Business analysis has become a crucial aspect of every organization. It is a practice to identify the needs of a company and bring about the changes that can add value to the current company operations. Almost every organization hires skilled professionals, known as business analysts, to thoroughly check every aspect of business and suggest where there is a scope to bring a fruitful change.
As technology evolves rapidly, there is a need for business analysts who stay put with the recent developments and see which one can help their business grow. That is why companies only prefer the business analyst application that shows thorough knowledge and hands-on experience in the field.
If you also plan to build a career in this domain, know that you should prove your worth to the employer. Opt for some of the best business analyst courses or add-on certification programs that brush up your skills and prepare you for this competitive market. In this article, we will give you detailed information about the roles of business analysts in different domains and how you can build a successful career in this domain.
Essential Tools for Business Analysts
LicdnBusiness Analysts are professionals who closely examine every department in an organization. They dig deeper into the databases, explore the development scope, and implement changes. To ripe fruitful results, it is essential that everything happens with utmost precision. Hence, the use of efficient business analysis tools becomes inevitable. Some of the best tools that can help BA professionals create an excellent impression on the business analysis application are as listed below.
1. Excel
Excel is the most efficient and widely used business analysis tool. Analysts across industries use it in everyday work as it is reliable and easy to understand. Even if you have no knowledge of coding, you can learn simple Excel formulas and use the tool for business analysis.
2. SQL
It is a scripting language used for database management. It allows business analysts to analyze the available database in multiple ways to draw various information. The best part is that the enthusiasts can test their data reports by performing business analysis operations.
3. FogBugz
It is a project management tool with a unique feature related to issue tracking. This tool focuses on a simple workflow that effortlessly adjusts to your current development process. The experts can plan, track and release the end product on time using this tool.
4. JIRA
It is a task management tool for every employee working on a project. They can use it to plan, track and deliver projects on time, keeping in mind the specific requirements of a business. It also helps the Business analysts learn about every step of the progress in a project and ensure that it is moving towards success.
5. Tableau
Tableau is a visualization tool which is excellent for the business analysis process. It provides descriptive reports for analysis and acts as a communicative platform for the company and the stakeholders.
6. Macro VBA
VBA stands for visual basic for applications. It is a programming language for all MS Office applications that help automate maximum tasks done manually. Business analysts rely on this tool because of its efficiency and reliability they can keep on the results that it produces.
You can find countless other tools in the market that business analysts can use to perform to the best of their ability. Moreover, BA enthusiasts will learn many such tools during business management certifications.
Application in Various Industries
Business analysis is not restricted to a particular domain. Unlike the belief, it can help every industry grow and multiply its revenue in one way or the other. If only the business analyst hired by the organization has complete know-how of the domain, he can help make exponential growth. For better understanding, let us see how different domains can help from it.
1. Finance
Business analysis can help financial managers plan their finances optimally. It will also save them from making investments that have previously proved futile. Moreover, business analysis can also prove helpful during budgeting, telling you which areas need more finances. Furthermore, one can also predict future loan defaulters using business analysis, which is a crucial requirement in financial organizations.
2. Human Resource
Human resource management is all about managing the resources. Hiring, training, managing, organizing and directing people within an organization comes under the HR department. With the help of business analysis, the HR department can do all this efficiently. They can study the employee data to find the satisfaction level of the workforce. It can also help the company find deserving candidates and figure out the expected salary and other market trends.
3. Marketing
Marketing and business analysis together form the foundation of a successful business. It helps understand user needs, customer behaviors, and all other details crucial to developing effective marketing strategies. Furthermore, with business analysis tools, one can determine how well a product or a service would work. One can upgrade or change the business strategy to reach desired goals, keeping this information under consideration. That is a reason employers look for the list of tools that the candidate knows while exploring the business analyst application. The more BA tools he is proficient in, the more capable he will be in delivering value.
4. Customer Relationship Management
Business analysis helps understand the customer better and further assists the company in building a fruitful relationship with them. Under CRM, the company creates a bond with its customers with the hope that they feel at home and do not even consider any other business. When they use BA techniques, they get a better idea of the likes, dislikes, expectations and purchasing patterns of their users. This information is enough for them to frame effective strategies for customer relationship management.
5. Production
If you have to name one department or industry that benefits the most from business analysis, it has to be the production unit. A company focus on customer needs before launching new products or services. They do so to ensure their customers need them, so the sales can actually happen! Business analysis tools help them with this. Using them, the organization can sort the user requirements and plan their product range accordingly.
Basically, every domain or department within an organization can benefit from BA operations. So, if you are an organization, ensure you hire someone with expertise in a specific industry. On the other hand, the candidates should focus on getting familiar with the use of BA in multiple domains to multiply their chances of getting hired.
Role of a Business Analyst
We have talked about the significance of business analysis in various domains. Now, you might wonder what a business analyst does to ensure revenue growth using this practice. Let us list a few roles and responsibilities of business analysts for your reference.
1. Requirement Gathering and Documentation
The first step to bridging the gap between the requirement and the deliverables is to gather business requirements. A business analyst fully understands the requirements of a business and aligns them with the objectives to bring about change. They take care of technical, functional, and operational requirements and fulfill them to ensure successful project deliveries. Additionally, it is the responsibility of a business analyst to frame documents related to every operation carried out within an organization. It is the most productive thing to do as anyone joining in late can use this documentation to understand the flow and start working on the project.
2. Stakeholder Management and Communication
Once the company has identified its stakeholders and completely understood its vision and expectations, the next thing is to keep them engaged. There should be frequent communication with these people, and that is what a business analyst does. They ensure the stakeholders stay in touch regularly by conducting feedback sessions and more such things. Moreover, they also keep the stakeholders in the loop by giving them all the information related to the project status. All these efforts help build trust and ensure that customers, suppliers, partners and everyone else involved in the business stay happy and satisfied.
3. Data Analysis and Interpretation
Any organization you see making exponential progress is undoubtedly using its data appropriately. They gather all the data sourced from various sources and use it to make fruitful company decisions. They review data to draw conclusions using various analysis methods. It helps them find out the gaps between the requirements and the deliverables. Using this information, they can plan growth strategies and push businesses toward significant growth.
4. Business Process Modeling
Another role that a business analyst performs is understanding the workflow of the business processes. The idea behind understanding the flow is to ensure that the daily operations consistently move towards progress. If the organization wants fruitful results from all its teams, it is crucial that they all work collaboratively, and that is what a BA ensures during business process modeling.
5. Application in Project Management
In project management, a business analyst plays a crucial role. They keep track of the project's progress and suggest ways to add value. Furthermore, they assess the impact of their recommended change and see if it has yielded the expected results. Thus, it is fair to say that a business analyst contributes throughout the project by simply assuring constant project evolvement.
6. Risk Assessment and Mitigation
There are risks involved in every project. If anything goes wrong at any point when the project is in progress, it can lead to an overall failure. That is where the business analysts jump in. These experts use various analytical techniques and practices to identify the risks well in advance. Moreover, they also have a plan of action ready to mitigate those risks and ensure it does not impact the project negatively.
7. Continual Improvement and Feedback Management
The key to a successful business is continuous evolution. When every department makes progressive changes and keeps up with the technical or other market developments, growth will follow. Moreover, consistent progress means making changes to meet ever-changing client requirements is also significant. A business analyst takes care of all these things. He takes regular feedback from stakeholders and makes necessary changes based on them to keep moving towards growth.
Conclusion
Business analysis is a key to business growth across industries, and no company can progress without it. Hence, it is crucial for them to hire business analysts who are proficient at their work and can deliver value to each project. They explore multiple options before finalizing a business analyst job application, hiring someone who can help them make expected growth. KnowledgeHut business analyst courses will help budding business analysts sharpen their knowledge.
