System analysts, care to share?

[HELL DRAGON]

hello everyone ,

i recently started working as a system analyst (not a programmer because we outsourced that to a third party company ).

my Question is , are there any specific video tutorials for people like me ? in other words u can get almost all the video training you want from "CBT nuggets" or "trainsignal" in networking ,hardware support , programming ... but not in something
partially theoretical like creating DFD , ERD , business process re-engineering and
system life cycle development etc etc.

so is there any special certificates and courses i could take or download to advance in my career? plus i heard a system analyst can easily become a DBA with 1 or 2 courses from oracle, is that true

any other suggestions and feedback are welcome.please feel free to share your opinions

[Narue]

>are there any specific video tutorials for people like me ?
Doubtful, and I wouldn't trust them if I knew of any. As a system analyst, your recommendations will be made on a case by case basis and somewhat subjective based on your experience. Much like with programming there are guidelines, but more often than not you'll discard the guidelines to achieve better results.

In other words, for jobs like this where it's more art than science, you're not likely to find step by step instruction that's worth a damn.

>i heard a system analyst can easily become a DBA with 1 or 2 courses from oracle, is that true
A good system analyst should be sufficiently skilled to land at least an entry level DBA job. You're expected to have a broad range of skills, and enough depth in each of them to be competent.

[HELL DRAGON]

In other words, for jobs like this where it's more art than science, you're not likely to find step by step instruction that's worth a damn.

i get the full picture now.

broad range of skills, and enough depth in each of them to be competent

could you list some of those skills? at least the ones that would make me a better system analyst

Thanks a lot for replying you saved me a lot of time.

[mechbas]

You can look at your job as you would the job of a service manager in any car dealership. You can't say, well, this is a foreign make so I can't help you with that. Pull that stunt and your job security will drop to zero or less. On the other hand you don't usually have to be able to tell bosso WHY the particular piece of equipment (program) doesn't work right but for job security you damn well better be able to make it perform up to their expectations.
The really sad part is that programmers DON'T program much any more. They'll surf the web, etc., grab the modules that they'll need and make a patchwork quilt, make it work well enough to get their money and run which means that they have no real idea what's actually in the package.
As I understand your new position your first job is to say to bosso, hey, this will do the job, OR, this is a piece of crap, send it back. Your second job comes in when somehow, you overlooked something in your first job. That's when you're really gonna sweat.
Apparently, someone upstairs thinks you're serious minded enough to get the job done, at least well enough to sign your paycheck.

[HELL DRAGON]

Thanks a lot , the picture is getting better and better.But what about the advancement in such a career ? and does it have a bright future like a DBA ? i mean in terms of salary, bounces , market demand.

Thanks a lot guys I really appreciate your effort.

[mechbas]

At this point anything is possible, mostly it depends on your own long range plans.
The best thing for now is to broaden your experience level.
If you concentrate too heavily on any one aspect, by the time you're ready for a change the floor could fall out from under you.
Apparently you were ready for this change of direction, will you be ready for the next? Only you can answer that.