Who are you - A Business Analyst Or a Systems Analyst?
According to the BABOK guidelines Business Analyst is the
individual who understands the current state of the business(AS-IS) and
define the future state (TO-BE) of the business as per the vision of
the stakeholders. Further the business analyst
should suggest the steps/ path to achieve the desired stage.
Below is what I have done as a Business Analyst?
In my entire career as a Business Analyst I was assigned to a project in which the stakeholders themselves have decided that they want a system to achieve the desired status of the company and my role was to listen to their requirements and advice them if their requirements can be achieved systematically or not - if NOT workarounds to achieve it.
In my entire career as a Business Analyst I was assigned to a project in which the stakeholders themselves have decided that they want a system to achieve the desired status of the company and my role was to listen to their requirements and advice them if their requirements can be achieved systematically or not - if NOT workarounds to achieve it.
I never got a chance to understand the business strategy of
any company I worked with nor actually understood the business
processors beginning to end - yet I saw the piece I was assigned to
automate.
I always had one question in my mind- who am I? A Business Analyst or Systems Analyst?
My current engagement is awesome in many ways.
Firstly the domain is super interesting and they let me become the Business Analyst I always wanted to be. The business problem of the service area was put on the table and I
was given the opportunity to conduct a gap analysis in the current
process to decide the state the business would want to achieve the path which is a very well designed system - 8 months to listen to over 10 departments
and 100 stakeholders of their requirements. I observed their work,
understood the data elements and integration of with the whole
business Eco system. Conducted facilitation sessions, workshops, meets,
many more to activities to understand the depth of the issue. I
referred to each form they filled to see what exactly they require and
their pain points.
Lastly the output was a system consisting around 50 modules
(Functional Specifications) and approximately integration with 20
other systems in the neighboring systems (Progress Flows Charts/Data
Flow Diagrams). Over millions of data data elements
will sit on the database per day yet each adds value to the business
through the analytic platform.
It is true that the company has to be rich enough to provide the above luxury to the Business Analyst. But is it not an investment for the next 10 years (least).
Business Analysts can be very useful if a company uses them effectively. A Business analyst can bring digital transformation to business which is key for today's business.
The BA Times stated, “Organizations are now dependent on business analysts and project managers to guide them through this digital disruption and advise on best practice and emerging technologies. Predictive technologies such as machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things can now provide industry trends and data patterns that have the power to significantly impact a business and its operations.”
Sometimes a Business Analyst may help the organization to improve the process to make sure its not anymore on loss via business process improvements.
It is true that the company has to be rich enough to provide the above luxury to the Business Analyst. But is it not an investment for the next 10 years (least).
Business Analysts can be very useful if a company uses them effectively. A Business analyst can bring digital transformation to business which is key for today's business.
The BA Times stated, “Organizations are now dependent on business analysts and project managers to guide them through this digital disruption and advise on best practice and emerging technologies. Predictive technologies such as machine learning, Artificial Intelligence and The Internet of Things can now provide industry trends and data patterns that have the power to significantly impact a business and its operations.”
Sometimes a Business Analyst may help the organization to improve the process to make sure its not anymore on loss via business process improvements.
However I now feel that I am a Business Analyst. I know the business and the system.
What is your view? Who do you think you are- Business Analyst or Systems Analyst or Typist?
