Does Wargaming have anything to do with analytics?

Many people ask, “ Is there work for the analyst in Wargaming and what is it? ". Under the cut you can read an interesting interview with the business analyst of our company and one of the founders of analyst.by - Dmitry Rineisky . Dmitry graduated from BSUIR with a degree in Information Systems and Technologies (in Economics), and worked for Sam Solutions for a long time.


- Come on straight to the point! Dima, I know that you have been working at Wargaming for some time. How did it happen that you got into a gaming company?

I confess that the change of job was unexpected for me. Least of all did I imagine that I would ever work for a company that develops games. Honestly, I did not think at all that in the gaming industry there is a place for a classic business or systems analyst.

It all started with the fact that my good friend from Wargaming persuaded me to come for an interview (which did not oblige anyone to anything). At that time I knew that this was a successful and very ambitious company, and I just wondered - who is an analyst in such a large gaming company? what do they do What can a company offer me in this area? As a result, 1.5 months after the interview, I switched to work at Wargaming /

- Uncover a secret to us, what are you still doing? Only coming up with new games comes to mind.

Yes, I had the same opinion about the work of an analyst in gamedev before I got to know the company better. I must say right away that I am NOT involved in inventing new games. There are separate specially trained specialists for this, whose competence includes the development of new games and a new game play. Honestly, I probably would not have agreed to become a game analyst.

Large projects are always much more than is seen by an uninitiated person. In this case, it is appropriate to draw an analogy with an iceberg: as a rule, only the top of that “colossus”, which the system as a whole, is actually visible on the surface. “Under water” is hidden the entire internal infrastructure: various subsystems and components, administration interfaces and external services with which it is necessary to interact to solve business problems. I think that those who at least once dealt with a large project understand what I'm talking about. Wargaming projects in this aspect are no exception. In addition to the games themselves, there are a huge number of near-game systems, subsystems and services that interact with each other.

In a word, there is a lot of work for a business analyst in his classic presentation!

- It turns out that your duties are exactly the same as that of the "classic" representative of the profession?

Yes. I do exactly what a regular business analyst in an IT company does. My responsibilities include all those activities that are usually performed by analysts in outsourcing companies. That is: extracting, analyzing and documenting requirements, coordinating them with interested parties and the customer, keeping the requirements up to date, and so on.



“You said you wouldn’t become a game analyst.” Why? What pushes you away?

It's me! Honestly, there was a time when I was seriously interested in computer games, but it passed. Therefore, games as such are of little interest to me. Perhaps only desktop. And to be a good game analyst, I think you need to completely immerse yourself in the game, its gameplay. In fact, you need to live it. Well i.e. these are guys with a completely different mindset than the classic IT analysts, it seems to me. I’m not like that and it will be very difficult for me to rebuild.

- Clear. Are there many analysts in your team?

Typically, a project has one or two, maximum three analysts. For example, there are two of us on my current project. In general, there are 13 analysts in our division and we are gradually growing.

- What project are you working on now?
I am currently working on the World War II project. This is my second project in the company. World War II is a browser-based meta-game that is one of the World of Tanks game modes.



World War Expands Game of Play World of Tanks. At some point, players want more than just practice in mastering the tank in the client. This mode adds the opportunity to gain experience in strategic planning, negotiating and diplomacy. Consisting in clans, players can join alliances with their own policies, statutes, and traditions. And taking part in the "World War", alliances and clans can popularize and spread their views in the gaming community.

I will not go into details. If anyone is interested, then you can read more about clans and World War on the World of Tanks portal.

- And can you tell by the example of your current project what exactly you are doing?

Oh sure. Actually, saying Clan Wars - I mean two projects: Clans and Clan Wars. I work in parallel on these two subprojects. For both projects, I am working on documentation on API methods. At the Clan Wars project, I also document how the project communicates with the game server and other components, and describes how to carry out financial transactions. On the “Clans” project, my area of ​​responsibility includes a description of the capabilities of users as part of clan management. This is for short.

- You said that there are already 13 analysts. This is not enough. Have you somehow already built up the process of exchange of experience, knowledge, training of less experienced employees?

Well, straight so that it was a harmonious process - not yet. As such, we do not have an analysis department, and therefore it is quite difficult to build a full-fledged system of advanced training and exchange of experience.

“But do you at least share your experience?”

Of course. It’s just not a completely systematic approach. Firstly, a young analyst who comes to our team always starts working together with a more experienced analyst. In addition, we periodically meet and discuss issues of interest to us. And the company organizes participation in various conferences and courses, there is an opportunity to order literature of interest, to participate in various internal educational events.

“Are you still recruiting analysts?”

Yes. This year there are plans to increase the team of analysts by 1.5 times. As I said before, there is a lot of work! Therefore, if any of the readers have a desire to change their employer or have familiar analysts with such a desire, the company will be happy to consider their candidacy.

- And what qualifications do you need new employees for?

At the moment, we are looking for people with experience as an analyst for six months - a year, no less. Well i.e. it should be guys already more or less independent. Yes, for some time the work will be held in tandem with a more experienced analyst, but still we would like for new employees to become independent as soon as possible.

- Many companies that work to the west can attract analysts by the presence of business trips to different countries. Does this seem to threaten you?

Just the opposite! The presence of foreign business trips is one of those points that persuaded me to once accept an offer from Wargaming. The company has many studios around the world, and working on almost any project involves business trips and communication with customers and stakeholders from other countries. Our customers are the publishing division of the company. In addition to the Minsk office, publishers are located in Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul. Periodically, customers themselves come to discuss working issues. Development teams are also scattered around the world: Minsk, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Sydney, Chicago, Baltimore, Austin and Seattle. In addition, almost every team has guys from other countries. For example, we have guys from Russia and Moldova in our team. Occasionally,

By the way, all documentation is usually maintained in English. Therefore, for many projects it is important that the analyst has a confident spoken and written English.

- Clear. Perhaps enough about the work. You mentioned board games - I can't help but ask you: how do you spend your free time? Do you have any? Do you play tanks?

Yes, I play tanks several times a week. Need to have an idea about the main project of the company ?!

If we talk about free time in general, I will not say that on weekdays I have it full. Recently, I try to go to volleyball 2 times a week. On other days in my free time I read, learn to play chess, from time to time with my wife we ​​go to the theater. Corporate events and teambuildings happen from time to time. In a word, you don’t get bored.

- If you close your eyes and spend time 10 years ahead, how do you imagine yourself? Who are you?

This is a difficult and somewhat provocative question. In any case, I can say for sure that I see my future in the IT field. At this stage, I see for myself the direction of professional growth. Therefore, we can say with confidence that for some time I will develop precisely as a business analyst. In the near future I plan to become CBAP.

- How do you feel about certification in general? Why do you need a certificate?

Positively. Although, the availability of a certificate, of course, does not give any guarantees. You can draw an analogy with traffic rules. If a person passes the theory, this does not mean that he knows how to drive and will be a cultural driver on the road. But still, the presence of a certificate indicates the study of, at least, theory. In this case, I rent purely "for myself", it is interesting to try my hand.

- What do you think, what qualities and skills are most in demand for the analyst?

This is a “hollywood” question. I would say that “knowledge of the discipline of requirements management”, “experience working with the customer”, “experience in writing documentation” and “experience in modeling a subject area” are the most useful skills in working as a business analyst.

If we talk about personal qualities, then I would single out the analytical mindset, quick learner, and sociability as priorities.

“Well, in order to summarize our conversation, what would you advise young or already experienced analysts who are considering changing their jobs and maybe looking in the direction of your employer?”

Firstly, to learn and develop, not to stand still.

Secondly, do not be afraid to try new things.

Third, be active.

As for the business analyst vacancy at Wargaming, you should not be afraid of it. This is the same analyst as in most outsourcing companies. There are practically no differences. I must note that now the company is at a stage of rapid growth. Do not tune in, that at once everything will be easy and simple. But for experienced, proactive and ambitious people, rapid growth means that a whole range of opportunities and prospects opens up here, including in the issue of career growth.