5 Steps on How to Become a Business Intelligence Manager

Are you fond of data-driven tasks? Does mathematics and programming entice you? Then, apply your interest and potential mathematical skills in the field of business intelligence and enhance your career opportunities. Do you know the process of becoming a business intelligence manager?

Here’s the brief for you: To become a Business Intelligence Manager, get a bachelor’s degree in relevant fields like business or computer science. Plus, gaining experience through internships and earning certifications in data or business analysis will help build your skills.

Learn how to become a business intelligence manager in detail and establish yourself as a skilled business professional.

What Is Business Intelligence?

The term “Business Intelligence” is unique and interesting. It refers to using different strategies to find and analyse data that a company can use to gain insight before making any important business decision.

Who is a Business Intelligence Manager?

A business intelligence manager is someone who supervises a team of analysts and developers. The manager and his team gather information, assess company needs, and report industry trends to management.

What Does a Business Intelligence Manager Do?

A business intelligence manager reviews and analyses data of both the competitor and the company itself to identify ways to improve its market position. The work of a business intelligence manager can vary depending on the company they work for, but typically their responsibilities include:

• Reviewing customer data
• Reviewing and analysing competitor data
• Managing analytics and metrics results
• Developing policies for collecting and analysing data
• Developing business strategies for improving the company’s efficiency and productivity
• Presenting data information and solutions through reports and presentations
• Contributing to the increment of the company’s profit margin

What is the Work Environment of a Business Intelligence Manager?

Business intelligence (BI) managers typically work as full-timers in office settings. They spend most of their time working on a computer, analysing data, attending meetings and communicating with managers to present their problem findings and solutions.

What are the Career Opportunities of a Business Intelligence Manager?

The career opportunities of BI managers are just expanding these days. As a BI Manager, you can find a job in almost any sector like health, finance, automobile, entertainment, etc. All these sectors demand developing business strategies to create a strong market position and remain ahead of their competitors.

The most significant advantage of working as a business intelligence manager is that you do not have to work in a fixed position. Rather, you can decide and work according to your preferences.

For example, you can either choose to work in a technical role where your main focus would be on programming and data collection, or you could take on a more human-oriented role where you would need good communication skills to explain the data insights to non-technical decision-makers in the workplace.

Let’s visit our other blog, “10 Highest Paying Jobs in the UK.“

How to Become a Business Intelligence Manager?

• Earn a degree- The very first step of becoming a business intelligence manager is completing a four-year bachelor’s degree program. Some common majors for business intelligence managers include computer science, data science, statistics, business administration, economics and related fields.

You can also opt for courses related to statistics, technology and data analysis since these are beneficial for the business intelligence manager profile.

• Complete an Internship- Completing an internship program will help you gain the relevant work experience to apply for the position of business intelligence manager in industries.

Most bachelor’s degree programs offer an opportunity to complete an internship program. The experience of working as an intern will give you vital contacts in the industry and help to establish your professional network.

• Get a Professional Certification- You can opt for a professional certification course to make your profile appealing to employers.

Some of the certifications are Microsoft’s Certified Solutions Expert in Business Intelligence certification, the Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) certification, PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PBA), computer programming and business administration certifications.

• Take an advanced degree- You can consider having a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) or another master’s level program. A master’s degree can broaden your career opportunities as a business intelligence manager.
• Prepare a resume to apply- Once you have gained the necessary skills and experience and achieved the required degrees, you should prepare your resume to apply for the post of business intelligence manager. Read the job requirements carefully before applying and check whether the requirements match your skill sets.

Educational Requirements to be a Business Intelligence Manager

The minimum educational requirement for a business intelligence manager is a bachelor’s degree. However, some employers look for a candidate having an MBA. In some cases, it’s enough to have a bachelor’s degree if you have previous working experience.

Students completing their studies in computer science, marketing, finance, accounting, economics, management, and business are eligible to become business intelligence managers. Along with the educational degrees, having additional certifications such as Certified Management Consultant (CMC) would be a plus point.

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What Skills do You Need to be a Business Intelligence Manager?

To be a successful business intelligence manager, you should try to acquire some specific skills to build a strong foundation for your career.  The skills that would broaden your career prospects are-

• Data Analysis: A BI manager’s job centres around data collection and data analysis, so it is a must-have skill for a business manager. You need to be good at examining many different sources of data and then drawing accurate conclusions from them.
• Statistical analysis:  As a business intelligence manager,  you should know various statistical components like mean, median, range, variance, and so on. Apart from these basics, you should have knowledge of advanced statistical topics like combinatorics, set theory, probability, discrete and continuous and bivariate distributions.
• Problem-solving: The job of a business intelligence manager not only requires collecting and analysing data but also creating business strategies and solving real-world business problems with that data, which makes problem-solving skills a must for BI managers.
• Data visualisation: The data visualisation skill includes knowledge about various charts like area charts, bar charts, waterfall charts, TreeMaps, Scatter Plots, etc., used to visualise various data.
• Technical skills: It may be useful for a business intelligence manager to know coding languages and data science tools. Some of the tools to build up technical skills are SQL, MATLAB, Python, Tableau and so on.
• Business Knowledge: As an employee, it would be your responsibility to be well acquainted with the business model of the company you are working for and understand how to obtain the maximum profit for the business.
• Communication skills: This is also an essential skill since you would often need to convey technical concepts to non-technical people or other professionals you are working with.

Besides, visit our other blog, “10 Effective Communication Skills For Social Workers.“

Salary of a Business Intelligence Manager

The salary of a business intelligence manager would depend on their educational qualifications, experience, location and the type of services they provide. According to indeed.com, “The average salary for a business intelligence manager is £52,307 per year in the United Kingdom.”

Also, as claimed by indeed.com, some of the highest paying cities in the United Kingdom for business intelligence managers are Slough, Glasgow, London and Leeds, where the average salary per year is £65,435, £60,340, £58,922 and £58,754 respectively.

Moreover, the experience of a BI manager would determine the salary. The pay of a 10-year experienced BI manager would naturally be higher than someone having a year of experience.

The following is a chart that shows the salary increment of a business intelligence manager according to experience level in the UK.

Business Intelligence Manager Job Outlook

The demand for business intelligence managers is growing gradually since this position is relevant to every industry. Business organisations would need more BI managers to understand and interpret the data and implement business tactics accordingly.

As per First PRO, “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for management analysts, including business intelligence, is expected to grow by 14% through 2024.”

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a business intelligence analyst and a data analyst?

The prime difference between a business intelligence analyst and a data analyst is that while the former focuses more on decision-making and business development, the latter remains concerned about data exploration and visualisation.

Simply put, a business intelligence analyst works on the development of business strategies by using the data analysis and reports prepared by the data analyst.

How long does it take to become a business intelligence manager?

It will take a minimum of four years to become a business intelligence manager. However, it might take longer, depending on the requirements of the roles you are interested in.

Generally, a BI manager starts with an entry-level position like an accountant, market research analyst or computer systems analyst and then gradually gains the target position through promotions.

Is Business Intelligence Manager a good career?

If you are interested in data science and business, then business intelligence can be a good career choice for you.

BI managers are now working in industries ranging from IT and software to healthcare and retail. They are also making a decent living from this job.

BI managers make more than other IT professionals. According to First PRO, “The average salary of business analysts is, on average, 50% more than other IT professionals.”

Conclusion

Since the demand for business intelligence managers is gradually increasing and they can work across a wide range of industries, opting to become one would be a great career choice. If you are still a novice and confused about where to start, follow the steps of how to become a business intelligence manager, as explained in the blog.

You can now gain the necessary skills required to become a business intelligence manager by enrolling in the courses of Lead Academy.

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