Blog Updated on October 23, 2025.

If you are interested in pursuing a professional pathway that brings data science and management together, now may be the perfect time to look into a career in business analytics. 

Business analysts use technology like data visualization tools and statistical software platforms to analyze company data. Their findings can then empower their organizations to strategize, develop more efficient systems, and produce positive outcomes for companies and customers alike. Businesses are increasingly leaning on data analysis and professionals with strong analytical skills to measure their performance and make plans for future growth and profitability. 

The World Economic Forum states in its Future of Jobs 2025 report that data analyst and data science roles will continue to experience substantial growth in the coming years, with analytical thinking being the skill most sought after by employers. Now is a great time to take the first step toward a career in business analytics. Consider the education, experience, and skills you need to enter the field, as well as some of the business analytics career options available in this growing profession.

 

Education Requirements for Business Analysts

Business analysts must have at least a bachelor’s degree, typically in a field like business studies, management, or information technology. For individuals who want to pursue greater career advancement and salary potential, or who have an undergraduate background in a non-business field, an MBA with a business analytics concentration can prepare them for their career goals. 

Through the MBA: Business Analytics Concentration program at St. Bonaventure University, students build proficiency in analytical software and programming while developing high-level skills in analytics.

 

The Top Three Skills for Business Analysts

In addition to post-secondary education, those considering a career in business analytics need to develop several key skills and competencies. Here are some of the top skills necessary for successful business analysts:

• Proficiency in data analytics software programs
• Verbal and written communication
• Critical thinking and problem-solving

Data Analytics Software Programs

Business analysts leverage statistics, programming, and data to solve problems for their organizations. To do that most effectively, business analysts use software and technology tools like programming languages, data visualization tools, and statistical software. Some of the technology business analysts use include:

• SQL: Standing for “Standard Query Language,” SQL is an open-source, standard programming language that business analysts use for storing, managing, retrieving, editing, and updating data in a relational database
• Python: A high-level programming language that analysts can use to retrieve and extract data, as well as to conduct analyses and create visualizations
• Java: The most popular programming language and development platform used in major platforms and systems that business analysts use to process records, gain insights, and inform their decisions
• Tableau: A data analysis and visualization platform that business analysts use to research, make, and communicate strong business choices
• SPSS: A software package that uses customer databases to conduct statistical analyses for marketing purposes

Understanding how to leverage these tools can empower business analytics professionals to be strategic problem solvers who harness data for productivity and profits. At SBU, our MBA: Business Analytics program provides hands-on experience, helping develop the proficiency that is crucial for success in the field of business analytics.

Verbal and Written Communication

Once business analysts make decisions based on data, they then need to communicate those decisions to key stakeholders, team members, and employees. Before they even begin to present their findings, business analysts with strong communication skills engage in active listening — both to the data they analyze and to individuals with unique insights into challenges facing their organization. Active listening helps business analysts to make the best decisions possible.

After a decision is made, business analysts are often tasked with communicating their findings and suggestions to key stakeholders. Through data visualizations that are clear and memorable — explanations that describe essential points and reports that offer more detail in understandable ways — business analysts can guide the organizations they lead to greater success. 

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Since business analysts work to understand and solve problems, critical (or analytical) thinking is an essential skill. The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) identifies the core competencies of analytical thinking and problem solving:

1. Creative thinking: asking questions, challenging assumptions, and generating new ideas or approaches
2. Decision making: understanding, documenting, and making a decision with certainty and a plan for clear communication to key stakeholders
3. Learning: gaining knowledge and skills efficiently and synthesizing the information that they have acquired
4. Problem-solving: defining and communicating the nature of a problem, including underlying issues, and determining the best solution
5. Systems thinking: understanding how people, processes, and technology within an organization interact in order to understand the whole organization
6. Conceptual thinking: fitting a substantial amount of information into the larger organizational picture
7. Visual thinking: taking complex concepts and converting them into understandable visual representations for others 

Through a strong grasp of relevant technology, honed communication skills, and critical thinking and problem solving skills, business analysts can perform their roles with excellence.

 

Necessary Work Experience for Business Analysts

A career in business analytics often begins with experience in other areas. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) explains that companies with specific emphases may prioritize hiring business analysts — also called management analysts — with backgrounds in related fields. For example, a tax firm may hire a business analyst with an accounting background, or a software company may hire a business analyst who has previously worked in computer systems or information technology.

The MBA: Business Analytics at SBU equips graduates for these varying professional positions by allowing students to customize their degree plans.

 

Potential Career Paths for Business Analysts

Business analysts are employed across many sectors and fields of industry, and the widespread hiring is expected to continue in the years to come. The BLS projects that positions for management analysts will grow by 9% from 2024 to 2034. That’s three times higher than the anticipated growth rate for all occupations.

A career in business analytics can lead to positions with titles such as business analyst, customer insights analyst, business systems analyst, business insight and analytics manager, business intelligence manager, and IT business analyst. Here are a few insights into the job descriptions for each of these positions. 

Business Analyst

Business analysts often work with project managers or heads of departments to determine problems or challenges and devise plans to address them. They work with large amounts of data to find potential areas for improvement. Then they create reports and visualizations to communicate their findings and recommendations to key stakeholders. 

Payscale reports a median salary of approximately $69,640 for business analysts as of October 2025. 

Customer Insights Analyst

Customer insights analysts combine data analytics with market research to inform business decisions and support revenue growth. This is an essential role in competitive companies that value data-centric strategies to improve the customer experience with a given product or service. This role focuses on communicating and visualizing data so that marketing managers can use organized insights to create advertising and marketing campaigns.

Payscale reports a median salary of about $65,000 for customer insights analysts as of September 2025.

Business Systems Analyst

Business systems analysts are also known as computer systems analysts or systems analysts. They empower organizations to be more effective by seeking to understand all of the systems in operation and how they work together. From there, they collaborate with groups inside the organization to define key performance indicators and determine how best to meet them. Business systems analysts may also work to identify problems with company technology and recommend improvements.

Payscale reports a median salary of about $77,740 for business systems analysts as of September 2025. 

Business Insight and Analytics Manager

Business insight and analytics managers oversee teams of data analysts and use a combination of customer or market research and business data to ideate performance-enhancing business opportunities. Their day-to-day responsibilities include a combination of team management, analytics, and business strategy. This position is often available at large data-centric companies that aim to use customer data to create cutting-edge products and services. The average base salary is high and reflects the impactful role this position plays in furthering a business’s success.

As of May 2025, the median salary for business insight and analytics managers was approximately $110,320, according to Payscale.

Business Intelligence Manager

Business intelligence managers are similar to, but not synonymous with, business insight and analytics managers. Business intelligence managers analyze existing raw data, whereas business analytics managers use business intelligence reports to visualize this data and create practical business plans. This role focuses more heavily on data analysis than strategic application. This position is also more concerned with real-time data analysis and its application in current operations. This is an excellent opportunity for candidates with an interest in data science and math.

According to Payscale, the median salary for a business intelligence manager was around $113,060 as of August 2025.

IT Business Analyst

IT business analysts typically work within the parameters of an IT project. According to Modern Analyst, IT business analysts:

• Elicit requirements from stakeholders
• Analyze those requirements
• Document requirements in business requirements documents (BRDs)
• Create functional specifications.

IT business analysts serve as a bridge between the business aspects of a company and its information technology department. 

As of October 2025, Payscale reports the median salary for IT business analysts at approximately $79,230.

Marketing Manager

Marketing managers create advertising or sales campaigns that help a company sell its products or services. Depending on the organization, a marketing manager might be involved with creative projects, data research, advertising initiatives, and even sales tactics. A marketing manager with an MBA in business analytics can use concrete data to support strategic thinking. Large companies like Amazon, Uber, and Microsoft seek employees who can analyze market research studies to draw insights about customer behavior. 

According to Payscale, the median salary for marketing managers was around $75,720 as of October 2025.

 

Take the First Step Toward Your Career in Business Analytics

Do you want to work at the intersection of business and technology? Are you motivated by defining problems and working toward the best solutions to those problems? If so, the online MBA: Business Analytics program at St. Bonaventure University could be the ideal next step toward your professional goals. 

Our online MBA: Business Analytics program is strategically designed to teach students of any educational background the skills and knowledge they need to pursue a career in business analytics. As a 100% online program with no GRE or GMAT requirement, our online MBA: Business Analytics is a convenient, accessible program that takes less than two years to complete. You can enroll with a bachelor’s degree in any field.

In addition to being flexible and affordable, the online Business Analytics graduate degree program is strategically designed to prepare you for high-demand roles working with big data. 

As a student at St. Bonaventure University, you will be part of an AACSB-accredited university — a distinction that renders SBU in the top 6% of business schools in the world. Graduate in just under two years and complete your education entirely online. Prepare for the future of business with our online MBA: Business Analytics program.