Business Analysis is a flourishing line of work in today’s world. An effective Business Analyst (BA) can mean efficiencies and savings for an organisation.

A quality BA can bring much needed clarity on a business problem, working with subject matter experts across the business to identify, shape and drive solutions.

Business Analysis - is it all graphs, charts and data?

But what exactly does business analysis involve and what should you expect from a Business Analyst?

PRocess Mapping

Capturing your current business processes having engaged with and included the right people at the right time. Workshopping the future state with participants of the process and identifying the gaps between the current and desired future state.

Data Analysis

Equipped to analyse large amounts of data in light of a business problem or question. Able to interpret data, identify trends and present data in a meaningful way to aid decision making. Lots of data is an easy way to make a business analyst content.

Business Analysts - a very important cog in the testing process

Requirements Management

Facilitating the identification, documentation and traceability of requirements. Known as the requirements lifecycle, a seasoned business analyst will approach the collation and prioritisation of requirements in a measured, logical and methodical way.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

Often paired with requirements management is user acceptance testing. Part of a business analysts role will often involve creating test scripts and managing the UAT process for new solutions &/or updates to existing solutions.

Options Analysis

Good practice is to understand the available options before embarking on a project or programme. A Business Analyst can add value early on in the project lifecycle through an options analysis so each option can be compared & a decision made.

Impact Assessments

Want to introduce a new system or process & need to understand what this means? A tool BAs often use is an impact assessment which prevents anything from being missed and helps the project team understand what the project really means.

Project Management

Business Analysts need to have some basic project management skills as a minimum. The ability to self-motivate, structure their work and align with the project lifecycle is often the difference between an effective and ineffective BA. Often the Project Manager and Business Analyst roles will work in partnership, enabling one another to progress through the project stages and ultimately through to go-live.