Global Corporate Members: Examining Business Analysis Trends
Each quarter members of the IIBA® Global Corporate Program participate on a webinar to examine the latest topics of interest to organizations and their business leaders. As one of the many member benefits of the IIBA corporate program, the webinars always generate great insight and questions from across our global community, and our latest webinar was no exception.
On this webinar, we took a look at the top three trends taking place in the business analysis space - agile, business data analytics, and digital transformation. Our guest speaker was Laura Paton, who is a recognized business analysis leader with over 30 years of in-depth project management and business analysis experience.
Laura walked our corporate members through the major changes taking place across the business environment and the impact these are having on the role of the business analyst. Laura touched on a few key points, which I wanted to share with you:
Agile
One of the questions that BAs ask about agile is: do BAs have a role in the agile space? Laura answered this question with a resounding YES! “Even if your organization is moving to agile or has already moved...you still need to know the fundamentals of business analysis. We know that when we transition from waterfall to agile, you need to leverage your fundamental BA skills. What does change is the processes and tasks that you perform they will have different names, the timing of when you do your work will be different, and how often you do your activities (the frequency) will be different.”
Business Data Analytics
As Laura spoke about Business Data Analytics, it was clear that, here too, business analysis professionals play an important and distinct role. Laura provided a great overview of where and how BAs can play a role and use their knowledge and skillset. “Business data analytics is just another type of project. Many of your foundational skills in business analysis are still applicable.” As Laura further highlighted, business data analytics is a speciality path for business analysis professionals, but they will need to learn additional specialized skills.
Digital Transformation
As Laura explained, the digital transformation is “becoming more of a hot topic because we are making a lot of advancements in technology and the technologies are becoming cheaper.” The digital transformation provides great opportunities for those business analysis professionals looking to drive innovative solutions. For BAs in the digital space, they need to have “strong analysis skills, agility, and research and experimental skills,” shared Laura.
The biggest takeaway from this webinar was the extent of opportunities that exist for business analysis professionals in the areas of agile, business data analytics, and digital transformation. At IIBA, we’re committed to preparing for these opportunities by strengthening business analysis capabilities, which help lead to increased value, create stronger organizations, and deliver more successful business outcomes. Whether it is our new Certification in Business Data Analytics, our new certification digital badges, or the new Analyst Catalyst blog, IIBA is helping organizations and professionals adapt and evolve to meet the dynamic environment we are facing.
If you're already a corporate member, be sure to join us for our next webinar in Q4. If you missed the recent webinar, they are archived and can be found by logging into your corporate page on the IIBA website. If your organization isn't a member of IIBA, consider joining now to access all of the benefits that come with the IIBA Global Corporate Program - including our next quarterly corporate webinar.