When first entering the realm of business intelligence I always wished I had a magic list to

prepare me for what was to come. I mean come on, who isn’t nervous on a first job, let alone
their first ever job in the field they want to specialise in. Well, I sure was, as I wanted to be one
step ahead and meet expectations that were set. However, with that said, this article isn’t aimed
only for welcoming newbies into the area of Business Intelligence (BI), but also for those who
are just continuously curious for actionable information to fuel their career further.

What is Business Intelligence (BI)?

Now before we go ahead and start highlighting the necessary key skills and areas to focus on in
becoming a BI Developer, I do believe we should set the context by first defining what Business
Intelligence (BI) actually is.

Business Intelligence is the concept of interacting within an organisation, both

analytically and dynamically, in order to get a clear understanding of the specific
business areas, for the purpose of implementing better decision making, both
effectively and timely.

This is done by providing the right tools and more importantly, the right data to users
in order for them to understand:

 What is going well?

 What is going wrong?
 Taking and monitoring actions.
 Identifying previously unknown patterns or trends.
 Improving Collaboration.
Therefore improving the entire decision making process.

So, with that out the way, lets get down to the much awaited for information, which will surely
assist you as a Business Intelligence Developer.

Communication
The importance of being able to discuss with multiple people from different backgrounds and
different level of experience is as essential as being able to select the correct SQL Join to
combine two tables. If we just highlight the first part of the BI definition above we understand
that BI is the concept of ‘interacting within the organisation, both effectively and timely’.

This here highlights the importance of communication. An understanding that BI is not some
form of time-travel that enables you to see the future needs to be made. Unless you ask the right
questions, dig deep into understanding how the organisation works and how groups and
individuals interact and conduct their day to day tasks, almost all the time regardless of the
quality and effort in development, you will fail.

Working as a BI Developer at a luxury retailer, I could see every day the vital importance of
being able to communicate and express your views in multiple ways to different stakeholders.
After all, it is reported that 70% to 80% of corporate business intelligence projects fail due to a
combination of factors, including poor communication between IT and the business. This is
further reported by communication skills being the number one capability looked for in a
potential recruit for an open Business Intelligence position, which is exactly what I would put
emphasis on if in the position to hire a BI expert.

Structured Query Language (SQL)

You may think the life of a BI Developer is all about understanding the data flow and developing
data models, deciding on the most effective visualisation to use and assisting in deriving
actionable insight for decision making. Well, it was for me and certainly it will be for you too,
but many more things will come with that, including SQL.

Any data orientated job can’t escape SQL. This is fundamental when coming to business
intelligence, as at a certain point you will need to query directly from the source, pull data into
the BI Platform through SQL or have a few minutes of downtime whereby a SQL joke is shared
amongst the team, such as, an ‘SQL query walks into a bar and sees two tables. It walks up to
them and says ‘Can I join you?’ Quite cheesy right, but if you can’t understand this, then that is
certainly a call for you to start learning.

You can put this to the test yourself, just browse through any Business Intelligence job
description, you will see that majority, if not all require you to know SQL. Apart from that, any
Business Intelligence related role will require you to go through a practical SQL test during one
of the stages in the interviewing process. This was always the case for me in any interview,
which is totally understandable, in fact I now question roles that don’t test an individual’s SQL
capabilities.

Understanding of a particular BI Platform

Every organisation has a single (or multiple) BI platforms that are being used. It’s very likely
that you will be expected to have some knowledge in relation to the one being used within that
organisation.

Whether it is Oracle, Microsoft, Tableau or MicroStrategy, you should try come up to date with
some of the main features or new features recently added in the latest release, get a high level
understanding of the technical architecture as well as how it is doing against competing BI
vendors in the current market.

But do keep in mind, that if you are new in the industry, you of course wouldn’t be expected to
know the platform, but you would be expected to know some of its features, which is only right
when going in for an interview. Also, much of the knowledge you learn on one platform is
transferable to the other. For instance, I started off using OBIEE, this doesn’t mean I was
restricted to sticking with Oracle BI, as I then moved on to BOARD MIT & TIBCO Spotfire and
now Power BI.

Data Modelling
Now, before we can get to the reporting and analytics of data, we first need to set up the
environment in the particular BI Platform, after all you are the BI Developer. To do so, you will
need the cocktail of skills we already highlighted above. Communication, to understand the
business processes, therefore how the data flows. SQL, to be able to manipulate and pull data.
An understanding of the particular BI Platform, in order to develop the environment through
specific functionality.

All these are somewhat a prerequisite to our next important skill required, Data Modelling. This
is the level that defines and maintains the structure of the data, and is the key enabler of the
usefulness of the data. A source of information that really assisted me and still does to this day is
the book ‘Data Modelling Made Simple’, by Steve Hoberman.

Understanding how to model data all comes with good practise, but one area I would highly
advise both newcomers and experienced professionals to look into, is the Kimball vs Inmon
Methodologies. This will differentiate the Normalised/ERD Models compared to Dimensional
Models such as Star Schemas and Snowflake Schemas and offer a much needed understanding in
Data Warehousing concepts, which is highly beneficial and demanded in BI Developer roles.

Data Visualisation
At a specific stage of my career as a BI Developer, I worked very heavily in designing a set of
dashboards for different stakeholders. This required both data visualisation and storytelling
capabilities to be up to scratch, hence the reason I am highlighting it within this article, as I am
certain at some point in a BI Developer role, your data visualisation skills will be put to the test.

Presenting data is much more than just choosing the most sophisticated, cool-looking visual
element, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It comes down to finding the most appropriate way to
present data for decision makers to see analytics visually, so they can grasp what would have
been difficult concepts or identify new patterns.

A quote from Jorge Camoes, a Data Visualisation Consultant, really does offer a starting point
which I very much agree with ‘I say begin by learning about data visualisation’s ‘black &
whites’, the rules, then start looking for the greys. It really then becomes quite a personal journey
of developing your conviction’.
To further your understanding in Data Visualisation, I would highly advise you to look into
‘Information Dashboard Design’ by Stephen Few, as well as ‘Data Visualisation: A
Handbook for Data Driven Design’ by Andy Kirk.

Analytical Skills
The ability to understand, interpret and breakdown a collection of data sets, to view and analyse
different scenarios in a simple manner, for the purpose of coming to a detailed conclusion. Yes,
that’s right, analytical skills are key in BI.

Now I know what you are thinking; hold on, aren’t analytical skills more required for a BI
Analyst role? Well, yes, you are right to a certain extent, however, what I have realised from my
own experience and talking to other professionals in the industry, there comes the time whereby
your role will overlap and require you to pick up aspects that may not be listed or traditionally
attached to your job title.

Furthermore, analytical skills are not only for understanding a particular data set and deriving
some insight from it, but also are required to understand the data flow, from operational systems
to the transformation stage and finally to where the data will reside for decision making.

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There are many other skills I could have included above, which of course would have made great
sense, but then again, who wants to read a dissertation through a LinkedIn article? Hence the
reason I chose some of the most important skills I believe a BI Developer should hold.

But, let’s go one step further and highlight one trait I believe not only a great BI Developer
should adopt, but any BI expert should look to inherit.

The Power of Curiosity

First and foremost I believe any BI professional should look to be Curious. Not just data curious,
but curious generally. This is vitally beneficial, as being curious automatically promotes us to go
the extra mile and opens doors that previously wouldn’t have even existed in our mind sets. Just
look at Google’s Laszlo Bock, Senior Vice President of People Operations who states, “we
would rather hire smart, curious people than people who are deep, deep experts in one area or
another”. Yet, meeting many people in the industry I see that their curiosity doesn’t extend
further than the four walls that surround their screens, which to me is a major blocker.

So here comes the answer to being curious, simply put, just get out there. That’s it, make time to
go beyond those four walls and discussing within your team.

Look to attend symposiums from many different BI Vendors, not just of the ones you are
currently using. Create a network and stay active using social media, as this allows you to stay
up to date with the latest technological trends, both directly related to your area but also in other
areas which have some intersection with your own. Sign up to an online course (I am currently
taking the Microsoft Professional Program, through EdX). Identify any meet ups that are
occurring in your local area where you will find other curious people and see what they are doing
with data, how they are doing it and how it differentiates from what you are doing.

Summary
Writing this article came at a great moment for me, as I am now re-entering the realm of business
intelligence myself, therefore genuinely put some good thought into what was written, by
imagining what I would much appreciate to receive from another experienced professional out
there in the industry. One thing I would like to reiterate though, is the factor of curiosity.
Curiosity is much more than a single word to attach on a CV, but instead it should be seen as a
practise that requires you to continuously dig deep and leave no stone unturned in finding an
answer. This will make the difference in being a great BI Developer.