What is Business Analysis? #
“Business analysis is the practice of enabling Change in an enterprise by defining Needs and recommending Solutions that deliver Value to Stakeholders.” (Courtesy: International Institute of Business Analysis - IIBA)
Let’s understand this definition with some examples.
- Need - A problem or opportunity to be addressed.
- E.g. Inefficient handling of customer queries
- Change - The act of transformation in response to a need.
- E.g. AI adoption for customer support
- Solution - A specific way of satisfying one or more needs in a context.
- E.g. Create AI enabled Chatbot to handle customer queries
- Value - The worth, importance or usefulness of something to a stakeholder within a context.
- E.g. Improvement in customer satisfaction index
- Stakeholder - A group of individual with a relationship to the change, the need or the solution.
- E.g. Customers
Basically, Business analysis enables an enterprise to articulate needs and the rationale for change, and to design and describe solutions that can deliver value.
Who is a Business Analyst? #
A Business Analyst is a person who performs the following business analysis tasks.
- Understand enterprise problems & goals
- Analyzing needs and solutions
- Devising Strategies
- Driving Change
- Facilitating Stakeholder Collaboration
What skills are required to become a Business Analyst? #
In order to perform the above mentioned activities, a business analyst should have the following Skills or Competencies:
- Analytical Ability
- Problem Solving
- Communication
- Visualization, Presentation & Documentation
- Tools - Office Productivity, Project Management, Communication
- Technical Exposure (how software works) and basic technical skills
- Business Acumen
- Business Domain Knowledge
- Stakeholder Management
Types of Business Analysts #
Generally, there are 2 types of business analysts.
-
Subject Matter Experts (SME) or Business Domain Experts
- They belong to a Business Department e.g. Vice President of Trade Finance Department of Corporate Banking.
- They do market research and provide market or business requirements to IT department.
- They drive overall implementation of change across the organization.
-
Technical or IT Business Analysts
- They belong to IT department of an organization or an agency handling IT operations for the organization.
- They analyze business requirements, convert them to technical requirements and work with IT department (developers and managers) to implement those requirements in the software.
- They act asa bridge between IT and Business Departments.
Standards in Business Analysis #
“International Institute of Business Analysis” (better known as IIBA) is a global standards organization that shapes the practice of Business Analysis, provides foundational standards and resources, and offers internationally recognized certification programs for career development such as CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional).
Learn more about IIBA from here.
