How Business Analysts Benefits Your Software Implementation Projects

Business Analysts are expected to be great verbal and written communicators, insightful, problem solvers, thinkers, and analyzers, with the ability to engage with stakeholders to understand and respond to their needs in this rapidly changing business environment.

But why would any company need a new department, a new skill set, and a new profession to deliver value to the organization? Isn’t there financial, marketing, engineers, or IT managers around to solve the business problems?

And so management questions: "Why do we need another professional?" Isn't Business Analysis just another trend? So what exactly is a Business Analyst, and how does he or she add value to the company? Anyone who has ever worked on a complex and lengthy software development project knows that the involvement of a business analyst can mean the difference between success and failure. And that involvement starts at the very beginning of a project.

The Business Analyst’s main role
At the outset of a project, business analysts may be the only "software development staff" assigned to the project. And at this point, they work with key project stakeholders and business people to formulate and communicate the business vision for the project, map out initial requirements and the scope of the project.

They have a list of duties, but the key areas are:

• Identifying and modeling process requirements
• Translate the business needs to the development team
• Manage and facilitate application development
• And lastly, they lead the project

The Business Analyst will also act as an organizer, communicator, and problem solver in managing the solution scope. Finally, he or she will draw and analyze requirements, plan all the business analysis activities while participating in the monitoring and supervisory of the solution scope for the project.

Below are two main reasons why you need to hire a BA right away!

Connects with the technical lead
Having a skilled business analyst with technical knowledge can provide the link to the project team as you try to move from requirements and functional duties to the technical design and technical design document from which the solution is created. The knowledge the BA carries with them helps guarantee key requirements get interpreted correctly and that the right amount of time, planning, and attention is given. The project manager (PM) is busy with other tasks and the BA can assist at this point, it really helps the PM perform well in the lead role they are performing.

Helps with communication
The biggest benefit provided by a business analyst is communication. Every industry has its own way of communicating, business owners and developers speak different languages. In many cases, the developer has a natural tendency to think they know how to build a solution without the need for explanation. The business owner struggles to express needs in terms of importance and treats every idea or suggestion as equally important. The result of this is a lacking solution and could most likely lead to an unhappy user.

Having someone there to get everyone on the same page and agree is critical. The business analyst is an honest advisor for building the right solution, defining the criteria, and seeking clarification when needed. The business analyst is constantly facilitating discussion, documenting requirements, and testing and validating the solution.

When including the deliverable of providing cost benefits, a skilled Business Analyst enhances the link between the user and the IT, which can result in reduced miscommunication, therefore reducing the level of confusion. Less chaos lowers overtime, improves team productivity, and enhances the team’s chance of delivering a solution on time. Most of all, the Business Analyst will contribute to higher customer satisfaction by adding value.

Thinking of adding a few talented Business Analysts to your team?

We are a well-known, reputable specialist IT recruitment company with over 35 years' experience in the employment market. We can assist with the sourcing, assessing, screening, and matching of the candidate to ensure you find the right fit for your company the first time. Get in touch with us today.