When this paper was first published in 2003, business analysis was just starting to emerge as a distinct profession in its own right. Prior to this the role was often performed by the systems analyst who would carry out both the analysis and the design on a new system or enhancement. This often meant that a “problem” was made to fit the “solution”. The transition from telling the client what they would be getting – versus analysing their problems and recommending solutions – was still a new one for many organisations.

How things have changed – we now have an international organisation solely for business analysts (with over 26,000 members) plus a professional, experience-based qualification. We also have a reference guide – The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®) – now into its second edition.

And yet the underlying skills needed by business analyst have remained remarkably constant – analysts still need investigative, analytical and communications skills for dealing with clients and stakeholders. They also need specification and modelling skills when dealing with developers and solution providers.

Read the full paper here: What is a Business Analyst?

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