How To Become A Business Analyst
How to become a business analyst would be the first question that would crop up in the minds of those who have made up their minds to become a business analyst. In another article, Business Analyst Job Description, we listed down some of the key skills required to be a successful business analyst. These include problem solving capabilities, communication skills, interpersonal skills, ability to work using structured methodologies and domain knowledge. Formal education helps acquire some of these skills.
A few other soft skills like communication skills and interpersonal skills are acquired and subsequently honed over a period of time. The job description for a business analyst would vary according to the title that the person holds in the organization and the type of industry the person is employed in. However, there are a lot of activities that are common to business analysts across industries. Having zeroed in on business analysis as a career option, an individual may go about acquiring skills in a structured manner. Besides the soft skills listed above, there are some specific skills that a business analyst needs to acquire. These skills can be leveraged across multiple industry verticals and would be considered to be a part of “core business analyst skills”.
Skill acquisition and training in usage of tools for business analysis
Some of the core business analysis skills that need to be acquired through formal training include (but not limited to) the ability to use structured tools and methodologies. While the standard office productivity tools are good for capturing information pertaining to project requirements, they are not meant to be collaborative tools. Word processing software, spreadsheets and presentation tools facilitate information capture and sharing, but cannot be used to track modifications to requirements’ features and approvals to these modifications which are so essential during the execution of an engagement. It is here that tools like Requisite ProR play a vital role. These tools allow requirements capture in a structured manner and facilitate maintaining them dynamically, i.e., they permit tracking changes to the requirements and approvals with traceability. This is quite crucial during the life cycle of project execution. Other collaborative tools used during engagement execution include SharePointR which can facilitate central storage and retrieval of documents. While some of these tools are easy to learn by oneself, a business analyst should ensure that he/she attends formal trainings to get a good understanding of the tools that are widely used by organizations. Formal trainings usually are accompanied by ‘project exercises’ to ensure that participants get a good understanding of the tools they are trained on. Ultimately, all the trainings need to be put to good use. And actually using these newly acquired skills on the job is the best way to test them and practice using them.
Industry recognized certifications in business analysis
Those who really aspire to be among the top practitioners of business analysis should go a step further and get themselves certified externally. Such external certifications serve to validate one’s skills and showcase one’s credentials to potential employers. For example, IBMR offers certification courses in Requirements Management. The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)R is an independent non-profit professional association for the growing field of business analysis. This body offers The Certification of Competency in Business AnalysisTM (CCBA®). Senior analysts can aspire for The Certified Business Analysis ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) certification. Becoming members of the local chapters of professional organizations would help aspiring and practicing business analysts keep themselves abreast of the latest happenings in this field. This would also provide an excellent networking opportunity to explore career options.
Behavioral traits for business analysts
Having looked at the skill sets required and some of the means of acquiring these skills sets, let us now look at the career path of business analysts. To begin with, all business analysts start off being individual contributors. Some of the skills listed above along with certain behavioral traits help in subsequent career progress. The behavioral traits include personal organization, being trustworthy and having a strong sense of ethics. Personal organization would encompass time management skills, ability to multi task and the ability to prioritize. Being trustworthy helps the business analyst establish a good working relationship with the stakeholders. A strong sense of ethics is a must for any profession and business analysis is no exception.
Career path for business analysts
Over a period of time, business analysts by virtue of the length and breadth of experience should acquire industry knowledge and attempt to become specialists in their chosen industry practice. Such industry practices can include financial services, manufacturing and logistics or hospitality services, to name a few. There are a lot of instances of people moving from line management functions in companies to business analyst positions. Such people bring specialized industry knowledge to the job and are sought after for their subject matter expertise. And business analysts who have honed their skills over a period of time in specific industry practices also become Subject Matter Experts. These Subject Matter Experts command premium billing rates when they are a part of an engagement. They start off leading small teams of business analysts first within an industry practice and subsequently these people take up leadership roles within their organizations. Such leadership roles would entail heading an industry practice with overall responsibility for achievement of revenue targets (topline and bottom line), practice development, people development and firm building initiatives. The designations would vary from organization to organization. For example, in the consulting industry, the entry level positions would be christened ‘Associates’ and industry practice leaders would be designated ‘Principals’. Subsequent career progress would make them ‘Partners’ and ‘Managing Partners’. Typically, Principals would lead engagements and Partners interact with C level executives in client organizations.
Business analysts in Information Technology industry – a perspective
The Information Technology industry engages business analysts during various stages of project execution. Typically, business analysts are engaged during the project commencement and primarily tasked with owning the requirements management process and the business architecture definition. And subsequently when the system is developed and ready, the business analysts act as the gatekeepers. They test the developed system thoroughly to ensure that the solution being delivered is in line with the client requirements specified in the first place. This quality assurance role is performed by business analysts prior to turning over the solution to the clients for their acceptance testing. And some business analysts play the role of project managers as well during the engagement execution. This industry offers multi-faceted roles to business analysts.
In summary, the business analyst role offers variety and challenges. The role also offers scope for mobility between a projects based organization to line functions in other organizations and welcomes industry experienced personnel to play the role of a business analyst/subject matter expert.
Related Posts:
Recommended Books:
The Business Analyst's Handbook
Manufacturer: Cengage Learning PTR
Amazon Price: $49.99
Offers - Buy New From: $27.17 Used From: $27.17
More Info
