Compare the Admin and Business Analyst Roles

Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

 Describe the Salesforce admin role.

 Describe the Salesforce business analyst role.
 Explain how the two roles are different.

Introduction
Maybe you’ve heard that Salesforce admins and Salesforce business analysts perform some of the
same tasks. Or you’ve heard that in some cases, a company doesn’t have a dedicated business
analyst and the admin takes on business analysis as a job function. There are multiple configurations
of the two roles. So what’s the difference between them? Let’s look at them side by side to find out.

Discover Salesforce Administration

Salesforce administration is an operational role. Salesforce admins work with stakeholders to define
optimal processes and customize the Salesforce Platform. They help their company’s users get the
most out of Salesforce by making the platform work for the business’s unique needs. They bring
innovation to life—automating business processes, creating reports and dashboards, training users,
and staying on top of platform updates.

Discover Salesforce Business Analysis

Salesforce business analysis is a project-based, business-improvement role. Business analysts help
businesses improve processes and efficiency in Salesforce by eliciting, documenting, and analyzing
requirements around business challenges. Then they produce data-driven solutions. Think of the
business analyst like an interpreter. They’re the go-to person when it comes to communication
between IT and business stakeholders. Business analysts make sure everyone involved works
together to achieve the best results.

Learn How the Roles Are Different

Now that you know a bit about each role, let’s compare them.

Role Type
Salesforce admin Salesforce business analyst
Operational Project-based

Role Summary

Salesforce admin Salesforce business analyst

Admins set up users, security measures, and processes, and they Business analysts use data to plan and ov
maintain data on the Salesforce Platform. They are the Salesforce They apply their knowledge of Salesforce
experts within the organization. to guide the business to the best solutions
between IT and business stakeholders. 

Key Tasks

Salesforce admin Salesforce business analyst

 Set up the Salesforce org.  Elicit and document requirements.
 Set up users.  Develop and define project roadmap
 Configure security and access settings.  Write user stories.
 Create custom objects and create and maintain fields.  Communicate with managers and sta
 Manage sales and marketing applications.  Analyze data and draw business insig
 Manage service and support applications.  Facilitate business solutions.
 Manage activities and collaboration.  Manage Salesforce projects.
 Manage data.  Create and deliver business presenta
 Build reports, dashboards, and other analytics.  Manage and analyze Salesforce impl
 Create process automations.  Apply frameworks and methodology
 Administer desktop and mobile apps.  Create user training materials.
 Install packages from AppExchange.  Solve issues during testing.
 Manage sandbox and production environments.  Understand current business process
 Manage the health of the org. development.
 Train Salesforce users.
 Communicate with stakeholders.

Required Skills

Salesforce admin Salesforce business analyst

 Communication skills to work with people across the organization,  Leadership skills to guide the busine
from leadership to the actual users themselves. have confidence in the right solution
 Time management skills to help with case management and  Communication skills to work with s
constant user requests. business, gather requirements, and o
 Leadership skills to lead the way in everything Salesforce. beginning to end.
 Problem solving skills to solve for the best solution for the  Project management skills to keep S
organization. moving toward the end business goa

Key Qualities
Salesforce admin Salesforce business analyst
 Empathetic. Listens to and understands customer needs, requests,  Data-driven. Tracks and evaluates data t
and issues. business.
 Confident. Draws on knowledge about the Salesforce Platform to  Action-oriented. Makes quick, actionabl
argue against requests that aren’t in the best interest of the data findings.
business.  Solution-oriented. Takes project require
 Encouraging. Drives user adoption. solution for the organization.

Learn More About Each Role

If you’re wondering what a career as an admin or business analyst looks like, check out the Salesforce
Administrator Careers page and the Salesforce Business Analyst Careers page. These pages are a
good place to learn more about both roles. Also, check out the Salesforce Administrator certification,
which is essential to becoming a successful admin or business analyst.

Discover the Top Business Analyst Skills

Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

 Explain the role of a business analyst on a program management team.

 Summarize the top skills of a business analyst.

Who Can Help Me Reach My Goals?

Sometimes we need help from a specialist to meet our goals. For instance, Ian Lin, the VP of
International Sales at Ursa Major Solar, a Southwest-based supplier of solar components and
systems, needs to be able to see his team’s quarterly forecast amount. He also needs to be able to
adjust the amount for his sales reps in certain cases, like when he has information that suggests an
unattainable forecast. 

While this seems like a fairly simple modification that Ian might be able to make on his own, Ian is
focused on sales and doesn’t have the cycles to address this need. Not to mention that he doesn’t
really know how to set this up. Ian’s request is more complex than it appears on the surface. He
needs help from someone who understands not only the technology involved, but also the business
processes. He needs someone who can recommend an ideal solution and see it through to fruition. 

Enter the Business Analyst

“Business analysts possessing intellectual curiosity have voracious appetites for learning. They do not
shy away from new or unfamiliar concepts but rather try to incorporate those concepts into their
understanding. They tend to be very good listeners who absorb information like sponges.” —Steve Blais,
PMP

If you completed the Salesforce Business Analyst: Quick Look badge, you learned that business
analysts (BAs) are the fix-it people of the business world. Typically, they are members of a project
management team and play a significant role in the project lifecycle. Their job is to help enable
change in an enterprise. 

The change can be big, like converting an acquired company’s financial system to Salesforce. Or the
change can be something small, like enabling sales managers (like Ian Lin) to make forecast
adjustments. Or it can be something in between, like improving a business process or solving a
current or future business problem. Whatever the scale, if the change involves improving or
streamlining a process (business driven) or system (IT driven) to help organizations meet their target
goals, a business analyst can steer the project in the right direction. 

So how do you, as a business analyst, go about doing this? As Steve Blais wrote, business analysts are
usually highly curious people who love to learn and who use what they learn to elevate their
understanding. This understanding is key to driving a project forward. Business analysts are experts
at learning, understanding, and recording needs.

In this module, you learn about the specialized approach that business analysts take to bring about
change and improvement to the business. This involves eliciting, analyzing, and documenting
information and employing communication strategies to ensure maximum collaboration among the
project team. 

Top Skills of the Business Analyst

Let’s start with a high-level view of some of the most important skills that BAs use to work effectively
with both people and information to facilitate a solution to a problem. 

Information Discovery

To make informed decisions and recommendations, business analysts need to gather information,
lots of information, from all levels. This is one of the most important steps in the business analyst
process, so they must do it well.

Analysis and Synthesis

Business analysts spend significant effort looking through the information that they’ve gathered.
They look at both the details and the high-level information to chart needs and to develop plans and
schedules. They also look at the skills and experience of the people involved to determine how the
team can best work together to achieve a successful outcome.

Communication, Collaboration, and Documentation

Business analysts must communicate clearly and efficiently to everyone involved. They need to
document and share information so that stakeholders and other involved parties have a clear
understanding of the project, the goals, and the proposed solution. BAs help improve overall
productivity by breaking down the barriers to communication.

In this unit, you got a high-level look at what a successful business analyst does and some of the
skills they use. We explore each of these skills in detail in the next units.