Aside from fulfilling a business analyst (BA) role at a company, you may have the opportunity apply your various business analysis skills to other roles. You can parse out individual business analysis skills to make yourself more marketable, take advantage of opportunities, and meet a company’s specific needs for growth and improvement. Here are ten roles (other than a BA) that you can fulfill because of your business analysis skills.
Data analyst
A data analyst analyzes, organizes, and anticipates the data that businesses want to track. This person focuses on the logical design and strategy for capturing the entities, attributes, and relationships that are core to the business, as well as the business’ ability to operate effectively.
Business intelligence analyst
As a business intelligence analyst, you home in on making sense of information in business data warehouses or reports to glean important insights. You answer key business questions and determine what intelligence can be generated that provides new knowledge important to the business.
Product analyst
The product analyst supports and develops requirements for products and solutions offered commercially to consumers or other businesses. Her concern is with analyzing market and customer needs information to determine what products, concepts, or features are most useful, valuable, and profitable; she often plays (or grows into) the role of product manager or marketer.
Process analyst
Process analysts are interested in the outcome and execution of core business processes. They deal with identifying value streams, reengineering processes, and redesigning delivery models to streamline business operations and eliminate waste in manufacturing, delivery, and supply chain operations.
Business architect
As a business architect, you chiefly focus on the organizational structure (or architecture) of an enterprise. You ensure that departments, operational groups, and individual roles responsible for executing on the business mission are effectively chartered, organized, and resourced to deliver with no gaps or overlaps in responsibility.
Strategic analyst
A strategic analyst analyzes and evaluates the strategic mission, offerings, and operational results of the business in the context of business, world, and financial markets. He recognizes trends, risks, and opportunities and determines whether the business is performing optimally against its strategic vision. He also identifies potential areas of business improvement and determines whether new strategies or shifts are necessary or appropriate.
Business functional manager
The business functional manager directs activities and initiatives within a business department or unit. This position achieves specific objectives and is responsible for managing teams to deliver revenue or cost-savings results and impacting the bottom line.
Consulting analyst
Consulting analysts serve different companies experiencing challenges that need help. They’re typically experienced in the relevant business domain and study business problems and analyze operational or functional concerns at all levels of an organization. These tasks allow them to summarize root cause of the issue and develop solution requirements from the perspective of an external trusted advisor.
Technical systems analyst
As a technical systems analyst, you identify technical requirements, constraints, assumptions, and solutions after confirming functional and nonfunctional requirements from higher-level analysis. The systems analyst creates development-ready design requirements and identifies technical configurations for lower-level solution components, including software programs and services, devices, and interfaces.
Program analyst
A program analyst translates business cases and scopes large initiatives into multiyear execution and implementation programs while supporting program managers or performing the program manager role directly. In this job, you articulate business objectives and solution requirements and suggest approaches for distribution across multilayered work streams or collaborative project teams.
You define metrics and key performance indicators, business benefits management programs, and processes for capturing and reporting program delivery progress to senior leaders.
