From Traditional to Full Stack: How Accenture Empowers Business Analysis Professionals with a Full Stack Skill Set
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The role of technology in business is only going to increase over time. As more companies adapt to the future of work, they are keeping their eyes on equipping their workforce with new capabilities.
Accenture understands the importance of providing veteran analysts and recruits with access to learning opportunities that allow them to upskill, reskill and advance their careers. Accenture partnered with IIBA, for business analysis certifications, training for professionals, and more, for their thriving business analysis community.
Rajeev Nair, Managing Director, and Industry Practice Lead at Advanced Technology Centers in India has seen a noticeable increase in the demand for “full stack” roles for business analysis professionals, i.e., business architecture, technology consulting practitioner, or cloud advisor. A Full Stack Business Technology Analyst is a highly skilled business analysis professional who has comprehensive knowledge and expertise in both the technical and business aspects of an organization.
“Companies need people who can manage both business strategy and technical implementation,” Nair said. “We saw this as a great growth opportunity for our people.”
The role of a Full Stack Business Technology Analyst (FS-BTA) calls for two different skill sets:
- A deep enough understanding of a wide range of technologies
- A strong ability to understand, influence and communicate with people
This enables them to drive initiatives to completion, transforming concepts into literal cash. FS-BTA has a strong technical voice to provide input and guidance related to technical solutions and trade-offs. They can see the initiative through to completion and ensure ongoing monitoring of results. Instead of a technology stack, the Full Stack Business Technology Analyst focuses on the product stack, which is comprised of ideation, validation, vision, decomposition, delivery, and monitoring.
Going Full Throttle on Full Stack
Accenture recognized the critical role that the FS-BTA plays in driving successful projects. To effectively meet our client’s needs, we acknowledged the importance of developing many FS-BTAs at scale while ensuring the development of core and consistent skills. Through a thorough assessment of current practices, we identified the skills and capabilities needed by these professionals and created a comprehensive development program.Within Accenture, we have created several courses to help business analysis professionals expand their knowledge. Launched in August 2021, the Full Stack Business Technology Analyst (FS-BTA) program is an extensive eight-week course that prepares analysts to bridge the gap between business strategy and technical implementation, transforming ideas into realizable value. As part of the FS-BTA development package, business analysts get:
- Continuous learning opportunities
- Fast-track path to hone your skills
- Enable role acceleration
- Differentiated staffing and deployment
Level I - Graduation Program
The Level 1 program offers a comprehensive curriculum encompassing essential courses to enhance the FS-BTA skill set. Participants gain a solid foundation in key areas essential to business analysis success.- Introduction to Agile, DevOps, SDLC Methodology, ADM for Agile
- Design thinking and storytelling
- Understanding practices and techniques from IIBA’s BABOK® Guide v3
- Industry-specific deep-dive sessions
- Modern technologies (data, AI, cloud, blockchain, metaverse, etc.)
Level II - Advanced Program
The Level 2 program is designed to further enhance the skills and expertise of the FS-BTA in key areas that are crucial for strategic decision-making and organizational growth.- Enterprise and value analysis
- User journey and experience analysis
- Data-driven consulting and digital accessibility
- Sustainability
- Business process management and re-engineering
- Data analytics and visualization
- Design: preparation, audience analysis, getting audience buy-in:
- WIIFM, points of view, defining outcomes
- Develop: structuring content, business narratives, content flow and structure
- Delivery: verbal delivery techniques, emphasis, pitch, tone, pause and pace
Level III - Action Learning Project
Participants take their learning to the next level by incorporating a dynamic learning project into the curriculum. This program offers a comprehensive and immersive experience that allows participants to apply their acquired skills and knowledge in a practical setting.To graduate:
- Participants on each path are divided into smaller cohorts. A coach provides each cohort with guidance and assistance.
- Each cohort is asked to propose a solution (to an industry problem), leveraging all the topics covered in the program.
- Each cohort is expected to prepare an executive pitch and present it to a jury of industry leaders who will give their feedback on the solutions.
Step Up, Glow Up
In the short time since the program has been active, more than 450+ people have been trained, helping them develop their skills and take their careers to the next level. Here’s what some of the participants have to say about their experience:Deepti Govil, Business & Integration Architecture Manager, describes her time in the program as eye-opening.
“It was great! As participants, we were able to interact with and learn from each other. We got the opportunity to connect with both internal and external speakers as well as be mentored by great industry coaches and program leads.”
Komal Sachdeva, Business & Integration Architecture Specialist said:
“Joining this ambitious program helped me in upskilling. I’ve been a business analyst for a couple of years now. I decided to apply because I wanted to enhance my understanding of core processes and my functional expertise. I was a little overwhelmed at first, but the program is very well structured, the sessions are recorded, and the organizers are super friendly and approachable. This made it easier to manage the program alongside deliverables and made the learning process more worthwhile.”
Nikhil Parte, a Business and Integration Architecture Specialist, has expressed how the program helped him develop his skills.
“I come from a tech background, so product empathy and sales were never an integral part of my skill set. Going through this journey has helped me communicate with my clients better and given me a clearer view of the business narrative and various cogs in the delivery machine.”
The Learning Doesn’t Stop There
The FS-BTA program doesn’t stop after eight weeks. It’s the first step in creating future-ready career paths and developing multi-skilled technologists that ensure the successful delivery of projects that align technology solutions with organizational goals.Would you like to learn more about Accenture and its opportunities for business analysis professionals? Explore opportunities for growth and development here.
About The Authors:
Renu Bhatia is Industry Talent Lead (Associate Director) at Advanced Technology Centers in India. She is an Industry Talent Strategist with nearly 25 years of experience across diverse organizational domains. She is proficient in managing and creating technical and specialized talent, talent measurement and competency development, automation of overall talent organization, and customizing talent academies and universities for clients, and domains. She advocates Innovative and creative ways of community, learning and collaboration culture in the organization.
Ashish Singh is Business Analysis Capability Lead (Senior Manager) at Advanced Technology Centers in India. He is CBAP certified and comes with an overall experience of 14+ years leading business solutions, innovation, and capability for the future in the travel and hospitality, financial services, retail, and telecommunications industries. He is proficient in defining strategy for business growth, laying down the road map for adoption, and operationalizing it across the travel industry practice to enable industry differentiation & treading the paths unexplored with the leaders in Hotels and Cruise-liners to co-innovate and bring the next new to now. He has also recently taken up the role of VP- Professional Development in the Delhi NCR chapter.
Shalki Shabnam is a Senior Business analyst (Associate Manager) at Advanced Technology Centers in India. She is CBAP certified, a certified Scrum Master, and Product Owner and comes with over 10 years of experience in the travel industry. She has acted as an Industry Consultant in areas like core travel-related projects which consist of the hospitality industry. She has defined and managed a well-defined project management process and championed ongoing process improvement initiatives to implement best practices for agile project management.
