This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Who Does All This Stuff?
Historically, someone responsible for developing and managing requirements on a software project was called a requirements analyst, systems analyst, business systems analyst, or simply analyst. Large projects, particularly those building systems with both hardware and software components, might have requirements engineers who perform this function. Organizations that create commercial software products use product managers to bridge the gap between marketing and the development team. Agile development teams often include a product owner who defines and manages the requirements and other work items—collectively called product backlog items—that will lead to the solution.
In recent years, the term business analyst has largely replaced those historical job titles. This book uses business analyst, or BA, to refer to whomever on a development team has responsibility for requirements. In many organizations, a BA’s role extends beyond dealing with requirements, but we will focus on their requirements activities.
Note that business analyst refers to a role, not necessarily a job title. Even if the team lacks an official BA, someone still must elicit, analyze, specify, validate, and manage its requirements. This work could be divided among multiple individuals, possibly including a project manager, quality assurance leader, and developers. When a team member who has another title is performing this kind of work, they are acting as a BA.
Because the requirements domain is both critical and complex, it’s unrealistic to expect any random team member to perform the BA role without some education about how to do it well. A capable BA brings a particular set of knowledge, experience, personality characteristics, and skills to the process, including those listed in Table 1.2 (Wiegers and Beatty 2013). If you’re working in this role, assess your capabilities in each category and then work to improve those that aren’t as strong as others.
Table 1.2 Some valuable business analyst skills and characteristics
Listening |
Writing |
Interviewing and questioning |
Modeling |
Facilitation |
Flexibility across the abstraction scale |
Nonverbal communication |
Organizing information and activities |
Analytical thinking |
Handling interpersonal interactions |
Systems thinking |
Leadership |
Quick thinking |
Creativity |
Observation |
Curiosity |
In recent years, several organizations have recognized the great value that business analysts and requirements engineers can contribute. These organizations have developed bodies of knowledge and professional certifications that people working in these fields can pursue. Such professional organizations include
The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), iiba.org
The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB), ireb.org
The Project Management Institute (PMI), pmi.org
The bodies of knowledge these organizations have accumulated are rich sources of information about the many requirements processes, techniques, and tools that contribute to success.