Business analyst has become a new buzzword in the field of Information Technology jobs. Let’s decode this word and analyse whether it is worth all the attention.
What is Business Analyst?
According to Australian Computer Society a business analyst is the person who, “Identifies and communicates with users to formulate and produce a requirements specification to create system and software solutions”. Translating technical jargon in to business English, what this means is a business analyst will look at the gap between where a business currently is and where it wants to be, find ways (primarily ICT based solutions) to bridge that gap and then communicate that solution to all internal and external stakeholders like business owners, sponsors or any facilitators.
How do you become a business analyst?
The path starts from a degree of business analysis, which is provided by various universities. Professional certifications are also available at IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis). Australian chapter of IIBA provides 4 different certifications depending on your experience, starting form fresh graduate to professionals who have over 10 years of experience.
What will you do as a business analyst?
Some of the responsibilities that a business analyst has to take are review the business scenario to come up with opportunities, make a business case for it and come up with specific plan and requirements, review test cases and help in execution of the plan by facilitating communication among various stakeholders.
Hopefully, this gives a better picture of business analyst, makes you realise that it is more than a buzzword and establishes the argument in favour of having one for your business.