BA: Pivotal IT Role of the Future
BA Forum Moderator
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The Business Analyst:
The Pivotal IT Role of the Future
By Kathleen B. Hass, PMP
Introduction
Projects play an essential role in the growth and survival of
organizations today. It is project deliverables that create value in
the form of improved business processes and new products and services
as a response to changes in the business environment, competition and
the marketplace.
Since data and information are the lifeblood of virtually all business
practices, information technology (IT) projects are often the only
mechanism to turn an organization’s vision and strategy into reality.
Executives have their eye on the IT portfolio to make sure they:
♦ Invest in the right mix of projects
♦ Optimize their resources
♦ Develop expert capabilities
♦ Deliver flawlessly
♦ Add value to the business
Change is the norm, fierce competition is the driver, and lean thinking
is the latest call to action. IT has finally come into its own, being
viewed as a value provider as opposed to a cost drain. With the stakes
so high, IT organizations are faced with an extraordinary combination
of pressures to deliver value to their organizations. IT projects must
not only deliver faster, better, and cheaper (the responsibility of the
project manager), they are also under intense scrutiny to positively
impact the bottom line (the responsibility of business analyst).
Since there appears to be a never-ending demand for new IT
applications, IT executives
across the spectrum are adopting the practice of superior business
analysis in an attempt to increase the probability of project success.
The talents and competencies (and heroics) of project managers and
technologists alone cannot drive value into the organization. For
business needs and goals to be converted into innovative solutions that
meet business requirements, a bridge must be built between the business
and the technical communities.
The Project Performance Partnership
Whether outsourced or in-house, every IT development project, COTS
purchase and integration, outsourcing agreement, and systems
integration needs exceptional requirements management. In the spirit of
high-performing teams, Business Analysts align themselves with
professional project managers, the best developers and business
visionaries to determine the most appropriate, costeffective,
innovative solution.
Why is the BA emerging as the central IT competency of the future?
Because requirements play a vital role in engineering IT systems, and
sixty to seventy percent of IT project failures are tied directly to
poor requirements management. It is the BA who manages the entire
Systems Requirements Life Cycle from understanding the business need to
ensuring the delivered solution meets that need and adds value to the
bottom line. Clearly, the BA has a critical role throughout the
Business Solution Life Cycle, not simply during the Requirements phase.