Business Analysts play a crucial role in requirements gathering and management within an organisation. They act as a bridge between stakeholders and the development team, ensuring that the software or product being developed meets the needs of the business.

What is a business analyst?

A business analyst is a person who uses data analysis to analyse, understand, and document business processes, goods, services, and software. A business analyst’s job is to assure increased business efficiency through their understanding of both technology and business operations.

Business Analysts and Requirements Management

Although the responsibilities of a business analyst may vary across different businesses most of which will be responsible for requirements analysis.

When a new project is assigned to an organisation, there are frequently a large number of requirements from the stakeholders, particularly the clients. Meetings with these stakeholders are necessary for the business analyst to comprehend their needs.

This is a crucial phase in any business process because demands from superiors are frequently complex and ambiguous. As a result, there needs to be someone who can translate the many communications from various stakeholders into commercial or organisational terms.

Here are some key ways in which Business Analysts contribute to requirements gathering and management:

Discovery

In the requirements discovery phase, we locate, compile, and scope the requirements. In this stage, the delivery framework’s fundamental requirements are built. A business analyst employs a variety of requirements elicitation techniques, such as observation, shadowing, protocol analysis, apprenticeship, prototyping, focus groups, scenarios, background research, and many more, to identify and collect requirements. These methods are intended to gather data regarding a business issue and/or a solution that business stakeholders are attempting to implement.

Identification of requirements is a highly involved process that depends on the participation of the appropriate parties. As a business analyst is moving through other stages or steps of requirements gathering, elicitation activities continue.

It is crucial for a business analyst to scope the requirement as well as identify it. Needs are fuelled by data gathered through a variety of elicitation techniques, but it is still necessary to assess their applicability.

The simplest method to accomplish this is to repeatedly use some of the elicitation techniques. Check for facts using secondary evidence, such as documents or data from another source, just to be sure. Your scope should be mapped out based on the general flow of information and the desired outcome for stakeholders. This is why it is important for a business analyst to ensure that all stakeholders are involved, read more on this in our other blog ‘Identifying Stakeholders for Requirements Gathering.’

In the world of the business analyst, scoping cannot be absolute. It’s a loose barrier that must be adaptable enough to take into account changes in other business or priorities. The business analyst can define a working environment with loose boundaries that will enable a successful output.

Analyse

The analysis of a demand is the most crucial step in the requirements management process. When we analyse a requirement, we get a clear result and comprehensive instructions on how to get there. There are many different types of analysis, including technical, functional, and strategic analysis.

Understanding the advantages, disadvantages, opportunities, and risks presented by implementing this need allows for strategic analysis. Understanding the importance and priority of a requirement can assist a business analyst assess how crucial it is for a company to implement that requirement.

The capacity to comprehend the need from the end user’s perspective is provided through functional analysis. Interacting with those affected by the implementation of requirements is how it is carried out. A business analyst is given a rare chance to mould the solution in a way that accommodates the minimal, simple adjustment to the end users or the affected.

The technical analysis is carried out by further decomposing the functional requirements into a number of manageable implementation steps. The technical solution must be delivered by the delivery person or team. In order to successfully develop a solution, it is crucial to not overlook any component of the functional requirements as they are translated into technical requirements.

Document

Business analysts can design these requirements in their respective artefacts if they have an understanding of the type of needs and the expected results. A business analyst is the author and owner of a number of artefacts, including the software requirements document (SRD), and user stories. A business analyst also actively participates in the creation of other artefacts, such as the SRD. Writing requirements requires the most time because the translation calls for many back and forth exchanges and explanations. It’s time to go through each requirement with the team after it has been written. For more information on writing a SRD read our other blog ‘How to Write a Software Requirements Document (SRD).’

Implement

The first stage in implementing requirements is to set up a walkthrough of recently written requirements with participation from all stakeholders, including the delivery team. In the event that a mistake is made when creating the requirements, this walk-through session aids in course correction. Also, requirements walkthrough is a standard platform where stakeholders and other team members may check if the requirements are in line with the anticipated end state. Business analysts must ensure ongoing requirement refinement after the requirements have been created and finalised to ensure effective delivery.

The requirements management process comes to an end with this stage. Following the identification, scoping, analysis, drafting, and confirmation of a need, business analysts must keep an eye out for ongoing business developments that could have an impact on any of the previously recognised requirements and their intended consequences. The effects on the already drafted requirements are continual since business changes are constant. A minor deviation from the criteria can still be managed by updating and refining them, but if the divergence calls for significant additional work at a high cost, then enhancement should be taken into consideration. Before taking the proper activities in response, a business analyst must assess this choice.

Conclusion

Overall, business analysts play a vital role in ensuring that software or product development meets the needs of the business. They bring a unique perspective to requirements gathering and management, focusing on the business goals while ensuring that technical solutions are feasible and practical. The best way for business analysts to ensure their requirements are gathered properly is by utilising software. For more on this read ‘Why You Should Use Software for the Requirements Gathering Process.’