In today’s economy every corporate entity is striving towards making their business processes better and faster. This can be achieved by creating software systems that can compress cycle times, provide quick information, and increase the usability and reliability of the systems. A Business Analyst plays a pivotal role in the process of software systems development.
Today’s market place provides a unique set of system development challenges. From an application development perspective the incorporation of latest technology is sometimes constrained by a need to integrate with legacy systems. From a data mining perspective, the conversion of data to Information is constrained by the complexity and integrity of data.
In both these scenarios, the Business Analyst plays the crucial role of a liaison between the various business teams and departments who need a better system and the software development team that implements the system. A competent Business Analyst has the knowledge and experience to recognize problems and come up with solutions. The following roles enunciate the importance of a Business Analyst in today’s market place to implement a successful software project:
In both these scenarios, the Business Analyst plays the crucial role of a liaison between the various business teams and departments who need a better system and the software development team that implements the system. A competent Business Analyst has the knowledge and experience to recognize problems and come up with solutions. The following roles enunciate the importance of a Business Analyst in today’s market place to implement a successful software project:
1. Project definition role: Business Analysts are assigned to projects at or before project initiation, resulting in them becoming key influencers on strategic technology decisions. They work closely with the Business Architect and project sponsor to define the scope of the project. (Roles to work with vary with organizations)
2. Project documentation role: Business Analysts elicit, analyze, document, communicate and validate business and system requirements for changes to business processes, and information systems. This is achieved by the convergence of various project stakeholders through JAD Sessions, Brain Storming, and walkthroughs. They also create transition documents and flows that acquaint the business users to the new system.
3. Project implementation role: Business Analysts play an important role in implementation of a project by communicating requirements to the development team. They also play a crucial role in the testing phase by planning and executing the system testing and user acceptance testing (UAT).
In conclusion, a contemporary Business Analyst needs to be in a state of constant agility to learn new technology, and methodologies and apply them in the development cycle. Each project presents unique technical and tactical challenges that a Business Analyst needs to assess and solve. The success of a software project largely depends on the efficiency and quality of the Business Analyst it has.
2. Project documentation role: Business Analysts elicit, analyze, document, communicate and validate business and system requirements for changes to business processes, and information systems. This is achieved by the convergence of various project stakeholders through JAD Sessions, Brain Storming, and walkthroughs. They also create transition documents and flows that acquaint the business users to the new system.
3. Project implementation role: Business Analysts play an important role in implementation of a project by communicating requirements to the development team. They also play a crucial role in the testing phase by planning and executing the system testing and user acceptance testing (UAT).
In conclusion, a contemporary Business Analyst needs to be in a state of constant agility to learn new technology, and methodologies and apply them in the development cycle. Each project presents unique technical and tactical challenges that a Business Analyst needs to assess and solve. The success of a software project largely depends on the efficiency and quality of the Business Analyst it has.
