Systems Analyst: What can you expect from a profession?

I create this post for those who want to choose system analysis as their profession and want to understand what awaits it.
Not so long ago I moved from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Working in a small company, he performed very diverse tasks, but when looking for a job as a system analyst in the capital, he realized that the requirements for the same profession are, in fact, very different. The larger the company and the project, the smaller the scope of tasks that will have to be performed, and as a result, the narrower the specialization will be. A wide profile is possible only on small projects where the resources of one system analyst are enough.

Here is what goes into his duties (generically) in the redundant version:

System analyst.Actually, a single definition, as such, does not exist. Nevertheless, the systems analyst is mainly engaged in data analysis and decision-making on how the system will work, what methods will be used (the key difference between the work depends on the service sector: b-2-c, b-2-b and b -2-g), as well as writing basic technical documents (for example, according to GOST 19, 34 or Microscope 5 for Western Customers). An important part of the work is a functional analysis, as a result of which a list of functions that the system should perform (for example, based on IDEF0) is highlighted, as well as the definition of system requirements.

The architect . It splits the designed system into modules, thinks up a class diagram, the connections between modules, and so on.

Integrator. He is engaged in the development of integrated solutions for the automation of technological and business processes of the enterprise; when implementing the system, it processes data that “flows” between various subsystems, including at the junction of the implemented system and the existing one.

Business Analyst . The main function is the analysis of business processes, the examination of the subject area. The output is “big brushstrokes” processes, business process diagrams (UML, BPMN, etc.).

Designer UI . Interface design takes place from the point of view of usability with an orientation towards the target audience. The product of the designer is the construction of mock-ups of the created system taking into account the convenience of its use (roughly speaking, this is the transformation of the functions described in the TK into toolbars, buttons, fields, tables, etc. that it seesand what the end user interacts with), as well as the specifications - a document giving comments on all screens in general and on each element in particular, with a complete transition map.

UX Designer . UX is a user experience. Basically, such designers are involved in web projects (usually when creating sites). The main concept is determined - colors, intelligibility, ease of perception, in general, everything that will allow the user to easily use the product.

Designer. As a rule, a systems analyst is very rarely involved in design, but this also happens. The designer sequentially works on all the elements of the system’s layouts, determining the shape, colors, and size of the elements. If you need to select a certain group of controls, you can decide on a method: group them more densely, highlight them in color, add animation, or use any other suitable option.

Copywriter . Filling out the forms with text is done by the copywriter, as a rule, at the stage of preparing the product for marketing. These are the text, slogans, key phrases with which the pages of the system are also filled.

The staff structure in IT companies, as a rule, is divisional-matrix. That is, there is an analytical department, there is its head, but the system analyst submits to the project manager. At the same time, he can participate in several projects and report not to his line manager, but to several managers.

Let me remind you of the main idea of ​​the post - in different companies the terms of reference can vary greatly. These or other functions can be performed by different specialists, therefore there is no universal definition of a system analyst. The main thing that you definitely have to do is analyze the data and try to find the most effective way in order to complete your task. In any case, my personal opinion is that this work is always very interesting and diverse. Often you have to act in completely unknown areas, study them, improve and produce a product that will later be used by a lot of people.

There can be almost any career prospects either - as a growth to a senior, leading systems analyst, and then a department head, and to the management area - as a rule, good project managers are obtained from good analysts.

Perhaps someone has a different opinion, I will gladly discuss this in the comments (in which sometimes there is also a lot of useful information)

Future system analysts, go for it! Good luck!