Speaker Spotlight! Business Analysts – Do We Need Them?
Come hear David at Project Summit BA World Boston on October 27 delivering his keynote presentation “What’s In Your Communications Engine?”
I originally wrote this post in 2010 as I sat on a flight from Sydney to Wellington, New Zealand. I was there running a Business Analyst conference in each city. Here is what I wrote at the time…
These folks, (business analysts) are really struggling: for recognition, for job security, for a well defined career path and for a recognized set of defined core competencies. Most of their organizations are just now figuring out what a BA is, and can do, but unfortunately the recognition is limited to a few departments or individuals.
Most of their peers have not got a clue as to what they do.
If you are project manager working on construction, engineering or any other large capital project – ignore this plea. You have your architects, you appreciate them and you support them. Thank you.
Related Article: Promoting and Selling the Role of the Business Analyst
But all other PMs reading this – it is time you woke up and realized how valuable a BA can be to you. If you want good, solid, detailed specs for your project – find a BA. If you want to work on a project that has complete customer sign-off before you even get on the scene – find a BA. If you want to walk into an environment that has all stakeholders identified and consulted with – find a BA. If you want a ‘partner’ on your project that will help you when anything changes in mid-stream – find a BA!
Business Analysts are out there and every IT and non-IT business project needs one. Not all projects will get one – but they need one. BAs are being educated, they have conferences to go to, they have their own association (IIBA) to belong to, a body of knowledge and a professional certification programs to aspire to.
For years you have been complaining about incomplete customer specifications, weak links to the stakeholders and no blueprints whatsoever. This is why we need business analysts! They are called Business Analysts (BA), Business Systems Analysts (BSA), Requirements Managers, Systems Analysts and many, many more titles – but they all mean roughly the same thing. They will help you build the right thing the first time. And so now in 2015 I re-post… Some organizations understand this. Others hear it but have still not taken up the challenge. Others are still in the dark.
Where are you on this?