A business analyst is a professional who establishes the working of operations, systems, and procedures in a business. A skilled business analyst determines the business areas, procedures, and operations to increase the value of a company.
Business analyst deals with business challenges and technology solutions by working together with system analysts. As a part of the job, they can also recommend technology tools and software applications to enhance business operations.
Software business analysts do many things other than recommending software applications and tools. If you are interested in this job profile and want to know “what is a business analyst role in the software industry?” you have come to the right place. I have done detailed research and can help you understand the roles and responsibilities deeply.
Here’s what I found:
Business analysts in the software industry are known to gather information from technical and business departments. They assess requirements and processes to enhance the quality of software that the company produces.
They try to understand why users need a new application. It’s their role to define functional, non-functional, and users’ requirements to plan, design, evaluate, and build the product.
There’s so much more to the everyday life of a business analyst in the software industry. You can continue reading to know the roles, skills, and other details.
The Software Industry
The software industry is responsible for managing, distributing, developing, and maintaining software. The industry consists of database and analytics software, application software, software-as-a-service (SaaS), system infrastructure software, and operating systems.
The Software Development Life Cycle
SDLC- Software Development Life Cycle is a term that describes different steps involved in the software development process. Through the SDLC process, the quality of the software is improved.
It also involved a development stage and detailed planning that helped the team understand how the software can be maintained, developed, and replaced.
Through the series of SDLC stages, the professionals try to meet the customer’s requirements and expectations. The process consists of seven different stages.
- Planning Stage
- Feasibility or Requirements of Analysis Stage
- Design and Prototyping Stage
- Software Development Stage
- Software Testing Stage
- Implementation and Integration
- Operations and Maintenance Stage
SDLC Models
The development of software takes place by following the SDLC models. There are various models, and each one differs in terms of the series of steps taken for software development.
Below are the common SDLC models used in the IT industry:
- Waterfall Model: Its common software development life cycle model requires you to complete each step before committing to the next one. This model reviews each phase once completed to ensure the project moves correctly. If any issue is found during the review, it can be fixed, so the project becomes feasible to continue.
- Incremental Model: While the waterfall model is common, this one is more manageable. This SDLC model involves several development cycles divided into small iterations. The smaller iterations can easily go through different phases, including testing, design, implementation, and requirements.
- V-Shaped Model: It’s similar to the Waterfall model as the processes here are completed in a sequential manner. However, in this V-Shaped model, professionals pay attention to testing. Before writing code, a testing procedure is made, and a systematic plan is generated.
- Agile Model: This software development model assists in rapidly delivering working software products to offer better customer satisfaction.
The Business Analyst’s Role in the Software Development Cycle
A business analyst’s main role is represented by a marketing person or product manager in the consumer product companies. They understand the market landscape and analyze the user’s needs.
A business analyst helps in gathering information from technical and business departments. They assess requirements and processes to enhance the quality of software that the company produces.
They try to understand why users need a new application. It’s their role to define functional, non-functional, and users’ requirements to plan, design, evaluate, and build the product.
Whether a service-based company or a product-based company, a business analyst’s role doesn’t change much, but some differences exist.
For instance, a business analyst in a service-based company demonstrates flexibility. They might have to work on several projects related to different domains. The risk of unexpected modification requests from clients is high.
On the other hand, business analysts focus on the product’s features and domain in product-based companies. In this case, the business analyst does not have to worry about switching clients as the company and product they are working for, in a way, is the client.
A business analyst must see the entire system in the software development life cycle. It’s important that they must be aware of the system to guide the project in the right direction.
The successful business analyst in the software industry should be:
- Aware of the technical skills that are needed for completing a project efficiently
- Communicate well so they can make their team understand the ideas and changes
- Good at planning so they can perfectly complete the task of each development cycle phase.
Overall, a good business analyst in the software industry needs management, interpersonal, analytical, and technical skills. If the business analyst is not skilled enough, they might ruin the SDLC process.
For the success of a given project, business analysts should understand their responsibilities. They are expected to:
- ️Gather facts and information
- They must nicely draw specifications so the users and programmers can easily understand
- Analyze the process to decide which feature to keep and which one to eliminate
- Must keep the modularity for later integration while implementing logical systems
- Must evaluate and modify the project’s goals
- They can suggest alternative solutions
The Business Analyst Role in the Planning/Analysis Phase
Before starting the planning phase, business analysts must acquire proper knowledge and understanding of the app development life cycle. In this place, the developers create a strategic plan for their upcoming project so everything can be completed smoothly.
The planning phase, also called the feasibility phase, helps identify the problem and scope of the existing systems. Developers can also understand the new system’s objective for better functioning.
Developers try to catch problems before they affect development theoretically. It’s done by creating a better and more effective outline for upcoming development. They need to make the plan happen to secure resources and funding.
Proper planning can help develop and send a project by a certain time for a commercial product.
The Business Analyst’s Role in Analysis Phase
The details required for developing a new system are gathered in the analysis stage. In addition, this stage also deals with determining ideas for prototypes.
The analysis stage requires developers to evaluate alternatives to the existing prototypes, define prototype system requirements, and perform analysis to know the needs of end-users.
This stage also requires developers to create software requirement specifications for hardware, network, and software. When working as another development team or at the same place, the software requirement specification helps in overdrawing resources or funding.
The Business Analyst’s Role in the Design Phase
The predecessor to the main developer stage is the design stage. In the design phase, the developers must create details of the overall application, including specific aspects like system interface, user interface, databases, and network requirements.
The main object of the design phase is to make the software requirement specification document more logical. It can later be implemented in a programming language. Developers get an idea of what they need to do during the cycle through operating, training, and maintenance plans.
To be referenced in the coming design phase of SDLC, development managers in the design phase prepare a design document.
The Business Analyst’s Role in Development Phase
After the design phase, the developers write code and build applications based on the outlined specifications and earlier design documents. This phase is called the development phase. It requires developers to use SAST tools (Static Application Security Testing).
On the basis of design document specifications, the product program code is built. The real development phase is relatively straightforward by the initial planning and outline.
Developers use different tools like interpreters, debuggers, and compilers. In addition, they follow coding guidelines by the organization.
Different programming languages include PHP, C++, and more. Depending on the project requirement and specifications, developers can choose the required programming code.
The Business Analyst’s Role in Testing Phase
Even after creating software, the work doesn’t end. The developers need to ensure that the developed software doesn’t have bugs. If the software is delivered without testing, the presence of bugs might ruin the end-user’s experience.
Developers look for bugs or defects during the testing phase. If they find any, they need to fix it and retest the software. Testing is necessary to ensure the developed software meets the quality standard defined in the software requirement specification document.
Testing software can either be a short process or a long one. The time required for testing is influenced by the complexity of the software, end-user requirements, and the developer’s skill.
The Business Analyst’s Role in Deployment Phase
Software is ready for deporting if no bugs or errors are found. Depending on the assessment, the software will either be released with suggested enhancement in the objective segment or as it is. The maintenance of software begins after it is deployed.
The Business Analyst’s Role in the Maintenance Phase
The developers must move into the maintenance mode after the software reaches the market. In the maintenance mode, they practice activities to handle any issues reported by the end-users.
In the maintenance phase, developers also perform the required changes after the deployment. The issue includes fixing the bugs that were not found during testing. If the software system is larger, it will require longer maintenance stages.
Conclusion
Business analysts in the software industry play an essential role in the software development life cycle. They are involved in each stage so the software products can be completed smoothly.