(Whitepaper Download) The Evolving role of a Business Analyst

“Is there a future for Business Analysis in an agile world?”, “is the role of a Business Analyst understood in the majority of companies?”, “who should a Business Analysis report into?”, “can you have both Business Analysis and Product Ownership within a business”, these are just some of the questions I’ve been asked regularly over the last five years I’ve been working with Business Analysts.

Rather than base my response to these questions on my own assumptions. I thought it was important to delve deeper and get a better understanding of the evolving role of a business analysis and the opportunities available in the BA field, from those out there working in the industry day in day out.

Back during the 2020 lockdown I put these questions and more to my BA network and received over 100 responses from BA’s working in over 80 organisations.

The findings were really insightful, dispelled common myths and demonstrated the variation of progression routes within the industry. But in order to make sense of it all and add real world context, I enlisted the help of Rob Cox (Senior Business Analysis, BJSS) , Maia Nikolova (Head of Business Analysis, News UK) and Alison Pierce (Senior Practice Manager, Coventry Building Society) – all successful Business Analysts and experts in the field, to contribute their thoughts on the results that were found and to see if the findings also translate to experiences in their own BA career.