ICT Business Analyst is a professional who is responsible of analyzing, specifying and proposing possible solutions for business problems in an information-centric organization. In order to perform the duty, he will have to deal with various groups of people from many different domains. Furthermore he will have to possess a wide set of skills and knowledge objects including communication, problem solving ability and understanding of System development methodologies. This role has become very important due to the need of collaboration of technology and business in evolving world.
Background
Tech World
The tech world is the place where geeky people live. They talk about JAVA, Algorithms, SQL etc. They are well capable of producing any kind of business application in any range. They have solid knowledge about information technology applications and their architecture. In most of the cases they are more comfortable with machines than people.
Business World
Business world is where thinkers live. They have great imagination. Talk in simple English. They want to implement a business idea that they have in mind. They are very good with people and know how to control them to implement ideas. In most cases they have only a general knowledge about technology and information system architecture. Therefore, in the case of ICT implementation they won’t be able to express what they really need.
Business Analyst
It’s clear that there is a huge gap between Business World and Tech World. But the collaboration of those two worlds is essential for modern businesses. That’s where Business Analyst come to the picture. He has a solid knowledge about technological applications, at the same time he has a wide knowledge about various Businesses and its requirements. He can identify the problem, specify it and make it visible to both tech world and business world in a common format. Furthermore he can be a bridge between the two worlds to enable active communication and better understanding in order to perform tasks together.
Knowledge
Business or IT Graduate
As The primary requirement the Business Analyst must have a degree in Business or IT. As long as he is going to make a communication bridge between Business world and Tech world it is essential to be an expert in one knowledge area first. If you are planning your carrier as a Business Analyst you can choose your subjects in Degree program accordingly. If you are following ICT program you can choose related Management subjects like ICT Project Management. If you are following a Business degree you can choose related ICT subjects like Management Information Systems.
Business Analysis BOK
Business Analysis Body of Knowledge is the dominant framework introduced to the process of Business Analysis. It contains some knowledge areas which explain the process of Business Analysis.
- Enterprise Analysis: This knowledge area is about how to analyze organizational context, understand its structure, policies and other boundaries for the proposed system.
- Requirement analysis: This knowledge area is about how to capture the exact requirement of the proposed system.
- Solution Assessment and Validation: All the above two knowledge areas would come to this before proceeding to the next step in order to asses and validate the information captured.
- Elicitation: This process will be applicable in all the main knowledge areas and it’s about how to elicitate the requirement correctly.
- Requirement Management and Communication: This knowledge area is about how to manage the captured requirement and maintain active communication.
- Business Analysis Planning and monitoring: In order to carry out the whole process there has to be a plan and monitoring mechanism and this knowledge area is about that.
- Underlying competencies: Analysis process is not always about knowledge. In order to perform that there has to be various competencies possessed by the professional and this knowledge area provides support to improve those.
Modeling Tools and Techniques
In order to make the requirement visible to all the stakeholders there are various representation of requirements. There are number of tools and techniques developed to serve this purpose. Business Analyst must have a good knowledge about those tools and techniques. There are various PC application that are developed to model and specify requirements using above mentioned tools and techniques and business analyst should have good knowledge about those as well.
Skills and Competencies
Interpersonal Skills
The most important skills that a Business Analyst must possess are interpersonal skills. He should be able to get on with anyone from any background. Furthermore he must have the ability to understand the untold Business requirements and make it visible to Business world as well as Tech world.
Communication
Communication is his greatest tool and it has to be very sharp. In order to communicate effectively business analyst must have up-to-date technological and business understanding, otherwise the credibility of information which are communicated will be low. Furthermore communication doesn’t end in speech and documents. To perform an effective analysis process, business analyst should be able to read the body language properly. That will be a great advantage to understand people and give what exactly is fit for them.
Gather Wisdom from Many Sources
Business Analyst will have to deal with various kinds of business professionals. In order to get in to their world and understand what they need, a Business Analyst must have knowledge about that context. This is an active learning process of capturing wisdom from many sources which is highly essential for a successful Business Analyst.
Problem Solving Ability
After the elicitation of requirement the Business Analyst will have to propose a solution supported by a solid logical background. Here, the main task is to identify the main problem and figure out where to get the solution. Then develop active communication between the person who has the problem and who can implement the solution for him. During this process the Business Analyst will have to carry out many tasks simultaneously and he has to be well capable of that.
Pending Problems in Projects
According to the statistics 2008 is the worst year of project completion for decades. The failure rate was 68% and the main reason behind that was poor requirement analysis which is the duty of Business Analyst. Furthermore 45% of the features in developed systems are never used and huge amount of money was wasted to develop those. Due to these facts this is a challenging time for all Business Analysts to focus more on those areas and never let those errors happen again.
Evolution of Business Analyst
Due to the evolving complex business requirement the duty of Business Analyst is becoming even challenging. Most of the modern businesses demand agile development when it comes to Information Systems. In most of the cases the requirement is frequently changing and Business Analyst have to put extra effort to keep the project boundaries within the limits of Cost and Time. In order to become successful in this competitive environment, a Business Analyst will have to be sharp and flexible. Completion of the project mainly would depend on Business Analyst and it’s proven since 50% of the projects failures are due to poor requirement analysis according to statistics.
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