Business Analyst Job Titles

This article will provide an overview of the field of business analytics. It will also explore some of the different titles for Business Analysts and the professional requirements of each title.

What is a Business Analyst?

Small and large businesses alike constantly search for innovative ways to lower operational costs while improving overall efficiency. This is where a Business Analyst comes in. An organization employs a Business Analyst to gather data-driven insights about their operations, procedures, and software, and then provide recommendations to improve business operations. This process involves searching for issues in various organizational departments, which may pertain to organizational structures, IT processes, or staff development. It also may require analyzing various processes, systems, services, or products within the organization.

Once the necessary data has been gathered and analyzed, Business Analysts then take part in documenting business processes, which entails studying their business models to learn more about them, such as how well they integrate with technology. A Business Analyst may also suggest measures to streamline interdepartmental processes to improve productivity across the entire organization.

Business Analysts typically wear many hats within the organization; they identify and solve problems, propose new goals, study the financial components of the business, and monitor the organization’s performance to ensure that the expected results are achieved within the anticipated timeframe. Business analytics is an in-demand profession in many industries because it helps organizations expand to better meet the needs of their clients or customers.

Business Consultant

Business Consultants are the ones who rely on their detailed industry knowledge to create new business processes for their organization. They also provide advice about the steps that their organization should take to stay competitive, keep up with industry trends, and increase revenue. This requires more than just a knowledge of how the organization works; it also demands a thorough understanding of the current market. 

The following are some of the core skills needed to be a successful Business Consultant:

• Problem-solving to spot potential problems within the organization.
• Meeting with stakeholders to evaluate problems.
• Executing different business initiatives on behalf of clients.
• Gathering information about the organization by conducting interviews, surveys, or shadowing employees.
• Writing clear reports to offer recommendations for the organization.
• Articulating clear plans and goals.

Marketing Specialist

Marketing Specialists typically work with end-users. Their job responsibilities include researching competing products and relevant marketing trends and planning promotional campaigns for new products. They also collect feedback on services or products to help their organization remain competitive in the market. One of the main tasks of a Marketing Specialist is to create and implement strategies that encourage customers or businesses to purchase a product. This can involve developing marketing programs geared at an organization’s reputation, brand awareness, or product promotion. It also often entails using social media marketing to reach a larger client pool.

Product Manager

Product Managers are involved with creating a business strategy for a product that situates it within a specific spot in the organization’s product line and ensures that it is competitive against rival products. This often involves monitoring the functional requirements of this product throughout its time on the market so that new features are launched at appropriate times.

Some of the primary responsibilities of Project Managers are:

• Gathering, organizing, and prioritizing customer needs.
• Understanding and representing various user requirements.
• Articulating a product’s vision.
• Monitoring the market.
• Executing competitive assessments of products.
• Applying technical or domain-specific product knowledge.
• Communicating the product’s vision to stakeholders to get them on board.

Functional Analyst

Functional Analysts tend to focus on a specific business domain and its functional software requirements. They rely on a background in systems design and specific technical training to perform tasks like updating, configuring, or installing systems. Some of their other job responsibilities include data updates, troubleshooting, testing, and reporting on software. Often, advanced Excel skills are used by Functional Analysts, as is experience working with SQL. 

System Analyst

Systems Analysts are the ones working on translating an organization’s business requirements into technical requirements. They often establish specifications and acceptance criteria that the engineering department of their organization will then adopt. Systems Analysts are also called Systems Architects because they spend a significant amount of time studying their organization’s computer systems, capabilities, and procedures to suggest improvements that allow the organization to perform more efficiently. 

Compliance Manager

A Compliance Manager is in charge of ensuring that employees within an organization maintain the standards of conduct that are in place based on company policies, laws, and regulations. Compliance Managers, also called Compliance Officers, are responsible for ensuring the organization operates within the established regulatory requirements and official standards.

Compliance Managers often complete the following tasks for their organization:

• Identify the types of risks that may be present in data storage systems and the organization’s risk tolerance.
• Plan new policies aimed at preserving the company’s ethical and legal integrity.
• Enforce compliance with various policies.
• Assess various risks, like the possibility of failing to meet regulatory goals.
• Address any issues that arise pertaining to compliance.
• Develop procedures, controls, and policies aimed at mitigating risk.

Requirements Manager

Requirements Managers work to identify, organize, oversee, and document the various requirements established by organizational stakeholders concerning the software system. Their job also entails reviewing possibilities for implementing requirements. Once project requirements are clearly understood, a Requirements Manager can prioritize those most pressing or important and then develop a plan to ensure these requirements are met. Those who hold this position are responsible for creating and maintaining complex systems that meet the requirements of the product. Their job requires a background in data analysis and engineering so that Requirements Managers can efficiently develop complex languages, standards, or systems that better serve their organization.

Learn More About Business Analytics by Enrolling in Hands-on Classes

If you’re interested in starting a career as a Business Analyst, a variety of courses are currently available for beginners, intermediate, and advanced students who hope to brush up on their business skills. Noble’s Business Analyst Certificate is a great learning option for any aspiring Business Analyst. Relevant tools and skills such as data analysis, Excel, Tableau, and SQL are covered in this hands-on program. Those enrolled in this intensive course can elect to study online or in person in Manhattan. This class comes with the option of a free retake for learners who wish to revisit course material. 

In addition, a great resource for finding business analytics classes close to home is Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool. You can use it to search more than 250 live online and in-person business analytics courses currently available in topics such as SQL, PowerPoint, and Excel for Business, among others.