a career path in "business intelligence"

[Dear Summer]

hey guys,

does anyone have any experience with a career path in BI?

I know SQL, ETL, database type skills are required and I am interested more on the reporting side of it. Analyzing the data to form reports with a tool like Microstrategy.

Is this a good career path with good growth prospects?

thanks

 

[JS80]

It's very good IMO. BI is a key department in tech companies, and it supports all groups. My favorite people at work = BI guys.

 

[vi edit]

The bigger part is convincing a company that it's actually usefull/important. So many companies are siloed into their own little micro-departments nobody knows what another group actually stores. It's probably one of the most under-utilized resources out there in a large organization.

 

[Cogman]

BI? Interesting, never heard of it.

 

[RichieZ]

get used to using hadoop and/or aster

 

[speg]

Sounds like some lame buzzwords to make people sound more important than they are.

 

[vi edit]

BI? Interesting, never heard of it.

It's basically a group that polls against dozens of individual databases/data repositories and tries to do something useful with that data.

It's a HUGE untapped market in healthcare where the systems are usually strung together with duct tape and bubble gum at best...completely oblivious to each other at worst. It's got huge uses to both clinicians and administration if they know how to effectively report against the info they need.

 

[Cogman]

It's basically a group that polls against dozens of individual databases/data repositories and tries to do something useful with that data.

It's a HUGE untapped market in healthcare where the systems are usually strung together with duct tape and bubble gum at best...completely oblivious to each other at worst. It's got huge uses to both clinicians and administration if they know how to effectively report against the info they need.

So, it is guys coming up with new and exciting SQL queries? Do they do anything with database management, or is it strictly an interpreting data sort of job.

 

[vi edit]

So, it is guys coming up with new and exciting SQL queries? Do they do anything with database management, or is it strictly an interpreting data sort of job.

I'm not overly familiar with the nitty gritty of how things work. I just know our guys use business objects as a front end for users. They are sort of a "for hire" group for the company that you go to when you don't know who else to talk to to discover information across systems.

 

[Dear Summer]

is there a ceiling in BI?
when you become a certified BI professional, what's the path? can you work towards senior management at high-tech firms or are you pigeonholed as one of those IT grunt guys? eventually to CxO type level?

How about the salary?

 

[EagleKeeper]

Data interpration is primary.
Figuring out what additional data will allow a better perspective and determining where is may be located.

 

[mmntech]

"Business Intelligence"... there's an oxymoron.

 

[Fear No Evil]

I work in BI for the Healthcare industry. I'd say my job is roughly 1/3 SQL, 1/3 Reporting Tool (There are many), and 1/3 System Admin type things. But those percentages can change depending on your role. Some people spend much more time on the reporting tool, others much more on SQL, SQL tuning, troubleshooting, etc..

Of course, you also need to know the backend systems and databases too. I enjoy it, I'm relatively new to it though having moved from a SysAdmin type position to the BI team.

 

[Gibson486]

You mean data mining?

 

[SP33Demon]

So is this what they're calling MIS now.

 

[Cogman]

So is this what they're calling MIS now.

Math is Scary?

 

[SP33Demon]

Math is Scary?

Management Info Systems, yeah you could say that.

 

[silverpig]

new and exciting SQL queries?

ROFL. "Holy crap look at this one!" "Amazing!"

 

[sdifox]

Know your stats
work on report writing, not, not draw pie charts, actual English writing.

 

[Martin]

is there a ceiling in BI?
when you become a certified BI professional, what's the path? can you work towards senior management at high-tech firms or are you pigeonholed as one of those IT grunt guys? eventually to CxO type level?

How about the salary?

BI and data mining are probably some of the best fields to get into right now, likely to see lots of growth. Having said that, you seem to be looking for something easy - these are pretty technical fields, while you seem to just want to gloss over everything and do management.

My question to you is, how do you expect to manage people doing work you don't understand? What makes you think you can make long-term strategic decisions (ie CxO) when you don't even know the basics? Our BI department is made up of developers/engineers that have gotten a bit of extra education, they work with the quants (another highly technical group) and management.

Also, the "IT Grunts" you malign can easily make 90-100k and more.

 

[KingGheedora]

is there a ceiling in BI?
when you become a certified BI professional, what's the path? can you work towards senior management at high-tech firms or are you pigeonholed as one of those IT grunt guys? eventually to CxO type level?

How about the salary?

You have to be smart and good at the job, but yeah some possible end paths are CIO, and CTO. If your skills don't translate really well over to non-tech circles you're not likely to get up there though.

 

[richardycc]

learn Cognos if you want a career in BI.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

hey guys,

does anyone have any experience with a career path in BI?

I know SQL, ETL, database type skills are required and I am interested more on the reporting side of it. Analyzing the data to form reports with a tool like Microstrategy.

Is this a good career path with good growth prospects?

thanks

It definitely can't hurt to have these skills, as most companies rely on reliable business intelligence. Here are a few things to learn:

1. Crystal Reports
2. SAP Business Objects/Xcelsius
3. Oracle/SQL
4. Data warehousing/mining
5. Dashboard creation/design -- Sharepoint 2010 is going to be big in this area in a few years
6. Cognos is another good tool to know, as another person mentioned. Khalix was a good-sized competitor in the market a few years ago, but I am not sure where they're at now.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

So, it is guys coming up with new and exciting SQL queries? Do they do anything with database management, or is it strictly an interpreting data sort of job.

It depends on the company, but most BI people I've come across analyze the data being fed into the corporate ERP system (Oracle, SAP) and create reports and dashboards to give decision-makers up-to-the-minute numbers on how the business is performing, along with trends, etc. Having an IT background makes things much easier to do things, as some of the tools used to create this information are very technical.

 

[ivan2]

learn Cognos if you want a career in BI.

learn BusinessObjects if you want a career in BI.

learn SAP if you want a career in BI.

learn Informatica if you want a career in BI.

learn JDEdwards if you want a career in BI.

learn Qilkview if you want a career in BI.

there, ftfy