If you want to succeed as a Business Analyst (specifically IT business analyst), following are the necessary technical skills that you should learn and apply in your work practice.
-
Database - relational / document database and how to retrieve a specific information from database using queries. It helps to extract necessary data and be able to analyze data to support various business analysis activities.
-
Spreadsheets (Excel or Google sheet) - sort / filter data, pivot tables, pivot charts, look ups and other advance techniques to format and visualize data for analysis and presentation purpose.
-
API (Application Programming Interface) - basic knowledge about REST APIs and be able to read API documentation, test APIs using tools such as Postman is absolute necessity for a business analyst in today’s interconnected world. Most of the apps are connected with each other using APIs, so having this skill adds a lot of value to your profile.
In business analysis terms, this skill is useful while performing ‘Interface Analysis’ i.e. to understand how the apps are connected with each other, what kind of data is being exchanged between the apps and what kind of operations can be performed between the apps. For example - When a new person is signed up for a specific service in the app through it’s landing page, send that person’s info to the CRM software to create a lead and follow up with it to convert it to the customer. Here, the app sends person’s data to the CRM software like Salesforce or Hubspot via API. -
Wireframing - It’s kind of a technical skill that’s very crucial for a business analyst to create visual solutions for new web or mobile apps i.e. how the new app would look like, how a user would interact with it to perform an intended function etc.. After eliciting requirements for a new application, a business analyst should prepare wireframes to visualize ideas and solutions, present it to stakeholders, collect feedback and iterate over it until the wireframes are approved and after that they can be handed over to either designers and developers.
To be able to create professional wireframes, it’s required to understand basics of User interface / user experience and learn how to use one of these popular tools - Figma, Balsamiq, Adobe XD.
If you want to learn more about wireframes and how to create professional wireframes, check out this course - Mastering Wireframing for Business Analysts.
Check out this article to learn more about wireframes:
Introduction to Wireframes·358 words·2 minsWireframes
