The Skillset of a Data/Business Analyst

An aspiring Data or Business Analyst? Well, these are the knowledge areas that would help you understand data, and its applications better as an analyst.

1) An Understanding of the Business and Business Problem
Laying the foundation before utilising data to solve any problem requires the analyst to have a clear understanding of the business problem. It does not matter if the analyst can analyse the data but does not understand the underlying business problem. Business problems are often described as specific problems faced by a particular business. By not having a good understanding of the business problem can result in misinformation, a waste of precious resources, time or deriving conclusions which might lead to the wrong direction. Even to the extent of proposing impractical or even dangerous suggestions for the business.

2) Understanding of Algorithms and Data Analysis Techniques
Algorithms such as association rules, clustering, multiple or simple linear regression may not work for every scenario, and this goes back to point 1, which is the understanding of the business problem. Without understanding the uses and feasibility of data analysis techniques or algorithms would prevent the analyst from applying them effectively.