The business analyst is a core team role for projects of any size, from small system updates, to vended product integrations, to enterprise-wide software development. Analysts are essential in defining what a team is building, and ensuring that the resulting product is valuable and effective for the client, from initiation to launch.
Analysts help stakeholders define precise business needs by identifying issues, evaluating possible solutions, and prioritizing features. Stakeholders may start with a rough idea of what questions they need to answer; the business analyst helps refine those questions by translating the client’s needs into actionable requirements.
For the project team, the business analyst leads by maintaining clear, accurate requirements that are visible and understood by all team members. Business analysts work closely with data warehouse designers to translate business requirements into a data model and apply business rules to source data. The business analyst ensures the solution meets client’s needs by performing functional and security testing. The business analyst advocates on behalf of the client during design, development, and testing activities.