The role of a Data Analyst

An experienced data analyst stands in the middle of the IT organization. He or she is the person that can spar with the data engineer, that collected the requirements, and the tester. He understands what's being demanded from an application; he understands how this can be implemented and understands how it can be tested.

Concentrated on the field of business intelligence, the data analyst fulfills a pivotal role between the user, who requests certain reports, the engineer, who can extract data from databases, and the tester, who can prove the correct data is loaded.

This role asks a lot from the data analyst. You have to be well known with database structures. Besides this, you have to understand how functional requirements can be translated in technical terms.

Capgemini Academy supports you to gain this knowledge. We have developed several training courses for this purpose.

What does a Data Analyst do?

As data analyst you're responsible for translating the functional requirements which aren't understandable for an engineer. For this, functional questions are translated in technical answers which are implemented by colleagues of the data analyst. Once the product is finished, the data analyst is also the first person to check if it complies with the set functional requirements. Concentrated on business intelligence: Is the delivered product also an answer of the question the user asked?

Which competences?

A proper performance as a data analyst requires competences in several fields. You have to be well known with modern databases. Like relational databases but also other databases like NoSQL or storage in Hadoop. These are competences a data analyst also has to possess. Besides this, you need to know modelling techniques and you need to be able to explain the data model in terms that are understandable for the user.

Besides this, you have to understand how information products work. That way, you can join the conversation between the engineer and tester.

In our curriculum we have several training courses that can be used to develop these skills.

Besides this, the personal skills are also of high importance. You have to understand the tension between business and IT and you have to be able to find your way in it. Capgemini Academy offers several consultancy and communicational training courses for this purpose.

Are you interested in the role of data analyst or do you have questions about it? View our curriculum via the links below or send us a message via the contact form.