Something that I’ve actually been asked while pitching for work is “What does a Business Analyst actually do?”. While I won the work in that instance, I was never happy with the answer that I gave at the time. I managed to babble something out about how a BA was the bridge between IT and the business and while this is true, it hardly demonstrates what I could do to impact the bottom line of a project.
Since then I’ve relayed this story many times, only to discover that it wasn’t just my erstwhile interviewer that was unsure of what a Business Analyst actually does. Very often it’s not until a BA has delivered on a piece of work that the business that they are working for appreciates exactly what it was that the BA did for them, even then I suspect they would find it difficult to define exactly what it was that the BA did.
In a cold economic climate when IT budgets are being cut, it’s important that BAs answer the question of what we actually do, after all, our livelihoods depend on it! While our documentation skills and communication style will prove invaluable during the development phase of a project, when fingers are being pointed and vendors are demanding more cash, this will be no good to us if we haven’t won the business in the first place.
We have a very positive story to tell about what we do, but what exactly is it that we do?
Other IT professions don’t suffer from this sort of ambiguity, a project manager, for instance, has several very clear definitions of what they do, my favourite being:
A project manager has overall responsibility for the planning and successful execution of a project.
That’s it, it’s to the point and everyone knows exactly what to expect from a Project Manager and how they are going to benefit a project. On the other hand, we have the definition as stated by the International Institute of Business Analysis (The IIBA®) in version 2 of it’s Business Analyst Body of Knowledge®:
Business Analysts must analyze and synthesize information provided by a large number of people who interact with the business, such as customers, staff, IT professionals, and executives. The Business Analyst is responsible for eliciting the actual needs of stakeholders, not simply their expressed desires. In many cases, the Business Analyst will also work to facilitate communication between organizational units. In particular, Business Analysts often play a central role in aligning the needs of business units with the capabilities delivered by information technology, and may serve as a “translator” between those groups.
It does describe what we do, but it’s not quite as easy to digest as the definition of a Project Manager and you can see why there may be confusion about what the role actually entails. I can hear the business now, ‘Where is the value add?’. It’s a fair question, how does analysing and synthesizing all this information actually help an organisation to meet its goals?
To try to understand more about what Business Analyst actually does, I want to look at each phase of a typical project and examine what is required of a Business Analyst during the life cycle of a typical project:
Initiation
The initiation phase is the period during which the business is feeling some kind of pain and is looking to alleviate the stress that this pain is causing, usually by implementing some form of technology or process based solution.
It’s the role of the BA to clearly identify the problem that the business is experiencing and to map out what a possible solution would look like.
This map is then used to create a business case which shows why a problem is being tackled, how much it will cost to resolve the problem and what benefits the organisation can expect to see once the problem has been resolved.
It is the business case which a Business Analyst will constantly refer back to as the need for changes occur during the course of a project, constantly checking to ensure that a change is in-line with the expected business benefits and to ensure that the business case is still relevant and that something still needs to be changed within the organisation.
Analysis
The analysis phase is the period during which the Business Analyst defines the requirements in detail, stating clearly and unambiguously what the business needs in order to resolve its problem.
During this phase the BA will also work with the development team and, in particular, an Architect, to create the design and define exactly what the solution should look like.
Taken together the design and the requirements will guide the rest of the project, with the testers looking to ensure that the requirements have been met and the developers trying to deliver against the design. It’s the responsibility of the BA to ensure that the design meets the requirements and that the testers are testing the requirements.
During this early phase of the project the BA will expend a lot of energy ensuring that any possible changes that can be identified are identified, while they are easily, and often more importantly, inexpensively corrected. Once the initial requirements are documented they need to be tested to destruction by the BA to ensure that they will actually deliver a solution to the problems that the business are facing.
Development
The development phase is possibly the most challenging phase for a BA. It’s quite normal after the pressure of the analysis phase to sit back a little, safe in the knowledge that both quality requirements and design have been delivered. However, it’s during this phase that a BA needs to step up their meetings with the development team, attending daily meetings and generally being the eyes and ears of the business, constantly looking for deviations in course that would otherwise go undetected.
Testing
The testing phase sees the Business Analyst back on firmer footing. There is a process to follow as the testing team go through the process of testing and identifying bugs and the BA can work with the business to set defect fix priorities.
Disputes between the business and development concerning what is and what is not an off spec defect will often be resolved by the BA using documentation created in earlier phases. The mere existence of this documentation is often enough for one side of the other to admit a mistake and for the issue to be resolved amicably.
Implementation
The implementation phase is not the end for the Business Analyst. It’s the last chance for things to go awry and for goals to be missed.
It’s during this phase that a BA should be conscious of how users are using the system. Are they actually seeing the benefits envisaged in the business case? Do the training materials support the business case?
Looking at each of these phases in this way, a common theme of discovery, validation and verification appears throughout a project life cycle. Given the opportunity to answer the question again, I would define the role of a Business Analyst using the following statement which clearly shows what a Business Analyst adds to a project, a business or an organisation:
A Business Analyst is responsible for knowing what the goal of a project is, how to achieve it, managing any changes to the goal and ensuring that all deliverables are aligned with the goal.
In essence, a Business Analyst is a navigator, responsible for reaching the end destination, in our case that destination is the successful resolution of a business problem. The BA always knows what the end destination is, how to get there and is capable of handling course adjustments as they arise.
In the future, when pitching for work, I’ll be better prepared to answer the question and will have a great story to tell.
I hope you found this article useful. If you have a definition of what a BA does, then please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment below.
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:45 pm
dream to become a BA…!!!
November 2nd, 2011 at 11:58 am
This is a good, brief article of what a BA does. I’m glad I read this. It puts a lot of things back into perspective. Just remember folks, we are customer oriented. I’m generally a bit unorthodox in my methods, but these guidelines are easy to follow.
November 6th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
i want to know different documents that are prepared by the BA and sample document for each one
November 10th, 2011 at 1:08 am
It was a nice Article.Easy to understand with lots of knowledge.
Ajay Arya
November 16th, 2011 at 8:06 am
Short and clear. Great article. Thanks!
November 18th, 2011 at 4:02 am
It nicely explain about the BA. Awesome article….
November 23rd, 2011 at 4:50 am
Good article! What about the knowledge and background a Business Analyst should have in order to be successful? Waiting for your opinion in an article.
November 24th, 2011 at 6:03 am
Reeally good definition of BA role
November 30th, 2011 at 2:09 am
hey… i am a software developer and having 2 years of experience.
I want to switch my career as a BA…
can you suggest me.. is it good..to move …
waiting to hear from you…
December 3rd, 2011 at 11:27 am
Very nice and easy to understand article.
February 7th, 2012 at 10:57 am
I agree. This article asks the questions on everybody’s mind and explains them well.
December 6th, 2011 at 6:05 am
hey thank u so much it help me to understand about BA job well.
December 15th, 2011 at 9:09 am
I am going to choose it as a career so I was very much interested to know about…. what a BA do and having lots of doubts regarding it….but after reading it i am very much cleared……… thank u so much it help me to understand about BA job well.
December 15th, 2011 at 9:09 am
I am going to choose BA as a career so I was very much interested to know about…. what a BA do and having lots of doubts regarding it….but after reading it i am very much cleared……… thank u so much it help me to understand about BA job well.
December 16th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I really appreciate this article, i have an interview this Monday with a fairly large bank for a graduate business analyst role and i know they will ask me how i see the role of the BA, thank you very much.
December 18th, 2011 at 5:04 am
Thats a very good explanation…. It cleared so many questions….
December 19th, 2011 at 7:33 am
gud explaination
December 22nd, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Thank you for the articulated article but what does a project manager do in a business environment,since most times when project management is being talked of it is either construction or IT oriented.Can someome help me out here please.
December 25th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
Thank you for the information. Very Good article. Can you suggest any university or institutes offering business analyst courses. would the SAS business analytics course helps me in any way.
December 30th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Thank you very much for posting this. I’m also new to BA work and have been fortunate to be schooled by many different experienced BAs. I thought you’d like to know that your explanation was the best by far!
Can you recommend any good BA books or seminars.
Thanks in advance!
Happy Holidays
January 18th, 2012 at 4:24 pm
I am going to choose BA as a career so I was very much interested to know about…. what a BA do and having lots of doubts regarding it….is there any company offers a voluntary work in Nottingham and also institutes which offer courses in BA. Please reply me
January 10th, 2012 at 2:03 am
This was really very straight and clear description about BA’s role.
Thanks,
Khushal Salian.
January 13th, 2012 at 10:28 am
Thank you for this short and clear article. Now I have clear idea on what a BA does.
Can you please recommend some good materials about BA? (Books, tutorials etc)
Thanks and Happy new year!
January 17th, 2012 at 4:39 am
Nice article. I am software engineer with 4 years exp. I would like to know if i can move over to BA role, what should be the basic qualification to go for it. Please help!
January 19th, 2012 at 7:46 am
Thanks for taking time and putting it together. Was pretty useful and gave me clear idea about the BA role.
Once again thanks for the awesome write up!
Regards,
Ab
January 21st, 2012 at 2:14 pm
does the role of a Ba require a lot of onsite travel.
January 21st, 2012 at 2:15 pm
very good article. really clarifies the job description.please answer another question.does the role of a Ba require a lot of onsite travel?
January 27th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Thanks for this article. It’s a good resume on what a BA does.
It helps me to understand which skills I miss to have a complete BA role into my company.
My company has created a “BA community”. The core team, in which I am, is composed by different experienced people. Each one has its speciality. For example, I am a testing expert. So to become a real BA, I need to complete my skills.
Onto my website in french, I’ll write an article about my vision on BA job, what is a BA in my job life and make a reference to your article.
Ketty Bianco
February 6th, 2012 at 3:24 am
Well written, informative article. I’ve been working as a technical Business Analyst for about 3 years now and the question on what a BA does is definitely the most asked. I’ve been asked this question so many times..by friends, family, interviewers…it’s been summed up well here.
February 6th, 2012 at 1:29 pm
Nice read about BA….thnks
February 19th, 2012 at 4:39 pm
This is great. Thanx for the effort.