Business Data AnalystEarlier this month, the Data Otaku blog at Microsoft.com published an article that ought to be of interest to anyone who is pursuing business data analyst certification or who is generally considering that form of business analysis as part of their future career. It doesn’t particularly matter whether that prospective career is in IT or not. The business data analyst certification is one area in which there is clear overlap between online information technology training and the skill sets that people need to develop in non-IT careers.

That being the case, if you have any mind for data you might want to look into this certification even if you’re not sure which sort of career position you’ll ultimately land in. Like many of the skills you can learn through our online information technology consultancy, a business data analyst certification may not be a strict qualification for your career path but it might still be adaptable to a range of role that you might find yourself occupying.

The Microsoft post touches upon this fact as well, in that it gives readers a sense of the wide range of data that can be sought out and utilize by professional business analysts. Data is all-important, and it is becoming more important all the time. Your ability to not only analyze it but also to find it in the first place has an impact on your ability to create meaningful reports for your employers, to assess the effectiveness of your workplace and the products of people working under you, and generally to win respect for your ideas and make yourself known as indispensable.

If you read the Data Otaku blog, you’ll be introduced to a range of different data sources that you can gain access to either for free or for pay, and either for the sake of predetermined workplace-specific analysis or for the sake of simply testing and developing your skills. And if you’re like us, you’ll also get the impression that identifying, navigating, and making effective use of these and other data sources is a skill unto itself.

A good business data analyst certification program will provide you with additional information about different types of data sources and will provide you with substantial practice in accessing them, extrapolating what is useful for any given situation, and drawing valid conclusions. It should be fairly easy to see how having practice in these skills will give you a leg up in various areas of the business world, whether or not your subsequent focus is on information technology training.

The ability to navigate and utilize data is a skill that you will have to use at some point in any professional career. If you’re not sure about how your own acumen in that area measures up to your competitors in the 21st century job market, a business data analyst certification will leave no doubt in your mind.