Business Analysis is the practice of identifying business needs, defining solutions to business problems, and ensuring that those solutions are aligned with business goals. It involves gathering, documenting, and managing requirements and working closely with stakeholders to ensure that the final solution meets their expectations.

Business Analysis ensures that projects are well-defined and meet the needs of the business. By thoroughly understanding requirements, it helps avoid costly mistakes, scope creep, and misaligned solutions. It bridges the gap between business stakeholders and technical teams, ensuring better project outcomes.

A Business Analyst should have strong analytical and problem-solving skills, excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, and the capacity to understand both business and technical aspects. Key skills also include requirements gathering, stakeholder management, process modeling, and proficiency in tools like Jira and MS Visio.

While both roles are essential for project success, their focus differs. A Business Analyst focuses on defining business needs and ensuring that the solutions meet those needs. A Project Manager focuses on managing the project’s timeline, resources, and scope. The two roles often work closely together but have different primary objectives.

Key deliverables include:

• Business Requirements Document (BRD)
• Functional Requirements Document (FRD)
• Use Cases & User Stories
• Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)
• Process Models & Diagrams (flowcharts)
• Stakeholder Analysis and Communication Plans

Business Analysts often work with methodologies like Waterfall, Agile & Scrum. The methodology used depends on the project type, industry, and client needs. Agile methods, for example, focus on iterative development and close collaboration, while Waterfall is more structured and sequential.

Requirements elicitation is the process of gathering and discovering business, functional, and technical requirements from stakeholders. This can involve interviews, workshops, surveys, focus groups, and various other techniques to ensure that all stakeholder needs are captured and clearly understood.

A Business Analyst plays a key role in ensuring that the developed solution meets business requirements by supporting the testing phase. They may help create test cases, define acceptance criteria, and participate in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) to ensure the solution aligns with what the business needs.

A Business Analyst is responsible for identifying, analyzing, and managing stakeholder relationships. This includes understanding stakeholder needs, resolving conflicts, communicating requirements, and ensuring continuous engagement throughout the project lifecycle. Effective stakeholder management is crucial to project success.

• Functional Requirements describe the specific behavior or functions of the system (e.g., what the system should do, such as processing payments).
• Non-Functional Requirements define the quality attributes of the system (e.g., performance, security, scalability), ensuring the system performs well under various conditions.

Business Analysts use a variety of tools to facilitate their work, including:

• Jira for tracking tasks and issues (especially in Agile environments)
• Microsoft Visio or Lucid chart for process modeling and diagramming
• Confluence for documentation
• Excel for data analysis and requirement tracking

Business Analysis directly contributes to project success by ensuring that the project’s objectives align with business goals, requirements are well-defined, and the right solutions are implemented. Proper analysis reduces the risk of scope creep, improves stakeholder satisfaction, and increases the likelihood that the project delivers value.