It might very well be just a co-incidence. If so, please let me know. But.... I've been noticing lately that prospective contract clients are more and more looking for BAs who can actually normalise data to a standard 3NF schema or at least understand what a one-to-many relation is. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I find this hilarious! Can someone really call themselves a BA and not know how to design a normalised schema?
Why is it only now that I'm noticing it being asked for? Is anyone else noticing this? Is it a side effect of the so called 'NoSQL' trend? A side effect of over-Agility, UX at the expense of IA, failing to map and validate stories, business functions, processes to data? Is the BA role being re-understood? Am I reading too much into it?
Hi Victor,
Great observation and questions!
From my vantage point, this is probably a factor of the path one takes to become a "Business Analyst". I've seen many business analysts with a variety of experiences and skills. Broadly speaking there there tend to be two types of BAs: those coming from the business/operations/process side and those coming from IT with a more technical background.
Traditionally, most folks in the BA role came from IT and worked on IT projects but in the recent years a greater focus has been put on the "business" side and many business people have moved into the BA role without much technical experience (ex: programming, SQL, data modeling, etc.).
Take a look at this view and let us know what you think:
Business Analyst Roles
Adrian
I come from a developer background (and am currently in search of a new role). Lots of positions are asking for SQL skills. Personally, having database design skills during my BA career has been enormously helpful. I don't see how one can write great requirements/ processes without understanding the 1:N concept. This is a VERY important concept to a developers/ architects/ systems people.
I've heard business analysts called glorified note takers. Understanding the 1:N idea if you are from a business or technical perspective or background should be foundational. It may come more innately for people coming from a technical path since it is part of basic database design 101. Not providing documentation with this in mind does a disservice to the rest of the team.
brought to you by enabling practitioners & organizations to achieve their goals using:
enabling practitioners & organizations to achieve their goals using: