Should a BA be technical enough to survive in the IT industry?

• Is it necessary to be 100% technically sound before applying to a BA role?
• Do you always have this confusion between technical and functional BAs?
• Do you always assess your technical expertise and are not sure how much is too much for a BA role?

These were some of the daunting questions during my BA transition. If this is the same case with you, let’s dive deeper into how to get it sorted.

Last week one of my LinkedIn connections asked for my views on this subject and I suddenly remembered my situation back in 2021.

When I used to connect with people, asking them about the BA profession, most of them advised me to try for an internal switch first because 90% of companies look for experienced people with relevant job titles for this role.

Out of fear and stress, I started learning SQL, Python, Data Analytics and whatnot.

Then something happened that I knew would happen. I lost track of everything in between, except the Data Analytics part. Why?

Because I was not a coding geek since my college days. I never liked it.

That said, I did find the concepts of data analytics a bit interesting, so I learned about data visualization through Tableau and Power BI, data storytelling, etc.

All I am trying to clarify here is what the actual meaning of technical knowledge is and what industries need from you as a business analyst.

Technical knowledge

People have a mentality to relate technical knowledge with coding only. And why not, CS students seem to be more technical than any other in our colleges, right?

But the reality will hit once you enter into the professional world.

There you’ll get to know that technicality is not just sitting and coding, it is everything happening behind the curtains.

Whether it’s an algorithm, an API creation, integrating two systems or creating a framework, whatever is needed to build something with a solid base, comes under technical aspects.

Of course, this will be done through coding in one language or another, but here you need to understand the difference between a developer and a BA role.

Technical knowledge for a BA

I talked about the functional and technical BAs before. You should know the difference between both and also how they differ from a developer.

A functional BA focuses more on generic responsibilities such as understanding the client’s needs and making them clear to the developers along with documenting and keeping an eye on the desired outcome.

On the other hand, technical BAs are asked to perform generic functions as well as bring specific tech skills to the table. They sometimes prepare high-level architecture or algorithms too.

Developers turned BAs are best suited for technical business analyst roles.

But remember that in both cases, nobody is going to ask you to sit and code. Companies do have a team of developers for that job (unless they want to mould you into a multitasker).

What companies look for is an understanding of the terms and processes to make better decisions. This even applies to more advanced roles such as Product Owner/Product Manager.

Imagine if you know how the recommendation algorithm works for Netflix, then you can make a better decision for your own product’s recommendation engine.

My personal experience

If you ask me what technical expertise should a BA bring, I always say to get your hands dirty, learning the product or process at its core.

It is to understand the algorithm or the procedure that works at the back end to support your solution.

If you ask me about a specific skill such as SQL, Python, Salesforce or SAP etc, I would say go ahead if you are interested in learning it.

It might be an added advantage to make things less of a struggle for you, but again you never know where you end up working as a business analyst and what the demands of your project will be.

If you don’t have any interest in learning all those skills, please don’t waste time just for the sake of getting into a role.

Being a good problem solver is what companies need today.

Concluding points

• BAs are never expected to be heavily knowledgeable in terms of technicality. Companies have separate development and engineering teams for that.
• There is a difference between a business analyst, a subject matter expert and a developer.
• If a BA does have the basic or above basic understanding of things, then that would be a bonus for their smooth BA journey.
• A BA should understand how things work in a better operational way to make efficient decisions.
• But if you are looking to move ahead for a PO or PM role with a BA role in hand, then you better start working closely with your tech team to understand how the back end stuff works (this is usually needed for this role).

Let’s connect to understand what else you can learn to make yourself confident for a BA or PO role.

Follow Bhavini Sapra for more such insights on the BA lifestyle and how you get to live one.

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