Topic -1

A Study on the Relative Importance of Underlying Competencies of Business

Analysts
Synopsis:- Business Analyst raises project success rates and provides correct solutions aligned with the
organization’s strategy. Moreover, Business Analyst increases competitiveness through effective
communication between users and developers. They are responsible for transferring the information of
users and developers, facilitating their ideas, and resolving conflicts occurred from decision gaps
between them. It means that Business Analysts must speak fluently business and technological
language, while having soft skills and positive mindset to make all stakeholders satisfied.

Reflection:- With the evaluation of selected reading material, business analyst needs to analyze the
importance weights and priorities of business analysis competencies. From this it is found that Business
Analyst should interact with stakeholders as its very important competency for Business Analyst.
Communication gap can impact uncertainty of project requirements in information systems
development. It is also found that business analyst develops plan as per agile methodology through
which business objective can be achieved easily. Moreover, business analyst needs to bring in various
stakeholders into the process and get their agreement on the priority of requirements. Business analyst
can use any of the prioritization techniques to statistically prioritize the requirements. Before that,
business analyst needs to understand the dependencies between the requirements. After prioritization,
they provide better solutions to achieve business objectives and can develop good quality of products
for their clients.

Critique:- These readings are providing me detailed information about skills and competence of good
business analyst. The role of business analyst is explained in good manner which helps me to understand
business analyst’s responsibilities. Business analyst needs to reduce the communication gap. As business
analyst must be an intermediate between users and developers. After requirement gathering, Business
analyst should create functionality document so that developers and users can easily understand the
whole project. Moreover, to reduce communication gap, business analyst should schedule daily meeting
with their developers so that business analyst will get an idea about the project progress on daily basis.
The objective of Business Analyst’s is to meet the organization’s goals and strategies, through successful
business oriented information system projects.

Joon Park1 and Seung Ryul Jeong2 (August,2016)

Topic 2
Top 6 Critical BA Skills For The Future (And Today!) Angela Wick December , 2016

Synopsis:- Business Analyst

1) Data Insights

Modeling and data relationships are moving to the back seat while data insights take the wheel. This means that we will be asked
dig deeper into our data to discover insights that our stakeholders are not aware of and would be difficult, if not impossible, to elicit.
Data insights start with a comprehensive understanding of our customers and our business. Using our customer and business
understanding we can look at data differently and analyze the customer patterns and behaviors. These patterns provide insights to
where end users experience value in the product/solution itself and it’s features.

2) Requirements Anthropology

Data insights are critical, but data does not always give us the full picture. Requirements anthropology asks us to go beyond the
data and the information we elicit from stakeholders. We need to develop an empathetic mindset that allows us to enter the world of
our users and identify their behavior patterns. When we approach our requirements like anthropologists, we take a deeper look at
the role the product or solution plays in the end user’s life, work and habits. It’s about observing behaviors and understanding where
value is derived for a variety of user types.
An anthropologist’s work would not be complete with out looking at the entire ecosystem of how the user behaviors and patterns
impact the preceding or resulting business process. Can business model or process changes improve the life of the user and
ultimately the value the user receives? This is what requirements anthropology is about!

3) Visualization

The ability to create effective visuals has always been important, but the purpose of visual communication is changing. In the past,
we used data in a visual form to prove a point or simplify a decision. Modern visuals are about concepts, exploring, and learning
rather than the typical inform & declare process of the past.
We have a giant amount of complex information at our fingertips, so we need to think harder about the purpose of each visual.
Effective visualization skills (with the help of many new visualization tools) help our teams make sense of the vast and complex
information, and help us along the learning journey to gather insights about where value lies. The complexity of today is making this
learning journey an imperative! Insights regarding value are no longer obvious, they are the “needle in the haystack.”

4) Forensic Thinking

Forensic thinking helps teams get to the root of complex problems by applying a scientific approach. Forensic thinkers use a logical
process to confirm the problem’s cause by direct observation, examination and/or objective measurement. This approach helps BAs
gather meaningful, accurate requirements rooted in facts rather than stakeholder perceptions or assumptions.
An important focal point for our forensic thinking is the customer experience. Modern teams use forensic thinking to explore
customer patterns. Forensic thinking also aligns well with solutions that prevent and investigate fraud and digital/cyber crimes.
So, what does forensic thinking look like? It involves going far beyond what stakeholders say or think they want or need and truly
looking at various resources, tests, data, and connections that build upon one another to get to the learnings that ultimately provide
insights.
5) Data Security

In the past, data security skills fell on the shoulders of our techie teammates. Now BAs need data security skills too! We need to
understand which data assets are most valuable to the organization, and help the organization weigh decisions about protecting this
data. If teams protect data too fiercely, they may compromise business performance. Think about the customer who abandons a
purchase because the app wants too much data or takes too long to authenticate. Or think about the internal user who abandons
core systems to use an "unauthorized" program to meet customer needs and business goals faster.
As BAs we need to understand these dynamics and be prepared to discuss the impact data decisions have on solution
requirements, solution design, user/customer experience, and risk to the organization. We need to understand the value of data and
the possible risk/reward trade-offs.

6) UX - User Experience

UX is changing and new UX skills are coming into play in this digital era. The huge migration to mobile and tablet devices over
web/PC screens will grow as we rely on our devices more and more. This means more UX-related projects and product
development for BAs. Responsiveness, modular design and service design are key. BAs with UX skills understand how the UX
design features play with all technical layers.
Other key areas of UX include customer experience mapping and rapid UX work. This means understanding the business model
and processes very well in order to design a UX that supports the strategy, business model, and flow of the most critical pieces of
value.
Formal wireframes are fading out in favor of quick hand-drawn lo-fidelity sketches that go straight to the build process for quick
feedback from users. It means more collaborative design sessions instead of reviewing wireframes. BAs who want to keep up with
UX will also need to acquire persuasive design and user-centered design skills.

Are you seeing increasing demand for these six skills in your organization? They shine a bright light on a giant shift in our thinking
about business analysis. In many organizations, BAs focused largely on analyzing internal systems and processes. Based on my
discussions with many of you this year, BAs are increasingly looking outside. They uncover value by analyzing the end user’s
environment, thinking, patterns and behaviors.

Angela Wick Dec, 2016

Topic 3 –