A business analyst (BA) is a person who processes, interprets and documents

business process A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...

es, products, services and

software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...

through analysis of

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete Value_(semiotics), values that convey information, describing quantity, qualitative property, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of sy ...

. The

role A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, moral obligation, obligations, beliefs, and social norm, norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously changing behavi ...

of a business analyst is to ensure business efficiency increases through their knowledge of both IT and business function. Some tasks of a business analyst include creating detailed

business analysis Business analysis is a professional discipline of identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems. Solutions often include a software-systems development component, but may also consist of process improvements, organiza ...

, budgeting and

forecasting Forecasting is the process of making predictions based on past and present data. Later these can be compared (resolved) against what happens. For example, a company might estimate their revenue in the next year, then compare it against the actual ...

, planning and monitoring, variance analysis, pricing, reporting and defining business requirements for stakeholders. The business analyst role is applicable to four key areas/levels of business functions – operational, project, enterprise and competitive focuses. Each of these areas of business analysis have a significant impact on business performance, and assist in enhancing

profitability In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs. It i ...

and efficiency in all stages of the business process, and across all business functions.

Role

Business analysis is defined by th
International Institute of Business Analysis (IIAB)
as "a disciplined approach for introducing change to organisation" through

management Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includ ...

, processing, and interpretation of data in order to "identify and define the solution that will maximise the value delivered by an organisation to its stakeholders". A business analyst's job description tends to include "creating detailed business analysis, outlining problems, opportunities and solutions for a business, budgeting and forecasting, planning and monitoring, variance and analysis, pricing, reporting, and defining business requirements and reporting back to stakeholders". There are many business activities which the business analyst is involved in. Some areas in which business analysts can have an important role are in financial analysis, quality assurance,

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

, business policy and procedures, organisational development and solution testing. More specifically, business analysts are required to use the data which is gathered for the purpose of analysis and interpret greater meaning for the business. This can then be used to improve business performance through identifying areas for potential growth, cost reduction, understanding customer behaviour, and observing economic trends and forecasts, and then reacting appropriately. Successful business analysts should influence the business environment by providing reliable guidance in decision making for the future through observing data which reflects the behaviour of the business in the past. Business analysts are essential at all levels of a business, as both tactical and strategic planning require analysts who help with "incremental improvements to products, business processes, and application". Business analysts have an increasing need to provide a business with sustainable solutions. The Business Analyst "plays a key role in making sustainable choices, providing direction to business and influencing demand for specific

technologies Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

". Business analysis practices have the opportunity to use business data in a positive way, which can lead to the transition of a sustainable world.

Areas of business analysis

Business focuses

Due to the range of applications a business analyst can have, there are specific areas in which they can function. Kathleen B. Haas describes the requirement of business analysts in four areas of business – operations focus, project focus, enterprise focus, and competitive focus. # Operations focus – business analyst are able to use big data to analyse the way in which a business's operations are impacting the ability of the business to generate

business value In management, business value is an informal term that includes all forms of value that determine the health and well-being of the firm in the long run. Business value expands concept of value of the firm beyond economic value (also known as econom ...

. Business analysts add value to the operational level of a business by enabling efficiency to be maximised through cost cuts,

investing Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

in better equipment, improving employee efficiency, and increasing production of popular products. # Project focus – when a business analyst takes charge of a project, areas that are historically overlooked are more likely to be considered carefully. The business analyst has an essential role in projects, which includes "integrating strategic planning with

portfolio Portfolio may refer to: Objects * Portfolio (briefcase), a type of briefcase Collections * Portfolio (finance), a collection of assets held by an institution or a private individual * Artist's portfolio, a sample of an artist's work or a c ...

planning for Information Systems and technology", inclusion of the possible effects of business decisions on future performance, and the use of modelling tools to demonstrate the "as-is" and "to-be" business to all employees across various levels of the business. # Enterprise focus – a business analyst who works in this area of a business helps to "optimise development of

innovative Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

solutions" through the use of technology. Activities involved in an enterprise-focused business analyst's job include building current and future

business architecture In the business sector, business architecture is a discipline that "represents holistic, multidimensional business views of: capabilities, end‐to‐end value delivery, information, and organizational structure; and the relationships among these ...

, conducting analyses of opportunities, problems and feasibility, proposing new projects to build solutions, validating forecasts and assumptions being made, conducting solution assessments and validation, comparing planned and actual results of

business plan A business plan is a formal written document containing the goals of a business, the methods for attaining those goals, and the time-frame for the achievement of the goals. It also describes the nature of the business, background information on ...

s. # Competitive focus – the competitive environment is analysed by business analysts "in order to develop a meaningful strategy" for all areas of a business. One of the main functions of business which this is relevant in is

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. By observing consumer behaviour when interacting with a business's products and the products of its competitors, as well as the distinctiveness of

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create ...

s in the consumer space, information about substitutability and product performance can be determined.

Specific business analyst roles

Business analyst skills can be applied to a variety of roles within business processes. Th
IIBA
describes a large number of job titles which business analysts can work in, which include:
Business analyst
* Business systems analyst * Systems analyst * Requirements engineer * Process analyst * Product analyst *

Product manager A product manager (PM) is a professional role that is responsible for the development of products for an organization, known as the practice of product management. Product managers own the product strategy behind a product (physical or digital), ...

* Product owner * Enterprise analyst * Business architect *

Management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

* Business

intelligence analyst Intelligence analysis is the application of individual and collective cognitive methods to weigh data and test hypotheses within a secret socio-cultural context. The descriptions are drawn from what may only be available in the form of deliberate ...

* Data scientist Business analysts can also work in areas relating to project management, product management, software development, quality assurance and interaction design.

Skills and Qualifications

Skills

According to the IIAB, the basic skills most important for a business analyst include: *

Oral The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or or ...

and

written communication Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

skills * Facilitation, and interpersonal and consultative skills * Analytical thinking and problem solving * Being detail-oriented and capable of delivering high level

accuracy Accuracy and precision are two measures of ''observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements ( observations or readings) are to their ''true value'', while ''precision'' is how close the measurements are to each oth ...

* Organisational skills * Knowledge of

business structure Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." Having a business name does not separat ...

* Stakeholder analysis *

Requirements engineering Requirements engineering (RE) is the process of defining, documenting, and maintaining requirements in the engineering design process. It is a common role in systems engineering and software engineering. The first use of the term ''requiremen ...

Cost benefit analysis In production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something or deliver a service, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which ...

* Processes modelling * Understanding of

networks Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

, databases and other technology These skills are a combination of hard skills and

soft skills Soft skills, also known as power skills, common skills or core skills, are skills applicable to all professions. These include critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, professional writing, teamwork, digital literacy, leadership, pr ...

. A business analyst should have knowledge in IT and/or business, but the combination of both of these fields is what makes a business analyst such a valuable asset to the business environment. As a minimum standard, a business analyst should have a "general understanding of how systems, products and tools work" in the business environment. Some IT employees may transfer from the area of IT into a business analyst role, as their skills are often applicable in both. There are broader categorised skill sets which business analysts require in the work place. # Mediation - business analysts are a useful "

liaison Liaison means communication between two or more groups, or co-operation or working together. Liaison or liaisons may refer to: General usage * Affair, an unfaithful sexual relationship * Collaboration * Co-operation Arts and entertainment * Li ...

support role" between business professionals and IT professionals in the

workplace A workplace is a location where someone works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a home office to a large office building or factory. For industrialized societies, the workplace is one of th ...

. The business analyst role is an overlap of these two

profession A profession is a field of work that has been successfully ''professionalized''. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, '' professionals'', who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by ...

s, and therefore the business analyst plays an essential role in

communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...

and understanding between these two groups. # Requirements elicitation - this refers to "analysing and gathering the needs of both computer-based systems as well as the business". Successful requirements elicitation can help to improve and eliminate quality and defective requirements respectively at an early point in the

product lifecycle In industry, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its inception through the engineering, design and manufacture, as well as the service and disposal of manufactured products. PL ...

, and can therefore minimise wastage and maximise business success simultaneously. # Solution designer - business analysts can contribute to the design of business functions and processes through the analysis of past performance and certain areas for improvement. # Business modelling - forecasting, modelling and analysing current and future business performance, functions and processes are essential to the business analyst role. These skills enable the business analyst to make educated business decisions. # Business problem analysis - a business analyst must be able to analyse the issues a business is facing in order to determine how they impact business performance, and how the business can over come these problems with maximum efficiency. # Information System (IS) strategy evaluation - business analysts are required to continually monitor and control the strategic plans of a business, so that it is able to best meet its needs and goals. Part of this involves comparison with competitors and industry trends.

Qualifications

There are a number of qualifications that can lead to a career as a business analyst. For example, the
BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis qualification
provides an internationally recognised qualification. The IIBA also identifies three other key certifications as an association:
Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA)

Certification of Capability in Business Analysis (CCBA)

Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
Alternatives to certificates include: * Completing a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

- this could be in information technology, business administration or

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. * Completing a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

- masters degrees "help add more skills and significantly increase your

salary A salary is a form of periodic payment from an employer to an employee, which may be specified in an employment contract. It is contrasted with piece wages, where each job, hour or other unit is paid separately, rather than on a periodic basis. F ...

". Examples of masters degrees which are relevant to business analysts include

business analytics Business analytics (BA) refers to the skills, technologies, and practices for continuous iterative exploration and investigation of past business performance to gain insight and drive business planning. Business analytics focuses on developing ne ...

, data science,

management information system A management information system (MIS) is an information system used for decision-making, and for the coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of information in an organization. The study of the management information systems involves peo ...

s or

information technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of Data (computing), data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information te ...

. The combination of all these skills and qualifications provides the business environment with deeper understanding into the behaviour of markets, products, competitors,

economies An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

, and operations within and around a business.

Challenges

A successful business analyst requires access to large amounts of

, and in the process of using this data they must be aware of challenges relating to

data privacy Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...

, careful management of analytical resources, team success, and effective

of results to external parties. Considering all these factors into their tasks reduces the risk of irregular and inaccurate conclusions being drawn. Data privacy is an increasingly common issue, as

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and Big Data are becoming more prominent, and hence it is important for businesses to ensure that they handle and distribute only the necessary data to the appropriate employees. Management of analytical resources is necessary for business analysts to consider, as there are many ways in which a business can implement high

initial In a written or published work, an initial capital, also referred to as a drop capital or simply an initial cap, initial, initcapital, initcap or init or a drop cap or drop, is a letter at the beginning of a word, a chapter, or a paragraph that ...

costs in the process of analysis of data, and hence

resource Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their ...

s should be carefully managed so as to not lose business profits. Team functionality and success is important in all areas of business, and business analytics is no different. Business analysts work best in environments where

group dynamics Group dynamics is a system of behaviors and psychological processes occurring within a social group (''intra''group dynamics), or between social groups ( ''inter''group dynamics). The study of group dynamics can be useful in understanding decision- ...

are balanced and teamwork is maximised to ensure the best conclusions are drawn from the data. Effectively communicating to external parties is an important challenge for business analysts. The language a business analyst uses in their every-day job is likely to be difficult for other groups within and beyond the business to understand. Hence, it is essential that the business considers how they communicate their conclusions to others.

Business Analysts of Note

The IIBA is the international association for business analysts. Through this, business analysts can connect within their

industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

, learn about further qualifications they can access, and participate in events and programs globally. Some business analysts of significance include: *

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

– a Hungarian American billionaire investor and philanthropist. *

Susan Decker Susan Lynne Decker (born November 17, 1962) is an American businesswoman. She was president of Yahoo! Inc in 2007 and 2008, leading the operations of the company while Jerry Yang was chief executive officer. In 2017, Decker co-founded a social n ...

– an American businesswoman. * Jerry Yang – a

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

ese American billionaire computer programmer,

internet entrepreneur An Internet entrepreneur is an owner, founder or manager of an Internet-based business. This list includes Internet company founders and people brought on to companies for their general business or accounting acumen, as is the case with some CEOs ...

and

venture capitalist Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

who co-founded

Yahoo Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...

! * Ross Greenwood - an Australian business and finance analyst working in TV and media, including CNN, Sky News, Nine News, and A Current Affair * Stephen Manedel - an American

hedge fund A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as s ...

manager. He previously worked as the managing director of

Tiger Management Tiger Management Corp., also known as "The Tiger Fund", is an American hedge fund and family office founded by Julian Robertson. The fund began investing in 1980 and closed in March 2000/01. It continues to operate today in direct public equit ...

, and is a founder of Long Pine Capital. * Anne-Marie Baiynd - an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...

and technical analyst. ''For more successful analysts, view any of the following lists:'' * Analysis * Financial analysts by nationality

References

{{reflist, 2 Business analysis Business terms Systems analysis Business occupations Computer occupations