I have been a BA/SA for over 10 years with continual jumps in salary. I am currently an SA III in Des Moines, Iowa and am making $92,000 year as a contractor...In our areas market that is extremely good and an FTE position would be very hard to come by for that kind of pay. As I look to further my career and earning potential can anyone give me insights into what technical skills/knowledge really provide the most bang-for-the-buck? I have no development background and it appears that job descriptions for SAs are calling on more knowledge of various platforms and languages such as Java, .NET, etc...even to the extent of understanding the language or having some experience coding it. I want to make sure I foster the knowledge that is going to continue to keep me on the front line in terms of marketability and expertise. The other side of the coin is that it appears the knowledge-base expectation of SA's/BAs is ever expanding and employers are contstantly seeking the ideal candidate with a plethora of knowledge and ability to execute. Let's face it, we can't know everything...so what technical skils/knowledge currently provides the most value and will appear to command the most need in the coming years? Any thoughts?  Thanks!!

 hello,

I found this uestion very interesting and here are my 2 cents based on my industry experience and as a BA training and Consulting organization.

You are right, i have seen a shift i expectation for the role of BA over time and i strogly feel that Process improvement kowledge as part of Business Analyst role is the next step for any good BA. This means increasing your skill level to learn ho you can apply some lean practices to improve business processes. I you have any other question regarding this or training feel free to contact 

Thanks

Supriya

[email protected]