Senior Business Analyst BI Platform Assessment & Modernization
Division: Technology & Strategic Solutions
Location: New York, NY (Hybrid Local Candidates Preferred)
Contract Term: 16 Weeks
About the Organization
A large New York based public-sector organization responsible for licensing tens of thousands of businesses across multiple industries and enforcing consumer protection and workplace regulations. The organization is executing a multi-year technology modernization roadmap focused on analytics, reporting, and data governance.
This engagement supports a critical initiative to evaluate an existing IBM Cognos Analytics environment and define a transition strategy to a modern, cloud-based Microsoft Azure analytics ecosystem.
Position Overview
The organization is seeking a Senior Business Analyst with deep expertise in IBM Cognos Analytics assessments and enterprise BI modernization.
This role will lead a current-state assessment of the existing Cognos platform and develop a high-level future-state strategy leveraging Microsoft Azure technologies (e.g., Microsoft Fabric, Power BI, Synapse, OneLake, or comparable Azure-native services).
This is not a report development role. It is a strategic assessment, modernization planning, and executive advisory engagement.
Key Responsibilities
1. Current-State BI Platform Assessment
Conduct a comprehensive evaluation of:
BI architecture and deployment model
Report inventory and usage categorization
Data models and semantic layers
Data sources, pipelines, and integrations
Data volumes and performance metrics
User roles, access controls, and security
Governance, compliance, and audit constraints
Dashboard interactivity and report distribution
Infrastructure dependencies and workflows
Deliverable: Current-State Assessment Report
2. Reporting Requirements & Business Alignment
Conduct stakeholder interviews across business units
Map reporting needs to business functions
Identify redundant, unused, and mission-critical reports
Evaluate self-service vs IT-managed reporting
Identify regulatory or audit-driven reporting dependencies
Assess governance maturity and compliance risks
3. Fit-Gap Analysis (Legacy BI vs Azure Ecosystem)
Compare existing BI capabilities against:
Identify limitations, opportunities, and technical debt
Evaluate scalability, cost, performance, and security
Identify migration risks and blockers
Deliverable: Fit-Gap Analysis Summary
4. Future-State Architecture Design
Develop a high-level architecture covering:
Data ingestion and integration strategy
Lakehouse and/or data warehouse design
Reporting and visualization layers
Role-based access and security model
Governance framework
Integration with existing Azure infrastructure
Compliance and regulatory alignment
Deliverable: Future-State Architecture Diagram
5. Migration Strategy & Roadmap
Define a phased migration approach
Identify quick wins vs complex migrations
Prioritize report and workload transitions
Estimate timelines, milestones, and dependencies
Define risk mitigation strategies
Identify resource and change management needs
Deliverable: Migration Roadmap with Timelines
6. Training & Organizational Enablement
Develop a training and upskilling plan
Identify internal skill gaps
Recommend certification or learning pathways
Define knowledge transfer approach
Assess organizational change impacts
Deliverable: Training & Enablement Plan
7. Executive-Level Communication
Translate technical findings into business recommendations
Present modernization roadmap to senior leadership
Provide cost risk benefit analysis
Define actionable next steps
Deliverable: Executive Presentation Deck
Required Qualifications
8+ years of business analysis experience in enterprise data platforms
5+ years of hands-on IBM Cognos Analytics experience
Proven experience conducting BI platform assessments
Experience migrating from Cognos to Azure / Power BI / Microsoft Fabric
Strong knowledge of:
Experience creating architecture diagrams and modernization roadmaps
Strong stakeholder facilitation and requirements elicitation skills
Executive-level presentation experience
Experience in public sector or regulated environments preferred
Excellent documentation and analytical writing skills
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with large government or public-sector organizations
Familiarity with NYC procurement environments
Knowledge of Azure security and RBAC
Experience in compliance-heavy analytics environments
Microsoft Azure certifications
Microsoft Fabric implementation experience
Critical Soft Skills
Strategic and systems thinking
Executive communication
Ability to translate technical analysis into business language
Independent assessment leadership
Risk identification and mitigation planning
Strong facilitation and workshop leadership skills
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