SFU-001 - Module 1 (Chapters)

Eleanor Smith-King Business Intelligence Analyst

Hello, and welcome, I’m Eleanor Smith-King, a Business Intelligence Analyst, and I’m your industry expert guiding you through this Springpod For Universities Online Career Readiness Experience, in association with The University of Liverpool. As somebody that has worked in this field for a long time, I’m really excited to invite you and encourage you through an opportunity that could seriously boost your career prospects. Throughout this experience, you’ll be provided with a deep dive into the Business Industry, learn about what it means to work as a Business Intelligence Analyst, and get hands on experience with the hard skill of ‘Marketing Intelligence’. I’d like to say this - I wish I’d had such an opportunity back when I was studying! Understanding Marketing Intelligence will give you a real competitive edge - after all, hard skills are the currency of today’s data-driven workplaces. Employers are on the lookout for candidates who not only understand the fundamentals, but can also walk into a job on day one ready to contribute meaningfully. By completing experiences such as this, you’re one step closer to being that candidate. In addition, we’ll be focusing on the all-important soft skill of ‘Negotiation’. It’s not just about making deals, but understanding the needs of others and finding common ground. Active listening, adapting well and building trust make a skilled negotiator and a well-rounded professional. You’ll get the chance to complete industry-validated, work-based activities that mimic real-world tasks, complete with learning objectives, model answers, and learning outcomes. By the end of the experience, you’ll earn a certificate of completion - a valuable addition to your CV that shows employers you’re not just another graduate, but a job-ready candidate who stands out. Speaking from personal experience, the blend of these technical skills and interpersonal insights can set you apart from the rest. When I started out, I had to learn many of these lessons on the job. This experience gives you the advantage of developing them before even stepping into the workplace. I’m really looking forward to seeing where your data journey takes you, and guiding you along the way! Warm regards,

Start

Let's start with the basics of the Business Analysis Industry. In the next four chapters, we'll explore the key areas and roles you can pursue within this field, along with the latest industry trends. Be sure to take notes as there's a quiz at the end!

Shaping your future

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Chapter 3

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Chapter 2

Business Analysis Industry

Chapter 1

What we'll cover...

Index

Chapter 1

Conclusion

What are the current trends?

What job roles can I pursue?

The Business Analysis Industry is a multifaceted sector that encompasses a wide range of disciplines aimed at identifying business needs, determining solutions to business problems, and driving organisational change. It involves the application of analytical skills and methodologies to improve processes, systems, and overall business performance. Here is an overview of the Business Analysis Industry, including its key areas, roles, and trends.

What are the key areas of this industry?

Business Analysis Industry

Key areas

User Experience (UX) Analysis

Change Management

Project Management

Systems Analysis

DataAnalysis

ProcessAnalysis

Requirements Analysis

Strategic Analysis

Chapter 1

What are the key areas of the Business Analysis Industry?

Improves business processes and workflows.

Oversees organisational change and transition processes.

Enhances the usability and user experience of products and services.

Conducts market research to inform business strategy.

Focuses on analysing and designing IT systems.

Manages projects to ensure they meet objectives and deadlines.

Analyses data to support business decision-making.

Analyses financial data to support business decisions.

Gathers and documents business and system requirements.

Process Analyst

Change Manager

UX Analyst

Project Manager

Market Research Analyst

Systems Analyst

Data Analyst

Financial Analyst

Requirements Analyst

Business Analyst

Identifies business needs and develops solutions to business problems.

job roles

Chapter 1

Click the job roles to reveal more info!

What job roles can I pursue in the Business Analysis Industry?

Current trends

Chapter 1

Sustainability and Ethics

Regulatory Compliance

Remote Work and Collaboration

Business Process Automation

Customer-Centric Focus

Digital Transformation

Data-Driven Decision Making

Agile Methodologies

What are the current trends in the Business Analysis Industry?

The Business Analysis Industry is a dynamic and evolving field that plays a crucial role in driving organisational success and innovation. It spans various disciplines, each with its unique focus, tools, and applications. As technology advances and business environments change, the Business Analysis Industry continues to adapt and innovate, providing valuable insights and solutions to improve processes, systems, and overall business performance.

Conclusion

Chapter 1

So, in conclusion…

Start

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Chapter 3

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Chapter 2

Business Analysis Industry

Chapter 1

Summary

What we'll cover...

What career path and education are ideal?

What are the skills and tools needed?

What are the key responsibilities?

Great job on completing chapter one! In chapter two, we'll dive into a career as a Business Intelligence Analyst, exploring the role in detail and focusing on data collection, processing, and analysis. A Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst is a professional responsible for analysing data to help organisations make informed business decisions.

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Business Intelligence Analyst

Index

Chapter 2

A Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst is a professional responsible for analysing data to help organisations make informed business decisions. This role involves collecting, modelling, and analysing data to generate actionable insights that drive strategic decision-making. Here is a detailed overview of what a BI Analyst is and what they do: BI Analysts focus on transforming raw data into meaningful and useful information for business purposes. Their goal is to provide insights that enhance business performance, identify trends, and support decision-making processes. In a data-driven world, BI Analysts play a crucial role in helping organisations leverage data to achieve competitive advantages. Effective BI analysis can lead to improved efficiency, increased profitability, and better strategic planning.

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Chapter 2

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Requirement Gathering

Key responsibilities

Continuous Improvement

Collaboration and Communication

Business Insights and Recommendations

Reporting and Visualisation

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Data Collection and Modelling

Chapter 2

What are the key responsibilities of a Business Intelligence Analyst?

COMMON TOOLS

KEY SKILLS

Communication

Key SKILLS & TOOLS

Chapter 2

Reporting Tools

Database Management

Data Visualisation Tools

Data Analysis Tools

Problem-Solving

Data Visualisation

Statistical Knowledge

Data Analysis

What are the skills and tools needed to be a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Chapter 2

Entry-level BI Analysts can advance to roles such as Senior BI Analyst, BI Manager, or BI Director. Specialisations within the field include roles like Data Analyst, Data Scientist, and BI Developer.

BI Analysts often have degrees in fields such as computer science, information technology, statistics, or business administration. However, many enter the field through specialised training programmes, certifications, or self-study.

Career Progression:

Educational Background:

career path & education

What career path and education are ideal for becoming a Business Intelligence Analyst?

In summary, a Business Intelligence Analyst plays a pivotal role in helping organisations make data-driven decisions. By focusing on data collection, analysis, and interpretation, they provide valuable insights that drive business strategy and performance. The work of a BI Analyst spans from initial data gathering and cleaning to creating detailed reports and visualisations, requiring a combination of analytical, technical, and communication skills.

summary

Chapter 2

So, in summary…

Start

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Chapter 3

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Chapter 2

Business Analysis Industry

Chapter 1

Ongoing monitoring and updates

What we'll cover...

Applying insights to decision-making

Data analysis and tools

Data collection methods

Marketing Intelligence is a crucial hard skill for Business Intelligence (BI) Analysts, enabling them to gather, analyse, and interpret data related to market trends, consumer behaviour, and competitive activity. This skill is essential for developing insights that drive strategic marketing decisions and improve business performance. For this chapter, we're going to cover a lot of information and take you through the steps of data collection. Again, be sure to take notes!

Introduction to marketing intelligence

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Index

Chapter 3

With the data collected, BI Analysts synthesise the information to create actionable insights. This process includes data cleaning, integration, and advanced analytics techniques such as regression analysis, clustering, and predictive modelling. BI Analysts use tools like SQL, Python, R, and data visualisation software such as Tableau and Power BI to uncover patterns and trends. For instance, they might analyse sales data to identify the most profitable customer segments or use social media data to gauge consumer sentiment about a brand.

The initial step in marketing intelligence involves comprehensive data collection. BI Analysts employ a variety of methods to gather qualitative and quantitative data, including market surveys, sales data analysis, social media monitoring, and competitor analysis. This research focuses on understanding market dynamics (trends, size, growth), consumer demographics (age, gender, income), psychographics (attitudes, values, lifestyle), and competitive landscape (market share, strengths, weaknesses). Analysing this data helps identify market opportunities and threats.

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Chapter 3

Regular validation and updates of marketing intelligence are essential as market conditions and consumer preferences evolve. BI Analysts should continuously monitor new data sources and market developments to refine their analysis, ensuring it remains accurate and relevant. This iterative approach allows for ongoing improvements to marketing strategies, maintaining alignment with the evolving market landscape.

These insights are then utilised throughout the organisation to guide decision-making and strategy formulation. BI Analysts collaborate with marketing teams to refine targeting strategies, optimise marketing campaigns, and develop new product offerings. They provide detailed reports and dashboards that highlight key metrics such as customer acquisition cost, lifetime value, and return on marketing investment. For example, a BI Analyst might present a report showing that a particular demographic segment responds well to a specific type of promotional content, guiding future marketing efforts.

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Chapter 3

In summary, marketing intelligence is a fundamental hard skill for Business Intelligence Analysts that involves meticulous research, data analysis, and strategic interpretation. By developing detailed and accurate marketing intelligence, BI Analysts can provide actionable insights that effectively address market opportunities and challenges, ultimately enhancing the organisation's competitive advantage and marketing effectiveness.

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

Chapter 3

Hard Skill: Marketing Intelligence

What is a Business Intelligence Analyst?

Business Analysis Industry

Start

Start

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Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Well done! You have completed module 1.

That's a wrap!

Ability to analyse and interpret complex data sets to generate insights.

Crystal Reports, BusinessObjects, Microsoft SSRS.

Data Requirements: Understanding and clarifying your data requirements, and visualising the story you want to tell with your data in order to satisfy the stakeholder's business needs. This will determine what data points you need to collect and how best to structure your data model. Working with Stakeholders: Collaborating with business leaders, managers, and other stakeholders to understand their data needs and provide relevant insights. Data Cleaning: Ensuring data quality by cleaning and organising raw data to make it suitable for analysis.

Requirement Gathering

• Focus: Overseeing projects to ensure successful implementation.
• Applications: Project planning, risk management, stakeholder communication.
• Tools: MS Project, Asana, Trello, Gantt charts.

Project Management

Understanding of design principles to create visually appealing and effective visualisations.

Data Cleaning: Ensuring data quality by cleaning and organising raw data to make it suitable for analysis. Data Analysis: Analysing data using statistical methods and tools to identify trends, patterns, and insights. Interpretation: Interpreting data analysis results to provide actionable insights and recommendations.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Tableau, Power BI, QlikView.

Increasing adoption of Agile practices for flexibility and faster delivery. Emphasis on iterative development and continuous improvement.

Presenting Findings: Communicating findings and insights to stakeholders through presentations and reports, explaining complex data in a clear and concise manner.

Collaboration and Communication

Growing emphasis on sustainable business practices and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Incorporation of ethical considerations in business analysis and decision-making.

Gathering Data: Collecting data from various sources such as databases, spreadsheets, and external datasets. Modelling: Integrating data from multiple sources to create comprehensive datasets for analysis, as well as understanding the relationships between those datasets.

Data Collection and Modelling

• Focus: Enhancing the usability and satisfaction of user interactions.
• Applications: User research, usability testing, persona development.
• Tools: Axure, Sketch, Figma, user journey maps.

User Experience (UX) Analysis

Increasing use of automation to streamline processes and reduce costs. Implementation of robotic process automation (RPA) and AI.

• Focus: Identifying and documenting business and system requirements.
• Applications: Requirements gathering, user stories, functional specifications.
• Tools: JIRA, Confluence, DOORS, Visio.

Requirements Analysis

Heightened focus on compliance with industry regulations and standards. Implementation of governance, risk management, and compliance (GRC) frameworks.

Feedback Loops: Incorporating feedback from stakeholders to refine data analysis processes and improve the quality of insights. Staying Updated: Keeping up with industry trends and advancements in data analysis tools and techniques.

Continuous Improvement

Excellent communication skills for presenting data findings to non-technical stakeholders.

Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL.

• Focus: Assessing and improving information systems and IT infrastructure.
• Applications: Systems requirements, solution design, technical specifications.
• Tools: UML, ERD, system architecture diagrams.

Systems Analysis

Excel, SQL, Python, R.

Strong emphasis on understanding customer needs and improving customer experiences. Adoption of customer journey mapping and personal development.

Shift towards remote work and virtual collaboration tools. Utilisation of online platforms for communication and project management.

Creating Reports: Developing reports and dashboards to present data insights to stakeholders in an understandable format. Data Visualisation: Using visualisation tools to develop reports and dashboards that include charts, graphs, and other visual aids to highlight key findings. It's important to present data insights to stakeholders in an understandable format.

Reporting and Visualisation

Strong problem-solving skills to identify the best ways to represent data.

• Focus: Improving business processes and workflows.
• Applications: Process mapping, business process reengineering, Lean Six Sigma.
• Tools: BPMN, Lucidchart, IBM Blueworks Live.

Process Analysis

Skill in using data visualisation tools and software.

• Focus: Long-term business planning and strategy development.
• Applications: Business model analysis, SWOT analysis, strategic roadmaps.
• Tools: Balanced Scorecard, PESTLE analysis, SWOT analysis.

Strategic Analysis

Identifying Trends: Identifying business trends and patterns to provide strategic insights. Making Recommendations: Providing actionable recommendations to improve business processes, efficiency, and profitability.

Business Insights and Recommendations

• Focus: Managing organisational change and transition.
• Applications: Change impact analysis, stakeholder engagement, training.
• Tools: ADKAR model, change management plans, Prosci tools.

Change Management

Growing reliance on data analytics to inform business decisions. Advancements in big data and AI to uncover insights and trends.

Embracing digital technologies to transform business operations. Integration of cloud computing, IoT, and automation.

• Focus: Analysing and interpreting business data to support decision-making.
• Applications: Data modelling, reporting, business intelligence.
• Tools: Excel, SQL, Tableau, Power BI.

Data Analysis