What does a Operations Analyst do?

An operations analyst has three areas of responsibility: manage scheduled jobs, maximize existing resources, and maintain system availability. An operations analyst typically has a university or college degree in computer services, information technology systems, or computer programming. An operations analyst can find employment opportunities in computer services hosting companies and large companies' information technology departments.

People who enjoy working with technology, are focused on details, and can work as a team member do well in this job. Information technology professionals must work together, completing tasks independently, but ensure that the work of the team can continue. The role of operational analyst is critical to keeping all the systems up to date and running to support the software programs of the business.

The primary role of the operations analyst is to manage the job schedule. Computer systems have a series of jobs or programs that are run on a scheduled basis in the background. These jobs are either very large, complex, or need unrestricted access to a large amount of data.

Regardless of the size of the organization, there is a limit to the resources available. The management of the schedule ensures that all the necessary jobs are run, without colliding or crashing system resources. The sign of a successful operations analyst's department is a complete lack of news or problems.

System availability is impacted by upgrades, system maintenance, hardware refreshes, and infrastructure changes. All software systems have patches, upgrades, bug fixes and other changes that must be implemented. During this process, the system cannot be available to users. Scheduling and managing this process is central to the role of the operations analyst.

Talk with people who work in the information technology industry, and they should be able to advise you about the work environment in this industry. In most firms, there are two or three operations analysts, scheduled to work rotating schedules so that there is 24-hour coverage. There is typically one information technology or infrastructure manager who is responsible for this part of the operation.

A career as an operations analyst requires dedication to continuing education. The technology is constantly changing, and it is necessary to invest time and effort to stay current. Career advancement in this field typically requires further education in management or certification in a specific technology or hardware. This career is forecast to have a greater than average growth in the next five to ten years, as more companies implement internal computer systems to manage all their business functions.