involved in the business from procedures, protocols, processes to workflows.
Who is a Business System Analyst
A Business System Analyst is someone that oversees a business system, discovers loopholes, and comes up with ways of improving it. They do this by gathering vital information, performing critical analysis, and pushing out findings. A business system analyst is also saddled with the responsibility of introducing tech-laden solutions to traditional business problems and working out ways of incorporating them into the operational system of the business.
Business system analysts can simply be called systems analysts or computer system analysts because they gather data regarding the business systems and distill insights that solve business problems. At the least, a business system analyst is expected to possess strong analytical skills, as well as problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and data analytics.
What does a Business System Analyst do?
The Business System role differs from company to company depending on the uniqueness of the niche or office. For instance, a Business System Analyst in the HR department should know quite a lot about human resource development, recruitment, end-to-end onboarding processes, and so on. The job may involve collaborating with the technical team to understand their requirements in a new recruit, charting a working system that allows new recruits to get comfortable in the company and gel with the experienced ones, getting workers used to the tools and operations of the work environment and so on.
The Business System Analyst would also discover deficiencies in these processes and find out how to solve them. For instance, a Business System Analyst in the same HR department may discover that new recruits are not as expressive as they should. It could be that the system in the organization suppresses or intimidates them. It is the duty of the Business System Analyst to remedy this problem using technological means without jeopardizing the interest of other stakeholders.
Roles and Responsibility of a Business System Analyst?
The role of a business system analyst include:
- The evaluates business systems, find loopholes and suggest possible areas for improvements
- They evaluate the company’s performance against the backdrop of standard key performance indicators.
- They record changes in the organization’s systems.
- They track the progress of any new change in systems over a given period of time.
- They juxtaposed between the software and hardware needs of the end-users and make necessary recommendations for improvements
- They make sense of complex data and come up with valuable insights.
- They are meant to improve business performance through the adoption of efficiency systems.
Salary Expectation of a BSA
According to Glassdoor, a Business System Analyst in the United States makes an average of $85,750 per annum. The minimum salary of a BSA stands at $62k per year while an experienced BSA can make as high as $119k per year.
How do you become a BSA?
There is no hard and fast route to becoming a BSA. Depending upon the background you have, you can become a confident BSA with on-the-job experience. One way of getting your career started in this field is to get registered at a reputable online business analyst certification course with live projects. You should ensure you work with projects that give you hands-on experience with real-life business problems.
Getting your hands dirty with such projects not only boosts your confidence but also adds the necessary credibility to your portfolio.
Going for an MBA could be another way of becoming a BSA. However, this method may be excruciatingly time-consuming and more expensive.
What are the Skills of a Business Systems Analysts?
Soft skills such as good communication skills, analytical skills, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills are non-negotiable skills for a BSA. Beyond these, however, a BSA would need the following:
- Project management skills: The ability to manage a project will come in handy as a BSA. This is because most BSA jobs will require you to oversee the end-to-end operations in a business and overhaul them. You must put up some project management hats such as the ability to work in constraint time and budget, the ability to meet deliverables, and good report writing skills.
- Data analysis: As a BSA, you will be performing analysis. And what else will drive these analyses than data? This is why a good data analysis skill is important for a BSA.
- Systems analysis: This involves studying how a process works, breaking it down into smaller components, and understanding how the components to piece together in the working system. To improve a system, you must understand it. And to understand a system, you must understand the components and how they work together in the bigger picture.
- Business Administration: As a Business System Analyst, you will be working with a wide range of people, from technical, to nontechnical and even managers. You will need to understand how to work with each group of people and accept feedback and avoid miscommunications.
Tips for finding a BSA job?
- Learn the fundamentals: before going out on the lookout for jobs, you should be confident enough about your skills. This is why you need to learn, learn and learn. Join a business analyst course and get the fundamentals right.
- Work with projects: Projects are a perfect way to improve yourself and master the theoretical concepts you learn. This is why emphasis should be on learning with projects rather than cramming theoretical concepts in your head.
- Put yourself out there: You may be the best Business Analyst in the world and still be jobless if you fail in this regard. The world has become a global market. Put yourself out there. Post on forums and social media platforms. Use LinkedIn. Leave digital footprints.
- Apply: Of course, apply for BSA jobs. Even in situations where you do not meet all requirements, apply nevertheless.
Wrapping up
Jobs in BSA abound in large numbers. You now understand what a BSA is all about and how to become one. If you are interested in joining a project-based BA online training, do it now and you’d be better for it.
