About MSBI career

1. Graduate Careers in Business Intelligence
About the Author
Jason Dove is the author of 'Crystal Reports Formulas Explained' and a Business Intelligence expert
who has worked as a consultant for over a decade providing top notch assistance for the world's
leading companies.
Three reasons why business intelligence is the only
option
Getting that first, all important, foot-hold in the IT industry is the most important thing in the world
for a new graduate. And if some time has passed since graduation, despair and disenchantment can
easily set in.
But there is an option which many do not even think to explore: Business Intelligence.
A sub-sector of the IT industry, Business Intelligence is the extraction, summarising and formatting of
data for informed business decisions and monitoring. As the title of this article implies, there are three
very good reasons why Business Intelligence may be your only route into an IT career.
1. Business intelligence is the only growing area in IT
I personally started in the BI industry when it was just called "report writing", since then it has
boomed. Employment agencies who didn't know what BI was (and some still don't!) now have
dedicated departments just to deal with supplying BI consultants.
 Even during times of hardship, like a recession, all the big
companies and corporations turn to BI to aid their
survival.
 And during times of plenty, BI is used to expand and
grow.
 Whatever the economic climate, Business Intelligence is
needed.
2. Business intelligence needs less experience
This is not to diminish the value of Business Intelligence, far from it. Because it is so powerful and can
have such a huge impact even a minimum of knowledge goes a long way. The big paying jobs will
always go to the best and most experienced specialists, but there is a realistic starting point where
minimal experience is not a deal breaker as long as the basic knowledge is there. The more
experience the better, as is always the case, but there is a starting point for the beginner in Business
Intelligence which is missing from mainstream IT.
3. Business intelligence is a new sector
Business Intelligence, in one form or another, has been around ever since computers were first used
in business, but somewhere along the way it was forgotten that a computerised system is only as
good as the information it can provide.
Then, about ten years ago, a very quiet revolution started and companies started to get interested in
all the data they had collected since the first IT revolution. This sector has been steadily expanding
ever since. At the moment it is just the biggest companies and corporations which use BI, but as you
are reading this Business Intelligence is spreading to companies of all sizes as the benefits become
clear. As this new sector grows, IT savvy people are needed to fill the void. And because of this rapid
growth all the existing Business Intelligence experts are already taken.

2. Summary
Business Intelligence is not only the easiest route into the IT industry, it can be the only way in for
those with little or no experience.
Three more reasons why business intelligence is the only
option
For those hoping to turn their education into a career in IT, these are hard times. That feeling of "the
hard work is behind me" has turned into "there is a brick wall in front of me", and that is just to get a
job to start proper work!
 Business Intelligence is an alternative route into the IT
industry which many graduates will overlook but should
consider.
 Business Intelligence is the fastest growing sector in IT
and centers around extracting information from
existing databases to allow informed business
decisions.
1. Existing business intelligence experts are busy
Whether companies are trying to expand or just survive, Business Intelligence experts are needed.
There is literally not enough expertise to go round. This shortage is ideal for anyone wanting to get
into the industry. Potential employers do not have the choice to hire someone with experience
because there aren't any available.
2. Business intelligence has less competition
How many letters/emails do you think HR departments get from graduates enquiring about Database
Administrator, Programming or Web Designer? Lots!
It is easy to get lost in the pile, and even harder to stand out. Declaring yourself to be interested in
Business Intelligence really sets you apart. Especially in the case of smaller companies, a business will
already have the standard IT employees but not a dedicated Business Intelligence expert. All this aids
in getting an all important foot in the door.
3. Business intelligence software is easy to master
Ok, that is not strictly true! But the software used for Business Intelligence (Crystal Reports is the de
facto standard, though there are many more) is written in such a way that a lot of basic, though
powerful, analysis is possible without the in depth knowledge. But do not be misled by this easy start!
To actually get the most from BI software a great deal of skill and knowledge is needed.
Summary
This secret of the IT industry will come to the attention of the masses at some point and have the
dedicated degree subjects it deserves. But at the moment it is the back door into one of the best
industries in the world. Due to the desperation in the Business Intelligence, with the correct base
knowledge, even the most minimal experience is enough to secure a starting point in the IT industry.
Yet three more reasons why business intelligence is the
only option
Business Intelligence is the only sector in IT which has survived the recession relatively unscathed.
And with good reason. In hard times companies need all the information they can get in order to
survive. Business Intelligence centers around extracting information from existing databases to allow
informed businesses to evaluate the state of their finances at any point in time and plan future
strategies.

3. 1. Business intelligence is relevant for all business sectors
There is not a business in existence which cannot benefit from BI. Personally I have used it to sell
paint, analyse exam results, monitor repair work done on government houses and have even worked
on counter-terrorism using the exact same skill-set for each. I have worked in banking, retail,
insurance, healthcare, education and government. There really is no limit to what you can do or where
you can work.
2. Business intelligence is an easy platform to other IT areas
There is so much to learn to be a productive employee in the IT industry that it is not only
overwhelming to those starting out but is also in the mind of any employer looking at a graduate's
resume. And it is not just the 'what' to learn, as this may have been covered at college, but the 'how'.
How to actually apply this knowledge in a business environment.
Business Intelligence usually requires the knowledge of one piece of software which is designed to do
one specific task: generate reports. This really narrows the scope of what you need to learn. At the
worst, there is also a distribution application which also needs to be mastered, but this is usually not
very involved.
3. Many IT professionals are not cut out to be business
intelligence consultants
The question you may be asking yourself is: "Why aren't other IT people just switching jobs to
Business Intelligence if it is so great?"
The reason is twofold:
 a. Many of the programmer community just do not have
the interpersonal skills to be a BI expert. Working in
Business Intelligence requires a great deal of interaction
with people at all levels of a business. This is the scariest
thing in the world for many programmer types.
 b. BI is not seen as "proper programming", and to be
honest, it is not. The formulas and macros that the more
advanced BI Experts use are still only a few lines long.
And of course, it is possible to have a successful BI career
and not be able to write any code (though it will be a
struggle!).
Whichever of these cause existing IT expert to stay clear of Business Intelligence (it was 'b' which was
my initial concern, but I do not regret my choice for a second), it all works to create a fertile ground
for the newcomer to IT.
Summary
The mix of these points makes an ideal combination for anyone hoping to break into the IT industry.
Between the rapidly expanding Business Intelligence sector and the lack of prospective employees
(even from within the IT industry itself!) this is an opportunity not to be missed. Like all things, the
market place will level itself out over time, but now is the chance to be at the forefront of this exciting
new development.
Have you got what it takes?
Getting started in a Business Intelligence career may be the easiest way for a graduate to break into
the IT industry, but it is no free lunch and a level of competency must be reached. Getting a job is
only the first step, being well prepared to build a successful career is something else.

4. Here are the five main areas a Business Intelligence specialist needs to be proficient in. All of
them are important, but none are deal breakers. Even if you only have one or two of the items on this
list, the rest can be learnt.
1. Relational databases
 Understanding how relational databases work is one of
the most important things in Business Intelligence.
Working blindly to the table schema provided by the
database developer will drastically limit what you can do.
2. SQL
 SQL, Structured Query Language is the programming
language used exclusively for extracting information from
databases.
 SQL does not change much between different databases,
so learning one version is enough to apply to all
databases.
 It is possible to have a successful Business Intelligence
career and never be able to write a line of SQL, but it can
certainly make it easier when trying to solve more
complex problems.
3. Basic programming skills
 Most reporting software has an underlying scripting
language similar to how Excel has macros. All these
languages have their own quirks and take some effort to
learn, especially as many do not have many resources to
refer to.
 But once learned, it is usual for reporting programmes to
only ever be a few lines long and not the hundreds that
application software needs to function.
4. Reporting software
 Just like the programming languages, it does not really
matter which reporting software you learn, it is more
about understanding the theory.
 That said, it makes sense to learn the most popular and
that, by far and away, is Crystal Reports.
 It is my software of choice, but more importantly, it is
used by virtually everyone everywhere and has huge
support in the form of both documentation and user base.
5. Analysis skills
 This is the trickiest of the five to define as Business
Intelligence analysis is different to what is usually
considered to be analysis in the IT industry.
 The other problem is that no materials exist to learn this
specific skill set. It is one of the problems of Business
Intelligence for the beginner: it is such a new discipline
that the books and courses have not been written yet!

5. Summary
None of the above are essential prerequisites to starting a Business Intelligence career, but the more
you know, the easier it will be. Every single one of these skills can be learnt in a reasonable time
frame, and I would advise learning them all to a comfortable level before going after any Business
Intelligence position.
With the exception of number four, most of these subjects are covered as part of any computer/IT
relate degree, and if you have had the advantage of this level of training it is usually enough to get
you a solid start as a Business Intelligence analyst.
Three steps to getting experience
1. Know your stuff!
The first step is to make sure you have all the basic knowledge to do the job of a BI analyst. Suffice to
say that it makes sense to be able to do the job you are trying to get practical experience in. At the
very least, be comfortable with the reporting software you intend using.
2. Let businesses know who you are
Advertising in your local area may seem overwhelming at first, but if you target smaller companies
you will be pleasantly surprised by the feedback.
Why?
Because Business Intelligence is a powerful tool which will help any company and is a new miracle
cure to smaller businesses. And advertising does not have to mean paid advertising. Most areas have
local business networks which can provide you the access you need to boost your local economy.
3. Make the most of any opportunities
The whole point of this approach is to gain experience, so every opportunity to increase your
experience should be seized with both hands. As obvious as this sounds, when faced with new
challenges or work which may seem pointless, it is too easy to make excuses and avoid things which
are challenging.
At this point in your career everything is an opportunity to learn, whether this is talking to a potential
client about what data they store electronically and how it can be used to aid their business…or
creating a new type of report for an existing customer.
Everything is a challenge, but should be seen as an chance to grow your career and get an edge over
the competition.
Summary
Lack of experience is the number one culprit which can ruin all the years of study and lay waste to
your technical knowledge. As such, it should be given priority as a problem which needs solving. With
this handled, everything else will fall into place and the benefits which should be part and parcel of an
IT based career will be available for the taking.

6. How to start your career in Business Intelligence?
This post is a live example of my career as a developer in Business Intelligence (BI). I
started BI with no knowledge at hand, and it took me lots of time to understand several
areas of business intelligence. This blog will help you to give a smooth start to your career
in BI.
Start by following any book or, materials online where you can get the knowledge on What,
Why and How. “How” part can be explored later, but we should start with “What” and “Why”
to understand the basics of BI.
Following are some areas where you need basic knowledge to understand the overall
picture and once you are clear on the actual picture, you can expertise yourself in any of the
area to start with:
1. The description/definitions of BI, what is it exactly and why we need it for our business
to grow.
2. Life cycle of a BI/Data Warehouse projects
3. Difference between OLTP and OLAP
4. Multidimensional Modeling
5. Extraction Transform Load (ETL)
6. BI Architecture
7. Data Mining
8. Reporting techniques
9. Dashboard
10. KPI, etc.
Please find below some online links and information on books, which will help you to
acquire knowledge on above areas:
Books
Business Intelligence
By: Elizabeth Vitt; Michael Luckevich; StaciaMisner
Publisher: Microsoft Press

7. Dimensional Modeling: In a Business Intelligence Environment
By: Chuck Ballard; Daniel M. Farrell; Amit Gupta; Carlos Mazuela; StanislavVohnik
Publisher: IBM Redbooks
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_intelligence
http://www.bsmithsolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/bilittlebook.pdf
http://www.ca.com/files/whitepapers/business_intelligence_wp_us_en_197626.pdf
The different careers in BI:
1. ETL Engineer
2. BI Engineer (Reports analysis, design and development)
3. BI Engineer (Presentations -Dashboard, KPI, charts, etc.)
4. Business Analysts (BI)
5. TL/Project Manager (BI)
6. QA/Testing (BI)
You would need to work on some tools to develop your solutions, I would suggest you to
start with some open source if you want to understand the basics properly or, you can
choose any paid tool if you want to ease your development.
Please find below some tools which we follow as our development, I would suggest starting
with these tools:
1. Talend Studio (ETL Tool), Open Source

8. 2. SpagoBI, Open source, It includes external engines such as Birt, Jasper, JPivot,
Jpalo, JPXMLA, Geo, Geo Report, QbE, Weka, R(1), CommonJ, etc. It is a complete
solution for BI projects.
3. Schema-Workbench for Mondrian Schema development
Some other tools in the market:
1. Open Source Tools
A. Birt Project
B. JasperSoft
C. RapidMiner
D. R
E. Paid Tools
i. Tableau Public Desktop (Basic version is free)
ii. Pentaho (Basic version is free)
iii. Zoho
iv. Yurbi, community version is free http://www.yurbi.com/pricing/
v. Cognos, IBM
vi. Omniscope, http://www.visokio.com/download/galapagos
vii. ElegantJ BI, http://www.elegantjbi.com/
viii. Visdash, http://www.visdash.com/
ix. Dynamic AI, http://www.dynamicai.nl/
x. Precision BI, for healthcare domain, http://www.precisionbi.com/
xi. SuperSTAR
SuperSTAR provides a unique solution to the challenge of fast,
confidential data tabulation, analysis, visualization and dissemination of
large amounts of organizational data. SuperSTAR uses a unique
approach to analytical processing and reporting through the application of
column-based analytical technology and web-based dissemination in one

9. integrated environment. Users manipulate and analyze data at any level
of aggregation, from unit record or micro data to aggregated cubes of
data.
xii. GoodData
GoodData is more than just dashboards. It’s a powerful tool with a robust
analytical engine built on a platform that’s revolutionizing BI.
xiii. ElegantJ BI
xiv. QlikView
Please let me know in case you need my help to understand any particular area/subject in
details, I am there to help you always.