What is business analysis?

What is business analysis?

Business analysis is about creating an understanding of your business, product, and users, and translating that knowledge into a description of needs and solutions. If that sounds abstract, it’s because the profession is highly versatile, covering everything from strategic analysis to concrete solution evaluation. This also means that the daily focus of individual business analysts can vary significantly.

Do you need to know how to code to work in business analysis?

Not at all. Occasionally, some technical insight can be an advantage, as it makes it easier to evaluate solution proposals and communicate with technicians, developers, and architects. But there are usually colleagues who can contribute on that front, while the role of a business analyst is typically more about facilitation, curiosity, and creating structure. In technical discussions, the business purpose can sometimes get lost, so it’s important to have someone present who can steer the conversation back on track—such as a curious business analyst with strong business acumen.

As a business analyst, you need a good mix of methodological knowledge, critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and strong communication abilities. If you’re analytical, good at creating structure and seeing connections, or curious about people and skilled in stakeholder management, you’re already well on your way.

A business analyst’s toolkit is extensive and overlaps significantly with the methodologies used by neighboring professions, such as process consultants, IT architects, UX designers, and facilitators. This also means that an experienced business analyst will have methods they are highly skilled in, as well as a wide range of methods they only know superficially. For example, I’m very proficient in process modeling, workshops, interviews, and writing requirements, but I have much less experience with prototyping and surveys. Some of my colleagues might have a similar profile, while others will have completely different strengths. Often, it depends on the projects and industries we’ve worked in throughout our careers.

I recently conducted a survey for the first time in many years, and it wasn’t easy. I had the theoretical knowledge and was aware of many potential pitfalls, but I lacked practical experience. Given the breadth of business analysis, this situation is certainly not uncommon, even for experienced professionals. In such cases, it’s more important to be able to explain why you’ve chosen a particular approach than to have years of hands-on experience executing it.

What tasks does a business analyst typically handle?

The vast majority of business analysts I encounter are responsible, in their daily work, for uncovering needs and writing requirements in some form. The framework is usually already set for them, and they work on specific projects. Strategy rarely takes up much space, and when it does, it’s more as a guiding purpose for scoping requirements.

Many business analysts are part of a team, such as an agile development team, where their role is to be curious about needs, formulate requirements, and validate them. A significant part of the task often involves bringing different stakeholder groups together and helping to build that famous bridge between business needs and solutions. Such a business analyst might spend their time planning and conducting interviews or observations, reviewing background materials (including standards, documentation, and legislation), facilitating stakeholder workshops, writing requirements, managing refinement sessions, and maintaining a backlog.

What education do you need?

That’s a good question, but there isn’t one precise answer. There are no specific educational requirements to become a business analyst. Most employers will expect some form of academic education, which makes sense—general scientific methods and analytical skills provide a strong foundation. However, many different educational backgrounds can be actively applied in business analysis. For example, if you have a degree in software development, business, psychology, or anthropology, you’ll bring valuable skills to the table.

If you want to work as a business analyst in a specific industry, it can also be an advantage (and sometimes a requirement) to have education or experience in that particular field. Many business analysts actually start as subject matter experts in their area and later build on their skills with general business analysis competencies.

Regardless of where you start, I recommend some form of training, as it can be a great help for many business analysts. Few employers are good at guiding new business analysts, which naturally leads to confusion and frustration. Things are slowly improving, but there’s still a long way to go. In the meantime, we can best help ourselves by joining communities, taking courses, or simply reading up on our field.

What’s the best part of being a business analyst?

There’s room for my almost endless curiosity, my constant desire to learn new things, and my complete inability to handle days that are all the same. It’s truly a profession that suits my personality. As an independent consultant, I’ve taken change readiness to the extreme. So my immediate answer might not be the best reference for most business analysts. But if you enjoy a good mix of human interaction, analytical tasks, and are naturally curious, it’s an absolutely fantastic profession.