The responsibility set of a business analyst would require him to fulfill different duties in different phases of a project and switch roles based on the project life-cycle.
Essentially, since a business analyst is expected to visualize the ‘big picture’, his responsibilities extends towards the business side as well as the technology side of the project.
We have elaborated the responsibilities of a business analyst by dividing them against the typical phases of a project i.e. initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing.
Phase-wise responsibilities
1. Initiation phase
This phase will mark the beginning of a new project and a business analyst will carry out the following responsibilities as a –
Assistant to PM
- Assist in carrying out the cost-benefit analysis of the project.
- Understand the business case.
- Ascertain the feasibility of the solution/project/product.
- Help in creating the project charter.
- Identify the stakeholders in the project.
2. Planning phase
This phase will involve gathering the requirements and planning how the project will be executed and managed. His responsibilities against his various roles as a –
Business Analyst
- Elicit requirements
- Analyze, organize and document requirements.
- Manage requirements by creating use cases, RTM, BRD, SRS, etc.
- Assess proposed solutions.
- Liaise and enhance communications with stakeholders.
Assistant to Project Manager
- Assist in formulating the project management plans.
- Help in finding the project’s scope, constraints, assumptions and risks.
- Create deadlines and milestones.
Implementation Subject Matter Expert (SME)
- Help in designing the potential solution.
- Assist in the creation of domain model, data model and system architecture.
- Assist in designing the user experience of the solution.
- Create prototypes and get the same validated by the client.
3. Executing phase
This phase marks the development of the solution as per the requirements gathered and the responsibility set as a –
Business Analyst
- Explain requirements to the development team.
- Clarify doubts, concerns regarding the solution to be developed.
- Discuss and prioritize project scope changes.
- Conduct formal and informal presentations.
- Run meetings, take meeting minutes, update documents and communicate updated information to the stakeholders.
Tester
- Conduct unit testing and verify the development is as per the requirements.
- Create beta tests scripts for initial testing.
Assistant to Project Manager
- Share the developed modules with client and solicit their feedback.
- Follow deadlines and manage stakeholder’s expectations.
- Resolve conflicts and manage communications with the project team.
- Enforce and regulate the standards to be followed by the team.
4. Monitoring and controlling phase
In this phase, the project is measure and controlled for any deviations from the initial plans. This phase runs simultaneously to the execution phase. A BA plays the roles of –
Tester
- Develop test scripts and conduct comprehensive module and integration testing.
- Verify the feasibility of the developed functionality as per the project’s objective.
- Conduct UAT (use acceptance testing) and create testing reports.
Business Analyst
- Showcase interim deliverables to the client.
- Gain acceptance/approval of the deliverables from the client.
- Document any change requests from the client.
- Explain the change requests to the development team.
- Monitor the development of the change requests and verify their implementation as per the project’s objective.
Assistant to Project Manager
- Perform change control and prioritize changes.
- Assess the impact of changes to the project and recommend alternatives.
- Document the new changes, update project’s documentation and inform all the related stakeholders.
- Measure the overall performance of the project and flag/highlight in case of any concerns.
5. Closing Phase
This phase marks the closure of the project. The BA carries out responsibilities as a –
Business Analyst
- Present the complete project to the client and gain their acceptance.
- Create user training manuals and other instructional guides.
- Train the end users about the product.
Tester
- Conduct elaborate integration testing in production environment.
- Finalize the testing reports against all the modules of the project.
Assistant to Project Manager
- Create final product documentations, achieve records and document project lessons learned.
The detailed elucidation above explains how a business analyst have to mold himself and carry out myriad responsibilities over the course of a typical Information Technology project.
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Very good explanation of the BA role. I have read many other posts and it has the BA doing things that do not apply. Good job outlining the responsibilities.