To begin with, I want to describe how I understand the profession of a business analyst. Personally, I see the specialization of a business analyst in two planes - in business and in the field of IT. In my opinion, these are two fundamentally different specialists in terms of skills.
1. IT Business Analyst
Business analyst is a versatile specialist who must be able to:
- communicate with various stakeholders (this can be top management of the company, or middle management)
- communicate with business users
- communicate with team members (developers, analysts, project managers)
- use various tools to systematize requirements (namely, tools - almost always Excel)
- know and be able to anticipate what requirements are needed for each specific project and who to ask questions
- be able to correctly formulate questions and “pick out” information from people (this is very difficult process, especially when latent resistance begins)
- conduct requirements interviews
- understand the "politics of the game" of various stakeholders and the impact of this process on the outcome of the project
- see influential people and be able to convince them
- be able to exclude interfering members working group from the project (the one who constantly wastes the team’s time, or takes the project in the wrong direction, it is advisable to transfer to another activity within the company and apply only for individual consultations)
- be able to clearly formulate abstracts, draw clear conclusions
- be able to conduct workshops to clarify requirements
- be able to conduct general constructive meetings (the purpose of the meeting, the problem, possible solutions should be described before the meeting in order to exclude unnecessary blah blah blah)
- understand the principles of building systems, be able to transform project goals into business requirements, and business requirements into functional and non-functional requirements (i.e. the trace should be in that order)
- be able to generate new solutions
- know sql, principles of building data models, business processes
- know and be able to use visual tools to present information
1. Always write documentation for uninitiated people in the concept and internal content of the system, therefore:
- Include an introductory part about the system in the documentation (or a link to a document that describes the system)
- Include a list of abbreviations in your documentation
- If highly specialized terminology is used, add a dictionary to the document, or create a separate document and attach a link to it
- Strive to accompany large sections of text with diagrams that show the interaction of various components of the system
- After writing instructions or documentation, imagine yourself as a person who has not previously worked with this system and read the instructions / documentation. If something is not clear - rewrite / supplement
2. How to document system scripts:
- The document should contain a general conceptual description of the sequence of launches of certain scripts
- You can imagine a map of calling scripts from system components, you can make a kind of “map” according to scripts (mindmap)
- The scripts themselves do not need to be described in the document. Scripts should be self-documenting, i.e. the code should contain comments that are filled in by developers (including to clarify the business meaning of the script)
3. Always strive for a balance between pictures and text. Absence or excess of pictures - not the best options for documentation
Relations with subordinates
- No matter what position you hold and how much experience you have - respect your subordinates, discuss difficulties, lack of knowledge or problems in work. Do not blame them, otherwise, at any opportunity, they will dump you (they will dump you and will not even think about the difficulties that have arisen sharply for you when you lose a specialist).
- Set tasks correctly and correctly
- Always discuss with the subordinate in advance about the need to stay at work - remember that subordinates have a personal life and free time that they are not required to spend on the employer (or you will always work with not very outstanding specialists, because good employees on occasion fall down 😉)
- Much more can be found in the published materials of stratoplan.ru (I participated in their conferences and seminars - and I advise you)
How to get a job as a business analyst
1. Open HeadHunter;
2. We find 20 vacancies in business analysis;
3. We write out from them the main points that are expected from business analysts;
4. We make a list of the 7 most important (common for all vacancies) that you do not own;
5. We study quickly in a week;
6. We go to an interview (get feedback);
7. Learn more;
8. Repeat the cycle of points 6-7-6-7-… until you are settled;
9. First go to interviews in those companies that you do not want to get a job (so as not to lose the chance to get a job in good companies with a poor outcome of the interview).
There are five steps to a business analyst career. Where did these five steps come from? It took me about 2 years to figure out how to become a business analyst without any specific experience. How to show the employer what I had without having specific analytical experience and get a job in this area.
Each person looks at the same thing differently. That is, one of you will say: “I have no experience in business analysis”, then another person, looking at the same experience, will say: “I have experience in business analysis” or “I am a born business analyst.” analyst” and will go and get a job in a short time.
Step 1, This analysis of your previous experience
.
First of all, we have already discussed with you that you have the skills of a business analyst, which an analyst performs every day, and, believe me, you already have some skills. You just don't know about them yet. We will now show how you can identify these skills. And next is the definition of soft skills. Soft skills are very important for a business analyst because someone said you even need a degree in psychology in business analysis. As for the degree, I don’t know, but you need to be a good communicator, you need to be a “thin” person who understands the psychology of other people. This is actually true.
Let's take a look at the analysis of your previous experience. Here we are looking for such concepts: requirements collection, requirements analysis, interaction with various departments and identification of needs. That is, you are looking for such terms. What can you do about it?
In principle, this is a task for both skills. Also for the soft ones. That is, in order to understand specifically what kind of soft skills a business analyst needs, we have already listed. To on this moment understand, there is such an exercise that you can do at home. Consider 20 open business analyst positions online. Simply search the search engine for any job search sites and compile two pages of the unique responsibilities of a business analyst in a Word document. Here you write not your duties that you once performed, but simply the duties of a business analyst. This will help you understand what a business analyst does. Why 20 open positions, because YOU have to analyze a big “French”, several professions to see what is still characteristic of business analysis. When you understand these responsibilities, then you will understand what skills are needed for these responsibilities. It is also very common for vacancies to talk about what skills analysts should have. That is, they even write like this: for example, sociability or the ability to communicate with customers, etc.
The purpose of this step is to understand what is required of a business analyst.
The next point in this exercise is, in general, to understand what is required of a business analyst. Next, analyze and understand each duty, going through each one, whether you have it or not. The elementary thing you can do is simply to find out through google what is meant by each duty.
Next, identify the responsibilities that you have performed in the past. Even if you now have a resume and it is not written in the same language, just emphasize those responsibilities, even if there are not many of them. Therefore, we recommend 20 positions so that you get at least a sheet or half of the underlined duties, depending on what you have already done or not. If less, then you will already have some overlapping responsibilities.
Step 2 The next step is training.
In training, it is important that you get the result. When you have understood what skills and responsibilities a business analyst should have and compared with what you have, then you need to undergo some kind of theoretical training. Naturally, a business analyst must have some kind of toolkit. In order to understand this toolkit, also to understand what language a business analyst still speaks, what language IT speaks, you need to undergo training.
It is desirable that the training be with practical tasks so that you can work with some real tasks and real teamwork. You must remember that any education you receive must be practical. When choosing a training, be sure to ask how much practical tasks, as far as there will be a lot of role-playing games. Something where you can work out the theory. This is very important for training. In training, it is important not to collect crusts, go from one training to another, from one company to another, but to find the company that will give you specific training in business analysis.
After the previous step, you will understand what is most important in business analysis and what you are missing. This will help determine which training is right for you.
Step 3 Of course the next step is
When you have analyzed what the market requires, you have already acquired some skills during your training, which should preferably be practical, you write your resume. A resume is also an important element, because it is your face, it is how you present yourself to potential employers.
Therefore, one of such interesting moments ... be sure to add just a listing of your duties, also supplement with the fact that you show your achievements. That is, not only list everything that you did in this particular position, but also be sure to list the achievements. Because the employer likes to see not just some simple performer, one of many, but also that person who has achieved something. That is, if you did something that you can write in your resume, for example, you developed some new system transfer of the order: from the moment it arrives to the customer, until the moment this request is processed. You made some new application of your own, which was accepted. And this increased or decreased the order processing time, for example, by 30%.
This is an interesting little tip. This is what employers like to see. They love to see not only a list of what you did at work, but also your achievements. For those who work, for those who are in the job market, you can use this tip to redo your resume and show off your accomplishments. How are you different from other people.
For those who are just looking, the following advice. Write in the resume only those positions that somehow relate to business analysis. For example, if you worked or are working as a secretary, you can set the position of secretary. But after taking the first step, write to the maximum those functions that you did as a business analyst. For example, market analysis, work with a client. This is what an employer wants to see on a resume, just like a business analyst resume.
Step 4. The next step is to find a job.
When you already have a resume on which you showed yourself correctly, positioned yourself correctly, you need to look for a job. There are, of course, many different ways job search. For those starting out, we would advise looking for an internship. This is practiced in America, it is practiced in the post-Soviet space. Companies very often take on internships of some talented people. Sometimes they can even do training, and after that, take the training for an internship. If there is such an opportunity, you can go for such an internship.
One option, you can look for a job within your own company. Especially suitable for those who decide to change careers already working in IT. Let's say you're already a tester, you're already a developer. And now you suddenly want to go more into business. You have the best chance of doing it in your own company. Because they will already know you for your achievements, what you are doing well. Let's say you are a developer, but you know how to collect requirements well, because you did this on some small projects. And you want to do this further and show your desire to move to the position, to the career of a business analyst.
You also need to look for vacancies for a junior analyst, after you have completed the training and some kind of internship, or only after the training. For all these vacancies that can be searched in search engines on the Internet, you need to submit your resume. But it is also very important not to sit and wait for someone to call you from those vacancies for which you submitted your resume.
It is very important to develop your connections. Who heard, in English it is called "net-working", the creation of its own network of connections. That is, connections are not only those people who are your relatives, or your very good friends. But these are your acquaintances and your former colleagues. For those who are already working in business analysis, be sure to keep in touch with your former colleagues, with your classmates, with your classmates. This is a huge resource that you will use for many, many years to come. You will help each other in the profession and career. This interesting point is often missed by people. This is very good way To find a job. When you say, “I am interested in such and such a profession, do you hire business analysts from you? Can you recommend me to your boss?” It is very important to build such connections.
Step 5 The next step is coaching and supporting the group.
You are now in a group that is interested in business analysis. When you introduce yourself to another person, find out what interest this person has in business analysis. Maybe the person already works as a business analyst, or even he has some kind of open position in the company. Maybe this person is a manager or a programmer who already knows that there is a position and will recommend you.
coach It's like a team coach. The person who inspires you, supports you, guides you. Therefore, if there is such a person, it can be either someone who has already passed this path, or a person who may already be of a higher position. Look for such people. Look for people who are already analysts and ask how they got there. And maybe they will take it upon themselves to lead you in that direction. That is, it is imperative that you are supported by your environment and you have some people or one person who would be your coach or mentor.
Last year, a conference of business and system analysts in software development was held in St. Petersburg. There was a rather interesting report by Minsk residents Maria and Sergey Bondarenko, entitled “Useful skills of analysts. How to become a professional". Below we publish an article based on the report.
A video of the report is also available:
http://video.yandex.ru/users/sqadays/view/8
My topic is useful analyst skills and aims to show you the possibilities for professional development in business analysis.
Briefly about yourself
Maria Bondarenko, director of the Belarusian-German-Russian company GP software for the development of software in the field of tourism; more than 10 years in IT
Sergey Bondarenko, works at Itransition (almost 1000 people), is engaged in managerial tasks (including in analytics departments)
Objectives of the report
What do you want to show and tell in the report:
For beginners (less than a year of analytics experience) - to give a general understanding of the industry, what skills may be needed and what are the development horizons
For experienced analysts: to open unknown horizons that you could not see in the context of your tasks, as well as show the power and breadth of the field of business analysis
Where do analytics come from?
To the question "Which of the analysts received professional education”- only a few of those present at the conference answered positively.
Much more has come from testing and development. Some even came from the Linguistic University.
In general, the field of business analysis is now quite young.
And not so many receive professional education in this area. And just the same, as it turns out, it becomes so: there is such a vacancy, you decide “why not try it?” and here begins your career as a business analyst.
How are analytics evolving?
What happens next? Then you start working, performing some tasks and climbing the career ladder within the company. But your range of tasks is usually limited to only those projects that the this company. Accordingly, if you come to one company and ask: “There are business analysts here, but what do you do? What is business analysis? Or you come to another company and ask "What is business analysis", you can get 2 completely different answers.
In order to somehow improve this situation, you try to read books, read information on the Internet and somehow gain this experience, but, nevertheless, again, this all happens rather chaotically. Accordingly, there is such a hodgepodge in your head, you are stewing in your own juice and there is not enough completeness in understanding the context of business analysis.
What can this lead to?
I have repeatedly seen at interviews when specialists came to me to get a job (and in our company a position is common in which a project manager and an analyst are combined) and the guys said: “In general, in business analysis, I already know everything, now I want to try myself in areas of management". In general, they come to the conclusion that seeing only some sub-area of business analysis, they conclude that this is all that can be. The second possible reaction is that you don’t know where to go next, you get sad, you are not effective enough on your projects and, perhaps, you don’t even know that there are some means to increase this efficiency in order to increase the context of understanding. this area.
We will move on to this next.
Maybe it's better like this?
I would like to show you the possible roles of a business analyst in projects, possible areas of activity and the necessary skills, personal characteristics and tools that can be useful to you. Below I will briefly indicate what may be needed, because. for each of them, you can arrange a separate report or a separate training, so further I recommend that you independently dive into those areas that you mark as interesting for yourself.
What is an analyst?
In the process of preparing the report, it was possible to highlight several areas in which business analysts work:
Requirements Management
Research&Analysis (Research and data analysis)
Processes Engineering (Modeling of processes)
Modeling&Design (IP Design)
Delivery (Implementation)
Consulting (Consulting)
Requirements Management
The most obvious is requirements management. This is the person who collects the requirements, who analyzes them, manages the changes, and who makes sure that all project participants are aware of the current requirements, that they are communicated correctly to the development team, and that the result of the work corresponds to the wishes that the client originally had. . But that's not all.
Research and data analysis
There are about 6 more areas that analysts are engaged in. Next area - research and data analysis: a general task for working with data. Analyze which systems are already on the market with similar functionality, find these systems, compare them, provide information on which one is best suited to the current tasks of the project. The second cut of this analyst role is the analysis of the system operation and the development of certain conclusions. Those. general analytical tasks.
Process Modeling
The next possible role of an analyst on projects is the area process modeling. Business analysts who work in IT and are directly involved in the development and management of requirements and systems design do not always know that, in general, the primary sources of their tasks lie in the area of business processes, in the area of the client's business. The client somehow performs certain operations now and the software is not required for him now. But in the process of analyzing current situation it can be concluded that the processes are not optimal, that they need to be reorganized and, accordingly, the task of developing software appears. Here, in fact, who will help the client look at his business processes, describe and transform them into a more optimal state? This is also the job of a business analyst.
IC design
The next area of activity of a business analyst is information systems design. Moreover, the design is different. And depending on the skills of the analysts, you can dig deeper into this area or less. For example, the easiest level of system design is to sketch out mockups or screen prototypes and then pass this on to usability specialists or designers to work it out in more detail. On the other hand, if you have a deeper knowledge of these skills, for example, usability, in terms of usability, you can combine the role of a usability specialist. Those. in principle, this can be part of the job of a business analyst.
Software implementation
The next possible area of activity for analysts is software implementation, in particular, when the product has already been developed, this product needs to be implemented, it needs to be customized at the client (if we are talking about large systems). This is a field of activity that requires special skills and abilities.
Consulting
AND consulting. The deeper you work in the industry, the better and higher your practical skills, the more complex tasks you can be assigned and the more you can act as an expert in the eyes of the client, and not just a conductor of his requirements to developers. Moreover, consulting may not even be directly related to the implementation of the project. Just consulting a client on technological issues, on business issues. This is also the domain of the business analyst.
Hard & Soft Skills
In connection with this range of possible tasks, certain skills are highlighted that allow them to be performed more professionally. The classic division of skills is hard and soft. Hard skills are knowledge of tools, technologies, techniques or notations, or anything that can be learned. Soft skills are personal and interpersonal characteristics that are given to him from birth, but they also develop and can also be trained and there are development methods for them.
Within the framework of these skills and the breakdown of possible roles of an analyst on projects, the following dependencies can be identified (see table).
1. Hard skills
For convenience, we divided all skills from the hard skills group into 7 groups: basic competencies, theory and analysis techniques, business fundamentals, knowledge of IS development, documentation, additional competencies, foreign languages. At the intersection of roles and competencies, it is indicated for which tasks the analyst needs certain skills.
In foreign languages: there are question marks because, in principle, there can be a smart analyst, work in the local market, and only the Russian language will be enough for him to do his work. But given that the field of business analysis is quite young and there is not much literature, forums and communities in Russian in which you can learn information, of course, knowledge foreign languages will allow you to develop better and get more professional knowledge than you know only 1 language.
As for soft-skills, they were divided into several groups and criteria were determined for which roles certain soft-skills are most important.
Below we will tell you more about all of the listed hard and soft skills.
Let's describe hard-skills, which involve purely technical skills. They are the easiest to train and are quite important, because. underlie effective work analytics.
1.1 Core competencies
What are the core competencies?
These are a number of things that you should learn before you even begin to step into the field of business analysis. They allow your thoughts to take shape. These are quite simple things, but the main ones that no one will teach you separately. You are supposed to have it.
a. Business ethics
First, the general business ethics telephone communication skills, written correspondence skills. Namely, such tasks as: how to write a letter correctly (start with a greeting, put a final phrase at the end that encourages the client to act, and a signature), how to communicate with the client by phone. This, of course, should be known to you in advance. Why am I talking about this - I personally saw situations when analysts came to the project and the letters looked like this: “Can you send us up-to-date documentation on the project?” No hello, no goodbye. It's just not pretty. This is a basic skill that you should have and don't even need to talk about.
b. Internet skills
The next skill is the ability to work on the Internet, work with instant messengers (Skype, for example, is very popular at the moment). Due to them, you shorten the distance and the client can contact you online. In Skype, you can form group discussions, connect the entire team to communication with the client, and then project issues are resolved faster. You should also know what screen sharing is, how to send files, and so on.
c. Collaboration
The next block is the ability to work together. Knowledge of tools like Google Drive will help you
Goggle Drive is an accessible, free tool through which it is possible to share documents with the client and the development team. If you don't have a collaboration tool installed in your company, this is the easiest choice to give clients access to documents. And what's even more important - you can simultaneously and collaboratively work on the same document. We use this technique - we open a document with requirements together with the client and discuss what should be implemented and in what order. You change the priorities in your document and in a couple of seconds the client sees it on his screen.
d. Online conferences
In the same group - tools for online conferences. It is very useful when the analyst does not just send documents to the client, but demonstrates, in particular, intermediate versions of the system's performance, shows prototypes. To do this, you need a platform. Of course, there is an option that you come to the client if he is in the same country and city. But often we work with Western customers or remote teams. Among these online conferencing tools are GoTo Meeting and GoTo Webinar (this is from the same series), WebEx and others. Moreover, they can be useful not only for the presentation of results, but also for collecting requirements.
e. Wiki repository
Another tool such as MediaWiki may be useful. This is an online library, like the well-known Wikipedia, which you can deploy locally for your client and the entire team with the help of your administrator. You can keep documentation in it, and what’s good is that you don’t need to save files to the storage for version tracking, send them to colleagues, you won’t be able to forget the file - up-to-date content is always available. For example, a user manual or specifications can be written in MediaWiki.
f. Reading and printing speed
One more block core competencies hard skills are speed reading and typing (although there may be debate whether this can be attributed to soft skills).
An analyst needs to process a lot of information: on the one hand, a lot of reading (study and comprehend), and on the other hand, a lot of writing (fixing the results), so it will be extremely useful for you in your professional career if you train these 2 skills. For example, you can compare - the average typing skill is 100 characters per minute, I type at a speed of 400 characters per minute. If everything is clear what to write in the document and you only need to fix the agreements with words, write the protocol of the agreement with the client, then you can imagine - it takes me 4 times less time than the average specialist. Accordingly, by improving this skill in yourself, you make yourself more efficient and save time on your projects.
g. office tools
Also, as part of the basic skills, I would like to note a number of tools, such as office tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Visio), which allow you to present the results of your work in a high-quality and visual way. If you can open word document and know how to type text there, but do not know how to customize the styles of headings and tables, format notes, use templates and document properties. Or you can open an Excel document and know what it is spreadsheet, but do not own formulas, macros, conditional formatting, then, believe me, you still have where to dig within these tools. Just for the sake of interest, you can open the help about the program or some test for this program, and you will learn a lot that, it turns out, you did not know before. Accordingly, there is always room for development.
h. Visualization
The next tool is MindManager. It is also a rather useful program that belongs to basic skills and allows you to structure information in the form of a mindmap.
i. Graphic editor
Analysts can also benefit from graphic editors - not only sophisticated Photoshop, but also, for example, classic Paint. There is an even more powerful program - SNAGIT - I recommend it.
j. Multimedia editors
Of course, you can use PowerPoint for presentations, but in today's environment, the Prezi tool is becoming quite popular. It makes presentations more interesting and interactive. Plus, if you master the creation of video clips, in particular, the Camtasia Studio program, which allows you to record a video series of demonstrations of applications, this will be useful in terms of the fact that the client cannot always devote time to you now, but you can provide him with a video -file, and the client is more likely to look at it than if he starts clicking on the system buttons on his own.
1.2 Theories and techniques of business analysis
The next block is the theory and technique of business analysis. These are the skills that help you become a direct business analyst.
In this context, knowledge and skills in the areas of:
Requirements Management
Change management
Development of design artifacts
Relevant toolkit
a. Requirements Management
The first block of knowledge is requirements management. Here it is important to know how to identify sources and how to identify requirements, and what to do with them after that: analyze, specify (document), check.
b. Change management
This is a sub-block of requirements management, but I took it out separately to focus your attention on it. The fact is that it is very important to understand traces (there is a separate report on this topic at the conference). It is important to know how to manage the scope of a project.
a. Design Artifacts
Next - the ability to describe the Vision, Software Requirements Specification, prepare a user manual. Sometimes I heard the opinion that an analyst should not write user manuals, that this is the job of a technical writer. I consider this a rather narrow view of the world, because, in general, the task of an analyst is to contribute to the creation of a product that will be successful and useful, and a technical writer is not always allocated in the team. Those. no need to "weigh the dogs" on top of each other. The most effective way to work with the system and user documentation can be written by an analyst. Even if he does not write, he should have a general understanding of what user documentation is and how it differs from baseline documentation, specifications.
b. Tools
In the field of theories and analysis techniques, tools for requirements management are also highlighted, such as Enterprise Architect, Borland CaliberRM (a separate stand was presented at the conference, and a report was also read), etc. Non-specialized tools are also used for requirements management - Excel, Jira
1.3 Business fundamentals
What can be useful for you in knowing the basics of business for your development?a. Fundamentals of Economics
You will need knowledge of what TCO (total cost of ownership), ROI (Return on Investment), EBIDAT (Earnings before depreciation and taxes), ABC (Activity-Based Costing), etc. are. These terms should be learned because you, as a business analyst, must contribute to the success of the business, and understanding the fundamentals of economics (understanding what the software is made for and how the effectiveness of software implementation will be evaluated) is essential for the analyst to make good decisions. You don't just need to collect and manage requirements, but do so within the constraints of the project (which are often related to economics - resources are not limitless, nor is money).
b. Business process engineering
The skill of developing business processes can also be useful. Moreover, this also includes the understanding that business processes are basic and auxiliary, and also that their design takes place in the AS IS (as it is now) and TO BE (as it is recommended or as it should be) paradigms.
I don’t stop in more detail, because for my purposes - to identify the points of development of the analyst, and then it is supposed to independently study these areas.
c. Process Modeling Notations
For business process engineering, you will need knowledge of certain notations in which you will describe processes. Of course, they can be described simply in words, but the following business process modeling notations are also quite common: BPML (Business Processes Modeling Language), IDEFx, CFF (cross-functional flowcharts) and conventional flowcharts.
d. Tools
Appropriate tools in the field of business process description and economic planning(which I met) - BPWin and Business Studio.
1.4 IS development
An analyst who develops information systems must master the techniques and methods of their development.a. Fundamentals of architecture
The first block is the basics of architecture - a general understanding of what an IS is, understanding of client-server technology and building databases, knowledge of the site structure (including understanding of HTML, CMS devices, knowledge of ready-made CMS), as well as understanding protocols and data transfer formats (XML, CSV, and so on).
b. Design Notations
You may find useful design notations such as UML, DFD, flowcharts.
c. Ergonomics
In addition to general knowledge of IS development, you will need knowledge of ergonomics (usability), and in this regard, pay attention to standards such as web-style guide, mobile-style guide. A development of ICs for iPhone and Android has a set of best practices and requirements standards for how it should be designed mobile applications. In particular, on the AppStore you will certify your application, and if it does not meet the standards, it will not be allowed to pass.
d. Tools
The toolkit allows you to design efficiently and conveniently from the point of view of the project and from the point of view of those for whom this project is being done. In particular, these are prototyping tools (Balsamiq Mockups, Axure, JustInMind - including mobile interfaces). MS Visio is also used for these purposes.
1.5 Documentation
a. Competent language and correct design
The next block of skills is documentation. Analysts write documents and they (documents) must be literate both in terms of language, correct use technical style, competent writing as well as in terms of design. This factor is determined by how pleasant your document is to handle, how neat and uniform it is, how well it is prepared for printing. This, by the way, is a very important point - 90% of the documents that external analysts send me, when trying to print (especially for Excel spreadsheets), are displayed on 10 sheets in a chaotic manner. Then you have to manually try to assemble them, which is almost impossible. But the fact is that Excel does not format the page for printing by default. Analysts need to know what is special settings structure and page type, which set the output format for printing, the order of pages, their numbering. Pay attention to this - prepare a document, then print it out and see if it is convenient to use or if the document needs to be put in order.
b. Ergonomics
For paperwork, there is also a set of standards in the field of ergonomics (or usability, as it is now more popularly expressed). In particular, among technical writers, MS Manual of Style is considered one of the proven standards. At the moment there are more than 400 pages and it is very good in terms of how to write English-language technical documentation - what terms to use (for example, “click the button” or “click on the button”), how to format and structure correctly.
c. Tools
And of course, the tools for preparing documents. It can be MS Word, OpenOffice (for Linux). Programs for generating PDF documents (Acrobat) are also required. And the Wiki will also come in handy for documentation. In particular, knowledge of wiki markup (a specific language that is quickly mastered) will allow you to better understand in which case the document should be formatted in Word, and in which case - in Wiki.
1.6 Additional competencies
Additional competencies in the field of hard skills that I would like to draw attention to are the following.a. Fundamentals of Management
The analyst, one way or another, always accompanies the manager on the project and somewhere shares areas of responsibility with him, somewhere he can replace him, somewhere, communicating with the client, he somehow makes decisions on including requirements in the project. Those. it is, on the one hand, analytics, on the other - management.
b. Knowledge in the subject area
Here it can be very useful (and more often it is fundamental) - this is domain expertise. Whatever project you start doing, specify in which domain it will be carried out - it can be finance, insurance, tourism - and carefully familiarize yourself with this subject area. Of course, in terms of general development, it is not advisable to grab onto all areas, because. there are a lot of them, and diving into the domain in which you are running a project can be useful.
c. Applied expertise
Applied expertise is also important as an additional competence. Moreover, different application areas can be important from project to project. For example, if the project is carried out in the field of tourism, then it will be useful to know the "traveling salesman problem" in graph theory, which is studied in applied mathematics. Namely, you need to understand how to take tourists from the airport to hotels, provided that the group is a team and hotels are located at 10 points in the city. With this expertise, the analyst will be able to offer a more competent solution than he will not be in the subject.
d. Business Toolkit
Knowledge of the tools that the business uses, such as ERP systems, CRM systems, etc., can be useful.
We also included the foreign languages mentioned above in the group of additional competencies. In addition, it should be clarified that it is highly recommended to learn English at a decent level - at least because this will allow you to understand a lot of useful literature that comes out on English language, but, unfortunately, is not always translated into Russian, as well as to communicate on forums with fellow analysts from other countries.
2. Soft skills
Next, I propose to move on to a review of personal characteristics that develop more complex and longer. Let me remind you that my task is to pay attention to key skills. Development tips - read the relevant literature, attend trainings, try it out in practice.
So, among the soft-skills, the most important are, firstly, the basic skills.
2.1 Basic skills
Among them, first of all, are:
independence,
learnability,
good memory,
clarity of presentation of information.
a. Independence
Analysts rarely lead projects in large groups. Usually, an analyst either manages the project entirely himself, or, even if he works in a team of analysts, all the same, each analyst is responsible for one area. Accordingly, the analyst must be able to manage his project entirely on his own.
b. Learnability
The work of an analyst is always research, i. a large amount of information passes through it and it needs to be quickly grasped, processed and transmitted.
c. Good memory
Needed for the same reasons as learning - you have to keep a lot of details in your mind.
d. Clarity of presentation of information
When transferring information to the customer or developer, there should be no misunderstanding. Information must be clearly structured.
2.2 Analytical skills
First of all, this is analytical thinking, which implies the ability to be critical of the situation, the ability to transform what you receive into a data structure, and not directly transfer what is received as input.
Also, the analyst needs the ability to work with large amounts of information, the ability to work in conditions of uncertainty and presentation skills.
2.3 Personal skills
a. Activity
It is important for an analyst to be active: as the project moves forward, it must take active position find out the requirements. Also during the acceptance of the results of the project, he cannot afford a passive position.
b. Pedantry
Analysts should be attentive to details and should not lose sight of any critical things. Those. the phrase “and so it will do” is not about a real analyst - he must be different in character.
c. Creativity
The fact is that analysts always not only receive information, but also create something: either they determine process reengineering (then you need to come up with the most optimal way to do it), or they come up with new systems (i.e., they create from scratch).
2.4 Interpersonal skills
a. Sociability
In the field of interpersonal skills for analysts, first of all, communication skills, sociability, the ability to ask questions and correctly convey information, the ability to tune in to the client's wave are important.
b. Teamwork
It is also important that the analyst be able to work in a team. Those. someone surly, who likes to work with computers rather than with people, is unlikely to fit into the position of an analyst. In this case, I would recommend developing skills in sociability and teamwork.
c. Organizational skills And
Self-organization and team organization skills are also quite important for an analyst.
2.5 Business skills
Next, we explain what should be included in the business skills of an analyst:
Customer focus
business acumen
Ability to negotiate
Stress resistance
In particular, many books have been written on the subject of negotiation skills. It is highly recommended that analysts know how to communicate effectively and convince of something (for example, it is not uncommon for some features to be included in the release, and in such a situation the analyst needs to be a diplomat).
Let me remind you once again about stress resistance - analysts, as a rule, work in conditions of uncertainty and this quality will be very useful.
3. We increase efficiency
How can you improve the efficiency of the analyst? I can give 2 basic tips besides the basic tools.3.1 Assistant analysts
Firstly, quite good assistants to the analyst - all kinds of collections (icons, graphical primitives). For example, you found something you like and saved it to disk or asked a designer to draw it. In this case, it will be easier to prepare documents later and draw prototypes using these elements (i.e. during development, you will not look for where to get it from or where to draw it - the images will look nice and neat).
Email templates and functional patterns also help analysts. Where can they come from? After completing previous projects, save the results (best practices) to your knowledge base. Thus, from project to project, you will accumulate not only experience in your head, but also a good base of ready-made developments that can be used in future projects for better efficiency.
Also a good source of knowledge is analytical materials (for example, market reviews).
3.2 Objective assessment of reality
And the second clue about what can improve your performance is an objective assessment of yourself. You need to understand how well you own certain analytical skills (you can use the list above to test your hard and soft skills). Such a check will allow you to understand where you are going next.
In life, there are a lot of examples of when people think they are cool, but they are not. Most often, self-esteem is overestimated. But when an analyst believes that he is cool, he cannot work more efficiently. Remember the words of Socrates "I know that I know nothing" and their continuation: "But others do not even know this." If a person believes that he is already at the top, then you will not climb further up. For example, with regards to MS Word, 90% will say that they are “fluent”, although they do not know how to use either fields or macros.
4. Development plan
The fact is that once you have realized the depth of your ignorance, then you can develop a development plan. And if you also do it honestly, then your efficiency increases most quickly. This plan allows you to constantly run forward.
Never stand still, because whoever stands still inevitably slides back. And in modern world this is basically unrealistic.
What can be done?
1. Identify areas of interest to you
2. Fix your current skill level
3. Form development goals and achievement criteria
4. Determine ways to achieve goals
A fairly large number of areas of activity, tools that can be useful to analysts have already been identified above. It is not a fact that you own all this and that you need them all right now. But, nevertheless, from the listed list (and maybe something else - I do not claim to be complete), determine what is most interesting to you.
1. Definition of areas of interest
At this step, you can write down all the possible skills and tasks of analysts in a table like the one attached (the presentation file is available on the AnalystDays-2012 conference page). Then you should put a weight in front of each skill - how important this or that skill is for you (and / or for the company - depends on the level at which the plan is built). You can use a scale from 0 to 5 or from 0 to 100 (the example uses a scale of 0..5). In principle, the same classification can be used in your career.
Our company uses gradation into 3 levels of specialists - Junior, Specialist, Expert - and inside them there is a division into 3 levels from R1 to R3. For each of these levels, certain criteria have been introduced, what skills they need and at what level of proficiency.
As a recommendation, the plan should take into account both broad-based skills and highly specialized skills. But everything is worth considering. And you should also add to the table and those additional skills that, although not fundamental in the work of an analyst, however, simplify life and make his work more efficient.
Also, when drawing up a plan, the following criteria should be taken into account: individuality, linkage to the certification system, specificity, measurability, consistency with management.
As a result, on the basis of this classification, you can not only draw up a personal development plan, but at the same time determine what career opportunities arise for you when mastering certain skills.
The Dilemma of Choice
When drawing up such a development plan, the question arises - speaking of analysts and the requirements for them, is it correct to mix analysts involved in different tasks or not? And is it worth it to spray on everything or concentrate on some narrow field of activity? The question is quite philosophical, and everyone answers it independently. For example, there are personal preferences for business process modeling and therefore you want to study this area as deeply as possible - no one will stop you from doing this. Or someone wants to explore more various areas business analysis, which will also be good for your career, because. you will understand where and what techniques can be used, you will be able to flexibly select them depending on the characteristics of your project.
And I would like to give a few theses, how it can be useful for analysts specifically wide horizon.
The fact is that with such a plan there is practically no limit. Most likely, the whole life will not be enough to master the entire width of the topic from and to. You will still focus on some subset of it. However, the already studied subset is of value to the market and you just have to go and coordinate this with your employer.
Those. a wide horizon of skills is useful, interesting, profitable.
2. Assessment of the current level of skills
After determining the weights, you should determine what current level of skills and knowledge of technologies and tools you have. One of the rather convenient methods of assessment is analogues of the assessment of knowledge of foreign languages (from Basic to Intermediate and Advanced). Each of these levels is assigned its own score from 0 to 5. After that, you calculate the total score as the sum of the weighted scores.
3. Definition of development goals
Then you fill in 2 more columns in the plan table - what level of knowledge and skills you expect in a year and a month. This approach is somewhat close to the modern trend of unification, when you subordinate your development to numerical measurements (in fact, you accumulate points). There is still room for development, how this table can be optimized, what “buns” you can give yourself for reaching a particular level.
4. Determination of ways to achieve
After that, you determine how to achieve the goal. For each item you plan to improve, you define literature, trainings, conferences, and so on. You must have a clear understanding of what you plan to do in the next month and next year in order to develop in business analysis.
Results
So, business analysts can have a lot of skills and knowledge, they can be different, they can be applied in different ways on your current projects. But if you feel that you have already reached the ceiling and that you know everything within the framework of the work that you are currently doing right now on projects, do not despair by any means - try to remember today's report, try to look wider at the world and think that I still don't know where else I can develop, where I can move. Definitely, it will be useful for you, in terms of career, and your employer will also appreciate it. What does it mean that you will be more successful in professionally your IT career.
Question 1
What are the criteria for assessing the quality of an analyst's work? How to objectively evaluate the work of your subordinate analysts?You should start by agreeing with the analytics team on the same representation of the quality of work among all members. For example, for me, one of the criteria for the work of an analyst (not the main one) is the quality of the documents they provide. At the same time, it is important for me that the document be beautifully designed, meaningful and logically structured, so that there are no jumps from section to section, etc. Accordingly, we take this particular atomic unit and discuss with the analyst that the quality of the document should be such, and he answers you that he did not even think about it. For example, there is no pagination and okay. He thought that the main thing was to write the text. Thus, having sat down together and having spoken these moments with him, we come to a common understanding of the quality of the document.
Accordingly, you need to go through all the steps of the analyst's work and speak out the quality criteria.
According to the assessment, I can say the following: we have periodic certifications (1-2 times a year), the assessment for which consists of several criteria. Analysts are, first of all, communicators, i.е. they receive information from clients and pass it on to developers. Very important criterion evaluation - what the client thinks about the interaction with the analyst: how quickly he responds to requests, how clear and understandable information he provides to the client, and how effective he is in interacting with the client. This questionnaire is completed by the client. A similar questionnaire is filled out by developers (i.e., the project implementation team): how accessible is the analyst to them, how understandable are the documents provided to them, how comfortable is it for them to work with this analyst on the project.
This is one of the evaluation points for analysts, and it is very important, because he is a translator between the client and the developer, and if at this stage there is a weak link, then no matter how cool he designed and wrote, he did not achieve his goals.
The second point is the effectiveness of the project. Of course, not only the analyst is taken into account here, but, nevertheless, we evaluate the entire team as a whole. But since the analyst was a translator of requirements and, together with the team, formed what this product should do, this is also a rather important characteristic.
The third point - if possible, it is expert review documents, requirements that the analyst produces. For example, within six months he wrote requirements, but some of them were not included in the basic requirements or forgot about them. Or in relation to specifications - how clear, specific, consistent they are. In this way, these documents can be peer-reviewed. There is not always such an opportunity. Usually only the customer or the development team can say something about it.
Why is domain knowledge referred to as additional competencies? It seems to me that this is the main thing: an analyst can draw bad charts, but he must understand what he is doing. There are many people who draw beautiful graphs and UML diagrams, and those who do not understand the essence of the work and do stupid things are the majority.
I agree with this position. However, in the process of preparing the presentation, Sergey and I argued a lot about the grouping of skills for the convenience of their presentation and understanding by analysts. The same basic skills are the foundation that does not allow you to become an analyst, it only allows you to start understanding this industry. Therefore, it may not have domain expertise. Of course, for the successful implementation of projects without it, absolutely nowhere.
Question 2
At one time, I was of the same opinion that analysts can write papers until I met a professional technical writer (from Europe). And I realized that this is a huge area, people even receive special education in this direction. And there is a huge difference between what business analysts, salespeople, project managers, developers write, and what technical writers write - in fact, it's an abyss. It seems to me that if there is a possibility (for example, in large companies there is such a practice), to outsource technical writing to professional company. They give public information about any product and they immediately write professional documentation, and do not try to do it inside.I started my career just as a technical writer, so all this is very close to me, I understand very clearly what you are talking about now. In my experience and the way I performed my analytical functions with a technical writing base, and comparing this with analysts who do not have this base, I still think that analysts should have writing skills technical documentation. This makes you look more professional.
Regarding the fact that something can be divided and outsourced, my entire report can be broken into pieces and say, for example, that business process design should be given to a business process modeling specialist (I met such a specialist who did which none of my business analysts could do). But this is just proof that the better you delve into the areas identified in the report, the better your result will be and the more you will cause a wow reaction from everyone around you.
P.S.. You can also meet Maria and Sergey at future conferences of the series
Do Belarusian companies need business intelligence? The advertisement says that this is one of the most sought-after professions in IT, that it is not so difficult to get it, salaries are measured in thousands of dollars, and there are an incalculable number of vacancies on job search sites. Is it really? And how to become a business analyst if you are far from IT?
Who is a business analyst and what is the essence of his work?
The main task of a business analyst is a detailed study of the structure of the company, the search for problems and the best ways to solve them. Most often, business analysts analyze financial activity organizations, develop a new or improve an old business model, optimize the work process and do their best to increase the company's profit.
Business analysts are needed large enterprises, banks, construction organizations and, of course, IT companies.
For example, the company was contacted by a client whose sales fell. The business analyst needs to find out why this happened: low-quality content on the site, high prices, complex interface, lack of communication in in social networks. The business analyst then details the results of his research and proposes a solution to the problem.
creative work
Creative work: it is necessary to understand what the customer needs, to see ways to implement the idea, to offer new solutions for the development of the company, to decide which technologies will be used in the work. The business analyst is the creative face of the team, as it is he who communicates the client's requirements to the developers and formalizes them properly.
At the same time, a business analyst must be able to politely communicate with a client and resolve conflicts, be accurate and attentive to details, be able to present the project at its final stage and be, as they say, “two steps ahead”.
Project Management Methods
Project management methods are one of the key requirements for employers. If to speak in simple words, then project management is the management and organization of all processes that will lead to a goal, whether it be a competitor analysis or a marketing campaign.
The difficulty lies in the fact that all projects are different, which means that each needs its own approach. For this, it was developed whole system project management methodologies, and of course, employers will demand this knowledge.
What should be a business analyst?
What other requirements apply to a business analyst?
- Skill to work in team,
- Knowledge is enough a large number BY,
- Knowledge of software development methodology
- Activity and desire to develop,
- English language.
If your level is below Upper-Intermediate, getting a business analyst position will be quite difficult. Indeed, in IT, most often clients are Western companies.
How much do business analysts earn?
A good business analyst can expect to earn at least $1,200. According to dev.by statistics, the median salary of a business analyst is $1,600. Senior receives about $3000. Of course, everything will depend only on your professional skills and desire to develop.
Why is project management so important to business analysts?
Why is project management so important to business analysts? Talks about it Alena Volchek, PMI specialist, AGILE (scrum, kanban) and teacher in
- Now the most demanded in the labor market are the so-called "universal specialists". I call themPM- BA". I myself often had to collect requirements from the customer, write technical requirements and specifications. A project manager can be a good business analyst, but the opposite doesn't always work.
For guys who need to decide whether to go into business analysis or project management, this course is ideal. Since there is a base for business analysis and project management. And where to specialize further, already depends only on them.
Now project management is very important for Belarus, especially the last year and a half. The project approach is being introduced everywhere, not even inIT, and, say, in restaurant business, tourist. The question is only in frames. good managers there are few projects, and those who understandITspecificity is even less.
Is there a division into the humanities and techies here? Humanitarians, as a rule, choose the specialization "Business Analysis", and as for techies, it seems to me that everything is subject to them, if it does not bother the fact that in "Project Management" or "Project Management + Business Analysis" you need to constantly communicate. Not all techies can do it.
Our Academy is worth choosing for a very comfortable atmosphere! The groups become so united during the course that by the end of the course many become real friends, help each other with employment. Teachers build the course program, taking into account the interests of each particular group, and focus on the topics that the group needs.
Topics in the classroom will be very interesting: these are interviews and the features of team formation, protection from manipulation and negotiations and meetings. And also a “mix” in the management of classics and light methodologies, i.e. agile and pmi!
It is very possible to find a job after the course. From the group, at least 2-3 people find work in the first months after the end of the course. But these people are very interested in learning and are ready to change jobs. At the same time, they understand that without work experience it is impossible to immediately count on a salary of $ 1,500, and you need to start small, about $ 400. But the level of responsibility of the assistantPMmuch lower.
As for the best graduates, everything here is like at a university. You can be the best in theory, but fail in practice. Therefore, for me, the best ones are those who quickly master project management programs, grab ideas on how to combine them. Gaps in theory are easily filled, but you need to know the main points by heart: risks, deadlines, cost and team.
If you decide to change something in your life, in your profession, doubt less and do more. Without trying, you will never understand if this is your profession or not. In the meantime, you think, someone has already signed up for your place in my group!
Humanitarians have a place inIT
Vitaly Borodin, a practicing business analyst and educator, talked about why humanities can be better than techies, and why projects can fail without business analysts.
- The importance of the profession of a business analyst is explained very simply, and at the same time quite complicated. Let's try to figure it out. In the classical sense, BA is an intermediary between the customer and the developer, but what is behind this in practice? Hard intellectual work, which does not come down to a simple relaying of the customer's desire.
I know many projects that did not become successful precisely because of the lack of a business analyst. How it all happened: the customer says: "I want ...", and the developer implements the customer's desire. The customer looks at the result and understands that what he wanted was implemented, but it is completely impossible to use it due to some list of reasons.
In the case when a business analyst is involved in the project, he first of all analyzes the customer's business, identifies bottlenecks, the reasons why the activity is not as successful as it could be. After that, he determines and agrees with the customer on the identified needs, approaches to satisfy them, determines the concept of a solution that can be associated not only with the development of a new software product, but also with the modernization of business processes. If the proposed concept is accepted by the customer, then work can continue. At the same time, the business analyst must also remember that in some cases it may be necessary to leave everything as it is, and this will be more effective.
Five or seven years ago, analysts were not so popular with us, as we traditionally lag behind in many areas. Now companies are learning to operate more intelligently, and come to understand the need and importance of the role of a business analyst. Yes, business analyst rewards may be high, but they pay off in reduced development time and the creation of better software solutions.
Business analysis is not as simple a profession as it seems. And there are many explanations for this. First of all, the software you create should not be just a program. The ideal option is when it is possible to create a new philosophy of conducting the company's operations, which is integrated into business processes, and in some cases even using a software product to build business processes, regulate and regulate the activities of each employee.
For example, who can imagine modern company, which does not useCRM? Or some software for bookkeeping? Now imagine a company, each software product of which has an integration with another, when you can get the information that you need at the moment in several manipulations in the same software environment. Just? Hardly.
Theoretically, anyone can learn to become a business analyst, but with one condition: there must be a clear motivation and understanding of why this is needed. In addition, it is necessary to clearly understand that business analysis is studied all the time while it works. You never know what project will be next: a website, a search engine, an online store, a reference and information system, a payment service, a graphic editor.
Young specialists with off-scale ambitions often completely forget that for high salaries it is necessary to work hard enough, and only theoretical knowledge obtained even in a prestigious educational institution, absolutely not enough.
I do not know of any profession where you can get big money on the go. In any case, you need to get some set of basic knowledge, practical skills. Then there will be the first project, the first bumps, again new project, a lot of new knowledge, and so on ad infinitum. This is an experience. That experience and knowledge that a business analyst receives with each project can turn into a coefficient by which the beginner's remuneration will change. And after some time, it may be a few months, for someone a few years, you can get to the concept of "earn a lot."
I am a supporter of the fact that this profession is more suitable for the humanities, since they think a little differently, for them the word “impossible” does not exist, they are more creators than hard workers. The main thing to remember is that the creation meets the interests of the customer. The technical specialist thinks in formulas, while the humanist describes the essence itself.
Our IT Academy "BelHard" has all necessary resources and infrastructure for successful learning. First of all, it's frames. All teachers are practicing specialists, each of them has various projects in their portfolio, thanks to which the “dry theory” is explained in practical examples and specific decisions that were made during the implementation of projects. In addition, the course is designed in such a way that anyone can learn, regardless of his age and knowledge.
Let me give you a few tips for beginners. Make sure that there is motivation and desire to explore a new direction, there is a willingness to learn a lot, and after completing the course, start a career almost from the very beginning, and, regardless of age and past merits, become a beginner who after some time will become a specialist and will be able to hear , as a satisfied user will say: “What a cool program, a genius came up with it!” But there is a difficult and long way to go.
How to become a business analyst?
If you are still confident in your motivation to become a part of IT, then you should find out where you can get this profession.
IT Academy "BelHard" offers an integrated course. Here you will learn how to design information system and manage its development, learn effective methods collecting user requirements, formalizing them in a form that is accessible and understandable to all interested parties, learn how to manage the joint work of teams that solve different problems and learn how to create a finished product.
This course differs from ordinary business analysis in that you will learn not only to analyze a business and propose a development strategy, but also to manage projects yourself, by human resourses, risks. You will acquire skills in two specialties at once, and this will double your chances of finding a prestigious and well-paid job.
Also, BelHard IT Academy has developed a course after which you will become a real business analyst!
In the courses you will learn about the features of software projects and modern software development methodologies, get acquainted with the functions performed by a business analyst, as well as with the basic skills of a business analyst, learn necessary tools and software, gain invaluable experience in the preparation and execution of technical specifications.
By the way, if you want to become a true professional in the field of business analysis and study this area a little deeper, then you can take a course. You will learn the UML modeling language, learn what user stories are, and learn how to manage requirements.
All courses at BelHard IT Academy are aimed at practical training in order to achieve the highest results. At the end of the course, all participants submit a project, according to which the final certification will be carried out. And remember that the main investment in your life is an investment in yourself and your knowledge!
Business analysts in IT help managers make the right and informed decisions. Thanks to business analysis, you can adjust the development strategy and work with the system based on clear arguments and specific data. That is why IT companies need good business analysts. Today we are talking about the specifics of the profession, tasks, areas of responsibility and how to become a business analyst with Evgenia Shpilnaya, a teacher of courses and trainings in business analysis.
Evgenia, why do IT companies need business analysis?
The most important task of business analysis- compare the state of existing processes with the needs of the customer and offer options for optimizing current processes and / or organizing new processes in accordance with business objectives. All proposed options are carefully worked out by the analyst, all the pros and cons are weighed, and, if possible, providedeconomic rationale for each decision.
Tell us how you got into the profession, where did you start?
I studied IT at the university (Software for computer technology and automated systems). Until the last course, I was sure that I would become a developer. During the training, we were told how the development process goes in general, which employees are involved. They also talked about the tasks of an analyst. This area interested me a lot. After receiving my diploma, I had to choose what to do next. By that time, it became clear that I would not go into development, there were analytics and testing. I chose analytics because the profession is partly creative. You need to come up with ideas, work out solutions, put everything on the shelves.
First I worked as an intern, then as a technical writer and systems analyst. So I reached the position of a business analyst, gradually developing the necessary competencies and skills
What is the difference between business analysis and systems analysis?
In fact, the difference between business analysis and system analysis is the level of elaboration of requirements for the product, for the automated system.The business analyst works with business requirements, while the system- in the field of system requirements.But where the border is between these two types of requirements, each company determines for itself. The tasks of a business analyst in one company may overlap with those of a systems analyst in another.
The diagram shows the levels of elaboration of requirements for an automated system. As a rule, the lower block of system requirements is in the competence of the system analyst, and the upper one, with business requirements,- business analytics. How to distribute the remaining requirements between system and business analysis is decided individually in each company.There is no clear boundary here.
Development of requirements for software, Carl I. Vigers
Why then draw a line between business analysis and systems analysis, should it be drawn?
The line is drawn precisely because of the main area with which the analyst works. It can be a business (processes, people, goals, indicators) or a system. It means automated system, i.e. some application that allows the user to achieve certain goals. At the same time, within the framework of the whole process, these can only be intermediate goals.If the project is small, it makes no sense to separate tasks and take two analysts to the company, in which case one specialist can handle it.How larger project, the more likely it is to separate tasks.
What knowledge and skills do you need to have to become a business analyst?
Since we are talking about business analysis in IT, it is desirable to have some kind of IT background. At a minimum, know the main features of technologies and the differences between them. Analysis skills required- ability to collect data, analyze, draw conclusions.
Among business analysts there are those who have not worked in IT before, but already in the process got acquainted with development methodologies.
You also need attention to detail and a desire to understand the problem, the ability to clearly and clearly express your thoughts, good communication skills (the ability to actively listen, ask questions). What is important is the ability to work with a large amount of information, responsibility and, perhaps, a tendency to perfectionism. If you recognize yourself in this psychological portrait, business analysis is right for you.
What are the requirements for business analysts employers?
Usually this higher education (information Technology or mathematics), because it is these areas that people with analytical, structural thinking tend to choose. But some companies require experience in their industry. For example, if a company operates in the medical field, a medical degree may be required. As for the skills of an analyst, an employer may be interested in the experience of collecting and describing requirements (Vision, Use-Cases, User Stories, SRS), identifying and documenting business processes, and modeling business processes. Experience in prototyping user interfaces will also come in handy. These are the points we will be talking about in this course. I will tell you in detail why each process is needed, where to start, what to pay attention to.
Also in job requirements you can find knowledge of modeling tools (MS Visio, ARIS, Enterprise architect, Bizagi, etc.), knowledge of interface prototyping tools (Balsamiq, Axura, etc.), knowledge of modeling notations (UML, IDEF, BPMN, etc.) . We will also talk about which tools to choose during the course, there will also be practical homework assignments. You can study the software in detail yourself,
Do not focus on specific programs. The higher the qualification of a specialist, the less he depends on the tools.
How long does it take to become a highly qualified specialist?
It depends on the person himself. You need to spend 10,000 hours of practice to become a professional in some area, and this is about 5-6 years of work. If all this time is devoted to an in-depth study of the chosen field, then 5 years is more than enough to become an expert. True, it is worth remembering that business analysis, like all areas in IT, does not stand still. You always need to follow trends, learn the news, constantly learn.
Which career prospects waiting for analysts?
It can be horizontal growth: deepening into specialization, transition to system analysis, data analysis. Or vertical growth: a shift in management, the work of a department head, project manager, product manager.
Where can you start to become a business analyst?
You can start as a technical writer, assistant business analyst, intern. Or you can start with testing, but the path may be longer. If you are going to become a business analyst, but it is not yet possible to apply for such vacancies, try to get a position where there is an opportunity to work with analysts.
On we study what skills are needed for successful work, look at how to succeed in each of the areas. The course provides a good vector for further development.
Why is it worth taking a course at the IT Academy, because you can study on your own, learn everything about the profession?
The course is not like university lectures. Classes are held in small groups, and it is always a dialogue, a two-way format. You can ask an expert teacher questions that really interest you, get an answer quickly, and communicate with colleagues. This is a valuable experience.
Start with Books: Carl I. Wiegers, Joy Beatty Software Requirements Engineering, Alistair Coburn Modern methods descriptions of functional requirements for systems” and others. A lot of useful materials for website analystsanalyst.by , habrahabr.ru , uml2.ru .
What advice would you give to those who want to work as an IT analyst?
The profession of a business analyst is creative, but at the same time it involves a lot of responsibility. You don't have to be afraid of this. And, of course, always develop, look at what is happening around, learn new things.
We invite you to , where you can learn more about the profession and try your hand at real cases from the practice of a teacher. And you can get more complete knowledge on. Waiting for you!
