Business Analyst Blogs

There have been many articles lately about the role of the BA on Agile projects. Some postulate that the BA role is closest to the product owner. After all, it is often suggested, they reside with and represent the business. They are in the best position to be the final voice when defining and prioritizing requirements. Others believe that the key role for the BA on Agile projects relates to testing. Since they define the requirements, they should complete the appropriate testing processes to ensure the final solution meets the requirements. I believe that neither of these is a business analyst role. That's not to say that someone with the title of BA cannot play other roles as well. It's just that when they are playing these other roles, they are not doing business analysis work.

Most analysts can do analysis...but very few can really be proactive in helping customers figure out their needs.  Executives routinely complain about analysts being passive on projects, not proactive, or inconsistent in their execution. I think this is a real challenge that needs to be addressed. 

The national media has been spending a lot of time talking about Twitter and other social networking sites. I guess when famous faces like Shaq and Britney Spears start tweeting, it's bound to get attention. We're proud of the community we've developed on BA Times and we want to continue to provide options for you to connect to our online community. As such, you may have recently seen and even participated in our poll regarding Social Networking.