IT Business Analyst Career Summary

Name: Connie Wirtanen
Job Title: IT Business Analyst
Where: St. Paul, MN
Employer: US Bank
Years of Experience: 16
Education: Cardinal Stritch University, Minnesota State – Mankato
Relevant Work Experience: Business Analyst, Functional Analyst, Software Support, Accounting Manager, Accountant
Annual Salary: Use PayScale’s Resource Center to find the median salary of business analyst, to review IT salary survey data, and to find salaries for accounting/auditing careers. 

Have you ever been referred to as a god at work? IT Business Analyst Connie Wirtananen has. While this is probably an exaggeration, it does convey the impact an IT Business Analyst can have in creating overall business efficiency. Similar to an auditing career or accounting job, an IT Business Analyst closely examines company details. But rather than looking for financial faux pas, an IT Business Analyst investigates problems that occur within business systems. Once these problem areas have been identified, a Business Analyst recommends IT solutions to help the company achieve its goals.

The following business analyst career summary is only one example of many job options available to those interested in information technology. Check out IT salaries by industry to explore IT salaries within business or health care fields. Also, if you’re wondering how international IT positions compare, check out PayScale’s India IT salary report.

IT Business Analyst Job Description:
Connie: I serve as am expert for assigned functional applications, support development of business impact analysis categories and perform ongoing IT maintenance. I provide project and release support, including research, business analysis, test plan construction, test case construction, test execution, issue resolution and status reporting related to application changes. I also interface with internal and external resources to ensure successful completion of testing in accordance with the needs of project sponsors and stakeholders.

PayScale: How did you get started as an IT Business Analyst?
Connie: A friend thought I should leave the accounting world and join the IT world. It was the best career move I ever made. Being an IT Business Analyst, I get to apply my interest in technology to create visible results within my company.

PayScale: What do you love about being an IT Business Analyst?
Connie:  I enjoy the diversity of job tasks – I’m not just stuck crunching numbers in the accounting department. I work with a variety of people daily. When one project is complete there is always another new one around the corner. There’s always something to do. Plus, each project helps users do their jobs more efficiently. And happy users make the best employees!

PayScale: What are the biggest challenges facing you as an IT Business Analyst?
Connie: Learning the new IT software for each project is always a challenge, especially at the continual pace at which technology moves. Also, in a large company such as US Bank, there are business analysts all over the United States. So, it can be difficult to include all the right people in the data research for each IT project.

PayScale: What advice can you offer to those interested in becoming an IT Business Analyst?
Connie: Know that you will never be bored. You need to be on your toes and ready for anything. With the IT software and technology advancing so quickly, you have to constantly be learning. So you need to have the confidence to take on the new and unknown. Every day is different.

PayScale: What’s the most interesting thing that’s happened to you while working as an IT Business Analyst?
Connie: It really is amazing when an IT project is successful. The users get excited because you’ve just made their job easier. I have actually been called “God” before. And it’s always satisfying when you take on an IT project that’s been unsuccessful in the past and you can turn it into a raging success. That’s an amazing feeling.