Both technical and functional, the profession of business intelligence (BI) expert is rich and comprehensive. By turns facilitator, data specialist or trainer, the BI expert must possess a wide range of skills, both technical and behavioural.
BI consultants play a key role in business intelligence. They cover the entire data life cycle, from the analysis of functional requirements to the design of reports and dashboards, including data preparation, integration and modelling processes.
To grasp all these dimensions, the job requires a large number of skills. Firstly, it requires a solid technical background in the architecture and interrogation of data warehouses.
The expert who makes data talk
This is a job that also requires mastery of a number of data integration tools (ETL/ELT) such as Microsoft SSIS, Talend or PDI, operational reporting solutions such as BusinessObjects or IBM Cognos and data visualization platforms with Microsoft Power BITable Software or Qlik.
"BI is a vast field, and each expert has his or her own preferred ETL or restitution tools", says Marie-Noëlle Tellini, BI consultant at Bial-X and ORSYS trainer. This mastery of tools alone is not enough, it must be combined with an understanding of the functional challenges. "The most important quality of this job is the ability to immerse yourself in different activities and to learn the language of the people you are dealing with.."
Building the right indicators for a business management tool presupposes a clear understanding of the expected business rules For example, "depending on the company, the sales calculation may exclude one type of entry or another".
BI expert: un array of soft skills
The profile doesn't stop there. The BI expert must possess a certain number of interpersonal skills. "The job requires a good command of the spoken word to lead scoping meetings and participative workshops, as well as good listening skills and an ability to summarise needs".continues Marie-Noëlle Tellini.
We can also highlight the rigorous and methodological nature of this data specialist. "Data preparation is an important phase", she recalls. "You need to target the data from different source systems and then centralise it in a data warehouse. Then you need to arrive at the right model for the desired output. Then, once the model is in place, we need to feed it.
The next stage involves change management, with training and getting users up to speed with the tool. With the democratisation of business intelligence, the consultant's clients include managers in departments such as finance, sales and marketing, as well as operational staff such as management controllers.
"BI makes their daily lives easier"says Marie-Noëlle Tellini. "Before, they had to manipulate Excel files, which were a real gas factory and a source of errors". A BI project also makes it possible to overhaul processes so that all the company's departments are using the same KPIs.
When BI combines with Big Data and AI
To explain complex figures in simple terms, the BI expert will use the data storytelling to use the best narrative. But also to UX design to provide the most intuitive interface possible. "The aim is to find the right representation, the right visuals that will speak to everyone who consults a dashboard."
Once the model is in production, there is no question of resting on one's laurels. BI consultants have to keep a constant watch on technology. They have to keep abreast of new BI tool functionalities, and then share them with customers.
In addition, more and more projects are combining Traditional BI, big data and artificial intelligence. "The exponential growth in the volume of data is opening up new possibilities", says a delighted Marie-Noëlle Tellini. "Not to mention the external data, particularly open data, that enriches the model. From this playing field, data scientists will bring their art of making data talk to bear on a predictive vision".
"It's a complete jobshe concludes.. We take it in turns to be presenters, experts or trainers". What career paths are open to BI experts? According to the consultant, there are two possible paths. They can deepen their functional knowledge and become product owners, or strengthen their technical expertise and specialise in architecture.
