First, let’s define precisely what Business Analysis is.
In our experience, it’s the establishment of tasks, procedures and techniques that enable stakeholders to understand the structure, policies and operations of an organisation. Business Analysis also involves recommending solutions that enable an organisation to adapt to change and achieve its goals.
With technology and data insight playing an increasingly important part in this process, and as more and more companies seek to create a data-driven culture, it’s important for you to have a Business Analyst as part of your change delivery team.
To help you build a case, here are 6 reasons why you need a Business Analyst.
1) Business Analysts are agents of change
According to Greek philosopher Heraclitus (500 BC), “Change is the only constant in life.”
Never has this quote been more apt than in today’s evolving business landscape. In fact, it could be argued that change is one of the biggest challenges facing businesses. Whether regulatory, financial, digital, consumer or a whole host other factors.
Dealing with and understanding the impact of change is a key part of the Business Analyst’s role. With a wealth of knowledge and experience, gained from a broad range of projects, the right Business Analyst will guide you through unknown territory and help you to positively embrace changes in the market as and when they occur.
2) It’s the Business Analyst’s responsibility to make sure requirements are correct from the start
According to CIO Magazine, 71% of failed software projects can be traced back to poor requirements, with around 40% of the effort in an average software project spent fixing errors. Not only is this expensive and time consuming, it can also lead to the proposed benefits not being realised by the business, financial losses, wasted time and effort, plus disillusionment.
By consulting a Business Analyst at the very start of a project, organisations can avoid these stumbling blocks and ensure the adoption of a best-practice approach with the following components:
- Clearly defining the scope of your project
- Identifying and building rapport with the key stakeholders
- Assessing the standard ways of doing things
- Creating easily digestible diagrams and process flows
- Dealing with change
- Delivering results.
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3) Business Analysts always have a backup plan
The stakes involved in delivering successful projects are higher than ever before. Previously, it wasn’t uncommon to have manual backup procedures and rules in place to deal with mishaps.
But today we are very much dependent on technology, and the data challenges in mis-sold car finance claims have contributed to the increased data volumes being processed dramatically. If technology shuts down, it isn’t always feasible to carry on with business as usual. This can have a significant impact on organisations from both a financial and reputational standpoint, something we see repeatedly played out in the media.
The good news is, it’s the role of the Business Analyst to have a comprehensive overview across an organisation. This includes people, processes, policies, information systems and the environment. Which means that that they can assess the impact of, and prepare for, any unforeseen changes. With their focus on understanding and preparation, a Business Analyst can develop and implement workable solutions as and when these problems occur.
4) Business Analysis requires a dedicated expert
Many organisations attempt to combine individual roles into a hybrid position. We frequently see Project Managers or Developers being asked to also act as Business Analysts. While this can be tempting for a cash strapped project, it can have some major downsides.
- The dominant role wins in the end – there’s a danger that the individual starts to focus on the role they prefer or feel most confident in, to the detriment of the other.
- Two heads are better than one – when a person performs more than one role, there’s a loss in segregation of duties, but it’s important to have that segregation and the additional perspective, challenges and confirmation that an independent Business Analyst brings
- Overload – when one person takes on too much, both roles suffer.
5) It’s important that the technical teams to have a focal point, especially for the design phase
6) The Business Analyst can be a key asset during the test phases of a project
The test phases of a project are critical to successful delivery, especially when it comes to time, cost and expected quality. Sometimes these phases are overlooked or neglected due to limited resources and other conflicting business needs such as day to day operations.
So, while you wouldn’t expect the project delivery team to be responsible for performing the later testing, an experienced Business Analyst can help the customer/business to create test scenarios, test cases and test scripts. Ultimately, this increases the likelihood of a successful outcome for the project.