Business Analytics vs. Business Analysis: A Comparative Guide

Many people use Business Analytics and Business Analysis interchangeably, thinking it’s the same thing. Well, it’s not. What makes Business Analysis vs Business Analytics different? Despite sounding similar, they have substantial differences.    

On a surface level, Business Analytics uses data to examine past performance and trends to predict future trends. On the other hand, Business Analysis focuses on business processes and functions to suggest improvement in the business. According to the 2020 Global State Of Enterprise Analytics report, 65% of employees in the UK use analytics to drive strategy and change, 63% use it to improve process and cost efficiency, and 56% to stay ahead of the competition. Read this blog to explore the differences between Business Analytics and Business Analysis and how it improves the business. 

Table of Contents  

1) What is Business Analytics?  

    a) Scope of Business Analytics?  

2) What is Business Analysis?  

3) Scope of Business Analysis?  

4) Differences between Business Analytics vs Business Analysis   

5) Conclusion  

What is Business Analytics?  

Business Analytics typically involves analysing data from the past or business data using tools, techniques and skills. The business data is analysed to derive helpful and valuable insights that can be used to improve business.   

Business Analytics is mainly about working with large amounts of relevant data to the business or the organisation and includes predictive modelling, data mining, quantitative analysis and multivariate testing. One must also be learning about various business analysis tools that are generally employed for business analytics. Business Analytics can also be seen as a specific application of Data Analytics and can be defined as part of data analytics applied explicitly in the business domain. Data Analytics aims to improve business by deriving useful insights from the data.

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Scope of Business Analytics  

Business Analytics is used extensively in domains where employees have to work in close proximity to a lot of customer data, like in financial institutions or hospitals. It is also used in IT to improve business, products and services.   

Some examples of how Business Analytics is used:   

a) Analysing many complaints (data) about the app to determine the root problem. This can give insights into the root cause responsible for many complaints or problems.   

b) Business Analytics can be used to figure out how many users are likely to cancel a subscription.   

c) Using statistical methods to understand how future sales can be based on past sales data.   

General applications and use-cases of Business Analytics  

a) Supply chain optimisation.  

b) Detecting frauds based on past data and trends.  

c) Establishing a price or cost for a product or service.  

d) Making a dashboard to track and analyse performance metrics.  

e) Conducting simulations to investigate various scenarios.  

f) Using data to uncover new patterns and trends in the relevant industries.
 

What is Business Analysis  

Business Analysis is the discipline which involves bringing change at the organisational level to improve business or align it with a goal. A key aspect of Business Analysis is to facilitate communication and collaboration among different business units, ensuring that everyone involved has a shared understanding of goals and objectives. This discipline is not only about problem-solving but also about anticipating future needs and aligning strategies to meet evolving business demands.. This discipline is not only about problem-solving but also about anticipating future needs and aligning strategies to meet evolving business demands. Business analysis entails using relevant data and specific techniques to understand the needs of a business. Business analysis techniques can also help you understand more comprehensively about the business world!   

Business analysis is not limited to software and data. It also entails changing the organisation, like improving business processes and participating in strategic planning. Crudely speaking, a Business Analyst is akin to a “mega-supervisor” who supervises the entire business or unit.   

A typical Business Analysis process includes the following:  

a) Requirement gathering or understanding the needs of stakeholders or customers.   

b) Understand the business objectives and manage the stakeholders’ expectations.   

c) Collaborate with various departments to complete the tasks set during the planning phase of a project.   

d) Manage and use business data to derive helpful data that can improve business processes or projects.   

e) Help or guide the implementation of solutions. 

Scope of Business Analysis  

The need for understanding the business and implementing better solutions is universal irrespective of the sector or the type of business. This makes Business Analysts compatible everywhere.    

Some examples of how Business Analysis is used:   

1) Proposing a business case analysis to outline the changes needed in the organisation or business.   

2) Establishing a benchmark of product performance to compare all future performance against the benchmark.

3) Analysing competitors or rivals in the same sector, industry or market to better understand them. For a specific example, comparing the delivery price of the rival brand so better decisions are taken in the interest of the business.

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Difference between Business Analytics vs Business Analysis  

Business Analysis primarily focuses on the business process analysis, techniques and functions, whereas Business Analysts focus on the data and statistical analysis of the relevant data. While Business Analysis as a whole considers the broader aspects of an organisation, including its strategy, structure, and objectives, Business Process Analysis narrows its scope to the detailed study of workflows, tasks, and activities involved in achieving specific business goals. Here are some key differences between Business Analytics vs Business Analysis.   

a) Business Analysis is used to identify the gaps in the business needs and problems and give solutions to those problems. On the other hand, business analytics is used to address complex problems and give solutions based on the data analysed.   

b) Functional Analysts, IT Business Analysts and Business Analysts carry out Business Analysis. Data Scientists and Data Analysts carry out Business Analytics.   

c) The skills needed for Business Analysis include business, domain and functional skills. Business Analytics requires mathematical, statistical and technical skills.   

d) Business Analysis assists in improving the performance of business processes or enterprise architecture by bringing necessary changes. Business Analytics assists in predicting trends and tracks crucial performance metrics.   

There are many other differences between the two, but these are the definite differences that differentiate the two. However, there are a few overlaps between Business Analysis and Business Analytics.   

a) Both work to improve and enhance the business.   

b) They determine the solutions to the issues identified, albeit using different methods.   

c) There are situations when Business Analysts will work with data to understand its pattern and present it in a readable format. Similarly, specific solutions determined by Business Analytics might require changes in business processes or strategic plans.   

Conclusion  

Whether it is Business Analytics or Business Analysis, they aim to improve the business. When the difference between Business Analytics vs Business Analysis is considered, Analytics focuses on data, whereas Analysis focuses on functions, methods and techniques. Despite the difference, both are an essential part of business and, in many cases, help each other reach the same objective. 

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