[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Thanks twojarslave. I just might grab access for dummies. I can’t see a career change for myself now, but we do employee a number of Business Analyst so you never know (they’re mostly in our Corporate HQ in NY though). What do you do with SAP if you don’t me asking? We use SAP where I work (like a lot of places), but I use it from an informational stand point. No data entry for me; although, I do create journal entries for entry that General Accounting will process. I wouldn’t mind learning more about the inner workings of SAP if it’s not mind numbingly difficult. [/quote]
Depends how “inner” of workings you want to get to. I don’t touch code, except if I’m feeling frosty and want to get an idea of what a program might be doing. I do some work with SQL, but I don’t consider that to be overly technical. I’m more “middle layer”. Not quite “inner”.
What I (and most who go by the title “Business Analyst”) do is something of a bridge between the business process side (management, user support) and the technical (developers). To put it in plain English, your business software must model your business process. Sometimes the software does this out-of-the box. Sometimes the software does not. When it doesn’t you can either change your process to match the software model or change the software to match the process model. It is my job to make them meet.
I maintain the configuration that comes with SAP. If a business process is not supported by SAP standard configuration, we may do custom developments. In cases like this, I will write a functional specification document that explains how the development should work to solve the problem and then work with ABAP developers to refine those specs and deliver a solution.
It is usually about 50% screen time (testing, maintaining configuration, more testing, some extra testing after that and testing to figure stuff out I’ve never touched before, and then some testing), 50% human interaction (meetings, training, requirements gathering, etc). This can vary wildly week-to-week.
I’m presently THE business analyst at a small company, so I support all aspects of the business. Finance, Controlling, Manufacturing, Shipping, Sales, Planning, everything falls to me right now. I will soon be on a support team, where I will be specializing in Materials Management and Production Planning. This specialization is more typical with software like SAP.
Having good understanding of the business processes you are supporting is just as, if not more important than having any real depth in your understanding of SAP. An accounting education and experience is absolutely ideal for this.
Pay is generally quite good. Sr. Business Analysts can top out well over $120k/year, which isn’t bad for a job with no direct reports and the bullshit that goes along with it. Project management can be a next step and managing a team of business analysts is another path to a bigger paycheck.
I’d like to continue building up my body of knowledge and experience and get into consulting in my 40’s. That’s where you can make some really big bucks. The most ridiculous invoice I’ve personally seen was one miracle worker’s hourly billing rate of $250.
Keeping on-topic, I’ve known several BA’s with degrees in Computer Science as well. There is not necessarily a single path to getting into this line of work. Technical and business knowledge are both important to have.
