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New Post 2/6/2010 6:44 AM
User is offline overandout
1 posts
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Possibly BA from Developer 

Hi,

I am currently working in a financial company as a C# Developer. Been a developer for the past 4/5 years. In my current company, I am also a product manager, managing 2 products - gathering requirements, talking to clients/end users, deciding which fixes would go into the current release, etc....

I have been thinking of a career change....I have been talking to my manager and we were discussing the possiblity of me moving to Business Analyst.

In the long run, I would like to move towards something more managerial. I'm not sure whether BA would lead me towards that? Or as a Senior Developer, is my chances to move towards managerial role be higher ? Am I making the wrong choice to move to BA?

And also, I'm wondering which career would be a better paid one?

Would appreciate any help/comments I can get.

Thanks

 
New Post 2/7/2010 2:54 PM
User is offline Adrian M.
764 posts
3rd Level Poster




Re: Possibly BA from Developer 

 overandout wrote

I have been talking to my manager and we were discussing the possiblity of me moving to Business Analyst.

In the long run, I would like to move towards something more managerial. I'm not sure whether BA would lead me towards that? Or as a Senior Developer, is my chances to move towards managerial role be higher ? Am I making the wrong choice to move to BA?

And also, I'm wondering which career would be a better paid one?

First of all - you should not make your decision based on how much you might get paid.  Both developers and analysts have the possibility of making good money.

Here are some things you need to consider:

  • Would you rather interact with people in meetings, interviews, and one on ones or be in front of the computer programming?
  • Are you interest in a career where you need to continuously increase your people and soft skills (facilitation, negotiation, communication, etc.) or in a career where you need to continuously learn new technologies and development platforms?

If you are interest in management for the sake of management it's not going to work for you.  Most folks are promoted to managers because they did something really well as an individual contributor and were ask to duplicate that.  Of course - new skills are needed when you move into management such as: leading people, motivating others, managing change, providing feedback, coaching, etc.  If you ask me, I would say that a business analyst already requires many of the soft skills needed to move into management and leadership.

As a matter of fact, business analysts are leaders - and they are asked to perform the hardest type of leadership: influence.  Since most BAs don't have teams working for them but many folks (stakeholders, developers, end users, project sponsors, executives), working with them.  If you can lead by influence then it's even easier to lead when you are managing direct reports.

Ultimately, it's up to you to select a profession which you see yourself doing for a long time.

Hope this helps!

- Adrian


Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!
 
New Post 2/8/2010 3:29 AM
User is offline Craig Brown
560 posts
www.betterprojects.net
4th Level Poster




Re: Possibly BA from Developer 

 I don't think a shift to BA work is the most direct path to management.  It is more likely to come faster from team leadership in our current line then to management.  

 

However I would say that a move to being a BA will prepare you very well for managing people, and if you take this p[th you'll end up being a better manager.

 

Or you may find the role so interesting you don't want to give it up.  

 
New Post 2/16/2010 3:45 PM
User is offline [email protected]
22 posts
9th Level Poster


Re: Possibly BA from Developer 

I agree with Adrain that a good BA is a leader in itself and has lot of manageent skills. I personally feel that it is easy for the BA to get into the management role as they act like product owners.

Before you start your profession make sure that you have necessary BA skills and understand how to write different requirement documents. Writing does not mean that you capture long paragraphs.As per the ideal BA processes you have to differentiate different req types and each document has its own significance like scope, BRD, FRD, USE CASES, GAP ANALYSIS etc.

 

Also start preparing yourself for some of the project Management concepts as well as that will show that you have the managerial abilities.

 

I teach Business Analysis and Project Management courses.Let me know if you need any further detail

 

 

Thanks

Supriya

[email protected]

 
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