Why Business Analysis

In any software or automation project, understanding the true business need is critical. That’s where Business Analysis and Requirements Engineering come into play.

Business Analysts work closely with stakeholders to explore current processes, uncover pain points, and identify opportunities for improvement. They focus on the big picture, what the business is trying to achieve, and help shape solutions that make a real difference. Their role is to clarify goals, align expectations, and ensure the project stays focused on delivering value.

Once the goals are clear, Requirements Engineering turns those insights into detailed, structured requirements. This involves documenting what the system or automation should do, making sure every requirement is clear, testable, and traceable. It helps avoid miscommunication and keeps development on the right track.

Key responsibilities include:

• Engaging with stakeholders to understand needs and gather information

  • Analyzing current workflows and identifying areas for improvement

    • Defining business goals and aligning them with technical solutions

      • Writing clear and actionable functional and non-functional requirements

        • Facilitating communication between business teams and developers

          • Supporting solution validation and ensuring the product meets expectations

Responsibilities

Business Analysis is the foundation of successful change in any organization. It ensures that the right problems are identified, the right solutions are proposed, and the results deliver real value to the business.

In both automation and software projects, Business Analysts (BAs) act as the link between business needs and technical delivery. They dive deep to understand current processes, uncover inefficiencies, and translate business goals into clear, actionable requirements that guide development.

Without proper analysis, projects risk delivering the wrong solution, going over budget, or missing the mark entirely.

Techniques

To deliver successful projects, Business Analysts use a variety of practical techniques to gather insights, define needs, and document requirements. Here are some of the most commonly used:

Interviews

Direct discussions with stakeholders to explore their needs, pain points, and expectations

Process Mapping

Creating visual diagrams (e.g., flowcharts, swimlanes, BPMN) to understand how work is currently done and spot inefficiencies

Observation (Job Shadowing)

Watching users perform tasks to gain insights into undocumented steps or real-world challenges

Workshops

Collaborative sessions that bring stakeholders together to explore processes, align on goals, or define requirements

Document Analysis

Reviewing existing materials like SOPs(Standard Operating Procedure), reports, or logs to extract useful information about current systems or rules

MoSCoW Prioritization

Ranking requirements as Must have, Should have, Could have, or Won’t have to guide development focus

Requirements Workshops

Focused sessions for eliciting, reviewing, and validating requirements with business and technical teams

Gap Analysis

Comparing the current state with the desired future state to identify what needs to change or improve

Prototyping and Wireframing

Building mockups of screens or processes to gather early feedback and validate design ideas

STAR Technique

BAs use STAR to guide stakeholder interviews, understand past challenges, and document real-world case studies clearly

Confluence

Confluence supports business analysts by providing a centralized platform to capture requirements, create process documentation, and maintain version-controlled project artifacts. It streamlines communication, improves stakeholder engagement, and ensures transparency throughout the project lifecycle

Tools

Visio

Microsoft Visio is a diagramming tool that helps business analysts visualize processes, workflows, and system architectures, making complex information easier to understand and communicate

Jira helps business analysts manage requirements, track user stories, and collaborate with development teams, ensuring clear communication and smooth project execution

Jira

Business Analysts use a variety of tools to support collaboration, documentation, analysis, and visualization, ranging from Excel for data handling, Microsoft Teams for communication, and Miro for interactive workshops, to platforms like Confluence, Jira, and Visio for managing requirements and mapping processes effectively

Excel

Is often used by Business Analysts for organizing requirement lists, building traceability matrices, and performing quick data analysis during early project stages

Microsoft Teams

Miro

Supports effective collaboration by enabling real-time communication, file sharing, and virtual meetings with stakeholders across locations

Is a versatile online whiteboard tool used for brainstorming, process mapping, and running interactive workshops, especially with remote teams