Business analytics and product management are two closely related yet different skill sets. Both involve working with data, but a business analyst is going to focus more on the business side of things which may or may not include processes and procedures needed for day-to-day operations.
In this article, we’ll take a dive into some of the key differences between business analytics and product management so that you can better understand what they do, as well as how they factor into your career as an analyst. If you are someone who wants to build a career in business analytics, you can enroll in a Business Analytics Course and hone your abilities.
Key Differences
Meaning and Importance
Business analytics is the process of analyzing business problems, identifying the underlying business processes and objects, then using this data to answer questions about the information needed to manage operational tasks. It focuses on improving the performance and efficiency of an organization by drawing information from objective data sources. The goal of business analytics is to improve decision-making through improved knowledge and understanding of current or potential problems facing an organization.
Product management is a function that helps to create, deploy, and manage products. It encompasses a variety of activities, including defining product requirements, developing product plans and specifications, and overseeing the execution of product development. Product managers often work with other departments, such as engineering or marketing, to ensure that the product meets customer needs.
Skills Required
Business Analytics
Statistical Languages and Software
To work as an analytics expert, you don’t necessarily need to be able to write code, though having programming skills is advantageous. R, which is used for statistical analysis, and Python, which is used for general programming, are the two most popular programming languages in analytics.
Visualization
Analytics specialists must be able to translate and visualize data in a clear, accurate, and understandable manner in order to extract value from it. A prospective applicant needs to be aware of the value of visualization and have a firm grasp of which graph or chart should be utilized for a specific collection of data.
Communication
To ensure that all participants get insights and can implement recommendations, it is essential to be able to deliver findings in a clear and simple manner. People who work in analysis need to have good writing and presentation abilities in order to be able to use facts to convey a story.
Problem Solving
In order to efficiently and accurately achieve their desired end objective, a person must rationally employ a combination of thoughts, procedures, and actions when solving a problem in the business analytics sector. Being a natural problem solver is helpful in a profession that aims to transform data into solutions.
Curiosity
It’s crucial to stay up to date with the industry and its changes even as analysts transition to management positions. The path to critical thinking is curiosity. He/She will only advance his comprehension and thought process by posing the appropriate questions at the appropriate times.
Critical Thinking
Professionals in business analytics need to exercise critical thought not only on the implications of the data they gather but also regarding the appropriateness of their initial data collection.
Product Management
Technical Expertise
A product manager’s job involves coming up with new product concepts and optimizing existing ones, but with clear technical specifications, pre-production might be smooth. Your engineering staff and designers will have clear guidelines to follow if they are able to provide technical product specs, comprehensive requirements, and product features for new goods.
Market Research
The ability to perform thorough market research is a requirement for becoming a skilled product manager. Market research is essential when conceiving a new product since it helps determine whether there is a target market or audience for the product as well as how best to service that market. Conducting user surveys and interviews, obtaining and analyzing customer feedback, and collaborating with a research team are all examples of how to do this.
Strategic Thinking
The capacity to foresee events accurately, analyze critically and logically, reason inductively and deductively, be decisive, ask the correct questions at the right time, effectively delegate, and create and stick to reasonable goals are all important for strategic planning. It also requires strategic thinking to create that crucial product plan of yours.
Understanding of Data
Product managers utilize data and analytics to comprehend the market in which they compete, observe user behavior, test various iterations of a product or feature, identify product flaws, and assess performance and progress in relation to pertinent KPIs.
Basic Business Skills
It’s crucial to comprehend how business functions & interact with one another to promote accomplishment, to have a firm grasp on concepts like budgeting, cash flow, and profit margin, and to be knowledgeable about company measurements and KPIs (key performance indicators). Being able to understand the “big picture” and connect smaller, on-the-ground operations to the overall strategy is another sign of having solid business sense.
User Experience
It is the responsibility of the product manager to launch products that benefit the business and the end user/customer. They work closely with UX designers and researchers to promote the user at every stage of the product life cycle.
Roles and Responsibilities
Business Analytics Professional
- Defining business operations and procedures of the client
- Identifying areas for improvement
- Coaching and training employees
- Making sure the system is perfectly designed to meet the needs of the people
- Testing the functionality of new systems and taking part in user acceptance tests
- Presenting concepts and results at meetings
- Developing ideas in accordance with the demands and needs of the business
- Maintaining close communication with senior management, partners, clients, and technicians
Product Management Professional
- Creating a product’s vision and positioning
- Gather user requirements
- Market Research and creating competitive evaluations
- Bringing stakeholders together to support the product’s goal
- Putting emphasis on a product’s strengths and qualities
- Serves as the company’s representative for the product
Salary
Since organizations all over the world started realizing the potential of using data to better their operations, business analytics professionals have experienced an increase in their wages.
The largest companies with the most complicated data analytics requirements often employ the highest-paid business analytics specialists. Additionally, they could have expertise in other data-related domains like information management or data engineering. According to Glassdoor, the national average income for a business analytics professional in India is 7,98,237, and with sufficient experience, that figure can reach 20 lakhs.
The development and administration of products are the responsibility of product management specialists. They need to be able to recognize and respond to customer needs. Because of the increased significance of products in the digital age, there is a great demand for product management professionals. The average annual income for product management professionals in India is $1,669,290, according to PayScale. Although the average product manager compensation in India is about 16 lakhs, with experience and new talents, it can reach 30 lakhs annually.
Conclusion
We’ve now covered the essential elements for both jobs, and we’d like to wrap things off by saying this. When it comes to managing a business, many people think of analytics as the better option. Analytics is the process of analyzing data to understand how it impacts a business. Product management, on the other hand, is the process of developing, launching, and managing products. There are pros and cons to each approach, and it ultimately depends on the specific business and needs.
