A Business Analyst is in charge of studying a company's business needs and developing a solution to meet those needs. They are most often associated with software development, but they can work in any field where it is necessary to understand how to improve processes or systems. In this blog post we describe the primary responsibilities and the most in-demand hard and soft skills for Business Analysts.

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Main Responsibilities of Business Analyst

The following list describes the typical responsibilities of a Business Analyst:

Adhere to

• Adhere to corporate information security guidelines and promote information security among coworkers.

• Adhere to Enterprise Data Management Standards and Risk Data Aggregation requirements.

• Adhere to the company policies and procedures and ensure a safe and healthy workplace environment.

Analyse

• Analyse data to determine product performance and propose optimizations.

• Analyse FATS's data quality (manufacturing execution system).

• Analyze and synthesize information provided by stakeholders.

• Analyze data and information to provide insight and recommendations.

• Analyze sales, expenses and profitability.

Apply

• Apply basic theories, concepts, principles and methodologies to developmental assignments.

• Apply knowledge / skills to a range of moderately complex activities.

• Apply agile management techniques to support team Project Manager.

• Apply common best practices to assess and document business requirements and business cases.

Assess

Assess business issues / challenges and recommend alternative solutions.

Assist in

• Assist in estimations and qualification of business value of various product initiatives.

• Assist in planning of and participate in User Acceptance Testing.

• Assist in the design of reusable regression tests on existing applications.

• Assist in the development and delivery of project outcomes, workshops and project events.

• Assist in the integration of computer applications with the ERP environment.

• Assist in the preparation of business cases.

• Assist in various Airline-related initiatives such as enhancements and campaign deployment.

• Assist or coordinate user acceptance testing.

• Assist teams with developing viable, approved operational support / sustainment models.

• Assist the Lead Business Advisor to translate business strategies into actionable Talent strategies.

• Assist the Product Manager by facilitating design and planning sessions.

• Assist the Product Owner in strategy on how best to deliver product roadmap.

• Assist with scope and implementation schedules for product releases.

• Assist with work request prioritisation.

• Assist your peers whenever necessary.

Build

• Build relationships with the operational and technical department management of our suppliers.

• Build stakeholder trust by understanding their business concepts, issues, opportunities and language.

Collaborate with

• Collaborate on and maintain the Retail onboarding Playbook.

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders in order to deliver on business objectives.

• Collaborate with Contractor Business Analyst and other members of Contractor team.

• Collaborate with development and QA teams to test and implement new corrections and improvements.

• Collaborate with UX Design, Development and QA to create compelling products.

Collect

Collect and document detailed business requirements from business partners.

Communicate

• Communicate detailed requirement specifications to the Development team.

• Communicate information to all levels of clinical study management.

• Communicate needs to the Product Manager.

• Communicate status of project to team members, clients and departmental management.

• Communicate with customers to gather system constraints and requirements.

• Communicate with internal teams to understand and enhance the implementation requirements.

• Communicate with partners to ensure key parties are aware of any issues, changes or initiatives.

Complete

• Complete basic IRI data pulls to check promotions.

• Complete market surveys, solution identification and solution modelling.

Conduct

• Conduct and / or Lead Technical Meetings.

• Conduct competitive analysis.

• Conduct cost-benefit analysis.

• Conduct daily systems analytics to maximize effectiveness and troubleshoot problems.

• Conduct different types of analyses (feasibility, impacts, stakeholders, processes).

• Conduct functional analysis of business domains and related business processes or systems.

• Conduct internal and external demonstrations of hybrid / virtual trial solutions.

• Conduct meetings and presentation to share ideas.

• Conduct training sessions.

• Conduct user acceptance testing (UAT).

Configure

Configure solution to meet design requirements and assist in the development of design documentation.

Consider

Consider risk mitigation strategies.

Consult

• Consult as subject matter expert on impact of systems changes to business processes.

• Consult with managers to determine the role of IT systems in an organization.

Contribute to

• Contribute in creating a happy, fun and motivated culture that resonates with Codeweavers values.

• Contribute subject matter expertise to future iterations of the FWS business case.

• Contribute to improving project timeframes by managing change management process.

• Contribute to quarterly production releases on Acquia / Pantheon hosted site.

• Contribute to the acceptance of applications and application enhancements via a formal test process.

• Contribute to the framing and writing of project statements.

• Contribute towards Documentation of different processes.

Coordinate

• Coordinate and participate in review.

• Coordinate projects and delivery proper documentation.

• Coordinate projects that implement complex solutions.

• Coordinate the work efforts of multiple functional teams through a project plan.

• Coordinate transition from development to QA.

• Coordinate with offsite teams and external organizations to conduct data calls as needed.

• Coordinate with selected business teams on test planning.

• Coordinate with the team Scrum Master and the agile development Team to refine stories.

Create

• Create and maintain process and system documentation including procedures and process flows.

• Create forecasts specifically for Ultimate Schedules.

• Create, Manage and Implement various ad-hoc project within the organization.

• Create, modify and document processes.

• Create playbooks for process mapping.

• Create presentations and reports based on recommendations and findings.

• Create presentations in conjunction with the Director.

• Create RFPs and RFIs for business initiatives and IT projects.

• Create & run SQL queries to investigate & analyse problem areas & their impact.

• Create SOWs and closely monitor outsourcing spend against contractual targets.

• Create test cases and test scripts in accordance with the test plan.

• Create timelines and take full accountability for project deliverables.

• Create to-be screen mockups for custom solutions.

• Create / Update functional documentation, such as functional specifications.

Define

• Define and articulate business rules required for data accuracy and consistency.

• Define and documents customer business functions and processes.

• Define and execute business test cases with the test manager in the pod.

• Define, develop, and deliver both internal and external KPI reports.

• Define / Document internal business processes w / associated success measures.

• Define practical business system solutions driving standardization within the assigned work stream.

• Define project requirements by identifying project milestones, phases, and elements.

• Define the BA approach / plan.

Describe

Describe a set of requirements or business functions in detail using analytical techniques.

Design

• Design and document the detailed sustainment model and estimate required resourcing.

• Design and execute the test scenarios and test scripts.

• Design and implement monitoring, configuration management and reporting function.

Determine

• Determine functional requirements.

• Determine operational objectives, gather information, and evaluate output requirements and formats.

• Determine project deliverable s, schedules and resource needs for projects.

Develop

• Develop and implement measurement and actionable metrics into requirements.

• Develop and maintain end user training documentation and deliver training as required.

• Develop and maintain user test cases.

• Develop and provide KPI reporting.

• Develop and use metrics to drive success and planning.

• Develop an understanding of anti-money laundering regulations, policies, and procedures.

• Develop arms-length business cases for target clients.

• Develop financial models, analytical tools and business cases to support project delivery.

• Develop financial models to evaluate the performance of each Product before, during, and post launch.

• Develop functional design documentation to support business requirements.

• Develop impact analysis and implement strategies to manage change for functionality changes.

• Develop meeting summaries and post in designated locations.

• Develop process knowledge to translate to business and requirements.

• Develop quarterly product roadmaps for digital innovation.

• Develop reporting framework to design solutions for risk and regulatory processes.

• Develop requirements and data needed, as gathered during Joint Application Requirements.

• Develop Use Case Scenarios and evolve them into Test Scripts.

• Develop user test scenarios.

• Develop working relationships with diverse, geographically dispersed, cross-functional teams.

Direct

Direct cross-functional activity and track that it is completed as scheduled.

Document

• Document all business process requests and communicate to all necessary departments.

• Document and execute User Acceptance Testing, including reporting on status.

• Document and manage UAT timeline to ensure we meet dates.

Drive

• Drive Alteryx, Power BI roll out to improve data analytics and process improvement.

• Drive and challenge business units on their assumptions of how they will successfully.

• Drive demand management activities on digital engagement / MYSTT.

Ensure

• Ensure client and internal teams understand the nature of such methodology changes.

• Ensure compliance with Abbott policies and procedures.

• Ensure compliance with relevant legal or governmental requirements (FDA, DEA, CMS, etc.).

• Ensure protection of company assets and compliance to information security policies.

• Ensure updates and adherence of procedures, policies and processes.

• Ensure user stories meet the business objectives of the stakeholders.

Evaluate

• Evaluate applications and IT environments, and analyze gaps between current and desired states.

• Evaluate results to identify successful projects, topics, and strategies.

• Evaluate system performance and makes recommendations for increased efficiency.

Examine

Examine processes holistically to understand the impact of changes.

Execute

• Execute and advise on innovative solutions for clients within our media vertical.

• Execute deep-dive analysis addressing key business issues and present findings to stakeholders.

• Execute the testing and validation of marketing campaigns.

Extract

• Extract and analyze data to ensure system is meeting functional design requirements.

• Extract data from structured and unstructured data sources and prepare for analytics.

Facilitate

• Facilitate Impact Analysis.

• Facilitate meetings and keep stakeholder needs and requirements continuously in view.

• Facilitate requirements prioratization.

• Facilitate and / or support customers in UAT planning and execution.

• Facilitate the correct creation and completion of data records in line with global process.

• Facilitate the agile ceremonies.

• Facilitate underwriting systems access for users & perform quarterly systems access review.

Follow-up

• Follow up the customer's approval of designs and lay-out drawings.

• Follow-up on opportunities to drive adoption of tools and capabilities.

Gather

• Gather and analyze user needs.

• Gather and interpret data analytics around business processes, KPI and KRI's.

• Gather requirements from business stakeholders and existing documents.

Generate

Generate business process flows and functional / non-functional requirements.

Groom

Groom the backlog to decompose and estimate stories.

Handle

• Handle matters expeditiously and proactively.

• Handle moderately complex problems.

• Handle multiple tasks and work well under pressure to meet specific deadlines.

Help

• Help identify required process and technology enhancements.

• Help identify requirements and create product backlog for development.

• Help with implementation of analytics solutions.

Identify

• Identify and document features as user stories.

• Identify and monitor program performance KPIs.

• Identify and resolve any discrepancies.

• Identify areas for business process improvement and efficiencies.

• Identify business process improvement and standardization, pursue opportunities for cost reduction.

• Identify & develop processes, tools and guides to accelerate Governance activities.

• Identify opportunities for process improvement and recommend solutions.

• Identify patterns and opportunities to guide content creators.

• Identify root cause analysis for key variances \u0026amp.

• Identify sources of data for Forecast and Budget process.

• Identify trends and develop improvement solutions.

Implement

• Implement feedback from the Regional Management Teams to continually enhance our reporting solutions.

• Implement or utilize methods to monitor and evaluate client feedback.

Improve

Improves systems by studying current processes and practices.

Input

Input to Risk Management, Change Management, Quality Assurance, and Deployment.

Keep

• Keep key enhancement needs, progress and issues surfaced to Leadership teams.

• Keep up with the Release manager on the latest changes in the platforms.

Lead

• Lead and execute testing and support issue resolution.

• Lead and facilitate solution development sessions to evoke effective customer feedback.

• Lead and manage end-user testing, including all data and validation documentation.

• Lead a team that includes a Data Architect, Application Support Analyst and other support staff.

• Lead data quality communication with external stakeholders particularly MGA and brokers.

• Lead development and manage execution of all ADP & Energy Storage PMT meetings.

• Lead meetings and coordinate with multiple stakeholders to achieve project objectives / goals.

• Lead or participate in User Acceptance testing.

• Lead the implementation of improvements to business operations, services and models.

• Lead the process of solution design, sizing and scoping efforts.

Leverage

Leverage new technologies to create innovative solutions to engineering related projects and tasks.

Liaise with

• Liaise with internal customers to support system enhancements throughout the development lifecycle.

• Liaise with IT management and staff to interpret / clarify requirements.

• Liase with Finance and line of businesses throughout the forecasting process.

Maintain

• Maintain a clear, concise view of issues, risks, dependencies & milestones.

• Maintain and groom the product backlog.

• Maintain a positive image while working effectively with fellow PDC employees.

• Maintain documentation requirements.

• Maintain individual and process efficiency, productivity and quality.

• Maintain professional and technical knowledge.

• Maintain project schedule updates.

Make

• Make decisions and recommendations on highly technical or complex issues.

• Make trade-off decisions on platform product features.

Manage

• Manage a team of QA Analysts for BAT / PAT execution and defect management.

• Manage a wide variety of other daily tasks related to data quality.

• Manage change and provide training on best practises.

• Manage multiple project tasks.

• Manage process training and tools locally.

• Manage product backlogs actively with the Product Owner.

• Manage respective product and team backlogs, groom and refine the backlog periodically.

• Manage testing activities to refine and debug programs.

• Manage to a plan with tight deadlines with non-negotiable completion dates.

Measure

Measure ROI for various efforts.

Meet

• Meet deadlines and monitor projects with minimal oversight.

• Meet various teams to understand business needs and relate these to data requirements.

• Meet with project team regularly to review project deliverables and deadlines.

Monitor

• Monitor and track quarterly and monthly covenant and trigger processes for on time completion.

• Monitor existing KPI metrics, developing new metrics, identity correlations and root causes.

• Monitor performance of a business area and tests being performed in that business area.

• Monitor project performance to maintain the quality of services, deliverables, and content.

• Monitor the system to ensure Data integrity.

• Monitor, troubleshoot, and resolve system issues and related current state systems.

Oversee

• Oversee and assist with the gathering and documentation of requirements.

• Oversee project quality management on behalf of the Project Team Leader.

• Oversee the reporting of KPIs on weekly and monthly basis.

Own

• Own technology requirements, administration, and system enhancements.

• Own, develop and deliver the product roadmap, in partnership with the Head of Technology.

• Own your relationship with our customers and be the point of contact for their requests.

Participate in

• Participate actively in the optimization of the delivery process.

• Participate and provide functional input into project-based activities.

• Participate in agile meetings such as daily scrum, grooming, retro's, and planning.

• Participate in all phases of user acceptance testing.

• Participate in project and contribute to process improvements.

• Participate in requirements prioritization.

• Participate in story grooming, estimation and all agile ceremonies.

• Participate in the development of sales presentations or market positioning material.

• Participate in the evaluation and benchmarking of market solutions when required.

• Participate in various financial projects and provide information for management for decision making.

• Participate iterative development using model-based processes.

• Participate in test case definition and user acceptance testing.

Partnership

Partnership with the Finance team to provide reporting support for operational cost elements.

Perform

• Perform analysis of financial studies and prepare summary reports for management.

• Perform a variety of tasks.

• Perform daily, weekly and monthly reviews and analyses of current processes using operatio.

• Perform Data Definition & Data Cleansing & Master Maintenance for Data Analytics.

• Perform end user training of new system functionality to include developing training materials.

• Perform exploratory data analysis to identify improvement opportunities.

• Perform functional analysis and design, defining and documenting detailed business requirements.

• Perform monthly reviews and analyses of current processes using operational metrics and reports.

• Perform other duties as assigned including mentoring low to mid-level peers.

• Perform other duties as requested.

• Perform security administration of Manulife systems.

• Perform statistical and other data analysis, and interprets analysis results.

• Perform validation and testing of models to ensure adequacy and reformulate models as necessary.

Plan

• Plan, initiate, and manage information technology (IT) projects.

• Plan sprints in an agile software development environment.

• Plans, prioritizes, organizes and completes work to meet established objectives.

• Plan the program to meet technical, regulatory, and commercial operations requirements.

• Plan to collect, analysis and consult Business requirements (included non functional requirements).

Prepare

• Prepare ad-hoc queries using Workday reporting features.

• Prepare analysis to help in decision making (market conditions, pricing studies).

• Prepare communications out to the business for the change impacts.

• Prepare presentation and report to management.

• Prepare technical reports by collecting, analyzing and summarizing.

Present

• Present findings / project to relevant stakeholders and follow up as necessary.

• Present program results and proactively recommend improvements to business stakeholders.

• Present results to management, including data-driven business recommendations and alternatives.

Prioritize

• Prioritize and manage project technical issues and ensure timely completion.

• Prioritize the customer experience above all else.

Promote

• Promote informed decisions on the build or buy approach needed for the initiative.

• Promote innovative or improved methods to get the work done and implements best practices.

• Promote teamwork and collaboration.

Propose

• Propose and define process improvements and automation where possible.

• Propose phasing strategies to efficiently implement projects.

Provide

• Provide active support for delivered solutions.

• Provide a high standard of support to all BAU and project teams.

• Provide analytical support to Sr. Analyst and Manager.

• Provide assistance to project stakeholders of project communication, and end-user training.

• Provide consultative advice during testing of business functionalities.

• Provide direct supervision to business analysts.

• Provide functional expertise on all TM1 applications used across the region.

• Provide guidance and support to build the capabilities of the junior Business Analysts.

• Provide input from an operations perspective to your product family before and during development.

• Provide inputs for post launch tracking.

• Provide IT operational services to support cost optimization and operational excellence.

• Provide production support for both internal and external clients.

• Provide production support for systems implemented under the team's portfolio.

• Provide resources and mentorship to data entry users to improve their skill and database knowledge.

• Provide SFT & Normalization Support to drive a zero defect project launch.

• Provide strategic support to USNG Technical & Physical Management of Change process.

• Provide Subject Matter expertise for complex system architecture queries / changes.

• Provide support to Senior Associates and their reports.

• Provide technical support as necessary.

• Provide updates to internal teams on progress and project related issues.

• Provide user documentation, training, and support for users.

Recommend

• Recommend and assist in the implementation of best practices within the team.

• Recommend process and or system changes to stakeholder(s).

• Recommend the right solutions for your stakeholders' needs.

Report

• Report IS project updates, progress and issues to the management on regular basis.

• Report issues / decision points / risks quickly to Department Manager, (5 years).

• Report on common sources of technical issues or questions and make recommendations to the team.

Represent

• Represent Quote to Cash Operations team on large scale internal projects.

• Represent requirements using alternative views (ex. models / diagrams) where appropriate.

Research

Research system related issues and document for the development team.

Review

• Review and approve all technical documentation related to the approved solution.

• Review and approve documentation related to drug product clinical manufacturing.

• Review and Confirm the Solution Design Package and approve solution documents.

• Review and decides on arbitration and compliance cases.

• Review and develops service agreements and program equipment for divisional initiatives.

• Review and update or create new rules when necessary.

• Review of historic client projects and repeat business.

• Review of project requirements, definition of the test strategies, and test cases.

• Review system requirements and business processes.

• Review the product back log and assist in prioritization and scheduling of the upcoming releases.

Share

• Share knowledge and organize training for team members.

• Share our passion for all things digital.

Support

• Support all design, testing, and documentation efforts.

• Support all GET applications.

• Support and coordinate the necessary deployment approach with the IS&T team and impacted units.

• Support and streamline data collection processes across the program.

• Support business lines and IT throughout the various steps to carry out mandates.

• Support business projects and communicate to stakeholders.

• Support end to end documentation of future state processes and workflows for plan policies.

• Support & manage customer requests through the Application security testing services and process.

• Support Product Owners by building mock ups and defining acceptance criteria for new system features.

• Support product roadmaps, solution design and validation against Business requirements.

• Support Sales organizations with tools / systems projects for planning and compensation activities.

• Support teams through all phases of the project including knowledge transition phase.

• Support the delivery of a complex service and a real time payments platform.

• Support the design and development activities by providing clarifications.

• Support the implementation and maintenance of technology such as SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.

• Support the implementation of the Metadata Management Program.

• Support them through processes and applications.

• Support UAT, Regression and Performance testing.

• Support user training, documentation, and rollout.

Track

• Track and maintain requirements backlog for availability into subsequent projects.

• Track client feedback / requests and incorporate in product road map where appropriate.

• Track trends that impact the category (via Google / SEO, etc.) and translate into insights.

Understand

• Understand and honor team definitions of ‘Ready' and ‘Done'.

• Understand key concepts of warehouse ETL (Extract, Transform, Load).

• Understand how to gather and document requirements.

• Understand the strategic direction set by senior management as it relates to team goals.

• Understand various types of business propositions and how businesses operate in general.

• Understand the business context and the impact of projects on the organization's processes.

• Understand the various Mitel business entities and cross divisional relationships.

Undertake

• Undertake potentially frequent international travel to client / project sites.

• Undertake research on emerging technology trends to understand its impact on customer's needs.

Update

Update key performance indicators and metrics.

Upload

Upload business requirements to testing database as input to Traceability Matrix.

Validate

• Validate bug fixes and system builds, and write up testing summaries.

• Validate business, functional and technical requirements.

• Validate system data and support team responsible for training related to role access.

Verify

Verify that requirements are testable and generate testing objectives.

Work with

• Work with Business Analysts on firm-wide initiatives and participate in the testing phases.

• Work with Development Team to ensure feasibility of design and clarify user requirements.

• Work with government product owner to provide insight on business requirements and functional design.

• Work with Lead BA and workstream colleagues to agree scope and plan engagements.

• Work with other scrum teams to understand cross-functional impacts.

• Work with Sales and Finance Leads in Europe and present your analytics.

• Work with SFDC COE business and technical teams on defect remediation.

• Work with the Product Owners to define requirements / stories.

• Work with the product team to validate these requirements.

• Work with the Project Manager to develop a delivery plan.

• Work with the team to design experiments to answer specific business questions.

Write

• Write mobile application specifications.

• Write SQL and SAS scripts for automated data extraction and reporting.

• Write user stories based on business driven functionality as well as technical capabilities.

• Write user-friendly documentation and lead training sessions with our clients.

Most In-demand Hard Skills

The following list describes the most required technical skills of a Business Analyst:

1. Business Analysis

2. MS Excel

3. SQL

4. Business

5. MS Powerpoint

6. Project Management

7. Finance

8. Business Analyst

9. Agile

10. Jira

11. Word

12. Visio

13. Tableau

14. Analysis

15. Business Administration

16. Data Analysis

17. Design

18. Documentation

19. Python

20. Accounting

21. Scrum

22. Confluence

23. SAP

24. Reporting

25. Sharepoint

26. Power BI

27. MS Office

28. Agile Methodology

29. Information Systems

30. Financial Services

31. Salesforce

32. Microsoft Office

33. SDLC

34. Economics

35. Outlook

36. Agile Environment

37. Project

38. Oracle

39. Waterfall

40. Management

Most In-demand Soft Skills

The following list describes the most required soft skills of a Business Analyst:

• Written and oral communication skills

• Analytical ability

• Problem-solving attitude

• Interpersonal skills

• Organizational capacity

• Attention to detail

• Presentation

• Time-management

• Leadership

• Team player

• Collaborative

• Work independently with little direction

• Critical thinker

• Self-starter

• Flexible

• Creative

• Detail-oriented

• Facilitation

• Self-motivated

• Multi-task

• Bilingualism

• Planning

• Adaptable to changes

• Organized

• Negotiation

• Proactive

• Priority management

• Initiative

• Results-oriented

• Work under pressure