The Contrast between Business Analyst and Data Analyst

ABSTRACT:
Most of the people assume that both business analyst and data analyst are the same, of course in most of the cases it is true. In small organizations, these two can support each other and can be overlap according to the circumstance need. Whereas in bigger organizations business analyst and data analyst have different roles to play. This article is very helpful for the viewers to look through the differences between business analyst and data analyst.

ARTICLE TEXT:
Most of the people assume that both business analyst and data analyst are the same, of course in most of the cases it is true. In small organizations, these two can support each other and can be overlap according to the circumstance need. Whereas in bigger organizations business analyst and data analyst have different roles to play. This article is very helpful for the viewers to look through the differences between business analyst and data analyst. Let’s move into the article.

Business Analyst:
Business analyst’s job is to examine the organisation’s prerequisites like functions and operations. Later these requirements can be translated into financial aspects. He (business analyst) can find the best possible solution with the help of both software and hardware. Some other tasks like implementing and designing new systems are also included in the business analyst’s profile. He can also test both the new systems and legacy, can recommend changes thereafter. Hence, the work of a business analyst deals with the entire structure of the organization to meet the requirements of a stakeholder.

Every business analyst wants to have expertise in the industry according to their function. A business analyst must have the capability of understanding calculations for a period of payback and for the internal rate. They use different tools to manipulate and analyse data. Every business analyst must have good communication skills so that they can easily convey the data to the clients. If communication skills are good, then it is very helpful to the people who don’t have technical knowledge. Also, they need problem-solving skills in order to resolve some cases like interactions between end users with computer systems.

Data Analyst:
Data analyst collect the data and manipulates it to prepare the report in suitable forms like charts, dashboards and graphs. They can also protect the data of the company and have an assurance about the reusable result and consistently obtained from the data. Data analyst should have both technical knowledge and industry knowledge. In other words, data analyst act like a company’s security guards for keeping data safe and can possess a strong understanding of the relationships.

Data analyst use advanced technology tools and complex query statements to extract the data. Sometimes they play an insight role in the data list of the organization. Thus we can say that both business analyst and data analyst lies in the technical skills set and the type of clients they deal with. Business analyst interacts with the computer system users and developers. They can develop some software on their own which leads to them calling as system analyst also.

On the other hand, data analyst handles different databases of the company, interpreting and contemplating them to study the market efficiently. These reports lead to making good decisions and goal setting.

Main tasks of Business Analyst and Data Analyst:
Both analysts are not a new addition to the workforce and can be often used interchangeably. The big data advent a momentum to data scientists everywhere in the world. Their role emerged a lot because of the depth and breath increase of the data that which was examined. Data scientists always existed in the form of technologists, statisticians and business experts who can solve problems. It is very important for us to make a distinction between a business analyst and data analyst. Of course, both are focused roles and they can differ in that business analyst can analyse data, also provide requirements in the business perspective. Whereas, data analyst focused on the data relationships in the organization.

People who are working as a business analyst should extract data from both structured and unstructured data sets. This data is very helpful for the decision makers to understand the company’s performance and can also develop the correct analytical model. Business analytics education includes statistical analysis and data management. They can also become professionals in predictive analysis and analytical planning. Data visualization is an important component of business analytics and it can provide actionable options.

In general, data scientists work more on the data collection front end. They can develop more technical skills in analyzing data. They can also design algorithms to collect data. While business analyst finds the data trends, data analyst look more on what to extract from those trends. Data analyst education may include machine learning and mathematics. They can also become experts in writing coding to find trends and can also predict analytics. They can also develop some algorithms to find a connection between data sets.

Conclusion:
Finally, we can conclude that a business analyst plays an important role in the company’s infrastructure whereas data analyst works with data structures of the business. Business analyst requires statistical methods, use of SAS language, data mining, visualization report, analytic problem solving whereas the data analyst requires programming skills, creative thinking, effective communication. Both analysts have the goal of applying technology. At last, it will be a golden career for the person who chooses data analytics or business analytics as a career path have wide-range of opportunities in many aspects.