A Sense of Where You Are

This chapter explores the alternatives for where a business analyst should be and whether the place a business analyst works is the right place to be for a profession whose mission is in the business realm. Today, business analysts generally start as systems analysts, product managers, project managers, architects or any number of other professions and end up as business analysts by either showing a predilection for the role, at least as perceived by management. The business analyst with a technical background has a better understanding of computers and technology and can filter out the operational errors from real problems and provide quick fixes to the business in emergency situations. The business analysts from the business community are able to build strong relationships with process workers and others in the business unit. The business analyst is more likely to suggest non-IT solutions to business problems and be more concerned with all the non-automated activities that accompany a typical business process. On an organizational chart, a technically oriented business analyst should be co-located with the business unit that person is supporting. This kind of mix of business and technical perspectives and backgrounds on the overall business analyst team brings positive results, even when the business analysts are working as lone rangers on projects.