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What’s Next: The Future of Business Analysis in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, professionals across industries are witnessing the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Business analyst profession is not untouched and is on the brink of a significant shift in its roles and responsibilities. As AI technologies continue to advance, they are poised to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of business analysis. In this blog, we’ll deep dive into how AI is set to impact the future of business analyst professionals.

 

The Rise of AI in Business Analysis

 

1. Data-Driven Insights

Business analysts have always been tasked with extracting valuable insights from data to support decision-making. AI, with its machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics, empowers analysts to delve deeper into data. They can now unearth hidden patterns, make more accurate forecasts, and identify trends that might have remained concealed with traditional business analysis methods.

 

2. Enhanced Efficiency

AI-driven automation tools can handle repetitive tasks, such as data collection and cleansing, leaving analysts with more time for critical thinking and strategic analysis. This increased efficiency allows business analysts to focus on high-impact activities, making them indispensable assets to their organizations.

 

 

 

 

  1. Real-time Analytics

AI enables real-time data analysis, providing business analysts with most relevant and current insights. This instant access to reliable and accurate information empowers business analysts to respond swiftly to market changes and emerging trends, enabling more predictable and agile decision-making which is critical for reaching organization’s strategic goals.

 

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  1. The Evolving Role of Business Analysts

As AI becomes more integrated into business operations, the role of business analysts is evolving in several significant ways:

 

  • From Data Analysts to Data Strategists

With AI handling routine data analysis, business analysts are transitioning from mere data collectors to data strategists. They are expected to interpret AI-generated insights and translate them into actionable business strategies.

  • Ethical Considerations and challenges

AI raises ethical concerns, such as bias in algorithms and data privacy issues. The role of Business analyst is to navigate through these ethical challenges and ensure that AI systems are used responsibly and the data they collect and analyze is both accurate and unbiased.

  • Cross-functional Collaboration with different partners

Business analysts are increasingly expected to collaborate with data scientists and AI engineers to develop and implement AI-powered solutions. Effective communication and collaboration between these roles are vital for successful AI integration and forms core of various digitization initiatives.

  • Continuous Learning is the key to success

The rapid evolution of AI requires business analysts to engage in continuous learning and skill development. Staying updated on AI technologies and methodologies is crucial to remain relevant in their roles.

  • The Impact on Job Market

Even though the initial buzzword of AI lead to job insecurities but future seems to be bright. While AI is automating some aspects of business analysis, it is also creating new opportunities. The demand for business analysts who can harness AI and effectively interpret its insights is on the rise. Companies are actively seeking professionals with AI skills to drive innovation and competitive advantage.

 

Conclusion

Industry’s future hinges on how well business analysts use Artificial Intelligence (AI). Business analysts will find themselves at the vanguard of data-driven decision-making as AI technology develops and advances. They will play more strategic and team-oriented roles with an emphasis on utilizing AI to boost corporate success. Business analysts are expected to embrace AI and see it as a potent tool if they want to succeed in this dynamic and fast paced environment. They should invest in their AI-related skills, navigate through ethical challenges, and adjust to the shifting needs of the labor market. By doing so, they will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that Artificial Intelligence presents and remain valuable resources for their organizations in years to come.

The Importance of Benefits Realization

As a business analyst you are not done your job after the deployment of the solution. Although, having the solution up and running is a critical milestone it’s not time to party yet.  It’s like medical surgery. Even though the surgery itself may be successful it is more than important the patients life to be improved and the expected benefits that are the answer to why this surgery should be done, to be realized after the surgery.

Monitoring the solution benefits and interpreting thoughtfully the feedback of the customers is crucial in order to be sure that the benefits of the solution are fully perceived and also that they are sustained. Benefit recipients should experience the stated benefits and also be ensured that those benefits will be sustained from the implemented change over the long-term. In many projects the effort that is done in the period after implementation activities is not enough to ensure the delivery of the claimed benefits as well as the maintenance of the benefits in the long term.

 

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Below are some points that could help you navigate in the after-deployment period:

 

  1. Feel the pulse of the customer

Be open to feedback and try to listen to the voice of the customers. Do not underestimate the feedback from any source. Even an inexperienced user may reveal critical improvement issues for the benefits realization. Filter the feedback in order to find technical and non-technical groups of issues. For example, a repeated concern of the user may be due to the lack of training and proper user manual, due to a non-functional requirement that is not met or due to a bug existing in the functional area of the solution. 

 

  1. Prioritize the actions

It is crucial to prioritize the improvement actions. Some bugs fixing may be in first priority as they have a detrimental effect in the overall experience. Or an updated user manual and video of navigating the users in using effectively the solution may be number one priority in order to full realization of benefits to take place. A specific prioritization approach may be existing and agreed up at the initiation of the project. However, as nothing is more stable than change you probably need to revisit and update frequently the approach to prioritization.

 

  1. Be ready for Organizational Change

A new solution that is deployed is a change. Appropriate change management is required to ensure the full exploitation of the solution. New processes and polices may need to be established in order to maximize the value. Changing the way of working that existed for years may be challenging. Many times, a new solution is a trigger for a culture shift in an organization. As a business analyst you need to be aware of such required changes and propose solutions that will contribute towards the

 

It is common for the delivery team to complete the implementation activities, deliver the initial benefits to the customer and just close down the project. This is not suggested. Benefits realization most of the time is not one and done process. There are always activities that need to be performed on an ongoing basis to ensure the solution developed stays in shape.

Top Business Analysis Trends To Watch Out For In 2023

It’s tough to predict the future and same goes towards predicting business trends with certainty. But we can always predict areas which are likely to be of prominence with a fair amount of certainty.

As we all know business analysis is a profession growing at a fast pace and will continue to see this trend of growth for at least next 10 years. If you are a proactive business analyst you must keep watch on the trending topics to stay ahead of the curve and be a futuristic leader.

 

Here are our top 6 picks for business analysts to watch out in 2023 –

 

 

  1. Data Analytics:
Image Source – Freepik.com

Business analysts will continue to use data to have better business insights and drive business decisions. The amount and variety of data have increased tremendously in the last decade. Therefore, it is essential for business analysts to learn about data analysis tools. As data becomes increasingly important, business analysts will need to be proficient in advanced data analytics tools, techniques and be able to interpret and communicate the results to decision makers and stakeholders.

 

  1.  Agile methodologies:
Image Source – Freepik.com

Over last few decades, more than 70% of companies have adopted Agile methodology for their project implementation, as a BA you just can’t afford to miss out on having a sound understanding of Agile concepts, principles, and culture!

This trend is here to continue and grow in 2023. Business analysts will need to be proficient with agile principles since many projects require them to double up as a scrum master or as a product owner.

 

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  1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning:
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In simple words artificial intelligence and machine learning is the ability of machines to learn and carry out tasks based on the way it is programmed or instructed to do. It can analyze data and come up with decisions based on data and patterns. Many of the tasks carried out by AI and ML today are those where the inputs and the outputs can be well programmed or put out such as chat bots. Traditionally these tasks were handled by humans.

Some of the key benefits of using AI and ML are

  • Improvement in efficiency
  • Predictable performance
  • Improvement in processing speed
  • Reduction in human intervention for business processes
  • Automation in process –
    • finding patterns in process and reporting deviations
    • reporting financial frauds
    • supply chain improvements
    • customer experience analysis and further recommendation
    • Understanding customer behavior and suggesting products and services based on behavior and preferences

 

Business analysts are known to be the change makers and to be an efficient one they need to use technology efficiently to deliver better results and improve efficiency hence AI and ML is going to be their primary tech agents to achieve better business outcomes. Business analysts will need to be hands on with these technologies and their applications to make the most of it. They will need to understand how AI and ML can be used to automate processes, and achieve better business outcomes.

 

  1. Business Transformation:
Image Source – Freepik.com

Business analysts are the ones who primarily bring in business transformation by using technology effectively and as mentioned above AI and ML play a major part in this.

More and more organizations are embracing digital transformation than the past years, be it banks, financial institutions, service organizations or retail. Business analysts are the drivers playing a critical role in helping companies to identify and implement the changes needed to succeed. This might include business process changes, rethinking and redesigning business models, processes, and systems, and implementing new technologies to drive growth and competitiveness.

 

  1. Cross-functional Collaboration:
Image Source – Freepik.com

Business analysts often look at the organization’s internal as well as external facing processes with a critic’s eyes of improvement and redesign the processes to implement all those improvement ideas.

This often involves working with many functions, teams within the organization. They often need to use their power to influence to drive these change initiatives or process improvement initiatives.

This also requires coordinating as well working with various process owners and stakeholders to drive the initiatives to success.

 

  1. Cybersecurity:
Image Source – Freepik.com

With the increasing digital transformations across all sectors including those involving financial as well as highly confidential data, the threat of cyberattacks have gone up drastically.

Business analysts need to take into consideration the confidentiality as well as the risk and vulnerabilities involved in the applications while designing/solutioning the applications.

They need to be well versed with cybersecurity practices to design robust systems and processes.

They will need to be able to work with security experts to ensure that systems and data are protected from potential threats.

 

Overall, the trends in 2023 will continue to emphasize the importance of analytics, data, technology, automation, cyber security and collaboration in driving business success. Business analysts who are able to master the skills needed for these trends and implement them to succeed in a rapidly changing business environment will be well positioned for success.

3 Career Stories Where IIBA Certifications Truly Helped

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) is a professional association formed in October 2003 with the stated goal of supporting and promoting the discipline of business analysis. In another word, IIBA is the professional body for business analysts.

IIBA is providing many types of certifications and they all have their own benefits. In the past 10 years, I have experienced various occasions where, either myself or people I know, have achieved great and tangible career results thanks to certain IIBA certifications.

Here are 3 stories with 3 IIBA certifications, which apparently do not represent all the useful certifications that IIBA provides. However, I believe you will get a strong message why you may want to become a certified business analyst.

 

Story 1: A university graduate

A promising young talent was about to graduate from university. She had equipped her resume well with IT & BA courses, project-based-learning initiatives, internships and workplace experiences. However, based on her job seeking experiences, she had an impression that sometimes she was perceived by potential employers as “indifferent” to other university graduates.

She was determined to make a difference in job applications. The action she had done was to have obtained the ECBA (Entry Certificate in Business Analysis) certification, which was then added as a highlight to her resume and used in job applications.

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In a final round interview, she successfully stood out by saying “I have been certified in the same (IIBA) framework as experienced BA’s use”, while other candidates claiming, “I am a quick learner”.

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I’m sure you will also be empowered by the story if you are currently looking to transition your career towards a business analyst role.

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Story 2: A 2nd year Junior BA

A young IT professional completed her 2nd year of work anniversary in an IT consulting firm as a junior business analyst. Although she progressed a lot in BA competencies and demonstrated consistent work performance, it was frustrating that a lot of people in the company, including her manager, still saw her as “that Junior BA”.

She decided to remind her manager in a polite yet effective way. Weeks before the annual performance review (a.k.a., salary review), she had completed her CCBA (Certification of Capability in Business Analysis).

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In the performance review meeting, she showcased the details her outperformance, coupled with her CCBA certification and the techniques she had acquired from the study of CCBA. At the end of the meeting, she asked for a promotion to Intermediate BA. She got the good news soon after.

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Story 3: A Senior BA who wants to change industry

A senior BA got 10 years’ BA experience. He was always in the telecommunications industry but now wants to pursue a career in the financial service industry. He had a few interviews, but all ended up not well. The typical feedback he had received was “solid BA but lack of domain experience”. He took the advice from others to study towards CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional).

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After being CBAP certified, he was invited to an interview with a local bank. He made a point to the interview panel that “BA skills are transferable across industries” and outlined his BA expertise that had been certified via CBAP and that would add value to the bank immediately. After a week he got a phone call from the hiring manager asking for referees.

 

 

Summary: ECBA/CCBA/CBAP Comparison Table

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Reference:

  1. IIBA Certifications, https://www.iiba.org/business-analysis-certifications/iiba-certifications/

The Topmost Challenges Faced by Developers While Developing FinTech Applications

“Robust backend, intuitive frontend, and efficient tech stacks, FinTech app development touches on all these factors. But FinTech application developers still face challenges that genuinely persist and are worth mulling over.”

Business application development for financial services providers has come a long way. It has transcended the traditional boundaries to ensure data optimization, security, compliance, scalability, agility, and innovation, which are the need of the hour. On the other hand, banking, insurance, and other financial institutions want to deploy FinTech (Financial Technologies) such as cloud, IoT (Internet of Things), intelligent automation, AI (Artificial Intelligence), big data, analytics, and more to practice continuous facelift and safeguard their relevance. Amidst these need and want, challenges mounts for FinTech application developers, who are forced to beat the bush out of their mind.

7 FinTech App Development Challenges Developers Must Keep in Mind

Because they tend to reoccur with the changing business demand and customers’ behavior, challenges — concerning FinTech app development — are never-ending. However, irrespective of the difference in business logic, goals, target audience, products, and services segment, and so on, the success of FinTech applications depends on their ability to allow innovation and deliver seamless user experiences.

But to match these success parameters, developers must be well aware of the common challenges that can create bottlenecks and mar the performance of FinTech applications designed and developed by them. The following are the seven topmost FinTech app development challenges that developers must be aware of while building modern, scalable, and agile FinTech applications.

• Collating the Right FinTech Stack

Choosing the right FinTech stack, i.e., servers, tools, programming languages, technologies, frameworks, databases, and more, is paramount to pursue custom FinTech software development. Developers must consider the clients’ business goals and analyze their organizations’ maturity levels before selecting the FinTech stacks to build bespoke FinTech software solutions that can help deal with specific challenges. Whether they choose Ruby or Java or Python or C++, for that matter, as their programming language, it all depends upon what best suits per business requirements. Selecting the proper FinTech stack parameters can also depend on clients’ operating systems, computation categorization, type of applications required, backends, and more.

• Ensuring Data Security and Compliance

Customer trust is vital for financial services providers while delivering products and services across segments. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly surged the demand for digital banking and platforms such as self-service portals. At the same time, the need for FinTech apps has grown manifold, and so does the need to protect customer data and ensure complete compliance with the regulatory standards. According to an article in Forbes, 30% of customers still believe in traditional banks, not in FinTech companies, due to trust issues. Only 27% of customers believe in FinTech companies. Developers must ensure that FinTech applications copy with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) guidelines, for instance, and provide customer’s data security at all costs, irrespective of the fact that the apps deliver hyper-personalized experiences and add to banking convenience.

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• Enabling Cross-Platform Support and Functionality

Markets are filled with intelligent devices that run on disparate operating systems (OS) and platforms, including macOS, Android, iOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows. Therefore, FinTech software developers should keep in mind another critical factor: to build cross-platform FinTech apps that leverage the native capabilities of the different smart devices to deliver seamless user experiences. Developers can choose application development frameworks such as React Native and Flutter to build highly secure, fast, and responsive FinTech applications that run on different OS and in a different environment, using a single codebase. Cross-platform FinTech apps can help clients reduce costs, increase customer outreach, shorten the time-to-market, and deliver rich user experiences.

• Creating Hybrid Integration-Ready Applications

Innovation is the key to business success in the modern age, and hybrid integration capabilities help you follow a direct and convenient route to practicing continuous innovation. Thus, developers must pursue FinTech app development, where there is enough room to fit in hybrid integration strategies. They should make API (Application Programming Interfaces) the standard language to enable free-flow communication and interaction between internal and external — i.e., third-parties — systems, applications, and other business platforms. With hybrid integration-ready FinTech applications, FinTech developers can enable businesses to build a connected ecosystem and reap the benefits of innovative business models such as bancassurance and open banking.

• Building Hybrid Cloud Architecture

FinTech software solutions underpinned with hybrid cloud architecture are critical to building an optimistic future of worldwide financial services providers. Developers must ensure that the FinTech applications they are building supports multi-cloud platforms. With this, they would help businesses reinvent the IT landscape and reduce the complexities concerning business infrastructure. Cloud-ready FinTech applications help financial services providers subscribe to SaaS (Software-as-a-Service)-based models or leverage public and private cloud platforms for the efficient functioning of their businesses. When consumers’ behavior tends to change at an unprecedented speed, cloud-ready FinTech applications ensure scalability and agility and helps financial companies stay ahead of the competition curve.

• Implementing Enterprise Mobility

Business applications are the linchpin between customers and businesses. The demand for remote working and the need to make financial products and services available and accessible 24*7, anytime, and across the devices highlights the need to attain enterprise mobility. And meeting the demands of enterprise mobility and building FinTech apps to support it is crucial in the current market condition. It allows employees to perform different business tasks and functions from remote locations and right through one single application. On the other hand, FinTech applications supporting enterprise mobility enable customers to use their smart devices to explore products and services at their convenience.

• Practicing Technology Integration

FinTech applications are significantly helping financial services providers break the traditional boundaries and innovate at scale. Technology integration can help developers explore boundless possibilities. They can implement intelligent automation to help businesses attain end-to-end enterprise automation and lean on technologies such as conversational AI to deliver human-like experiences to customers while interacting with chatbots. A FinTech application that supports continuous technology integration helps financial businesses shape the future of work. Be it deploying disruptive InsurTech or RegTech models, creating solutions such as peer-to-peer lending, wealth management, crowdfunding, or exploring distributed ledger technology, i.e., blockchain to create smart contracts and NFT marketplaces, for instance.

Robust FinTech Applications Helps Financial Businesses Drive Experiences Across Endpoints

Markets in the digital age are mobile-heavy, and business applications are considered the best way to increase customer outreach. An efficient application essentially helps in attracting and retaining customers in the digital age. And FinTech applications significantly revolutionize the way customers engage, interact, and transact with financial services providers, including banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

In the current finance market, FinTech applications mean convenience and impeccable experiences for customers. But that is not all. FinTech applications are about drilling down data to learn about the latest trends and customers behavior. Therefore, understanding the challenges while practicing FinTech app development can help developers enable clients and businesses to have a long-term relationship with their customers and gain competitive advantages.