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I don't disagree with anything you've said. The fact of the matter is that the majority of business analysts and 100%[0] of the consumers of their analysis are
by greggyb 11y ago
I don't disagree with anything you've said.
The fact of the matter is that the majority of business analysts and 100%[0] of the consumers of their analysis are only comfortable with a spreadsheet. I'd say less than 50% of the business analysts we see can do more than write a join in SQL, 90% dump data straight to Excel for processing and presentation. The remaining 10% will use whatever BI tool their company has decided on.
[0] Close enough not to matter.
Note: the percentages above are based on my experience consulting with primarily non-tech-related clients and are based on my casual observations and those of my coworkers. Microsoft Excel has a stranglehold on the niche we're discussing, because it hits the sweet spot of functionality and usability for the people who are doing this work in most companies.
- Mikeb85 11y agoAnd I suspect it will change over time. The newer generation has much, much higher computer literacy. Programming (Python and SQL) is required in the University I attend for any stream beyond a basic language degree. R is required for stats. My mother is a business analyst, she uses Excel. Needs to find the IT guy to do anything with a database. Building a database and doing complex queries was an assignment in a required introductory course I took as a freshman. She thinks pivot tables are black magic and prides herself on knowing how to make them. We did pivot tables in two 50-minute classes. I don't doubt your experience at all. But I do think Excel's stranglehold is/will weaken - it's clunky, and newer generations are learning programming even in non-CPSC streams.