A Business Analyst’s world is three dimensional

Today’s digital economy compels business to develop fast and responsive technology, that will support their efforts and operations while maximizing their profits. While part of a business analyst’s role would be to act as a conduit between the information technology department and business, it is important to understand where both departments have been, where they are and where they are going.

As a result, our biggest challenge in business analysis is being able to split business and information technology perspectives into three dimensions. Some of our time needs to be spent in living in the future so that we built products and services that will sustain the business and take them to the next level. In parallel to that we also need to make sure that we live in the present so that we deliver relevant and good quality products and services that derives immediate value and revenue. Finally, we need to at all times consider the past to ensure that we learn from our mistakes and failures and grow from them.

The Future – 1^st dimension

Most organizations are going through digital transformation as a result of changing customer needs, disruptive innovation and emerging technology and as BA’s we need to acquire relevant skills to enable us to anticipate these changes and ultimately assist and support organizations in implementing them. We should keep abreast of future trends and try as much as possible to develop future-proof products in order to assist organizations is maintaining a competitive advantage.

The Present – 2^nd dimension

Products and services are the lifeblood of most businesses. Building products and services that are relevant and appropriate is crucial to the organization’s growth and profitability. We need to understand the organization’s stand point so that we recommend products and services that are in line with the current period.

The Past– 3^rd dimension

We cannot change the past but we can learn from it. When studying the past, it is important to look at the outcome of the project, why it failed or succeeded and take from it the lessons learned. Understanding the contributing factors enables us to avoid future failures and improve on what worked.

Incorporating this three-dimension view in executing our daily tasks will not only alleviate a lot of oversight it will also make sure that we deliver well rounded requirements. All day every day a business analyst’s world is three dimensional.

Author

Neo Mashishi

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Neo Mashishi is a Business Analyst at Britehouse, an information technology company providing industry leading digital solutions. She is currently seconded to Discovery’s Vitality Group as a consultant, providing business analysis services. While in the employment of Britehouse, Neo has consulted at different clients and in-house projects such as the City of Johannesburg, Stratum Insurance and Regent insurance amongst others. Prior to joining Britehouse, Neo Mashishi held numerous positions at Price Waterhouse Coopers, IBM, Anglo Platinum, Merck Pharmaceuticals and ABSA bank. She is currently pursuing a Bcom degree at the University of the Witwatersrand. She also be embarking on a journey to completing a CCBA certification.

Neo is a past student of FTI and recently attended the Agile Business Analysis Workshop with Ronak Sanghavi.