The 20 Best Business Analyst Tools to Use for 2023

Last updated on March 4th, 2023 at 02:46 am

As a business analyst, you’re responsible for evaluating and improving business processes. In order to do this effectively, you need the right tools!

In this blog post, we will discuss the 20 best business analyst tools that every business analyst needs. These tools will help you streamline your workflow and improve your productivity. Whether you’re just starting out as a business analyst or you’ve been in the field for years, these tools will be invaluable to you!

Best Business Analysis Tools

Oracle NetSuite

Oracle NetSuite is a comprehensive business management suite that offers solutions for businesses of all sizes. It contains features for ERP, CRM, e-commerce, and more.

SuiteAnalytics provides the Saved Search tool to help filter and match data for answering different business questions. This can be a valuable tool for business analysts who need to quickly find and analyze data.

The Saved Search tool makes it easy to find the information you need and helps you to avoid having to search through multiple screens or pages. It also makes it easy to export data into a variety of formats for further analysis.

Integrate.io

Integrate.io is a data warehouse integration platform that completely transforms your data warehouse into a reliable and effective data platform.

The platform’s ability to easily connect to a variety of data sources, including both on-premises and cloud-based data stores. This makes it possible to quickly gather data from a variety of sources into a single location for analysis.

The platform’s graphical interface makes it easy for anyone to use, even those without coding experience. This makes it possible for business analysts to quickly build data integration solutions without needing to rely on IT personnel.

The platform’s wide range of built-in connectors and pre-built recipes, which allow business analysts to get started quickly and easily. This helps to speed up the process of data integration and analysis, allowing business analysts to focus on their core tasks.

Wrike

Wrike is a cloud-based project management software that helps in managing projects of all sizes. With its Android and iOS apps, users can update and provide tasks from anywhere.

It has a number of features that include setting deadlines, scheduling, and other processes; balancing resources; and keeping track of timelines and budgets. Additionally, it offers a calendar, communication window, and approval window to help with the project management process.

HubSpot

HubSpot‘s Marketing Analytics Software offers detailed insights into the performance of all your marketing campaigns.

With its built-in analytics facility, you can quickly and easily measure the success of your campaigns, and identify any areas that may need improvement. You’ll also be able to see how your site is performing in terms of traffic quantity and quality, and filter the analytics by country or specific URL structure.

Plus, for each of your marketing channels, you’ll get detailed reports on performance metrics such as leads generated and ROI.

Microsoft Visio

Microsoft Visio is a great application for making diagrams. It has a lot of features and benefits that make it an essential tool for anyone who needs to create diagrams.

Some of the features include the ability to connect to data sources, advanced shapes for creating electrical diagrams, floor plans, and more.

One of the biggest benefits is that it can help you visualize data graphically. This makes it easier to understand complex information and makes it easier to communicate ideas with others.

Additionally, Visio is part of the MS Office suite, so you can be sure that it will work well with other applications that you may need to use.

Lucidchart

Lucidchart offers a variety of features and benefits that make it an ideal tool for diagramming, data visualization, and team collaboration. Some of its key features and benefits include:

Intuitive interface: Lucidchart is easy to use, even for beginners. The intuitive interface makes it easy to create diagrams and flow charts quickly and easily.

Lucidchart is easy to use, even for beginners. The intuitive interface makes it easy to create diagrams and flow charts quickly and easily. Rich feature set: Lucidchart offers a rich feature set that allows you to create complex diagrams with ease. You can add shapes, connectors, text, and images to your diagrams, and you can customize the look and feel of your diagrams however you want.

Lucidchart offers a rich feature set that allows you to create complex diagrams with ease. You can add shapes, connectors, text, and images to your diagrams, and you can customize the look and feel of your diagrams however you want. Data integration: Lucidchart integrates with a variety of data sources, allowing you to connect your live data to your diagrams. This makes it easy to visualize your data in a diagram format.

Lucidchart integrates with a variety of data sources, allowing you to connect your live data to your diagrams. This makes it easy to visualize your data in a diagram format. Team collaboration: Lucidchart allows you to collaborate with others on diagrams in real-time. This makes it easy for team members to work together on projects efficiently.

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a popular and powerful word processor that is available for Windows and Mac OS.

One of the key features of Word is its ability to format text. You can choose from a range of fonts, font sizes, and colors to make your document look professional and polished. Microsoft Word also offers a wide range of layout options, so you can control the appearance of your document down to the last detail.

Another important feature is its powerful spell checker. The spell checker will automatically correct any mistakes in your document, ensuring that your text looks polished and error-free. Additionally, the dictionary function will provide definitions for any words that you are unsure of.

Microsoft Word also allows you to password-protect your documents. This can be useful if you need to keep your information confidential or if you want to restrict access to certain parts of your document.

Overall, Word is a powerful word processing tool that offers a wide range of features and benefits. It is perfect for creating professional-looking documents that are both accurate and polished.

Microsoft Excel

Another monster hitter from the Microsoft Office package. Excel is a versatile spreadsheet application that can be used on a variety of platforms, including Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS.

This business analysis tool supports calculation and also allows you to password-protect your documents. In addition, Excel supports macro programming language, which can be used to automate repetitive tasks.

You can also use Excel to access data from external data sources. This makes Excel an ideal choice for businesses that need to analyze large amounts of data. Consequently, Excel is an essential tool for businesses of all sizes.

R (programming language)

R is a powerful language that enables businesses to analyze data and make informed decisions. Some of the key features and benefits of using R for business analytics include:

• Easy to learn. The syntax is straightforward, and there are a wealth of resources available online to help you get started.
• Versatile. It can be used for a wide range of tasks, from data visualization to statistical analysis.
• Open-source. This means that it is free to use and you can modify it to fit your needs.
• Stable and reliable. It has been in development for over two decades and has a large user base.
• Constantly being updated. The developers are constantly releasing new versions with new features and bug fixes.

SQL

The SQL programming language is widely used in business for analytics and data management. It offers a simple way to access and query data from within a database, making it an essential tool for businesses of all sizes. Additionally, SQL can be easily integrated with other business software and systems, making it a versatile tool for data-driven decision-making.

Businesses use SQL for a variety of tasks, including market research, financial analysis, and customer management. With SQL, businesses can quickly gather data from across their databases to help inform their strategic decisions.

Additionally, SQL can be used to create reports and track key performance indicators, allowing businesses to constantly monitor their progress and identify areas for improvement.

Overall, the SQL programming language is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all types make better decisions based on accurate data. It is easy to learn and use, making it an ideal choice for business analytics.

Monday

Monday is a software that offers business analytics for organizations of all sizes. It helps in tracking the progress of work and improving the efficiency of output.

The software is very flexible and customizable, which makes it ideal for businesses of all types and sizes. It also integrates well with other popular software applications, such as Google Calendar and Gmail, making it a very versatile tool for business owners and managers.

Additionally, Monday.com offers a free trial for users who want to explore its features before committing to a subscription plan.

Databox

Databox software is a business analytics tool that allows you to collect all the data of the organization. With the help of this tool, you can track performance and build insights from them. Some of the features of Databox are as follows:

• It creates dashboards without programming, which makes it easier for you to track the performance of your company.
• The design of these dashboards is such that it enables you to calculate KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and get a more precise understanding of the performance of your company.
• It also enables you to view the overall status of the company by generating custom queries. 
• Additionally, Databox provides pre-built reports in different formats, so that you can have a better understanding of your data.

Modern Requirements

Modern Requirements helps professionals define requirements through text and images. It also supports requirements management with features like smart docs, review management, trace analysis, baseline, visualizations etc. which makes it an ideal tool for business analytics. Some of the key features and benefits of using Modern Requirements for business analytics are as follows:

• Modern Requirements helps professionals to define requirements precisely through text and images. This helps in better understanding of the requirement and its feasibility.

• The online review feature with approval through e-signatures makes it easy for team members to provide feedback and approve the requirement. This helps in timely execution of the project.

• The different visualizations such as use cases, diagrams, and mockups provided by Modern Requirements help in better understanding of the requirement. This leads to better decision making for the business.

• The personalized dashboards created by Modern Requirements gives a snapshot view of all the requirements and their progress at a glance. This helps in better tracking of the requirement status.

Jira

Jira Software is a popular work management tool that offers a variety of features that make it an ideal tool for business analytics.

With Jira, businesses can:

• Create customized reports and dashboards to track progress and analyze data.
• Easily share reports and dashboards with stakeholders.
• Track time spent on tasks and projects to better understand where time is being wasted or invested.
• Integrate with other business software (such as Salesforce) to get a complete view of the business.

Additionally, Jira integrates with a variety of add-ons that can provide further functionality for business analysts, such as reporting and data analysis.

Finally, Jira’s interface is very customizable, so it can be tailored to the specific needs of the business analytics team. This allows them to work in the most effective way possible.

Tableau

Tableau is one of the most popular data visualization tools used in business intelligence (BI) today. It is favored for its speed, ease of use, and customizable dashboards.

Tableau allows non-technical users to create BI reports and dashboards without having to learn any complex programming languages. With Tableau, you can quickly analyze data to find trends and insights that can help your business grow.

Some of the benefits of using Tableau for business analytics include:

• Quick data analysis – With Tableau, you can quickly analyze data to find trends and insights that can help your business grow.
• Customizable dashboards – You can customize your dashboards to display the information that is most important to you.
• Ease of use – Tableau is easy to use and doesn’t require any programming skills.
• Scalability – Tableau is scalable and can handle large amounts of data.
• Interactive visualizations – Tableau’s interactive visualizations make it easy to understand complex data sets.

Python

Python is a high-level programming language that is widely used in business analysis. It has many features and benefits that make it an ideal choice for data analysis and visualization. Some of the key features and benefits include:

• Easy to learn. It has a simple syntax and readability that makes it ideal for beginners.
• Powerful. It has a comprehensive library that allows you to do complex data analysis and visualization.
• Versatile. It can be used for a wide range of applications, including web development, data science, machine learning, and more.
• Fast and efficient. It runs quickly and uses memory efficiently, making it an ideal choice for large data sets.
• Supported by a large community of users and developers who are always working to improve the language.

Google Docs

Google Docs is a cloud-based word processing and spreadsheet application that is part of the Google Suite of productivity tools. Google Docs is a popular choice for business analytics because it offers many features that are useful for data analysis, such as:

• The ability to easily share documents with collaborators
• Real-time editing and commenting
• A wide range of add-ons and integrations
• A user-friendly interface

Microsoft PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint is a presentation tool that is part of the Microsoft Office Suite. Although it is primarily used for creating slideshows, it can also be used for business analytics.

PowerPoint allows you to easily create charts and graphs from data sets, which can then be presented to stakeholders. Additionally, PowerPoint integrates with other Office applications, such as Access, SQL Server, and Excel.

It also integrates with many other powerful applications, such as:

• Google Analytics
• JSON
• MySQL
• Oracle
• PostgreSQL
• RSS Feed
• Sales Force
• Text Files
• XML

Google Analytics

Google Analytics offers businesses a comprehensive view of how their website is performing and what users are doing on their site.

With Google Analytics, businesses can track everything from how many people are visiting their website to which pages are most popular and how much time people are spending on each page. This information can help businesses determine what content is most engaging to their audience and make tweaks to their website accordingly.

Additionally, by connecting Google Analytics with their customer data, businesses can get deeper insights into which of their customers are engaging with their website and what actions they are taking on the site.

This information can help businesses better target their marketing efforts and create a more effective overall marketing strategy.

Zoho

Zoho CRM is designed for businesses of all sizes and offers a range of features and benefits for business analytics. The platform is easy to use and navigate, making it simple to collect and track sales data, marketing information, and customer support queries.

The reporting tools are comprehensive and allow businesses to compile data into customizable reports that can be used to make strategic decisions about their operations. Additionally, the platform’s integrations with other applications and services allow businesses to further extend their capabilities and better manage their overall business processes.

What techniques do business analysts use?

According to Simplilearn, the top 10 techniques that are used by business analysts are:

1. Business Process Modeling (BPM)
2. Brainstorming
3. CATWOE
4. MoSCoW (Must or Should, Could or Would)
5. MOST (Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics) Analysis
6. PESTLE Analysis
7. SWOT Analysis
8. Six Thinking Hats
9. The 5 Whys
10. Non-Functional Requirement Analysis

What software skills do business analysts need?

According to IIBA, the skills that business analysts should work on are:

• Statistical analysis software (e.g. R, SAS, SPSS, or STATA) 
• SQL databases and database querying languages 
• Programming skills such as Python and R 
• Survey/query software 
• Business intelligence and reporting software 
• Data mining 
• Data visualization 
• Database design

What are some of the top business analyst skills?

To quote from Simplilearn, the top business analyst skills you need are:

1. Understanding the Business Objective.
2. Analytical and Critical Thinking.
3. Communication and Interpersonal Skills.
4. Negotiation and Cost-Benefit Analysis.
5. Decision-Making Skills.
6. Programming Languages.
7. Creation of Reports and Dashboards.
8. Database and SQL

Conclusion

The aforementioned tools are those that every business analyst must be acquainted with in order to succeed. Oh yes, they are not the only business analyst tools and software out there, but they are some of the most used. Each tool is unique in its own way and performs different functions. You just need to select the right tool as per your business needs.

Which business analyst tool is your favorite? Do let us know in the comments section below.

Happy Learning!

Author Bio

Dani Lehmer is the Founder and Head Honcho of Dani Digs In.

She is a Quality Assurance Analyst and blogger whose natural curiosity allows her
to dig in (pun intended) to help people build their businesses and satiate curiosity
in regard to data science, analysis, and crypto.