The corporate environment of today is quite competitive. Because of this, businesses make every effort to succeed and avoid falling behind. Making sensible decisions that can be supported by trustworthy information is the key to success. We need business analysis to get this data. Let's examine the key components of business analysis, the advantages it can offer your company, and the duties of a business analyst.
What is Business Analysis?
First, let's answer the simplest question. Business Analysis is a set of processes that involve gaining insight based on the collected data. Business Analysis is performed using several analytical techniques.
What does a Business Analyst do?
Business Analyst spends their time analyzing. They mainly analyze business in general - they document systems and processes. They are able to identify issues and define solutions that can be used to avoid them.
Organizations nowadays often use the term "IT Business Analyst". Although, many companies use both IT and regular Business Analyst term interchangeably, there are some circles that differentiate them. In that cases, IT Business Analyst works largely with methodologies, related to software development.
Difference between Business Analysis and Business Analytics
To differentiate these two concepts, we could say that Business Analysis centers around processes and functions and Business Analytics around data and creating reports. Although, a lot of organizations use both terms alternately.
Why it is important to use Business Analysis?
Business world is ever-changing and businesses have to be able to adapt to the changes that constantly appear. Considering the competitive market, it is critically important for any business to properly adapt to those changes. It can save the organization from staying behind their competitors and later on, failing. Business Analysts are needed to navigate and prepare organization for the mentioned changes and lead them through the entire change process.
Business Analysis process
There are few very important steps of the Business Analysis processes, such as:
Get oriented
Get to know project's history and define business analyst's role in it.
Name the primary business objectives.
Identify stakeholder requirements and expectations. Create clear objectives.
Define the project’s scope.
Create complete project's scope, so that the project team can follow it.
Create a business analysis plan.
Create timelines and outline the most important steps.
Define requirements.
Analyze the already collected data and create clear requirements.
Support the technical implementation.
Work closely with IT teams in order to implement solutions that are based on using software development.
Help implement the solution.
Create clear documentation of all the processes.
Assess value.
Define if project works as expected and analyze the progress it brought to the organization. Define if any follow-ups are needed.
Techniques of Business Analysis
There are quite a few Business Analysis techniques that will help your processes bring the most desirable results:
CATWOE (Customers, Actors, Transformation Process, World View, Owner, and Environmental Constraints)
CATWOE technique helps to evaluate how a chosen action will affect different element and parties of the project.
MoSCoW (Must or Should, Could or Would)
In this processes Business Analyst prioritize requirements and define their importance, by grouping them into shelves of the ones that needs to be done, could be done, should be done or don't have to be done right now.
MOST (Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics)
This technique helps to define organization's goals and the way to achieve them.
PESTLE (Political, Economic, Sociological, Technological, Legal, and Environmental)
Evaluate external factors that may affect the organization.
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)
Identify strong and weak points of corporate structure.
The 5 Whys
It contains several questions starting with "why", which helps to identify problems and their origin.
The benefits of Business Analysis
Business Analysis is important for any organization, because it helps with identifying all vulnerabilities and issues and helps to implement proper solutions and continuously monitor the results, based on the data they collect.
Considering the fact that businesses nowadays has a lot of competitors and the market is ever-changing, Business Analyst became a very valuable resource. Business Analysis can help organizations with better understanding of their business needs and identifying their goals in order to meet them.
The benefits of Business Analysis certification
Organizations need Business Analysis. They need certified Analysts that will lead their business towards the success. Therefore, getting certified can put you on the map. The more experienced you get, the more your value increases.
For you, the certification is the way to achieve in-depth knowledge and confidence, for the organization it is the way to be sure that their business will be in safe hands.
What skills does a Business Analyst need?
According to the Institute of Business Analysis, a good analyst needs the following skills and knowledge:
- Analytical thinking and problem solving
- Communication skills (oral and written)
- Interpersonal and consultative skills
- Costs benefit analysis
- Facilitation skills
- Detail-oriented and able to deliver at a high level of accuracy
- Organizational skills
- Processes modeling
- Knowledge of business structures
- Stakeholder analysis
- Requirements engineering
- Understanding of how networks, databases and other technologies work
Business Analysis field is growing very fast, demand is increasing every year and the market is becoming more and more competitive, so certification is a good way to advance your career. If you want to become an expert and specialist trusted by organizations, see the offer of courses in the field of Business Analytics and develop your skills in that area.
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