Make room on your work coat rack.
Let’s not joke around anymore; It’s just a fact of working life: You wear multiple hats at work, regardless of what your official title might imply.
Sure, you might have an official title that includes a position like “Engineer,” “Technician,” “Analyst,” or “Manager,” but your list of responsibilities is more like someone spilled the slash on your resume. Are you a Designer/Programmer/Financial Analyst/Technical Support Specialist/Help Desk Technician/Subject Matter Expert/Process Manager/Product Manager/Consultant/Project Planner/Customer Service/Sales Representative/Product Manager? inventory/communications manager/web designer/SharePoint administrator/accountant/or maybe even/project manager?
Business analysis is no different. Many organizations are still not very clear about what “business analysis” is. As such, it is included as a responsibility under various titles such as ‘database architect’, ‘systems analyst’, ‘financial analyst’, ‘consultant’, ‘process engineer (or manager),’ ‘business architect’ and ‘data analyst,’ just to name a few. You may be playing the role of a business analyst and (like many of us once) don’t even know it.
What is this ‘business analysis’ hat for?
Since many people within an organization can do it, let’s focus on the role business analysis and not the job title.
Business analysis is the set of tasks and techniques used as a framework to engage with stakeholders to understand and communicate an organization’s structure, policies, and operations, and to recommend solutions that enable that organization to achieve its objectives.
Business analysis may involve the following processes (with corresponding Business Analytics Body of Knowledge—BABOK–areas are in parentheses):
1. Identification of business needs and opportunities (Business Analysis)
2. Collection, clarification and validation of requirements (Elicitation)
3. Drafting and communication of requirements to interested parties (Communication of requirements)
4. Develop a plan to gather requirements, clearly define the scope, and manage changes to requirements (Business Analysis Planning and Tracking)
5. Make sure that the requirements are well written, specific and complete (Analysis of requirements)
6. Ensure that the solution is the best according to the requirements, and not the other way around (Evaluation and Validation of the Solution)
It’s about the requirements.
In general, business analysts are instrumental in collecting and documenting business requirements prior to project planning and implementation. Business analysts are primarily involved in Business analysis and work to clearly define the product scope (features and functions of the product, service, or deliverable) that pertains to the requirements.
In the software/systems development life cycle (SDLC), business analysts are critical in the analysis phase. This phase is where most business analysts spend their time with the ultimate goal of getting the project requirements right the first time.
In fact, Microsoft Corporation has learned over time that for every incorrect, unclear, or incomplete requirement on a project, it costs them five to 200 times as much to fix that project as it moves through the SDLC.
How do business analysts fit into other organizations?
It is important to note that business analysts may or may not work on projects, depending on how they are used in an organization.
Sometimes business analysts are primarily in charge of identifying opportunities for improvement. Other times, this type of business analysis is done by top management or specific departments at the highest levels of the company, and then a business analyst is brought in when there is already a planned project to collect, write and manage specific requirements.
A business analyst is also hired after a project starts, most often to test and validate a solution against business requirements.
Other companies often use a project manager to conduct business analysis. Small and medium-sized businesses often do not separate these positions; instead, a person must do both. This is one of the reasons Ready2ACT has so many project managers attending its business analysis classes and business analysts attending its project management classes.
In our experience, project managers who learn business analysis report a higher level of success in defining project and product scope. As a result, this gives them more control over scope changes throughout the project and increases the likelihood of completing projects on time, on or under budget, and to the complete satisfaction of their stakeholders.
For some, it’s more than a hat: it’s a profession.
Business analysis is a profession designated and standardized by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). Like Project Management International (PMI), the IIBA sets the global standard for business analysis practices and now offers a professional certification in Business Analysis: the Certified Business Analysis Professional, or CBAP. These generally accepted practices are contained in the BABoK, which is organized by the six areas of knowledge (vs. the nine of the PMBOK).
Because the IIBA was established internationally in 2006, it does not yet have the same level of recognition that PMI does. However, it has 90 chapters around the world and strives to follow in the footsteps of PMI’s success by elevating business analysis as a profession. Like the PMP, IIBA’s CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) certification is ISO compliant and is a rare certification so far with only 1,200 certified professionals worldwide out of IIBA’s 12,000 members (PMI has 334 019 members and 412,503 PMPs).
According to a 2010 survey completed by the International Business Analysis Association (IIBA), business analysts earn an average of $82,493 per year, with an average CBAP of $89,667 per year.
As an increasing number of companies become more aware of this profession and its CBAP designation, it may be a condition of employment for some job postings. At the very least, having standardized training and earning a CBAP can set you apart from the rest when applying for some positions.
By Tiffany Dahlberg
