Who is Business Analyst (BA)? What work is the BA position responsible for?

The Business Analyst profession is becoming more popular in Vietnam to optimize business operations for large-scale enterprises.

Phuong Trang
June 25, 2024

In recent years, Vietnam's economy has been developing extremely strongly and gradually gaining a foothold in the international market. Because of this trend, the Business Analyst profession is becoming more popular in Vietnam to optimize business operations for large-scale enterprises.

However, the concept of the Business Analyst job still causes confusion for many young people who want to pursue this job. To clearly understand what Business Analyst is, let's explore the information below with EDUTO!

Find out what the Business Analyst (BA) profession is?

Business Analyst (abbreviated BA) is also known as a business analyst. The main task of a Business Analyst is to analyze customer needs and coordinate with the company internally to come up with appropriate solutions.

Besides, they also help innovate business operations between departments to make the best use of available resources. From there, businesses can optimize operating costs and best serve customers. 

Find out what the Business Analyst (BA) profession is?

Main professional skills of BA

The job of a Business Analyst is a broad category that covers many different specialties and operations. In particular, Business Analyst has the following three main specialties.

Management Analyst (Management Analyst)

Management Analyst is an expert in consulting on effective management solutions for businesses. They help managers analyze activities and problems existing in the business. From there, they can propose plans to cut unnecessary operating costs and increase business performance for organizations and companies.

Systems Analyst (Operational systems analyst)

Systems Analyst is also known as a systems analyst. Their job is to examine a company's information technology systems and infrastructure and find ways to improve them. This job requires a Systems Analyst to have a high level of technical expertise and a clear understanding of the enterprise's current business methods .

Data Analyst (Data Analyst)

A Data Analyst will be responsible for analyzing, collecting and storing data about sales, market research, logistics or other business activities.

They will then apply specialist skills to ensure the quality and accuracy of that data. Based on the filtered data, they will analyze and present it logically to help the organization make better business decisions.

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What major should I study to become a Business Analyst?

Currently, Business Analyst does not have a specific major at universities in Vietnam. Therefore, when you search for what Business Analyst needs to study in Vietnam, there will not be much specific information. However, if you want to pursue this job, you can study one of the majors below.

What major should I study to become a Business Analyst?

Economic sector

The main task of a Business Analyst is to analyze numbers and information related to the economic benefits and profits of customers or companies. Therefore, you will need to equip yourself with knowledge in majors such as business administration, auditing, finance, accounting, etc. Currently, universities in Vietnam all have the above economic majors. so you can study.

During the process of studying this major, you should also register for short-term information technology courses to supplement your skills for the future Business Analyst job.

Information technology industry

Today, Business Analysts apply a lot of information technology knowledge to promote business activities of enterprises in the digital age. In particular, Business Analyst needs to come up with solutions to operate businesses with software and secure business information. Therefore, to pursue this job, you can study majors such as computer science, software engineering, communications - computer networks...

In addition to developing in-depth knowledge of information technology, you also need to supplement other knowledge about business administration, system management,... and soft skills necessary for effective communication. . These are important skills and knowledge to help you develop further in the Business Analyst career.

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What is the job overview of a Business Analyst?

What is the job overview of a Business Analyst?

Interact and work according to customer requests

In fact, not all customers know what they want. Therefore, Business Analysts will need to work directly with customers to elicit and exploit their hidden needs. Once the customer's needs have been identified, the Business Analyst will directly analyze the problem and propose appropriate solutions.

Transfer information to internal teams

After analyzing customer needs and planning options, the Business Analyst will begin working with project development teams such as Product Manager, IT Develop, QC,... From there, this team Work to implement solutions that meet customer needs.

Manage changes according to customer requirements

The nature of business is always changing. Therefore, there are business operation requirements that need to be continuously updated and innovated by BA. In particular, BA needs to analyze and predict how changes will affect the system.

Based on that basis, BA can propose feasible solutions and accurately update system changes over time.

Top 7 most important skills of Business Analyst

Top 7 most important skills of Business Analyst

Communication skills

Communication is an extremely necessary skill in any job that requires high expertise. Typically Business Analyst, this job requires them to analyze data and communicate important information to higher levels. Therefore, of all the skills needed for a Business Analyst job, communication holds the most important position.

In addition, BAs also need to be able to ask insightful questions to get the right information from stakeholders. For example: If their customers are not technologically and technically savvy, they need to know how to ask questions in simple language to be able to get better information.

Technology and database skills

Business analysts need to have IT programming knowledge to perform faster and better data analysis.

With the help of IT programming languages, huge data can be analyzed and displayed in a sophisticated manner. Additionally, business models can be quickly created to predict future business practices.

Besides, Business Analysts often work with structured data. To store and process this heavy data, they must have a good understanding of relational databases such as Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL database, Oracle DB, as well as NoSQL databases.

Analytical skills

Analytical and critical thinking is one of the core skills a business analyst must have. Specifically, BA must be able to analyze and clearly communicate customer requirements.

Besides, critical thinking helps BA evaluate many options before coming up with the desired solution. Furthermore, a good analytical mind will help the BA achieve stated goals even under difficult conditions such as limited resources or other unexpected changing factors.

Analytical skills

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Problem solving skills

The job of a Business Analyst often faces change. Therefore, the ability to handle problems is one of the skills that BAs need to hone to be able to promptly resolve arising problems. From there, projects with BA's participation can operate smoothly and ensure the best project completion schedule.

Decision making skills

Decisions made by Business Analysts have direct and indirect impacts on the company's business operations. Therefore, business analysts need to develop decision-making skills to be able to bring the most effective solutions to businesses.

Specifically, before making a decision, the BA will need to explain the problem and find alternative business approaches. They then test out all the alternative approaches and make a decision based on what they think about these approaches. Finally, they test and implement the solution.

Project management skills

In addition to proposing solutions for business activities, Business Analysts also participate in direct management of projects that create those solutions. In particular, tasks such as project planning, staff coordination, budget forecasting, ensuring project progress,... all require BAs to use project management skills. Therefore, BAs need to focus on developing this skill to be able to run the job most smoothly.

Negotiation and persuasion skills

Business Analyst negotiates at every stage of the project. In the early stages of a project, negotiation skills are used to decide what is important to include in the project vision.

The BA then uses negotiation skills to determine which requirements are mandatory and prioritize them. As the project progresses, negotiation skills play an important role in deciding on a functional design that meets the requirements. Negotiation skills are also used to make technical decisions.

Therefore, without negotiation skills, BA will not be able to create the fastest and most optimal solutions for customers. This will affect the company's profits because they cannot provide timely solutions that meet customer needs.

So, through sharing about the Business Analyst job, EDUTO hopes you will have useful information to prepare to apply for this job!