The Importance of having a Business Analyst on your team

Driven by the rise of complexity and uncertainty in today’s world, business analysis is key to enabling change that drives project and business success.

The essence of value in a business context centres around Return on Investment (ROI). ROI is the weight of the business value or benefits, typically captured as increases in revenue or decreases in cost, over the cost of implementation of the change. When thinking about return on investments, business analysis before, during and after the life cycle of the project could mean the difference between a failed initiative and a successful one.

Business Need

Basically, you have to return to Basics

Business analysis is a formalized, disciplined process for identifying, articulating, and facilitating a change needed to solve a business problem or address a business opportunity.

When it comes to cost, many organizations focus on technology costs and forego other business-related costs such as stakeholder involvement, in determining ROI or the cost of owning the solution throughout its entire product lifecycle.

By developing or advancing business analysis competencies through a commitment to workforce upskilling gain a competitive edge by delivering the right product with accurate and agile analysis at all levels of planning.

Often business representatives wonder why do they need specialists to analyse their problems, when they are essentially the experts?

The answer is that while a hut can be built by one person, a castle requires many skilled artisans, each focussing on their individual areas of expertise.

The Value of a Business Analyst

The area of expertise of a Business Analyst, primarily lies in their ability to think analytically and to communicate effectively. A business analyst uses a variety of skills that they must be able to apply effectively across any business discipline. According to the IIBA?some of the most important skills and experience for a business analyst are:

·???Oral and written communication skills

·???Interpersonal and consultative skills

·???Facilitation skills

·???Analytical thinking and problem solving

·???Being detail-oriented and capable of delivering a high level of accuracy

·???Organizational skills

·???Knowledge of business structure

·???Stakeholder analysis

·???Requirements engineering

·???Costs benefit analysis

·???Processes modelling

·???Understanding of networks, databases and other technology

If you haven’t yet, you should encourage your business to embark on a formal Delivery Model, setting guidelines and standards for all projects. Effective business analysis is one of the disciplines incorporated in any successful Delivery Model.

Effective Business Analysis also calls for Business Analysts to work together across the company, employing a unified approach consisting of a set of standards that covers methodologies, notation & templates, that presents a consistent look-and-feel to the business, when we interact in project settings.

So why not sit your company down today, and discuss the importance of Business Analysts in your organisation, to ensure effective outcomes for your bottom line.

Working with the business, Business Analysts, in collaboration with other professionals, help deliver:

• The right change - that helps achieves your business strategy;
• At the right time - when it needs to be done and when it can be done;
• In the right way - that manages the impact of the change on the business;
• With the right outcomes - solutions are fit for purpose and deliver the benefits.

That's all Folks, I hope that whoever you are and wherever you are, that most of all, you are HAVING FUN!!!