WHO IS A BUSINESS ANALYST?
A Business Analyst is someone who identifies the need for change and facilitates the implementation of that change in an organization. Before we delve more into who a Business Analyst is, let’s take a look at what the Business Analysis practice means.
WHAT IS BUSINESS
ANALYSIS?
“Business Analysis is a practice of enabling change within an
organization or an enterprise by identifying needs, analyzing the requirements
and recommending solutions that will deliver value to the stakeholders”
To
proffer solutions, proper engagement with the stakeholders is needed. This
engagement helps to understand the organization’s structure, policies, and
operations in order to yield a more effective and efficient result.
WHO IS A BUSINESS
ANALYST?
A Business Analyst is someone who identifies the need for change
and facilitates the implementation of that change in an organization. The
Business Analyst does this by, gathering and analyzing information from a
variety of sources within the organisation. This includes tools, documents,
processes, and stakeholders. The solution he provides could be IT or non-IT
related, it could be a huge or a minor change.
To
really understand who a business analyst is, let’s take a look at this example.
Supposing
you want to build a house, the first thing you do is to buy a piece of land,
right? After that, you seek the services of an architect. The architect
engages with you, asking you a series of questions–about your budget, what
style of house – a bungalow or a duplex? How many bedrooms? How big do you want
your packing space? What type of roofing? Etc.
Having
done that, the architect draws up a plan which he would agree with you before
consulting with the builders. This is done to understand the cost and how long
it will take to build your house. After the dialogue with the builders, the
architect would meet with you to relate this information to you for your
consent. Suppose you agree, work on the house begins. As work progresses, the
architect would keep monitoring the progress to ensure the house is built
according to the plan – your need.
On a
few occasions, problems might arise requiring the plans to be re-examined due
to some unforeseen circumstances or, you might want to make some changes to the
plans which you would need to agree with the building contractor. Eventually,
you get your house built!
A
business analyst role is more like that of this architect but instead of
building a house, he is acting as an agent of change within an organization or
an enterprise. He is responsible for eliciting the actual needs of the
stakeholders by investigating and clarifying their desires in order to
determine the causes and underlying issues.
Now,
instead of producing plans as in the case of the architect, a business
analyst produces ‘requirements’. The requirements state the business needs and
align with the business processes. These requirements are then used by the IT
team or external suppliers to build or modify the existing systems in place
within the organisation. While work is in progress, the business analyst is
ever-ready to deal with issues, questions and to support the business in
implementing the required changes to make effective use of the new solution.
Often
times, the business analyst role is seen as the communication bridge between IT
and business stakeholders. This is why a business analyst must be a good
communicator– both written and verbal, and also a good facilitator.
Furthermore,
a business analyst does not necessarily need to have an IT background although
it is quite helpful if he understands how IT systems work. It’s also
important to note that you don’t have to be called a ‘business analyst’ to
perform this role.
Many
professional perform business analyst activities as part of their existing
role. For example, data analysts, process analysts, change managers and user
experience specialists all typically exhibit a business analyst’s behaviour.
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