Training In Business Analysis: Why It Is Important
Business Analysis is the practice of enabling change in an organizational context, through the definition of requirements and suggesting solutions that deliver value to stakeholders. Business analysis has surged ahead as a core business practice in today’s volatile market scenario. Business analysts act as a dynamic link between an organization's information technology capabilities and its business objectives, and contribute to the profitability of enterprises of every size and across various domains. Training in Business Analysis aids professionals in capitalizing on a fast-changing marketplace by picking up skills needed by cutting-edge organizations to stay competitive.
Conventional methods to conduct business processes will not always guarantee success in the face of economic downturns. This is where business analysis comes into the picture, with enterprises accomplishing business goals by translating customer requirements into new services, products, and eventually profits. Business analysts can make it all happen more efficiently and effectively.
The business analyst’s primary goal is in aiding enterprises implementing technology solutions in a timely and inexpensive way. This is done by deciding the needs of a project or program and communicating them in a precise manner to stakeholders, facilitators, and partners.
Business analysis has been recognized as a mission-critical competency with regard to project management. For professionals working with stakeholders in defining needs, driving business outcomes and shaping project outputs, the PMI Professional in Business Analysis or PMI-PBA can highlight your niche skills. Other invaluable additions to a professional’s BA skill set is Agile BA implementing Scrum processes which enable candidates to work in a nonlinear fashion and accurately churn out rapid prototypes of the product or the actual product or service itself. The gold standard in project management, PMP is also a step ahead in terms of BA and will prove itself to be a high ROI investment in the long run.
Important concepts learned in these courses include:
- Learning and comprehension of the roles of business analysts in the workplace.
- Understanding organizational needs.
- Optimization of project investments.
- Assessment and solving business related problems.
- Fundamental theories behind business analysis.
Business Analysis certifications such as Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) and Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) equips with the various methodologies like Agile, Information Technology, Business Process Management, Intelligent, and Architecture class. According to the IIBA Salary Survey and U.S. Department of Labor, Business Analysts are paid hefty salaries like $100,000 or more annually.
7 Business Analysis Techniques
These 7 Business Analysis techniques have come to the forefront time and time again:
1. SWOT Analysis
Refers to Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, and Opportunities Analysis, which is an enterprise level analysis technique of assessing an organization against these four factors. Each factor has its own set of techniques that can be applied.
2. Requirements Interviews
It is the act of executing a structured interview where the Business Analyst questions, captures, interprets, and understands the intention of requirements requested by the interviewee for a particular solution.
3. Use Case Modeling
The UML Use Case Modeling technique deals with illustrating the functions that a new system should be able to perform from a user interaction perspective.
4. Data Modeling
It is a Business Analysis technique that deals with describing a requirement in terms of its data elements. Data Modeling is used to describe elements (things, people, places, etc.) of which data is to be captured and attributes for each entity to record. Data Modeling is applied during the Analysis and Design stages of a project.
5. User Stories
User stories are a relatively modern Business Analysis technique which is a way to describe what a user wants in terms of how they will be using a system for their own purposes coming from a specific perspective.
6. Non-Functional Requirements Analysis
This Business Analysis technique deals with defining and capturing the requirements to describe the characteristics required for a new or changed system.
7. Scrum
Scrum is an Agile framework for completing complex projects and is integrated into the business analysis in every organization. Scrum originally was formalized for software development projects, but it works really well for any complex, innovative scope of work. The possibilities for Scrum implementation are endless, and yet the Scrum framework is deceptively simple.
Scrum is a management and control process that eliminates complexity to concentrate on building software that meets business needs. Management and teams are able to get their hands around the requirements and technologies, while never letting go, and delivering working software both incrementally and empirically. Scrum itself is a simple framework for effective team collaboration on complex software projects.