what software should you-learn to become a business analyst?

[Ask IT Career Coach] is a Career Advice Newsletter for Information Technology (IT) professionals including business analysts, computer programmers, data analysts, database developers, technical writers, project managers and software testers.

If you, have a challenging question about your career, submit it here and we will answer yours just as we are answering this question submitted by a technical writer titled: What Software Do I Learn to Become A Business Analyst? …

Question

How do I learn or get the software knowledge that would make me a business analyst?

What types of software programs will I have to use on the job; and how do I learn these programs in a visual manner without having to refer to textbooks?

Answer:

You do not understand what a business analyst does and because of that you are mixing software jobs (like that of a computer programmer’s) with the business analyst’s job.

This mix-up is quite common because software oriented jobs are more common and better understood than business analyst jobs.

When you think of a computer programmer’s job, the picture that comes to mind is that of a highly skilled technology savvy professional who spends a lot of time building software programs, creating data entry forms and screens, designing websites or even installing desktop applications.

Unfortunately, when you think of business analysts, you also imagine that their duties or tasks are similar to those of computer programmers!

Because of this, you are wrongly associating the business analyst’s career with more software / technology careers like software testing, technical writing or computer programming.

So, in TODAY'S POST, I will contrast the role of a software tester, computer programmer, technical writer and business analyst to bring the point home.

What Does A Business Analyst Really Do?

The primary skills that business analysts use on the job are communication skills
(both written and verbal) unlike computer programmers, whose primary skills are tied to expertise in specific technologies like C#, Visual Basic, Java, PHP.

Business Analysts are highly-skilled or expert at communicating technology requirements with stakeholders, customer, power users or even technical teams (think software developers, software testers, web designers).

The primary communication tools used by business analysts while facilitating the requirements engineering process are Office productivity tools including Microsoft Word (for documenting requirements), Microsoft PowerPoint (for making presentations) and Microsoft Excel.

However, unlike computer programmer jobs, business analyst jobs are not required to be software or technology centered.

Don’t get me wrong!

Some job postings for business analysts require knowledge of software development languages like C# or Java or a software development background.

The business analysts that apply for these job postings are more accurately classified as Technical Business Analysts.

There are several domains or specializations available to business analysts (mortgage, financial, telecommunications / telco, automotive, healthcare, insurance) and technical business analysis is just one of these domains.

Read more about domain business analysts here:

However, the requirements for domain business analysts are not the same as the requirement for becoming a business analyst.

You are a business analyst first before you become a technical / domain business analyst.

So, don’t apply the role, responsibilities and requirements for the technical business analysis domain to all business analyst domains.

Competence or mastery of Microsoft Office Productivity software (MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is a requirement for business analyst jobs even when it is not stated on the job posting.

A business analyst who uses Office Productivity software can document requirements with Microsoft Word, make PowerPoint presentations and run what-if analysis using Microsoft Excel.

Focusing on software skills beyond Microsoft Office software makes you more of a computer programmer than a business analyst.

For your information, here are some of the differences between computer programmer jobs and business analyst jobs.

Business Analysts Compared To Computer Programmers

• Business Analysts gather requirements while computer programmers build to specifications.

• Business Analysts document work flows and business processes while computer programmers model and build software programs that follow those workflows or business processes.

• Business analyst are hired for their written and verbal communication skills while computer programmers are hired for their expertise or skills in specific programming languages or technology platforms.

• A computer programmer's work is deeply invested in learning or using technology while a business analyst’s work is deeply invested in understanding, documenting and communicating business requirements.

• A business analyst’s primary software tool is Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint while a computer programmer’s primary software skill is knowledge of Java or C# or Visual Basic or PHP or other programming languages.

• Business Analysts document the requirements or features of software programs while computer programmers build software programs.

• Both the business analyst and software developer are involved with the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) for different reasons. While the business analyst owns the analysis and documentation of software requirements, the computer programmers owns the building of software programs.

• Read more about the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) here:

I am also going to contrast the role of business analysts with that of software testers and technical writers to bring this home.

Business Analysts Compared To Software Testers

• Software Testers are more hands-on with programming than business analysts.

  Software Testers are more skilled in programming because they sometimes have to write automated tests using scripting programming languages.

  A business analyst should not be required to write scripts or learn programming languages except in instances where they are applying for technical business analyst jobs.

  So, you cannot project the hands-on software skills requirements for software testers onto the hands-on skill requirements for business analysts.

• Software Testers write manual or automated tests that verify that software programs developed by computer programmers were written according to the specifications or requirements documented by business analysts.
• Software Testers have to test or inspect the procedures or functions written by computer programmers.

  For that reason, they may have to learn the basics of the programming language used in creating the software program.

  There is almost no value in business analysts inspecting a programmer’s code or even messing with it because Business Analysts do not have those competencies!

• Read more about Software Tester Careers here:

Business Analysts Compared To Technical Writers

• The skills exercised by technical writers are similar to that of business analysts in some respects.

  Both technical writers and business analysts exercise strong written communication skills.

  However, while a technical writer’s skill is useful for documenting the features of a software program after it is built, a business analyst’s skill is useful for documenting the features of a software program before it is built!

• A technical writer’s primary role is the documenting of existing software features, business processes, etc.

  Because of this, a technical writer may have to learn specific software programs (apart from MS Word or PowerPoint) to help them with create technical documentation like Help Files, Software Manuals, etc.

  The technical writing industry is such that job postings require knowledge of specific software documentation tools.

  However, this must not be confused with the software requirements for business analysts.

  Business Analysts are not technical writers and the business analyst’s job does not require knowledge of specific software programs apart from the ubiquitous (Microsoft Office, MS Word, MS Excel or MS PowerPoint).

• While the technical writing industry is componentized along the lines of software documentation tools (Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Frame Maker, Adobe Acrobat, Quark Xpress, Corel Ventura), the business analyst industry is segmented along the lines of domain specialization (financial, utilities, web / user interface (UI) business analysts, etc.).

• Read More about Technical Writer Careers:

What Does It Really Take To Become A Business Analyst?

The requirements for business analysts’ jobs are primarily documentation, requirements analysis and communication (both written and verbal).

While it is common for a business analyst to spend his / her time, preparing PowerPoint presentations, taking meeting notes using Microsoft Word or writing Use Cases in plain-old Microsoft Word, it is common for a computer programmer / software tester / technical writer to spend the same amount of time coding new program features / documenting bugs / documenting the features of a software program.

A business analyst must be 100% comfortable in his / her role as a communicator, presenter, leader, facilitator or analyzer without feeling the need to learn more software tools!

How To Get Hired For A Business Analyst Job – Case Study

Some time ago, I was hired to help an Information Technology (IT) director put together a software development team for a financial software project in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.

In that role, we posted a senior business analyst job opening and then started interviewing qualified business analysts.

The business analyst I interviewed and recommended got the job because she did something different from the other business analysts who applied for the same job.

She walked into the interview with a bound, spiral document that showcased the comprehensiveness, thoroughness and versatility of several business documents she had created for one automotive client in the Greater Saint Louis region.

She did not get hired because of what she said at the business analyst job interview or because of the software experience listed on her resume.

She got the business analyst job, by showcasing her hands-on business analysis skills.

What differentiated her was a compilation of various types of business analysis documents she had worked on for an automotive client in the Greater Saint Louis area.

The financial client hired her as an Information Technology (IT) business analyst for a financial software project because they connected with the hands-on, visual depiction of her business analysis skills exemplified by her Microsoft Word based portfolio.

My final advice?

Don’t approach the business analyst industry based on how the software testing, technical writing or computer programmer industries work.

Remove false associations between the business analyst’s role (primarily written and verbal analysis or communication of requirements) and the hands-on skill requirements for software testers, technical writers or computer programmers.

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Career Tip For Senior BAs: Become The Lead BA

The answers in this post are presented as tips, solutions or ideas for business analysts looking towards a better career path.

If you have a question about your business analyst career, be sure to post it as a comment on this post and I will be glad to answer it for you.

Here are the tips for business analysts looking for a better career path:

Should Business Analysts Test Software Applications?

In my department, analysts are mainly used for testing applications.

I know that there is more to this than testing applications.

What skills sets would you suggest I gain in order to become a top notch analyst?"

Should Business Analysts Test Software Applications?

• While business analyst are not full-fledged software testers, some organizations do require business analysts to test their software applications, oversee the testing process or collaborate closely with the QA / Software Testing Team.
• When business analysts test software applications, they usually perform a form of testing known as Usability Testing, Functional or Acceptance Testing.
• Business Analysts are sometimes asked to test software applications because they are the custodians of the customer, project or software requirements and so as such, need to confirm that the product or solution meets documented requirements.
• However business analysts are sometimes asked to test solutions (and not just software components) because their company is short on QA staff and are merging both the QA / Software Testers duties into that of the business analysts!
• Note: there is a lot more to the art of software testing than usability, functional or acceptance testing. These other other forms of testing may require scripting or automated tools and are not usually required of business analysts.

What Is The Future For Senior Business Analysts?

The toughest challenge facing me is the transition from Senior Business Analyst to Lead Analyst.

The Future / Career Path for Senior Business Analysts:

There is a real career path for senior business analysts. This career path comes with new titles, additional duties / roles or recognition (formal / informal) depending on the organization.

To start with, there is no common way of showing the seniority or lead position of a lead business analyst

In some organizations, the lead business analyst is the most senior or experienced person on the team and not necessarily the most educated.

The position of the lead business analyst is sometimes given informally when a manager refers other business analysts to the lead and / or identifies the BA as such.

1. If you are intent on being the lead business analyst, strive to distinguish yourself over a period of time by the quality of your work, the depth of your knowledge and expertise and your commitment to delivering excellent business results.
2. Study the lead business analyst and start learning whatever it is they bring to the table that you presently don’t.
3. In many organizations, the title of lead business analyst is earned over time because the lead business analyst has to have a strong understanding the business / organization. My advice is this: Be patient and hunker down for the long haul.

Remember the Kaizen principle, which is used to achieve an outstanding result by delivering smaller but consistent, qualitative improvements over a longer period of time.

• Start identifying the issues that your users have. Demonstrate to your manager that you have the analysis skills to take on the lead business analyst role.
• Increase your output when it comes to problem-solving on the project. Make yourself available and visible to users instead of shying away from contact with them.
• Get as much additional training as you can afford and channel all your efforts to becoming a better business analyst by learning everything that you can about business analysis.

If you gain new skills or demonstrate additional abilities on the job, you will position yourself for more responsibility … even that of the lead business analyst.

Finally, becoming a lead business analyst has a lot to do with demonstrating outstanding leadership skills.

It is not just what you know (knowledge alone is not enough for this role) but how well you can step out of your box to help your fellow business analysts, team or company.

Learn how to demonstrate exceptional leadership, communication. coaching and mentoring skills in addition to your traditional business analysis skills and you will stand out from other senior business analysts or your peers!

What Is The Career Path for IT Business Analysts?

I need help. My company is considering creating specialist areas for the Business Analyst in IT.

Is there a model or any existing categorization of Business Analyst role in IT?

I am only aware of roles like Senior/Junior Business Analyst.

The Roles / Models for IT Business Analysts:

There are several possible career paths for IT Business Analysts depending on the size of the organization or the diversity of tasks performed by your business analysts.

Assuming that your company has a legitimate need to start putting business analysts into silos, here are some options, categories or specialized roles:

1. Usability / UI / User Experience Business Analyst

2. Web Business Analyst

3. E-Commerce Business Analyst

4. Marketing Business Analyst

5. Business Process Analyst / Process Engineer

6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Business Analyst

Use this list to elicit more careers centering on specialized functions performed by the business analysts on you team.

This post presents tips, strategies or solutions for advancing your business analysis career. If you enjoy reading this post, be sure to … Share It with Friends

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Business Analyst Role In Data Warehouse Projects

The Business Analysts Role In Bringing Data Warehousing To Your Office

Today’s business executives spend a ton of cash on data warehouse projects because that is a big, key, strategic business initiative; the success of which weighs heavily on their minds.

Data warehousing is important because it saves or aggregates information in a manner that allows executives, management or office users to make strategic business decisions faster, better and more easily!

No More Silos In The Workplace

Data warehousing is critical to business success because it presents a way for executives or management to view or manage their corporation as a whole unit instead of in silos.

What data warehousing offers decision makers is the ability to break out of departmental information silos and see the big picture.

One of the key objectives facilitated by business analysts in data warehousing roles is that of bridging the gap between enterprise databases (marketing, finance, inventory, customer relationship management, etc.) so that decision makers or office users can ask questions or get a comprehensive, 360 degree insight across corporate / departmental databases with one query or question!

Introducing OLAP, Business Intelligence (BI) Or Data Warehousing To Business Analysts

Business Analysts assigned to data warehouse projects may be surprised to know that traditional, day-to-day relational (online transaction processing (OLTP)) databases are not optimized for querying or reporting of data for business or decision making purposes.

Databases that are actually optimized for data analysis, reporting and business intelligence are known as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) databases.

So, another key benefit of data warehousing is that it provides decision makers with real-time business intelligence at optimal speeds through the used of OLTP systems.

Finally, Data Warehousing is important from the standpoint of facilitating forecasting trends or getting performance metrics for the entire organization.

Data warehousing provides senior management with intelligence required to see the company’s performance from a 30,000 foot level instead of being buried under a mountain of data at sea level.

Will The Real Enterprise Business Analyst Stand Up Please?

Organizations implementing business intelligence or data-warehousing projects are looking for a significant boost in their business intelligence or decision making capabilities.

Savvy business analysts pulled into data-warehousing / BI projects would fare well to keep this at the back of their mind from the git-go!

So, here are some key roles for business analysts in data warehouse projects

• The Data Warehouse Business Analysts role includes helping the business team identify key opportunities for boosting revenue, increasing sales, decreasing operational costs or achieving some other important organizatioinal or business objective.

• The Business Analyst bridges the gap between the business or executive management office and the data warehousing / BI Implementation Team.

• The Business Analyst identifies the business intelligence needs of the organization. This includes eliciting BI requirements from executives, managers or office users and then working with the data warehouse project team to identify, define or implement these business requirements.

The Enterprise Business Analyst Role In Data Warehousing Projects

Data warehousing projects are all about building, integrating, analyzing or reporting on large, complex, corporate databases.

So, Business Analysts working in such domains will be well-advised to fortify their database skills as that is the real-world domain or context of data warehousing.

Because of the strategic importance or the scope of data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) projects, the business analyst typically functions as a key member of a larger data warehouse project team.

The data warehouse project team may include the Project Manager, Data Modeler, Data Architect, Data Analyst , Tester, Report Writer, Database Developer and last but not least … the data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) business analyst.

With that in mind, here are the business analyst’s roles in the context of an enterprise data-warehousing project implementation team.

• Management Role: working with executives, management or the business team, the business analyst identifies the gaps in corporate intelligence / reporting capabilities.

• Data Analyst Role: working with data analysts, the business analyst identifies, understands and documents the sources of data discrepancies or gaps in business intelligence.

  The actual work of identifying data sources may be assigned to the data analysts or Extraction, Transform Load (ETL) developers while that of documenting or modeling the data transformations assigned to a business analyst comfortable with creating data models.

• Data Modeler / Data Architect / Database Developer Role: The business analyst works with the data modeler, data architect or database developer to create the logical or conceptual data model.

  The business analyst also validates that the data model meets business requirements before it is implemented.

The Data Warehouse Business Analyst Skill Sets

The enterprise data warehouse business analyst is not your traditional business analyst. so, here are some of the skill-set requirements for business analysts in a data warehouse project.

• The business analyst needs a thorough understanding of Extraction, Transform and Load (ETL) processes.

• The business analyst also needs a strong understanding of the logical database design process, data modeling, data-mart design and a good understanding of OLAP compared to OLTP systems.

• The business analyst needs to be comfortable with the business intelligence tools used in delivering corporate intelligence to decision makers which may be as simple as a Microsoft Excel-based Business Intelligence (tool).

• The business analyst also needs a good understanding of data warehousing terminology as well as the corporate data being analyzed by the business.

  In other words, familiarity with the data is important whether one’s eliciting requirements from the business team or validating data models and ETL processes with the Data Warehouse implementation team.

Bringing Business Intelligence (BI) To The Office

An increasing number of organizations are either planning or implementing BI projects with the objective of improving the quality of corporate intelligence available to decision makers.

As a business analyst, it’s your duty to assist your organization with their BI / Data Warehouse endeavors.

You can achieve this by learning as much as you can about databases, data warehousing, business intelligence, data analysis and decision making processes.

The data warehouse business analyst job description includes a cross-functional suite of skills in Relational Database Development, SQL Query Writing, Data Analysis and Business Analysis.

You can get more information on this from both the Data Analyst Boot Camp and the Business Analyst Boot Camp.

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The Agile Business Analyst

The Agile Business Analyst plays a key role in facilitating conversations between stakeholders, quality assurance / testing teams, customers, subject matter experts (SMEs) and software developers in an incremental, iterative fast-paced product development environment.

So, who is the Agile Business Analyst and why should business analysts who are already comfortable with the process of eliciting requirements in a traditional product development environment be concerned about becoming more agile?

Introducing The Agile Business Analyst Role

The Agile Business Analyst’s role includes facilitating communication, reducing the reliance on extensive documentation and reducing the length of the feedback loop in product development projects.

1. Collaborative - The Agile Business Analyst works closely with software developers, stakeholders, project managers and software testers and relies less on comprehensive requirements documentation at the inception of the project.

2. Flexible and Adaptable - Unlike a more traditional software development project, an agile business analyst expects and welcomes changes in requirements. Being Agile means that changing requirements is not made difficult because of extensive documentation, communication cycles or change management processes.

3. Just In Time Requirements – An Agile Business Analyst knows what is the right amount of requirements documentation to gather for a development cycle or iteration.

4. More Face to Face Meetings – Because the Agile Business Analyst focuses on less documentation and more face to face meetings or interviews with stakeholders, software developers or testers, Agile Business Analysts make use of more User Stories and less Use Cases for documenting requirements.

5. Iterative Development – And unlike requirements management practiced in a traditional waterfall software development life cycle, the agile business analyst only focuses on gathering, analyzing or validating the requirements needed in each iteration.

Between The Agile Business Analyst and Traditional BA

So, the Agile Business Analyst focuses on the deliverables for each iteration to o facilitate a faster development process.

Another key difference with agile business analysts is that they work with software testers or quality assurance professionals to elicit Test Cases directly from User Stories instead of from Use Cases.

Because Agile Business Analysts rely on face to face meetings and in-person communication, they work better in teams where the developers, stakeholders, project managers and testers are located in the same place and are committed to being involved on a continuous basis through the life time of the project.

The Agile Business Analyst gathers just-in-time (JIT) requirements through intense collaboration with customers, customer advocates, software architects, stakeholders and software testers.

Why Are We Not More Agile?

Traditionally, a business analyst is expected to gather all the requirements for a project at the beginning. These requirements are then shared with the Project Manager and Stakeholders as a static, fixed or immutable set of requirements.

This type of requirements gathering is common in product or software development project that make any or all of the following assumptions:

1. Business Analyst – The business analyst can gather, analyze, validate and specify all the requirements at the beginning of the project and before a single line of code is written.

2. Project Manager – The project manager needs to have a complete set of requirements to facilitate accurate project planning.

3. Software Tester / QA – The software tester needs to have a complete set of requirements before creating a test plan and user acceptance or QA tests.

4. Software Architect – The software architect needs to design the entire software system at the beginning of the project befor e a line of code is written.

5. Computer Programmers – That computer programmers need to receive an extensive and complete set of requirements preferably in Use Cases format before they start coding.

   Traditional software or product development projects also assume that for developers to create a working product, they need to be told in detail, every basic, alternate path and exception flow through the system.

6. Customers – That customers have a mind, wants, needs and desires that can be completely known at the beginning of the project through extensive requirements gathering and documentation.

   This also means that once the customer’s requirements is gathered or documented, it will not change during the life cycle of the product or software development cycle … at least not without extensive negotiation, documentation and signing-off.

The Role of The Customer Advocate

But is this true? Can the customer’s mind, needs, wants or desires be known and documented completely at the beginning of the project?

Does setting the customer’s requirements in stone assure a better product, a more satisfied customer and increase the chances of project success?

1. The needs of today’s customers are not set in stone. Far from it, the very process of gathering customers requirements can change what the customer wants.

2. The marketplace is always changing and product features become less important or even irrelevant in short periods of time.

3. The practice of planning projects or designing entire software systems completely, at the inception of a project is fraught with risks, estimates and guesses.

   This practice often leads to more software features that are out of touch with the customer’s needs and more project failures.

   Considering that so many projects planned this way fail, Business Analysts need to consider utilizing more agile communication skills to supply requirements when they are needed.

Unlike the traditional business analyst who works from the assumption that requirements once signed off on are fixed in stone or immutable, the agile business analyst plays the role of a customer advocate by assuming that requirements can and will change during the life cycle of the product development effort.

The agile business analyst welcomes changes in the customer’s requirements because they reflect what the customer really wants and not what was documented.

In doing this, the agile business analyst elevates the customer’s needs above the needs for more documentation.

The agile business analyst understands that there is always some uncertainty in the marketplace, so the planned features of a product or software application cannot be set in stone!

The agile business analyst understand that software developers do not need to have 100% of a product or project’s requirements extensively documented using Use Cases before they begin coding.

So the Agile Business Analyst relies more on communication, presentation and facilitation skills than written documentation in communicating with software / product developers.

Today’s constantly changing marketplace requires the Agile Business Analyst A customer advocate who elevates the customer’s needs above that of extensive requirements documentation!

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Business Analysts Learn Computer Programming

Are database development, computer programming, data analysis or web development required skills for Business Analysts?

Perhaps you’ve seen, heard about or applied for jobs asking for a broad or seemingly impossible range of skill sets?

Like those job descriptions for business analysts requiring computer programming skills or those for PMP Certified Project Managers with 5 years of software development experience!

This post addresses “how to bridge the gap between business analyst skills and unfair job descriptions written-up by Information Technology (IT) departments”

Bridging The Gap Between Business And Information Technology (IT) Careers

I would like to know if Business analysts are expected to know more about programming.

I attended a job interview last week and the interviewer was hesitant to consider me for the post of business analyst (BA) as i have no coding experience.

Do i need to know about database design, structure etc for me to be a good BA?

All along in my previous projects the database design, architecture and technology were decided by the technical team and DBA’s and i come into the picture as BA only after everything has been finalized.

But i was a Junior (jr.) BA and now im applying for the position of senior BA and people point out my lack of coding experience.

“Here is the answer to the challenges created by business analyst job descriptions which are worded to include programming and database skills”!

1. Looking from the business analysts (job seekers) perspective, you may be tempted to say NO.

   You may also argue that computer programming tasks should be left ONLY to software developer job descriptions.

2. Looking from the perspective of employers, recruiters or hiring managers, you may say YES because business analyst job descriptions are just a means to an end!

   For employers or hiring managers, the end is always the same (the job that needs to be done) … and job descriptions are just a means to achieving that!

So, which of these two perspectives (the employers or the job seekers) is the right one?

1. The employer who only cares about getting work done and will use any job description to achieve that end or …

2. The business analyst who feels overwhelmed by requirements for computer programming skills on business analyst job descriptions?

To this question correctly, we need to understand the roots of the conflict! So, let’s take a look at the source of gaps between IT Job Descriptions and Business Analyst Careers.

Introducing The IT Business Analyst

• The Information Technology (IT) Business Analyst Role Is Slowly Coming To Maturity

  As the roles of the computer programmer, database developer and systems analyst matured, the “IT Business Analyst” role evolved to fill analysis and requirements tasks left out of software development roles.

• The Accidental Business Analyst?

  As software development teams improve their requirements management or software development processes, some computer programmers begin picking up the requirements gathering and analysis tasks left undone by their team members.

  These Accidental Business Analysts are usually computer programmers or systems analysts with strong people, communication, business and requirements management skills who transition into or assume the role of the IT Business Analyst.

Some employers have not achieved a separation between “IT Business Analyst Roles” and “Computer Programmer Roles” in their minds.

For these employers, the distinctions between IT Business Analysts and Computer Programmers are a superficial play on words … hence the business analyst job description written-up to include computer programming languages!

So, back again to the question; “should a business analyst learn computer programming languages or acquire database development skills”?

• Are You Looking For A Business Analyst Job?

1. If you’re not looking for a business analyst job then you don’t need to learn computer programming (except if your employer mandates it).

   If you’re really that secure in your current business analyst job and know for a fact that you won’t be looking anytime soon … then you may argue that programming is not for business analysts

2. If you’re looking for a business analyst job and you want to go the extra mile for prospective employers, then go-ahead and learn some computer programming!

   It’s really the attitude that matters because job descriptions are not intended to be perfect and in the employer’s eyes, they’re just a means to an end.

   Put Yourself In The Employers Shoes for a moment and you will begin to see that it’s not personal. The employer only wants what’s best for the company and if they’re so inclined, you may help them by learning some computer programming!

Give Employers What They’re Asking For

I strongly believe that you should give employers what they want instead of wondering about the fairness or correctness of business analyst job descriptions!

1. Perhaps, you feel overwhelmed by the requirements for computer programming or database skills in business analyst job descriptions.

2. Or you feel that it’s unfair to expect business analysts to perform programming tasks

Get a clue, if you’re not the one hiring, then your feelings are irrelevant!

In today’s competitive job market, you will fare better by addressing the employers concerns because if you don’t, someone else … who is more hungry or desperate than you will!

Another business analyst who wants to provide the required programing services will get the job you need!




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The Domain Business Analyst Career Path

Is a business analyst with domain knowledge more valuable than a business analyst without domain knowledge?

By looking at how business analyst job descriptions are written, you may be tempted to say yes!

Business Analyst job descriptions are written as if there is a distinction between IT oriented business analysts with skills in UML, Use Cases, Requirements Elicitation, Requirements Modeling and domain oriented business analysts with knowledge in specific domains like sales, marketing, customer relationship management, insurance, finance!

For some reasons, hiring managers, staffing agencies and employers behave as if there is a difference between domain oriented business analyst job descriptions and IT business analyst job descriptions.

So, the question is How important is domain knowledge for a Business Analyst? and Is a Domain Oriented Business Analyst worth more than an IT Business Analyst?

A Question About The Value Of Business Analyst Domain Knowledge

I am a bored corporate research professional working at a big services company and wish to move to a different domain.

The ones I have identified are pre-sales, business analysis or marketing communications …

I think BA could be a good step forward from where I stand. But doesn’t a BA require domain specific knowledge?

Most of the job ads I see prefer a BA in (say) the finance domain to be from that background …

How important is domain knowledge for a BA? Can it be built on-the-job or is it an absolute pre-requisite?

Why Do Business Analyst Job Ads Specify Domain Knowledge?

In the rest of this article, I will discuss why hiring managers, staffing agencies and employers specify domain specific knowledge in business analyst job descriptions.

I will answer this question by looking at “who is better positioned to increase productivity when hired”.

1. Who Costs More To Train? Companies that hire business analysts without domain knowledge resort to training the new BA hires by enlisting the help of senior business analysts, subject matter experts or training vendors.

   Even when employers use internal resources for training new BA hires, they incur costs of lost revenue, reduced productivity and increased administrative expenses .

2. Who Is Positioned To Help The Business Now? Business Analysts lacking industry insight or domain knowledge needs more time on the job to learn and understand their domains before tackling any business problems.

   This may be unacceptable to stakeholders or business managers who can’t wait to get results now!

   A business analyst with domain experience who can start troubleshooting business problems is seen as being worth more than another business analyst (lacking domain expertise) who may only observe, learn or ask questions!

3. Who Can Lead The Business? Senior Managers, IT Directors, Business Owners and other high level executives place more value on business analysts who can be trusted to lead the business.

   Business analysts unlike their counterparts in computer programming are expected to provide leadership for business-line units and organizations for which they are hired!

   Because of how business is done , managers, directors or business executives place less value on the judgment of business analysts without domain knowledge or industry experience!

   The perception which may be unfounded is that; a business analyst with domain knowledge has more potential to lead than another who lacks domain experience!

So hiring managers or employers tend to write business analyst job descriptions as if there are two business analyst career paths:

• The business analyst with IT business analyst training and specialized domain knowledge. This is the Specialist Business Analyst.

• The business analyst with IT business analyst training only! This is the Generalist Business Analyst.

Are You A Specialist Or Generalist Business Analyst?

So, are specialist business analysts worth more than generalist business analysts?

The answer doesn’t depend on “how you feel about the fairness of business analyst job postings” but on plain common sense which is always hiding in plain sight

If you’re applying only to IT Business Analyst Jobs, then don’t worry about your lack of domain knowledge.

If you’re applying to domain specific business analyst job postings like those for healthcare, finance, insurance, marketing, sales, customer relationship management (CRM) domains, then you had better do something about your lack of domain knowledge!




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Ask IT Career Coach

The fundamentals of earning an income is rooted in the exchange of goods, services or skills and having an 8 to 5 job is just one way of doing that!

This post answers the question of what to do when you can’t get a job! posted by a reader (Kintu Vicent) who is inquiring about “how to earn an income as a business analyst without regular employment!“

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

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Here is the Question:

dear sir/madam,

i am an african youth living in Uganda (east african country).

i would like to be a good entreprenuer (small scale business owner) but also having a profession both beneficial to my own businesses like procurement and logistics and side by employment inorder to accumulate more capital to invest in my projects.

i have the following to ask you.

can you give some sophisticated business ideas a business analyst does?

rather than being a consultant or contract personel ,how better can a business analyst creat his own employment to face the global challenge of un-employment.

best regards,

looking forward to hearing from you.

High Un-employment Rate

The un-employment rate in the United States is at a 26 year high! and other countries are also experiencing dramatic spikes in un-employment. So, business analysts and other IT professionals need to consider alternative or non-traditional career paths for earning a living“.

First, Prepare a Strategic Plan Using SWOT Analysis

You create your own employment by using SWOT ANALYSIS to elicit alternative career paths or prepare competitive services for the business analysis marketplace.

You have to consider your strengths relative to the business analyst market place because you only get paid for what you can do well compared to others and you have to consider business analyst career paths strategically because you may be thinking in a box.

By thinking outside of the box, you begin to see opportunities that were hidden because of self-imposed mental constraints or limiting beliefs!

Alternative Career Paths for Business Analysts

Let me introduce three career paths for business analysts who don’t want to work a regular 8 to 5 contract or full-time business analyst job.

1. Business Analyst Blogger Career Path: You may become a blogger for the business analyst blogosphere!

   To become a business analyst blogger, you need a computer, a word processor and an internet connection.

   You can live anywhere in the world as a business analyst blogger because your clients are easily discoverable on the internet.

   There are several ways of monetizing your blogging income streams and you need to choose a profit model that best suits your blogging goals.

2. Freelance IT Business Analyst Consultant Career Path: You may become a freelance IT business analyst consultant!

   As a freelance IT business analyst consultant, you may specialize in requirements analysis, requirements modeling and documentation, Use Cases, UML or Data Modeling for Software Development Projects.

   As a freelance IT business analyst consultant you may also setup shop virtually and work remotely for clients that need your services.

   You will need a more sophisticated marketing plan so you can discover or engage the types of clients that will be needing your out-sourced business analysis services.

3. Freelance Web Business Analyst Consultant Career Path: You may capitalize on the opportunities created by the strong demand for web skills by becoming a freelance web business analyst!

   As a freelance web business analyst, your services may include helping companies align their web investments with their business goals using your superior business analysis skills.

   As a freelance web business analyst, You may also decide to help companies analyze how customers use or interact with their websites or help elicit business requirements for web analytics projects.

   If you have developed strong quantitative or analytical skills, you may also help business leaders take advantage of hidden opportunities in their clickstream, search, survey or web usability data.

The alternative career paths listed above are just a tip of the iceberg … there are more!

If you need help with eliciting alternative career paths or preparing a competitive service for the market place, feel fee to contact us.

Career Paths for Business Analysts

Kintu, it is possible to create your own employment as a business analyst without working a traditional 8 to 5 job.

Begin by using SWOT Analysis to discover what you are good at and then create a competitive offering for the business analyst marketplace!

This post answers a question posted by a reader on “how to become a freelance business analyst!!

If you have any Question about your career, Post IT as a comment on this page and I will be sure to answer it for you!




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What Are The Most Valuable Business Analyst Skills?

One of the toughest challenges facing business analysts today is building the domain experience required for business analyst jobs.

Acquiring business analyst domain experience from scratch is hard because you need to get a job before you can build domain expertise … yet no-one will give you a job without that required domain experience!

This post however discusses how to get around the business analyst domain experience required for business analysis jobs.

What is Business Analyst Domain Experience?

Business analyst domain experience is the hands-on business skills or domain knowledge acquired by working in specialized industries like automotive, banking, insurance, telecom, utilities or working for business units such as customer relationship management, finance, sales and marketing.

Business analyst domain experience is gained by solving business problems for a specific industry or business unit and it can’t be gained by taking certifications exams or by learning business analysis concepts like Use Cases or Requirements Modeling.

In other words, business analyst domain experience is gained by getting your hands dirty with work in an industry or by solving real-world business problems for a business unit.

Don’t Confuse Your Business Analysis Skills With Domain Knowledge!

There is a difference between your business analyst skills and your business analyst domain experience.

Your business analyst skills (like Requirements Elicitation, Use Cases, UML etc) are the techniques or tools used in solving business problems.

They are skills that serve as the means to an end. The end being the business problems or challenges facing your industry.

What Is The Value of Domain Business Analysis Skills?

A business analyst transitioning to a new domain starts out with little or no domain knowledge and then builds up the industry knowledge over time.

That is the reason why some of the most senior business analysts in an organization are those who started out first by learning the ins and outs of their employer’s business before they took formal training.

Businesses value domain business analysts because their knowledge is not easily transferable and because they know how to run or operate the business units efficiently.

This is perhaps another reason why it pays to work in an industry for a while instead of hopping from one industry to another.

When you transition to a completely new business analysis domain, you will have to prove yourself as if you are just starting … even though you may be an experienced business analyst!

When is Business Analyst Domain Experience Needed?

Transitioning From One Business Analyst Domain to Another: Business analysts transitioning from a domain like the automotive or auto-finance industry to another domain like healthcare or telecomms have to build their business analyst domain experience completely from scratch.

Transitioning From One Country to Another: Business analysts transitioning from one country to another may have to re-establish their domain experience.

New domain knowledge is needed because businesses operate under different laws, regulations, customs and economic climates across national or regional boundaries.

So, potential employer want to be sure that re-locating business analysts are intimate with the customs or ways of doing business in the countries that they are hired

How Do You Build Business Analyst Domain Experience?

If you have already developed domain experience by working in an industry for several years, what you need is not more domain experience but this comprehensive training on the techniques and practices of business analysis.

On the other hand, if you don’t already have business domain experience and you are open to gaining experience in frontline industries or domains, click here.

Here is how it works:

• You Become a Domain Specialist: In the The Business Analyst coaching program, you are encouraged to specialize in a few business analyst domains so you can achieve a reasonable level of mastery or competency within those domains.

  The industries that we are focusing on right now are those that show the strongest promise for hiring or those that are cutting-edge or the frontline of the economy.

  Contact us to see if this will be a good fit for you, OK?

• Become a Leader: The goal of the Business Analyst Coaching program is to get you networked with businesses and peers in your industry through extensive study, practical handson work and industry networking.

  Instead of just sensing your resume around waiting for someone else to hire you, learn how to the gain the recognition or attention of your peers and hiring managers using social media networking or branding.

Just remember that you can solve the challenge of acquiring business analyst domain knowledge by specializing in frontline domains, solving real-world business problems and then marketing your profile or brand continually using social media.

If this sounds like something you will be interested in doing, contact us for more information or learn more about business analysis coaching here.




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healthcare business analyst career path

This question was posted by a Healthcare Business Analyst looking for work!

If you have a Burning Question or a Challenge that you need help with, be sure to ask your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering the question below!

If you find this article helpful then share it with your friends using the “Share This Post” Link.

You provide valuable information or advice to others each time you use the Share This Post Link.

Here is the Question:

Hi Kingsley,I like your articles and posts and look forward to a good advise from you on the following :

The toughest challenge for me is to get back into Business Analysis after working for just less than 2 yrs where my domain was government sector projects and a dash of incomplete healthcare knowledge.

I ‘m neither a fresher nor an experienced guy with very less domain exp. I mostly get healthcare projects ( since my last project was on health care domain) where my knowledge is inadequate and companies do not want to employ me for the same.

How can I bag such jobs when the domain knowlege is lacking? or how can I convince that my BA skills are good enough for the new domain?

I am not sure what additional skills I need to gain to be employable.Should I gain any technical knowledge or do IIBA certifications?

Please advise.

Thanks 

Here is my Answer:

Sri:

I’m glad that you enjoy reading my articles and posts. I would be glad to answer your questions for you.

Here are my thoughts on what you need to do to get back in the game.

1. Learn How To Get A Business Analyst Job Without Applying For Any

2. Learn How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

3. Get More Business Analysis Domain Experience

How To Get More Healthcare Business Analysis Domain Experience

The main issue facing your business analysis job search based on feedback from employers is inadequate healthcare domain experience.

You need to address the lack of business analysis domain experience directly by looking for more informal or formal work in the healthcare industry.

Don’t side-step the main issue by working on getting more educational qualifications because you won’t get more healthcare business analysis experience that way!

You need to either get more healthcare business analysis domain experience or perhaps start all over with a new business analysis domain!

If you decide to continue with the Healthcare Industry, then you will be building on your previous healthcare business analysis domain experience.

If you decide to start over with a new business analysis domain, you may be able to get additional business analyst hands-on experience more easily or quickly.

You also have the option on working on getting business analysis domain experience in more than one industry!

For example, you may increase your chances of getting a business analyst job by getting business analyst domain experience in sales or marketing or customer relationship management (CRM) domains in addition to the healthcare domain.

So, evaluate the availability or accessibility of domain experience in the healthcare industry compared to other industries or expose yourself to additional domains besides healthcare.

Regardless of which business analysis domains you choose, do not try to bypass the lack of experience issue … be sure to address it directly in your actions

Learn How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

It is possible that you are not getting hired because you are not putting up a compelling presentation at your business analyst job interviews!

You may possess the minimal business analysis domain experience required for a healthcare business analyst job and still not get hired because of weak presentation or interviewing skills!

A business analyst may get a job where another business analyst else with more experience, skills, training, certifications or educations fails because job interviews are subjective!

So, you must work on improving your business analyst interviewing skills so you cover all your bases!

“Click here for more Information on How To Get Through Business Analyst Interviews“

Learn How To Get a Business Analyst Job Offers Without Applying For Any!

It is actually possible to get health care business analyst job offers without actively soliciting for them.

Assuming that the job search process is a marketing process, you are better off getting employers to call you with job offers!

The problem with the traditional methods of job searching is that everyone who is out-of-a-job is probably doing the same thing! To get a job you have to do more than everyone else!

So my advice is that; you have to raise the bar higher by getting employers to notice you or call you with business analyst job offers!

Now, that is quite possible and I am going to show you how!

The way to get employers to notice you is by becoming a leader in the healthcare business analyst domain or any other domain that you prefer!

How To Become A Leader In The Healthcare Business Analyst Industry!

The best way to get a healthcare job is by becoming a leader in the healthcare business analysis domain!

Becoming a leader in the healthcare business analyst domain means that you do the things that gets you noticed in the healthcare business analysis domain.

When you become a leader in the healthcare business analyst industry then employers are more likely to call you with job offers and your resume is guaranteed to stand out in any pile of business analyst resumes!

We have a program that coaches you on how to stand-up and be noticed! . IT helps you “Become a Leader”.

In that program you are shown or coached on “how to become a leader or gain recognition in the IT marketplace!“

Sri, feel free to ask for more information by contacting us or by posting a comment, question or reply below!




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Ask IT Career Coach

This question was posted by a Business Analyst in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom.

If you have a Burning Question or a Challenge that you need help with, be sure to ask your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering the question below!

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Here is the Question:

Hi,

I am looking to go into My first Business Analyst role, I have had a mixture of responses from people here in the United Kingdom (UK).

Some are saying that the market is bad for entry level Business Analysts and some say its good.

Is there any one that could give me advise on what I should do and how I should market myself?

Here is my answer to the question on “getting an entry level business analyst job in a good or bad job market“:

1. Do not begin or opt-out of the business analyst job search because of the state of the job market.

2. Do decide to search for a business analyst job because you want to be a business analyst.

Your decision to become a business analyst or search for business analyst jobs should be based on an interest or dis-interest in becoming a business analyst and not on factors beyond your control like the condition of the business analyst job market.

Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People mentioned that proactive people do not worry or focus on factors over which they have little or no control … instead they focus on their “Sphere Of Influence” … those factors or circumstances over which they can exercise control.

So, do not focus or worry about the condition of the Business Analyst Job Market.

Keep your focus on becoming a business analyst and making an effective search for a business analyst job by:

1. Deciding if you want to become a business analyst by comparing your strengths to the demands of the business analyst profession

2. Finding out how to get a business analyst job regardless of the condition of the business analyst job market

Do You Want To Become A Business Analyst?

Take the first action within your control by first learning the roles, responsibilities or duties of a business analyst.

Next compare what you have learned about the day to day challenges or the life of a business analyst to what you know about your own abilities, likes or strengths.

Finally decide if you want to become a business analyst based on all the information you’ve gathered.

There are several articles on this website that will help you make an informed decision on becoming a business analyst

Here are some articles on the topic of becoming a business analyst:

• how to become a business analyst

• how to become a contract business analyst

How Do You Effectively Plan The Business Analyst Job Search?

You need to make an effective plan for finding business analyst jobs because making that kind of plan is within your control or sphere of influence.

Make an effective plan for becoming a business analyst by improving each of the following areas that impact your business analyst job search:

1. Business Analyst Cover Letter

2. Business Analyst Resume

3. Business Analyst Job Search

4. Business Analyst Job Interviewing Skills

5. Business Analyst Hands-On Working Experience

6. Business Analysis Domain Experience

7. Business Analysis Skills & Knowledge

The point here is that job searches fail because they are weak or improperly planned and not because of the condition of the business analyst job market!

Here are some articles on the topic of creating an effective business analyst job search plan:

• How to Get an IT Business Analyst Job

• How to Get Business Analyst Job Interviews

• How to Get Through Business Analyst Interviews

Finally, I want to say that basing decisions about a beginning a career you like … on the job market condition is fundamentally flawed because of two reasons:

• You cannot not wait till the business analyst job market is good because the market will be saturated with “Me-Toos” or everyone who wants to get a business analyst job because they hear that the market is also good!.

• You cannot also delay applying for business analyst jobs when the business analyst job market is bad because others will also assume that the business analyst job market is bad. Applying when the business analyst job market looks weak is actually good for you because you will have fewer competitors then!

So, think positively, focus on factors within your control and remember that if you think that you can become a business analyst … you can!

This post answers a question posted by a reader. If you have a Question, Post IT as a comment on this page and I will be sure to answer it for you!




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Top Paying Skills in High Demand

Use Cases skills are in-demand for documenting or communicating the functional requirements of a system

Use Cases skills are employed in product design roles, software development or architecture roles and are among the most sought-after skills for business analyst jobs

Why Use Cases Training for Business Analysts?

Here are some of benefits of Use Case training for business analysts:

1. Use Cases are effective for documenting the business processes, requirements (business or system), features and functionality of a system. So Use Cases skills are needed at the problem analysis or requirements gathering phase, software design or development phase or testing phase

2. Because Use Cases lie at the heart of many software development processes, Use Cases skills are in-demand for business analysts or software developers. Use Cases skills also play a principal role during requirements analysis, business process improvement, software testing, quality assurance and architecture

3. Use Cases are effective for improving the requirements practices of software development teams or Information Technology (IT) teams and using Use Cases effectively can lead to improved product quality.

   When Use Cases are used in documenting or presenting the requirements of a system, the software development or IT team ends up with a better understanding of the system under consideration or development.

   Because Use Cases are written from the user’s view point in non-technical, implementation or jargon free language, the entire team including stakeholders, users, developers, testers and business analysts communicate or collaborate better resulting in improved product quality and a more efficient process

How To Learn Or Master Use Cases Quickly

The The Business Analyst Book is the e-book that provides you with a blueprint for learning business analysis or studying business analysis on your own. It is the teach yourself business analysis book.

If you prefer step by step, in-depth, video training from Business Analyst instructors, then the The Business Analyst Boot Camp is the right place for you.

The Business Analyst Boot Camp includes a complete set of business analysis videos, business analysis quizzes, business analysis handson projects and personalized business analysis coaching. The Business Analyst Book now includes select business analysis training lessons and business analysis quizzes adapted from the business analyst boot camp. So, now you are given access to select business analyst boot camp training material when you get The Business Analyst Book

Bonus Use Cases Training Now Included In the Business Analyst Book

The Business Analyst Boot Camp includes Use Cases quizzes, Use Cases video training and hands-on Use Cases projects. The Use Cases quizzes helps you master Use Cases in a shorter time and also prepares you for Business Analyst Job Interviews. The Use Cases quizzes are also designed to improve your comprehension, recall and retention of the Use Cases video training sessions.

However, we are now adding one of the Use Cases quizzes from The Business Analyst Boot Camp to The Business Analyst Book for past or current buyers of the book.

Included in the bonus Use Cases lessons for all owners of The Business Analyst Book are:

• A Bonus Use Cases Lesson Summary: The bonus Use Cases Lesson is a downloadable electronic lesson that summarizes a Use Cases video presentation from The Business Analyst Boot Camp.

• A Bonus Use Cases Quiz or Use Cases Practice Test:  The bonus Use Cases Practice Test or Quiz is adapted from the Use Cases video presented at The Business Analyst Boot Camp. The bonus Use Cases training comes with a private, secure, personal log-in to our web-based training portal or learning management system (LMS) and a Use Cases quiz that you may use to perfect your understanding or mastery of some Use Cases concepts.

How To Learn or Master Use Cases

The way to learn Use Cases quickly is by repeatedly practicing your Use Case skills until they are second nature. That is exactly what the bonus Use Cases training and Use Cases practice tests will do for you.

To learn more about how quizzes or practice tests help you develop mastery or competency, click here.

Learn Use Cases By Doing – Get Hands On Use Cases Experience

Note that in the Business Analyst Boot Camp, you are also presented with projects where you apply the information gained from watching the Use Cases video towards solving situations or problems similar to those facing you on the job!

Who Gets The Bonus Use Cases Training?

The bonus Use Cases training will be delivered to all buyers (past, current or future owners) of the The Business Analyst Book.

Note: that if you are subscribed to The Business Analyst Boot Camp, then you already have access to the complete set of Use Cases video training, Use Cases practice tests or quizzes, business analyst mentoring or coaching and hands-on Use Cases projects and this announcement does not affect you

How Do You Get The Bonus Use Cases Training?

Go to this link and place an order now for The Business Analyst Book and you will be given access to both the bonus Use Cases Training and the bonus Use Cases practice tests or quizzes




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Do You Want To Become A Contract Business Analyst?

I am writing this post to answer a question posted by a business analyst on “How To Become A Contract Business Analyst”.

If you have a question or challenge about your business analyst career, post it as comment at the end of this article and I will answer it for you as well

Here is the question on how to become a contract business analyst.

Having recently started in my first permanent position as a Business Analyst, I find the toughest challenge for me currently, is getting up to speed with the systems I have to analyse and develop (Risk Management and Finance Systems).

Now, 5 months later, I am thoroughly enjoying my BA role and tasks.

However, I am considering moving into a contracting position. The primary reason would be for the money.

My fear however is that I would be moving into a contracting position prematurely and having read some of the posts in this string above, it seems that BA contractors have to be highly skilled.

Perhaps I should firstly ensure that my general BA skills are a lot more refined before putting myself into a position where I am required to be a specialist …

Any ideas?

The big question is, how does a hiring manager determine the skill level of a contract business analyst?

Is that determination based on the experience, number of years in the industry, certifications, educational qualifications, recommendations on LinkedIn or perhaps the quality of work the business analyst can perform?

How To Become A Contract Business Analyst

It may shock you to find out that contract business analysts can earn up to 50% more than full-time business analysts with the same skills, experience and training.

The specifics of how much more you can earn as a contract business analyst depends on the company that hires you and how good you are at negotiation.

Some companies pay at the bottom of the pay range for full-time business analyst careers while others are at the higher end of the pay range based on a business analyst salary survey.

However, even though contract business analysts are paid much more, they are required to be highly skilled, competent or expert business analysts at what they do!

That is fair, isn’t it, when you look at it from the Manager’s perspective.

The Hiring Manager who pays a contract business analyst’s salary has to pay an additional premium or bonus to a staffing or recruiting firm for hiring that additional skill level.

With this in mind, the total cost of hiring one contract business analyst may end up being up to two (2) times the salary paid for one full-time business analyst.

The manager who hires a contract business analysts has to have a good justification for paying those additional costs.

• Business Analysis Skills

  The contract business analyst has to be highly skilled at what they do.

  If they are not that skilled, then they wouldn’t last long on a contracting gig, because hiring managers would not want to keep them on the project without getting a quick and immediate return on their investment.

  And really the surest way to justify the skill level and salary of a contract business analyst is by producing a high quality and amount of work every time.

  In other words, contract business analysts have to wow clients by solving business problems quickly and by demonstrating strong competency at routine business analysis tasks like Use Case or Requirements Documentation.

• Business Analysis Experience

  The contract business analyst has to be highly experienced at what they do.

  This does not necessarily mean that a contract business analyst must have 10 years of experience or anything like that, but that when it comes to specific skills like Use Case Documentation or Requirements Elicitation, the contract business analyst is expected to have a breadth of experience that can only be gained by exercising those skills in several business situations in the past.

  In other words, clients don’t want their contract business analysts to use them for learning since they are expected to be experts or highly skilled professionals!

  Hiring managers think that they have already paid for a high expertise level so they want to start reaping dividends, the moment you work in through their door as a contract business analyst.

• Business Analysis Education

  The contract business analyst has to be highly informed, trained or educated in business analysis because managers don’t expect to find gaps in the knowledge areas of their contract business analysts.

  Gaps may be tolerated in their full-time business analyst employees but not in contract business analyst jobs.

  So, you need to be at the top of your game and that includes having the requisite knowledge to get your job done quickly, excellently and without any issues.

In the end, only you can tell you whether you can make the jump to becoming a contract business analyst.

The rewards to being a contract business analyst can be really good.

You get paid a lot more ($45 to $55/hr. or even more) and you get to work on a lot of fast-paced projects where your leadership skills can be fully utilized.

However, you will also have to be highly skilled, knowledgeable and experienced to succeed as a contract business analyst.

And you must be able to perform, produce results quickly or prove to everyone that you are worth your hire!

Finally, note that becoming a contract business analyst does not depend on how many years of business analysis experience you have but on how sharp your skills are!

If you have any question or challenge facing your business analysis career, go ahead and post it as a comment at the end of this article and I will address it for you.




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What is a Use Case?

A use case is a description of how a system’s behavior in response to a request from a stakeholder known as an actor. The actor could be a person or an external system that interacts with the system being described.

The actor initiates an action with the system with the purpose of accomplishing a goal. The system responds to the actor’s action in a way that fulfills the interests of all of its stakeholders. A use case summarizes a complete series of related scenarios that may unfold.

Use cases by definition are developed in text format using natural or non-technical language. However, they can also be developed in use case diagram form using UML notation or a combination of both text and diagrams.

Parts of a Use Case

There is no set template for use cases. There are some core sections that are considered the most useful in use cases. You should use as many or as few of these sections as needed to successfully document your system’s requirements. The core sections for use cases are:

Use case ID

Use case name

Version

Goal

Summary / Description

Primary Actor

Secondary Actor

Pre-conditions

Trigger

Basic course of events

Exceptions

Alternative paths

Post-conditions

Business rules

Notes

Author and date

Why Use Cases?

Use cases can be used to document any type of system. They can be used to document a software system or to document a company’s business processes.

Use cases are useful because they quickly and early clarify how the system will behave when the users interact with it. Use cases are easy for users to understand.

In addition, use cases are helpful for brainstorming conditions under which the system may fail and working out solutions to the problems that fulfill the stakeholders’ interests.

How to Write Use Cases

1. Develop a list of usage goals from your stake holders. This is your initial list of use cases.

2. Develop a short paragraph describing each use case this will be your summary or description.

3. Develop the header section of the use case. The header for each use case should include:

• The Use Case ID Number

• The Use Case Name

• Pre-conditions

• Post-conditions

• Primary Actor

• Secondary Actor

• Trigger

4. Verify that your use case headers are correct then iterate through them again to add more sections and more details. Further detail sections are:

• Basic Course of Events – steps that the actor and system go through to accomplish a goal

• Exceptions – steps for handling errors and exceptions.

• Alternative Paths – steps for handling variations.

5. Check your use case for failure points and missing requirements.

6. As your write your use cases, do it in a way that makes them easy to read. Use natural language. Keep your statements simple and concise.




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Business Analyst Boot Camp Training Curriculum

Business analysts come from a wide variety of industries and from varying backgrounds. Because of this, you need to be flexible in your expectations of the type of work you will perform as a business analyst.

More than 50 major domains or industries that hire business analysts including the web development, web design, e-commerce, software development, information and marketing industry.

As the business analysis industry matures, software developers, database designers, software architects, project managers and professionals with diverse backgrounds are taking on formal business analysis jobs.

As a software development team begins to improve its development processes, many people become Business Analysts simply because they begin picking up the requirements gathering and analysis tasks that are left lying undone on their team.

These are the Accidental Business Analysts. They did not plan to take on the title, and in some circumstances, many still bear titles other than “Business Analyst”.

Like programmers, business analysts seem to come from different backgrounds.

One business analyst that I worked with in the past had a degree in computer science. He worked as a programmer for many years on our team.

He eventually became our business analyst because none of the rest of us wanted to spend time with the customers. For some strange reason, he was eventually promoted to team manager!

Another business analyst I worked with had a degree in business. He was hired as a systems analyst with the Federal Reserve Bank.

Even though he had no real background in technology, his role was to talk to managers about what they needed in the systems and translate and communicate those needs to the IT personnel.

Other business analysts I am acquainted with have backgrounds in biology, literature and even theatre!

While those business analysts who took college classes in business and computer science may have been introduced to the process of requirements gathering and business modeling, most did not. Where do they get their skills from?

As an Accidental Business Analyst, chances are that you start out simply winging many of your tasks and responsibilities. Even in situations such as these, your ability to lead, understand and communicate with customers, your understanding of your business domain and your ability to express customer needs to IT and vice versa will serve you excellently.

However, as the business analysis industry comes to maturity and you begin to grow your career, you should take the time to understand what a business analyst really does.

You should move towards excellence by finding out what makes a good business analyst, sharpen your requirements gathering and analysis skills, your business understanding and even your interviewing skills.

A little UML and Use Cases wouldn’t hurt you either? You will want to understand how to balance the business side of a project with the IT side of the project.

You should grow your value to your company by learning how to take a high level view of business issues as well as getting down to understanding processes and how systems support these processes.

The Business Analyst Boot Camp provides complete end to end training for business analysts.

The Business Analyst Boot Camp training is designed to be an in-depth online business analyst training that takes you from beginner to mastery in all the skills and competencies you need to be a great business analyst.

The high level summary of the Business Analyst Boot Camp curriculum is below. If you would like to download the detailed curriculum, request for the detailed business analyst training curriculum here:.

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYSIS COURSE

1. INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ANALYSIS

REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING COURSE

1. REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING
2. ADAPTING PRACTICES TO PROJECTS
3. AGILE REQUIREMENTS METHODOLOGY

CREATING THE BUSINESS CASE COURSE

1. DEVELOPING VISION AND SCOPE
2. MAKING THE BUSINESS CASE

RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION COURSE

1. RISK ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION STRATEGY

ELICITING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

1. STAKEHOLDERS & REQUIREMENTS SOURCES
2. ELICITATION TECHNIQUES

ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS 1 COURSE

1. THE REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS LIFE CYCLE
2. PRIORITIZING REQUIREMENTS
3. BUSINESS PROCESS MODELING CONCEPTS & PRACTICES

ANALYZING REQUIREMENTS 2 COURSE

1. RELATIONSHIP MAPS
2. PROCESS MAPS
3. CONTEXT DIAGRAMS
4. EVENT-RESPONSE TABLE
5. BUSINESS POLICIES
6. ACTOR TABLE/MAP
7. USE CASES I
8. USE CASES II
9. STORYBOARDS
10. DATA MODELING
11. STATE DIAGRAMS
12. BUSINESS RULES

SPECIFYING & DOCUMENTING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

1. CREATING A USER REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT
2. CREATING A SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
3. SPECIFICATION DOCUMENT

VALIDATING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

1. CREATING TEST CASES
2. CONDUCTING PEER REVIEW
3. USER ACCEPTANCE TESTING

MANAGING REQUIREMENTS COURSE

1. CHANGE CONTROL
2. ATTRIBUTES & TRACING

MODELING WITH UML 2.0 COURSE

1. UML ONE
2. UML TWO
3. UML THREE
4. UML FOUR
5. UML FIVE
6. UML SIX
7. UML SEVEN
8. UML EIGHT

INTRODUCTION TO OBJECT-ORIENTED CONCEPTS COURSE

1. OBJECT-ORIENTED CONCEPTS

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Requirements Engineering, Top BA Skill

When gathering or analyzing requirements, it is just as important to focus on the process that you are using to develop your requirements as it is to focus on the requirements themselves.

If you have a poor requirements elicitation or management process, you risk not understanding the business problem you are trying to solve or turning out a poor product.

The cost of Information Technology (IT) project failures has become so high that one can no longer ignore the fact that business analysts need to invest a good amount of time into understanding what they intend to build.

The good news is that a lot of thought has been put into the process of gathering and creating good requirements.

These thoughts have been gathered and structured into a discipline called Requirements Engineering.

Why Adopt An Effective Requirements Engineering Framework?

However, business analysts may not benefit from Requirements Engineering best practices in organizations where requirements management is perceived as a process imposed by the higher-ups or seen as an afterthought.

In between chasing down stakeholders for interviews, wrestling with use cases and models or managing conflict and corporate politics, the requirements engineering process may end up being treated as meaningless meetings or just paperwork.

What you may not know is that the reason you’re chasing down stakeholders or having so much trouble with gathering requirements is that you don’t have an effective Requirements Engineering framework in place.

Unless you break the cycle by doing research on what works and what doesn’t … the cycle of difficulty and ineffectiveness may be guaranteed to continue.

If your company does not have a Requirements Engineering framework, you can do your manager a good turn by implementing one for your team!

The fact that you do this certainly can’t hurt during your end of year performance review

What Does Requirements Engineering Mean To A Business Analyst?

Basically, Requirements Engineering encompasses all the activities and deliverables associated with defining a product’s requirements.

Think of Requirements Engineering as the software development methodology applied to requirements.

Requirements engineering includes requirements development and requirements management.

Requirements Development encompasses the activities and deliverables for Eliciting, Analyzing, Specifying and Validating requirements.

Requirements Management encompasses activities and deliverables for Establishing Requirements Baselines, Change Control and Tracing Requirements.

What Is The Value of Requirements Engineering To Your Organization?

Having a requirements engineering framework for your team will help you answer these questions:

1. Which member of your team is performing what requirements activity?

2. When will a requirements activity take place?
3. What are the details and steps of each activity is?

Having all of this formally defined will help your team reach its intended business goals.

Having a good requirements engineering process in place has been shown to have significant effect on a business analyst’s ability to develop correct requirements on time and within budget.

The best Requirements Engineering process to follow will be the one that makes your team the most productive and that produces excellent (correct, complete, clear, concise, consistent, relevant, feasible and verifiable) requirements.

As you develop a requirements framework, take into consideration your environmental constraints, corporate culture and the nature of the projects you are engaged in.

After defining your requirements engineering process, you must follow through and execute on the defined steps so that you can create a good product.

Where Does A Business Analyst Learn Requirements Engineering?

Take a moment now and add the knowledge of Requirements Engineering to your belt because it can only help make you a better business analyst.

Requirements Engineering is one of the several courses taught at the Business Analyst Boot Camp Training.

Traditional Classroom Business Analysis Training tends to be expensive because you have to pay for each core business analysis course like UML Training or Use Case Training or Requirements Engineering Training.

So, with class-room based training, you may end up paying for an “Introduction to Use Case” Class and an “Advanced Use Clase” class etc. just to get a complete A – Z “Use Case” Training.

That is in contrast to the Business Analyst Boot Camp Training where you get all the Use Cases + Requirements + UML Business Analyst Training and more … in one program

So why don’t you enroll now and complete all your business analysis training in one program?

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