About the BAAI

The Role of the Business Analyst

Business Analysts work in a wide range of sectors such as finance, banking, insurance, telecoms, utilities and software services. As a Business Analyst, you:

• Identify the core objectives of an organisation and
• Ensure that its processes, procedures, systems and structures are in place to meet these objectives.

Business Analysts must understand how the organisation plans, functions, achieves its goals and interacts with external and internal stakeholders.

According to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK Version 2.0):

"Business Analysis is the set of tasks and techniques used to work as a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals."

Exploration and scoping form part of the BA role as you uncover the information from stakeholders including customers, end users, staff, IT professionals, and management. You may also align the needs of various business units or departments with the capabilities delivered by information technology, and serve as a 'translator' between those groups.

A Business Analyst is any person (regardless of title) who performs business analysis activities as the dominant element of their role. They may include:

• Business systems analysts
• Systems analysts
• Requirements engineers
• Process analysts
• Product managers
• Product owners
• Enterprise analysts
• Business architects
• Management consultants

The Business Analysts will work in various organisation levels as the role can be divided into four quadrants:

• Strategic Planning: Performing an analysis of the organization's long term business goals.
• Operating/business model analysis: Analyse the business capabilities, policies and market approach.
• Process definition and design: Modelling the business's process and workflows to identify areas of improvement or duplication etc.
• IT/technical business analysis: Analysis of business requirements for technical systems.

Techniques used by Business Analysts

As a Business Analysts, you may use an array of techniques in your role depending on the task at hand and nature of the project. The techniques used include:

• Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria Definition
• Brainstorming
• Business Rules Analysis
• Data Dictionary and Glossary
• Data Flow Diagrams
• Data Modelling
• Decision Analysis
• Document Analysis
• Interviews
• Metrics and Key Performance Indicators
• Non-functional Requirements Analysis
• Organization Modelling
• Problem Tracking
• Process Modelling
• Requirements Workshops
• Scenarios and Use Cases

Business Analyst Competencies

The Business Analyst role can be varied and requires the following competencies and skills:

Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving

Business Analysts help to identify business problems, create & assess proposed solutions and understand stakeholder needs.

Behavioural Characteristics

Clear communication & collaboration are vital for any professional when working with stakeholders. Positive behavioural characteristics acting ethically, demonstrating trustworthiness, and personal organization. These must be supported by the Business Analysts adherence to the Business Analysts code of conduct.

Business Knowledge

Business Analysts must understand the inner workings of their organisation or clients organisation to perform their role.

Communication Skills

Business Analysts must elicit and communicate stakeholders requirements. This requires the ability to understand verbal & non-verbal communication, use effective listening, ask probing questions and uncover hidden objectives or obstacles within a project.

Business Analysts work with many stakeholders from entry level professionals to senior international managers across varied industries. Accordingly, you must be able to comfortable interact in small/large teams possibly across various geographical locations.

Software Applications

Business Analysts can use various systems to communicate & collaborate with others.