Business analysts have come up as one of the most sought after data professionals in view of the growing importance of analytics and data governance across all industries. However, there are raging misconceptions regarding the roles and responsibilities of a business analytics professional. In fact, the young enthusiasts opting for a course in business analytics are often unaware of the meaning and variety that this job role holds. Let us take a peek into the professional life of a business analyst and see if we can figure out some facts that matter.
A business analyst is the best person to understand the client’s requirements
Business analysts function essentially as bridges between multiple organizational structures. They connect the dots of confusion and miscommunication between companies and clientele.
Let us say you run a software development company and a client comes to you with the requirement of a special GUI. Even before the IT people get hold of the project the business analyst can talk to the client and understand what they truly want, and make them understand what you can offer at a stipulated price range. The BA professional obviously communicates with the developers in the process.
Handling and moderating requirements is a huge part of a business analyst’s job. With a firm grasp over the domain they are operating in along with the analytical and technological prowess, the BA nails these prefatory phases.
Project monitoring and reporting
This is one of the relatively boring and phenomenally important roles that a BA plays. Once a project is acquired it has to be monitored and reported on timely. The business analyst is usually the first point of contact with the client and it is her responsibility to provide the client with accurate reports of progress, results, and estimates. She is also responsible for ensuring efficient workflow at the developers’ end so that they do not miss deadlines.
A good business analyst understands the value of timely delivery and is responsible for providing a reasonable ETA to the client.
Once the product is developed the BA is often in charge of visualizing its impact on paper she is also part of the testing team to ensure that the client’s requirements are met.
Product optimization
These are less talked about aspects of a business analyst’s job. Analysts run predictive models to understand the probable ramifications of changes made to a product. They are responsible for suggesting enhancements both to the developers and the clients. If a business analyst finds out a way of creating a more efficient product by deviating a little from the client’s actual requirements, she can visualize her thoughts and make a case for it. The value a business analyst is capable of adding in this manner is incredible.
Overseeing marketing strategies
A business analyst is not a marketer but he is well aware of the various best practices of both inbound and outbound marketing. His access to analytical tools make him the best person to help the marketing team with creating a scalable and cost-effective strategy. He can bring in ideas like customer segmentation, micro-targeting, and recommendation engines on to the plate.
Sometimes it is more important to understand at which stage to deploy a certain strategy than actually deploying it. The business analyst helps the marketers understand the probable results of a certain campaign at a certain time so that they can make a wise choice and save some bucks.
Process enhancement
Let us say a supply chain uses state of the art machines with AI driven sensors. It involves minimal human intervention at the production level and drives great efficiency. Then, when it comes to logistics the company uses worn out vehicles with low fuel efficiency.
The business analyst is the person to look at situations like these and make a business case for plausible change. Maybe upgrading the vehicles at that point would create a temporary cash crunch but make up for it shortly and eventually improve profits. It is an analysts job to take these cases up and drive the management towards change.
Deployment of automation
Businesses around the world are leaning towards automation and driving great results. But the number of such companies that jump into hasty process automation and end up spending even more time managing them are not insignificant.
This is where the BA comes in, analyzes the situation, picks the spots where automation would drive maximum value, considers issues of scalability, and the risk of migration to a different platform, and makes a business case for sustainable automation.
Risk management
Every change, every enhancement, and new deployment has an element of risk attached to it. The business analyst has to understand that risk, find ways of alleviating the risk, and visualize a risk vs gain proposition so that the management can take a confident action.
