Business Analyst Role: Importance, Application & APA Formatting

This essay discusses the pivotal role of a business analyst in bridging the gap between business and technology, enhancing the success of IT projects, and facilitating effective outsourcing and technology migration. It highlights the importance of a business analyst in budget allocation and emphasizes the necessity of collaboration with stakeholders. The author reflects on how the business analyst role can foster team building and improve decision-making within an organization. Furthermore, the essay adheres to APA formatting guidelines, including a cover page, page numbers, a conclusion, and references to support the analysis, underscoring the practical application of these skills in a professional setting. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering a range of study tools and resources for students.

1Running head: THE ROLE OF A BUSINESS ANALYST
The Role Of A Business Analyst
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2THE ROLE OF A BUSINESS ANALYST
The Role Of A Business Analyst
Over the years, the Chief information officer (CIO) has be considered to be the broker
between the business and technological processes. While this may be the notion in the
boardroom, behind the scenes, business analysts have taken up the role of coming up with
business cases meant for IT-related development (Bailey, 2017). A business analyst now plays a
role in evaluating business concepts as well as capabilities and also takes part in inventing and
assessing critical IT changes to business processes (Bailey, 2017). Normally driven by
undertaking ‘feasibility studies’, in many ways, the role a business analyst is important as far as
appraising organization performance is concerned.
The Importance Of The Business Analyst Role
 Increase the success of IT projects - Every day, a host of projects are drafted while others
are being stalled owing to them failing to achieve the required results (Eva et al., 2014). This
shows the incapability of IT departments when it comes to project delivery. Factors which
result in project failures include poor job delegation, intelligible objectives, disjointed
communication and lack of enough resources among other factors (Eva et al., 2014). A
business analyst can control and alleviate some of these problems that lead to project failures
through detailed requirements and enterprise analysis (Eva et al., 2014).
 Narrow the gap between the Business and IT Departments - Both the Business and IT
department may be under the same organization but each entity runs with different goals and
principles in mind. The IT is more concerned with how technology is implemented and
managed within the company while the business unit often sets its eyes on generating more
revenue and customer requirements (Livesey, 2013). A business analyst acts a a liason
between these two departments and strives to achieve an equilibrium. He or she has the

3THE ROLE OF A BUSINESS ANALYST
know-how and expertise required to change business requirements to provide inputs for IT
projects to achieve a fruitful result (Livesey, 2013).
 Outsourcing - This is a vital aspect for which business analysts are a basic component of IT
projects. The alignment of operations of the IT unit and other departments becomes critical
if boundaries exist especially in the form of office space (Eva et al., 2014). The IT unit may
find it tough to comprehend another entity’s requirements if it is situated externally. The
business analyst comes in and communicates such requirements through enterprise analysis,
data analysis and process modelling (Eva et al., 2014).
 Migration Of Technology - During a migration to new technology, a business analyst is
meticulous and his or her technical ability ensures that risks associated with the migration
are mitigated (Fleisher & Bensoussan, 2015). He or she will effectively pass on the
information across all departments within an organization.
 Budget Allocation - A business analyst’s two main skills of requirements and financial
analysis required for the success of IT project comes in handy when the budget allocation is
being carried out (Fleisher & Bensoussan, 2015) .
How I Can Apply The Business Analyst Role In My Career
The business analyst role is a demanding one and requires collaboration with an array of
business stakeholders. In my career, the business analyst role can help in team building across
the organization by bring all the stakeholders together for a common goal. Also, as a business
analyst, I can help the business and IT departments to make well and informed decisions for the
overall benefit of the organization.

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References
Bailey, L. (2017). Requirements gathering for the new business analyst: The Simplified
Beginners Guide to Business Systems Analysis.
Eva, M., Hindle, K., Paul, D., Rollaston, C., & Tudor, D. (2014). Business analysis. D. Paul, D.
Yeates, & J. Cadle (Eds.). British Computer Society.
Fleisher, C. S., & Bensoussan, B. E. (2015). Business and competitive analysis: effective
application of new and classic methods. FT Press.
Livesey, C. (2013, February 22). Micro Focus Blog. Retrieved from
https://blog.microfocus.com/the-importance-of-the-business-analyst-role/