The development of business intelligence (BI) plays an increasingly significant role in enterprises of all kinds. As businesses produce more data, BI developers play a crucial role in connecting enormous amounts of dirty raw data with data analysts, data scientists, product managers, and executives trying to make sense of it. Because of this, BI developers rank among the most influential individuals in the data science industry, with a 9% predicted job growth between 2018 and 2028, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There has never been a better time to enter the field as employers recognize the significance of data science professionals including business intelligence developers and BI salaries grow more competitive. Continue reading to learn all there is to know about a career in BI development.
What Is Business Intelligence?
The term “business intelligence” describes the methods and instruments used to convert data into useful information. The idea that BI has three separate parts or “layers” is helpful. Data sources, which house an organization’s unprocessed data, comprise the first layer of business intelligence. Usually overwhelming, challenging to sift through, and nearly impossible to make sense of, the volume of data on this stratum is.
In order to address this, data warehousing, the second layer of BI, is required. The tools used for ETL (Extraction, Transformation, and Loading) are all part of warehousing, standardizing the data into a coherent structure that can be searched (or queried).
What Is the Job of a BI Developer?
As was already established, the reporting layer of business intelligence is the responsibility of BI engineers. Thus, they must be able to do research, design, and produce dashboards and other tools that let users perform analytics, provide visualizations, and construct data models. A BI developer is also responsible for any software that makes up the reporting layer.
What a Business Intelligence Developer Does?
At its foundation, business intelligence developers are engineers who utilize and create tools and software for business intelligence in order to make data accessible and practical for an organization. While each firm may have a somewhat different job description for BI developers, the skills and duties needed are often the same.
Job Description of a BI Developer
The technical job of BI development necessitates familiarity with both business procedures and needs, as well as database and software development.
According to typical job descriptions for BI developers, candidates should expect to:
- Create, support, and maintain ETL operations using tools like Microsoft SSIS
- Create, release, and keep up BI interfaces
- Create SQL servers reports and extracts.
- Create applications that are highly scalable and available.
- Converting business needs and issues into technology answers
- Provide data via reports and visualizations so an organization can make smart business decisions.
- Keep track of procedures for later usage.
- Organize data by working with business analysts.
Responsibilities of a BI Developer:
For non-technical stakeholders, a business intelligence developer is responsible for extracting and delivering insights through data visualization, modeling, and reporting. The position often entails the following:
- Finding insights into data and comprehending business requirements. Building dynamic dashboards and reports
- Creating processes and KPIs
- Facilitating commercial and technical teams’ access to data
A career in Business Intelligence:
BI developers frequently begin their careers with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, applied mathematics, statistics, or a related topic similar to other technical occupations. They continue their education with a programming language, computer science, or data analytics course.
With these credentials in hand, aspirant BI developers can either seek entry-level jobs in data science or analytics or find another entry-level career in a department that will allow them to make a lateral shift. Since this gives them exposure to an organization’s data requirements and the collection, organization, and use of data, it is not uncommon for BI developers to begin their careers as data analysts, entry-level developers, or even data clerks.
How Does a BI Developer Work?
A BI developer at a smaller company can be in charge of the entire business intelligence pipeline, managing everything from data storage and warehousing to developing user interfaces and conducting data analysis. In a large firm, a BI developer is more likely to have limited responsibility for managing the reporting layer that enables data scientists and analysts to access and interpret the gathered data.
How to Become a Business Intelligence Developer?
The road to a profession in business intelligence development is varied. The typical path taken by those who have obtained BI developer positions is shown below.
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Enroll in a Course:
BI developers are primarily software engineers with additional statistics and data analysis experts who use their knowledge to create tools for data scientists and analysts. Start by honing your programming abilities and understanding languages like Python, SQL, and R that BI developers utilize. You can strengthen these fundamental abilities, improve your comprehension of data analysis and statistics, and gain in-depth knowledge of data pipelines, frameworks, architectures, and widely used data management and storage solutions by enrolling in an online course or bootcamp.
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Get Certified:
Consider obtaining business intelligence certifications to give yourself an edge over the competition. These are beneficial in two important ways: first, they demonstrate to hiring managers that you are proactive in staying up to date with the latest tools and technologies, and second, they will enable you to gain a deeper understanding of topics like data ethics and governance, data security, metadata management, and warehousing. While companies like Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM offer certificates related to their platforms and technologies, Learnbay offers a data science certification course, in accreditation with IBM and also get clarified with the data science course fees . Get certified now to enhance your BI portfolio.
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Create a Portfolio:
Even if you lack official training or work experience, a strong portfolio of projects will highlight your skills in a competitive employment market. A portfolio demonstrates to hiring managers that you have the skills necessary for the position, regardless of whether you have worked on projects on your own time or carried out part of the responsibilities of a BI developer in another capacity.
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Beginning from the bottom:
It can be challenging to find junior BI developer roles, so think about applying for data science internships or beginning in an entry-level position in a comparable industry to gain exposure to and experience with the issues and skills a BI developer deals with. For instance, if you begin your career as a data analyst, you will gain an understanding of SQL and data warehousing, have the chance to develop data pipelines, and be able to make a lateral job transition.
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Take Part in Projects:
It’s simple to become mired in the idea that the only way to obtain experience in BI development is to work in the field. However, this is untrue, as BI developers share skills with software engineers, data analysts, data scientists, data entry clerks, and many other IT professionals within an organization. Additionally, data analytics bootcamps provide opportunities to work on real-world projects, and there is no restriction on the ability to create dashboards and user interfaces for querying publicly accessible datasets.
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Network with people:
Through word-of-mouth and referrals, BI developers can discover job openings in one of the most frequent ways possible. As a result, it’s critical to establish a network of peers and industry mentors who can provide professional advice and disseminate job news. Make the most of the mentorship and career counseling resources available if you’re currently enrolled in a boot camp or online school. Proactively get in touch with BI managers and developers if you work for an enterprise. Additionally, keep an eye out for meetups and conferences in your field where you may expand your network.
Get Started Now!
Although it is possible to become a business intelligence developer without prior experience, candidates typically have a better chance of being hired if they complete internships or get BI developer expertise while working in other positions.
A bachelor’s degree in business-related studies, computer science, statistics, mathematics, or another relevant discipline is advantageous but not necessary. All you need is a professional data science course with placement that gives you the foundational skills in data analytics and programming languages that you can use to create dashboards and user interfaces, which you can then use to mine and query data.
Good luck!
