Does Wargaming have a lot of analytics to do?

Many ask the question “ Is there a job for analyst in Wargaming and what is it? ". Under the cut, you can read an interesting interview with a business analyst of our company and one of the founders of analyst.by , Dmitry Rineysky . Dmitry graduated from BSUIR with a degree in Information Systems and Technology (in Economics), and worked for a long time at Sam Solutions.


- Let's go straight to the point! Dima, I know that you have been working for some time in Wargaming. How did it happen that you got into the gaming company?
')
I confess that the change of place of work turned out unexpected for me. The last thing I imagined was that I would ever work in a company that develops games. Honestly, I never thought that in the gaming industry there is a place for classical business or systems analyst.

It all started with the fact that my good friend from Wargaming, persuaded me to come for an interview (which did not commit anyone to anything). At that time, I knew that this was a successful and very ambitious company, and I just wondered - who is such an analyst in such a large gaming company? what are they doing? What can the company offer me in this area? As a result, 1.5 months after the interview I went to work at Wargaming /

- Bring us a secret, what are you doing after all? Only coming up with new games comes to mind.

Yes, I had the same opinion about analyst work in gamedev, before I got to know the company better. I must say that I am not engaged in inventing new games. To do this, there are some specially trained specialists, whose competence includes the development of new games and a new gameplay. Honestly, I probably would not agree to become a game analyst.

Large projects are always much more than visible to the uninitiated person. In this case, it is appropriate to draw an analogy with an iceberg: as a rule, only the top of the “colossus”, which the system as a whole actually is, is visible on the surface. "Under the water" is hidden all the internal infrastructure: various subsystems and components, administration interfaces and external services that you need to interact with to solve business problems. I think that those who have ever dealt with a large project understand what I am talking about. Wargaming projects in this aspect is no exception. In addition to the games themselves, there are a huge number of near-game systems, subsystems and services that interact with each other.

In a word, there is a lot of work for a business analyst in his classic presentation!

- It turns out that your duties are exactly the same as those of the “classical” representative of the profession?

Yes. I do exactly what a regular business analyst in an IT company does. My responsibilities include all those activities that analysts usually do in outsourcing companies. Ie: extraction, analysis and documentation of requirements, their coordination with stakeholders and the customer, maintenance of requirements up to date, and so on.



- You said you would not become a game analyst. Why? What pushes you away?

It's in me! Honestly, there was a time when I was quite seriously addicted to computer games, but it passed. Therefore, games as such are of little interest to me. Perhaps only desktop. And to be a good gaming analyst, I think you need to completely immerse yourself in the game, its gameplay. In fact, you need to live it. Well, that is these are guys with a completely different mindset than classical IT analysts, I think. I am not so and it will be very difficult for me to restructure.

- Clear. Are there many analysts in your team?

As a rule, on the project one or two, maximum - three analysts. For example, on my current project, there are two of us. In general, there are 13 analysts in our division and we are gradually growing.

- What project are you working on now?
I am currently working on the “World War” project. This is my second project in the company. “World War” is a browser meta-game, which is one of the modes of the game “World of Tanks”.



World War expands World of Tanks game play. At some stage, players want more than just practice in mastering a tank in a client. This mode adds the ability to practice in strategic planning, negotiation and diplomacy. Consisting of clans, players can form alliances with their own policies, bylaws and traditions. And by participating in the “World War”, alliances and clans can popularize and spread their views in the gaming community.

I will not go into details. If someone is interested, in more detail about the clans and the "World War" can be read on the portal World of Tanks.

- Can you tell us about your current project using the example of your current project?

Yes of course. Actually, speaking of Clan Wars - I mean two projects: Clans and Clan Wars. I work in parallel on these two subprojects. In both projects, I am working on API method documentation. On the Clan Wars project, I also document how the project communicates with the game server and other components, and I describe the methods for executing financial transactions. On the “Clans” project, my area of ​​responsibility includes a description of the capabilities of users as part of clan management. This is short.

- You said that there are already 13 analysts. This is not enough. Do you somehow have already built up the process of sharing experience, knowledge, training of less experienced employees?

Well, right so that it was a harmonious process - not yet. We don’t have the analysis department as such, therefore, it is quite difficult to build a full-fledged system of advanced training and exchange of experience.

- But do you somehow share your experience?

Of course. It's just not a systematic approach. First, a young analyst who comes to our team always starts working in tandem with a more experienced analyst. In addition, we occasionally meet and discuss issues of interest to us. Yes, and the company organizes participation in various kinds of conferences and courses, there is an opportunity to order interesting literature, to participate in various internal educational events.

“Are you still recruiting analysts?”

Yes. This year there are plans to increase the team of analysts by 1.5 times. As I said before, there is a lot of work! Therefore, if one of the readers has a desire to change the employer or there are familiar analysts with such a desire, the company will be happy to consider their candidacies.

- And what qualifications do you need new employees?

At the moment we are looking for people with analyst experience six months - a year, no less. Well, that is these guys should be more or less independent. Yes, some time the work will be carried out in tandem with a more experienced analyst, but still we would like new employees to become independent as soon as possible.

- Many companies that work to the west, can attract analysts to the presence of business trips to different countries, it seems you are not threatened?

Just the opposite! Having overseas business trips is one of those points that made me once accept an offer from Wargaming. The company has many studios around the world, and work on almost any project involves travel and communication with customers and stakeholders from other countries. Our customers are the publishing division of the company. In addition to the Minsk office, publishers are located in Paris, Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, Tokyo and Seoul. Periodically, customers themselves come to discuss business issues. Development teams are also scattered around the world: Minsk, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Sydney, Chicago, Baltimore, Austin and Seattle. In addition, almost every team has guys from other countries. For example, in our team there are guys from Russia and Moldova. From time to time, it is possible to take part in international conferences, including abroad.

By the way, all documentation, as a rule, is conducted in English. Therefore, for many projects it is important that the analyst have confident spoken and written English.

- Clear. Perhaps enough about work. You mentioned board games - I can't ask you: how do you spend your free time? Do you have any? Do you play tanks?

Yes, I play tanks several times a week. Do you need to have an idea about the main project of the company ?!

If we talk about free time in general, I will not say that I have it full on weekdays. Recently I try to go on volleyball 2 times a week. On other days in my free time I read, I learn to play chess, from time to time my wife and I go to the theater. From time to time there are corporate parties and team building. In short, do not have to miss.

- If you close your eyes and waste time for 10 years ahead, how do you imagine yourself? Who are you?

This is a difficult and partly provocative question. In any case, I can say for sure that I see my future in the field of IT. At this stage, I see for myself the direction of professional growth. Therefore, we can confidently say that for some time I will develop as a business analyst. In the near future I plan to become a CBAP.

- How do you feel about certification in general? Why do you need a certificate?

Positively. Although, the presence of a certificate, of course, does not give any guarantees. You can draw an analogy with the SDA. If a person has passed the theory, then this does not mean that he knows how to drive and will be a cultural driver on the road. Still, the presence of a certificate indicates a study of at least a theory. In this case, I hand over purely "for myself", it is interesting to try my hand.

- What do you think, what qualities and skills are most in demand for the analyst?

This is a "holivarny" question. I would say that “knowledge of the requirements management discipline,” “customer experience”, “documentation writing experience” and “domain modeling experience” are the most useful skills in the work of a business analyst.

If we talk about personal qualities, then I would highlight an analytical mindset, quick learner, and interpersonal skills as priorities.

- Well, in order to summarize our conversation, what would you advise to young or already experienced analysts who are thinking of changing their place of work and, maybe, looking towards your employer?

First, learn and develop, not stand still.

Second, do not be afraid to try new things.

Third, be active.

As for the vacancy of a business analyst at Wargaming, you should not be afraid of it. This is the same analyst, as in most outsourcing companies. Virtually no differences. I should note that now the company is in a stage of rapid growth. You should not tune in that everything will be easy and simple at once. But for experienced, enterprising and ambitious people, rapid growth means that a whole range of opportunities and prospects are opening up here, including in the matter of career growth.