Hi Ashwin,

Welcome to the community!

There is plenty of material available on what a BA does on this site and in articles here. I am not sure what you are asking for as far as software products are concerned...there are CASE (computer aided software engineering) tools such as Casewise, ProVision etc...is that what you mean?

The definition of a Business Analyst I use is a Business Analyst is someone who analyses change requirements and produces a justifiable set of analysis deliverables that are used to design and implement the solution.

Did you know that there is no standard, definitive and agreed definition of what a Business Analyst is?

That means not only does the profession have no recognised industry standards or an agreed definition, there is also no binding definition of a set of qualifications or standards that all Business Analysts must adhere to.

And that means that Business Analysts:

• can be all things to all people
• can define their own role
• should define their own role so that they have an answer for anyone who tries to dump unassigned tasks in to the remit of a Business Analyst in (for example) your organisation – i.e. you!

“Business Analyst” – let’s deconstruct (analyse!) the term.

1. “Business” – no, I am not going to define “business”, but I am going to challenge why Business Analysts are called Business Analysts. Apart from working in businesses, don’t Business Analysts also do their work in local and central government, charities, non-governmental organisations, and so on?

I suspect that the term “Business” in “Business Analyst” came about in the 1980s when Systems Analysts (who pre-date Business Analysts) declared that they were starting to get engaged in activities not related to Systems Analysis. If they were not analysing systems, what were they analysing? Their answer was “Business”. However, a more descriptive answer would be "they analyse requirements for change".

Based on that the role would be more accurately described as “Change Requirements Analyst” but as the name “Business Analyst” has stuck I will continue with that title.

2. “Analyst” – someone who analyses. “Analysis” then is the important definition. Here's how three sources define "analysis"

• Internet: an investigation of the component parts of a whole and their relations in making up the
• Oxford English Dictionary:
  1. a detailed examination of the elements or structure of something.
  2. the separation of something into its constituent elements — ORIGIN Greek analusis, from analuein ‘unloose.’
• Merriam-Webster dictionary:
  1. separation of a whole into its component parts
  2. a: the identification or separation of ingredients of a substance
     b: a statement of the constituents of a mixture
  3. a: proof of a mathematical proposition by assuming the result and deducing a valid statement by a series of reversible steps
     b(1): a branch of mathematics concerned mainly with limits, continuity, and infinite series (2): calculus 1b
  4. a: an examination of a complex, its elements, and their relations
     b: a statement of such an analysis
  5. a: a method in philosophy of resolving complex expressions into simpler or more basic ones
     b: clarification of an expression by an elucidation of its use in discourse
  6. the use of function words instead of inflectional forms as a characteristic device of a language

So analysis is all about breaking a problem down to its component parts to expose the logical inter-relationships between them. The ‘problem’ being analysed is the change requirements for a project. We ‘break the problem down’ so we can prove that all the components are actually required. We analyse change requirements (break them down to their component parts) and prove that each and every requirement is necessary in order to deliver the project.

Summary: Business Analyst = someone who analyses change requirements and produces a justifiable set of analysis deliverables that are used to design and implement the solution.

…and here are a few things Business Analysts are not (although none of these roles can function well without an effective Business Analyst producing high quality analysis deliverables!):

• Project Managers
• Systems Analysts
• Designers
• Coders
• Testers
• Implementers

Of course, you may find yourself performing multiple roles - a common combination is Business Analyst & Project Manager...

Hope some of the above helps...?

Guy

Ashwin,

Here are some sample BA products.

If someone asks me what my role was I would say "my job title was Business Analyst and I was responsible for ensuring that the change requirements for {a particular project or set of projects} was delivered that were used to develop and implement the full working solution. I used the {whatever case tool I used or visio or excel} to document the requirements and here is an example of what I was producing if you would like to see it." Then I would get out printed copies of sample BA products I have produced and start to talk them through it. My experience is that interviewers can take no more than 5 minutes of reviewing BA products before their eyes glaze over!!! At that point they should be convinced I know what I am talking about and it is a question of whether I will fit in the team.

On that subject, by the time you are asked for interview the interviewers should already be convinced that on paper you have the right skills for the job. The interview is to verify that you are not claiming skills you don't really have and (more importantly) will your personality fit in to their organisational style of working and team.

That means the thrust of the interview is not what answeres you give, it is how you give them! If you are likeable and persoanble and would clearly fit in with them then my experience as the person being interviewed and the sometimes the person doing the interviewing is that all kinds of professional shortcommings will be overlooked on the basis that you will grow in to the role if your personality fits.

Bottom line is skills can be acquired, personality can not.

I am sure that you will be fine if you relax in the interview and just be yourself. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

Guy