It's been common practice to employ the specialist services of a business analyst when developing a custom software project. With the software game changing to building more outward-facing software such as mobile and tablet apps, and drawing on cloud-hosted services, business analysis as a service is becoming reality.
This is the view of Mohamed Bray, head of Business Analysis at technology and software services firm Saratoga. He believes the critical skill required to assess the business needs, workflows and the technology impact is as crucial with these new technologies as it has been for developing enterprise systems.
"One thing that remains consistent, irrespective of the distribution channel, is that what we have to deliver is more important than what we deliver," he says. "It's about understanding the business drivers and business benefit you're trying to achieve. Going mobile, cloud or digital for the sake of it may not result in the business value realisation, and sometimes the business needs are a simpler rather than elaborate process to get the same benefit."
In identifying this shift and the role that business analysis can play in guiding organisations through the process, Saratoga has established a business analysis competency that is gaining increasing interest in the market, says Bray.
Soft skills
In doing so, the company has identified six components required for a business analyst to thrive, whether as an internal resource or contracted as a service provider.
Bray says the first step is to align thinking and planning with the business leaders. Best results are produced if the business analyst isn't viewed as an IT resource and is allowed access to business information and has the ability to delve into that. The analyst then needs to be skilled enough to deliver services beyond basic workflow analysis and provide deeper analytical insight that adds value to the process.
The individual also needs to have a wide set of soft skills, of which people skills is probably the most important. Bray suggests a high-quality analyst would dedicate as much as 60% of his or her time executing these soft skills, with the remainder falling into the technical realm. This latter point also talks to the need for a decent analyst to have access to and the knowledge to use the array of tools available to help them in their task.
Going mobile, cloud or digital for the sake of it may not result in the business value realisation...
Mohamed Bray, head of Business Analysis, Saratoga
A point for organisations with internal BA resources to consider is the need for continual professional development. The analyst cannot work in a vacuum and needs to be in touch with the latest trends, technology and developments to effectively add value to the business. The last point, says Bray, is to ensure the analyst is able to enforce governance of the process and final output to ensure the solution meets the business needs, and is able to do so consistently.
First published in the August 2013 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine
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