A business analyst supports a business in different ways. Here are some BAs sharing what they might do in their role. ‘As a business analyst, I research, analyse, and guide businesses in improving their processes, products, services, and software. I might be asked to support a successful business in identifying opportunities for growth, maybe they need to tap into a new market. Or I might be asked to assist a struggling business in identifying and analysing root causes to their problems, and making recommendations for change. Maybe they need to be told that their product doesn't really meet their customers' expectations, and this is what they can do to improve both their product and the customer experience. Or it might be to simply help them work leaner, smarter, and more efficiently on a day-to-day operational basis, by improving their end-to-end processes. And where improvements are supported by technical infrastructure, a fundamental part of my role is to act as a conduit between the IT department and the rest of the business.’

‘A typical day consists of me interacting with several business stakeholders, to understand and elicit requirements. As the project moves forward, I analyse these requirements and translate them into functional and non-functional specifications for product developers, but before making recommendations for improvement, I also need to consider things like budget requirements and industry benchmarks, legislation, and even best practice standards. The most important part of my job is about defining what the end product should look like. I work with product developers, sometimes across the globe, capture and elaborate on the details of use cases and user stories, and do a functional review of the product, as necessary. I'm also closely involved with defining acceptance criteria and reviewing acceptance tests.’

‘Once improvements are signed off and my stakeholders are happy, I oversee the implementation, delivering training sessions and workshops to upskill teams. I love that as a BA. I get involved in lots of different tasks with lots of different people. It's challenging, but exciting. As a business analyst, I'm making a difference to a business, be it improving operations and processes and making things better for its employees, or helping them make and deliver better products and services for their customers. My role is crucial to the business, and that's very fulfilling.’

The roles and responsibilities of a business analyst | BAF |

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