Business Analyst in a Financial Technology Organization
Ask any business analyst in a financial technology organization what is his/her vision. Invariably his/her answer would be to become a high end functional consultant.
We all know the expected roles of our business analyst – the analyst, the facilitator, the negotiator, the architect, the planner, the communicator, the diplomat, the consultant, the strategist and the revolutionary.
Requirements play a vital role in engineering IT systems in financial industry organizations. The requirements are captured and communicated to the technical team through the leadership and facilitating role played by our business analyst.
One may be surprised to know that the main reason for project failures in financial industry organization is directly tied to poor requirements gathering and also total failure of the business analyst.
To make things happen our successful business analyst will strictly adhere to the following business analysis steps – elicitation, documentation, analysis, communication, tracking, validation and verification with the use of appropriate mix of use cases, story boarding and prototyping with proof of concepts or values.
From the above, one would comfortably arrive at the central role played by our business analyst – s/he is the architect’s link with the customer.
Some of the dos and don’ts for our business analyst are captured below.
| Do’s | Don’ts |
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Facilitate discussions Model data and processes Plan and manage activities Understand the business Manage client relationship Analyze and solve problems Negotiate and build consensus Facilitate and develop business strategy Communicate effectively (write and speak) Understand and manage organizational changes and challenges |
Think inside the box Rush to introduce change Keep quiet when in doubt Keep disagreements inside Fail to see both forest and trees Mis-communicate between business and IT Use of ineffective tools to define requirements Go in for poor requirements gathering, analysis and management Fail to ask why even one has the best professional business knowledge Fail to figure out client needs, priorities, goals, expectations and competitive advantages |
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Our business analyst can improve his / her performance by following the best practices (a word of caution: this list is not exhaustive!) - Identify currently accepted practices - Align with generally accepted standards - Define and enhance by the professionals who apply it - Define training and professional development standards. - Recognize business analysis is more than software requirements - Network with fellow business analysis professionals. - Influence and contribute to the profession and service of business analysis. - Access to forums for sharing expertise, professional opinion, and build reputation - Identifying the required skills and competencies of a qualified practitioner of Business Analysis. - Create and develop awareness and recognition of the value and contribution of the Business Analyst Looks simple and interesting is it not? |
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