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The evolving role of the business analyst

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 18 Jan 2017

ITWeb Business Intelligence Summit 2017

Meet Daniel Gombe of Sochin Technologies at the ITWeb Business Intelligence Summit 2017 in March. He will share his thoughts on the evolving role of the BA to be lean and agile as an integral part of IT projects. Registration is open and the agenda is live, click here for the most updated agenda.

The question most business analysts (BAs) asked in the past was whether technology could help them solve the problem. This has evolved to asking what can technology do to enhance the product offerings and market opportunities that exist for the organisation.

So says Daniel Gombe, CEO of Sochin Technologies, who will be presenting on 'From traditional to Agile: the evolving role of the BA to be lean and agile as an integral part of IT projects,' during the ITWeb Business Intelligence Summit 2017, to be held on 14 and 15 March at The Forum in Bryanston.

According to Gombe, there are several key differentiators between BAs then and now. Then, BAs were a consultant to an organisation, in essence external with minimal investment into organisational vision. "Today BAs are permanent employees within organisations, are embedded into the organisational structures, and have a vested interest to ensure a solution is appropriate and works."

In addition, he says, in the past, BAs had a technically driven skill set, and technology was almost always offered as a solution even for non-technical issues. BAs today have vast skill sets that include business skills such as business process improvement, organisation changes and streamlining of business operations. Moreover, they are solution-driven and demonstrate understanding of business drivers, business objectives and the measurement of success.

Gombe says BAs were once rigid, informed by documented business needs and requirements despite the changing landscape. "Today they are agile and versatile, able to respond to business needs as they change."

He sums in up by saying: "Technology was seen as the solution, today it is seen as an enabler."

Daniel Gombe, CEO of Sochin Technologies.
Daniel Gombe, CEO of Sochin Technologies.

Speaking of how the BA's role fits into into non-business intelligence related IT projects, he says the key role of the BA is to understand business drivers, and understand business requirements. "This entails application of a vast skill set and allows them to not only define the above but clearly outline the current state and future state of the business as it relates to the business problem and proposed solution. This key role therefore enables the BA to apply this skill set across any discipline."

Delegates attending Gombe's presentation can expect to gain an understanding into the project lifecycle, success and failures, and the critical role played by the BA in an organisation. In addition, he will discuss the ROI of investing in a BA in today's world.

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