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If you have a knack for business, and a desire for success in the business world, you might want to consider a career as a Business Analyst. By definition, a Business Analyst, or BA, is a person who practices the discipline of business analysis. A Business Analyst or, "BA", analyzes business needs of clients to identify business problems in a company, and then propose cost effective solutions to those problems. More specifically, a business analyst works as a liaison among stakeholders in order to elicit, analyze, communicate and validate requirements for changes to business processes, policies and information systems.
One area where a Business Analysts is most often used and is most rewarding is in the field of software development. Often, in companies and organizations that have no formal structure or processes, the business owners and developers communicate directly. This can lead to situations where developers intend to give business owners quick results, which often leads to creating changes in a vacuum, not necessarily taking the needs of all users of the system into account. There is rarely any detailed definition of the requirements, and many times, the real reason for the request may not make good business sense. This is where you come in. A savvy Business Analyst can bring structure and formalization of requirements into this process, which may lead to increased foresight among business owners. A good business analyst understands business problems, looks for opportunities, and recommends solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals.
In recent years, there has been a dramatic upsurge of using analysts of all sorts: business analysts, business process analysts, risk analysts, system analysts. Ultimately, an effective project manager will include Business Analysts who break down communication barriers between stakeholders and developers. On an average, Business Analyst salaries for job postings nationwide are18% higher than average salaries for all job postings nationwide! As an example, a Management Consulting Business Analyst could earn as much as $108,000 where as an Associate Analyst might make about $54,000. The good news is that the national average for Business Analysts is approximately $74000! |