The Ultimate Guide to Business Analytics Jobs & Salary (2024)

Are you interested in pursuing a career in business analytics? With the demand for data-driven decision-making on the rise, there has never been a better time to explore opportunities in this field. But with so many job roles and salary ranges out there, how do you know which path is right for you?

Business analytics is a rapidly growing field, with companies across industries seeking professionals who can analyze data to drive strategic business decisions. As technology continues to advance, the role of a business analyst has become indispensable in helping organizations stay competitive in the market.

In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the various job roles within the field of business analytics and provide insights into the salary ranges you can expect in 2024. Whether you are a recent graduate considering a career in business analytics or an experienced professional looking to advance your career, this guide will help you understand the opportunities and potential earnings in this exciting and dynamic field.

Let’s begin with understanding the basics.

What is Business Analytics?

Business analytics is the art of using data to inform business decisions. It’s a way of taking raw data, analyzing it, and turning it into actionable insights that can help companies improve their performance. Not only that, it also helps businesses identify areas where they can save money, such as by streamlining operations or reducing waste. So, business analytics leverages techniques from both data analytics and data science, focusing them on solving problems specific to the business world.

It involves the following three key steps, i.e.

• Data Collection and Management: Data is gathered from various sources like customer databases, sales records, social media, etc., and then it is organized for further analysis.
• Data Analysis: Once you have the data, you need to analyze it to uncover patterns, trends, and relationships. This might involve using statistical methods and specialized business analytics software tools.
• Insights and Decision-Making: After analyzing the data, you can derive meaningful insights that can be used to make informed business decisions. These could include optimizing marketing campaigns or improving operational efficiency.

This increasing importance of business analytics has become a major driver for the skyrocketing demand for business analytics professionals.

Top 5 Business Analytics Jobs

The field of business analytics offers a diverse range of exciting career paths. Here are some of the most popular and in-demand job opportunities:

i. Business Analyst:

• Role: A Business Analyst acts as a bridge between the business world and the world of data. They play a crucial role in understanding business needs, translating them into technical requirements, and ensuring that data analysis projects align with overall business goals.
• Skills: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, excellent communication, business acumen, understanding of business processes, familiarity with business analytics tools, project management skills, proficiency in MS Office Suite, and data modeling skills.
• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, information technology, or a related field.

ii. Data Analyst:

• Role: Data Analysts handle data wrangling, cleaning, organizing, and analyzing data to identify trends and patterns. They use statistical methods and data visualization tools to communicate insights to stakeholders.
• Skills: Data wrangling, data analytics tools, statistics, data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI), SQL querying.
• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in statistics, computer science, or related field.

iii. Business Intelligence Analyst (BI Analyst):

• Role: BI Analysts focus on gathering data from various sources, transforming it into usable formats, and creating reports and dashboards to help businesses make data-driven decisions.
• Skills: Data warehousing, data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL), data visualization tools (e.g., dashboards), business process knowledge.
• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, information technology, or related field. Experience with data analysis tools and BI platforms.

iv. Marketing Analyst:

• Role: Marketing Analysts use data to understand customer behavior, market trends, and campaign effectiveness. They help businesses optimize their marketing strategies for better ROI.
• Skills: Marketing research, customer segmentation, data analysis, marketing campaign measurement, and experience with marketing automation tools.
• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in marketing, business administration, or a related field. Understanding of marketing principles and consumer behavior.

v. Financial Analyst:

• Role: Financial Analysts leverage data to assess financial performance, identify risks and opportunities, and make informed investment decisions.
• Skills: Financial modeling, financial statement analysis, valuation techniques, strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in finance, accounting, or a related field. Some employers may prefer a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in finance.

Overview of Business Analytics Salary

Here is an insightful breakdown of the salary offered to SAP business analysts:

• The average annual salary for a SAP Business Analyst in the US with 0 to 3 years of experience is $70,000
• The average annual salary for a SAP Business Analyst in the US with 3 to 6 years of experience is $87,000
• The average annual salary for a SAP Business Analyst in the US with 6 to 9 years of experience is $108,000
• The average annual salary for a SAP Business Analyst in the US with 9+ years of experience is $129,000

Is Business Analytics Career in Demand?

According to industry reports, the business analytics industry is projected to grow from USD 43.9 Billion in 2023 to USD 84.39 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.50% during the forecast period (2023 to 2032).

While the market is growing, there’s a significant skills gap. A report by Gartner predicts a shortage of up to 2.9 million data analytics professionals by 2027. This vast gap highlights the immense opportunities for those with the right skills. In addition, this skill set shortage will likely expand in the future.

The positive side is that this situation creates an excellent opportunity for those with a background in business analytics to use their technical, analytical, communication, and research skills. It also provides more professional options when deciding which type of business analytics to pursue as a career path.

What’s the Future?

As we discussed, Business Analysts (BA) are already in high demand, and it is only expected to increase for the foreseeable future. The role of the business analyst is expected to evolve significantly over the next five years. In 2024 and beyond, BA’s will be expected to do more than just provide recommendations based on gathered data. Instead, they will be expected to own the implementation of these recommendations as well.

If you’re considering pursuing a career as a Business Analyst, now is a great time to do so. The career outlook looks strong. Organizations in nearly every industry, product sector, and service sector are looking to make better professional decisions. They are interested in hiring individuals with the skill set to help them run more efficiently and be more profitable.

So you should invest in learning through online business analytics certification, which are readily available on Careervira.