Job Description
Job Purpose:
The Business Analyst’s role is to elicit, analyse, document and validate the business needs of stakeholders, be they customers or end users. This includes interviewing stakeholders, gathering and compiling user requirements to understand the technology solutions they need.
The Business Analyst will also apply proven communication, analytical and problem-solving skills to help the business make good technology decisions. The Business Analyst will also be proactive by exploring Emerging technologies to optimize business processes. The Business Analyst will play a pivotal role in ensuring IT’s understanding of business requirements.
Majorly, the BA acts as bridge between specific Business Units /subsidiaries and IT Services, planning and coordinating operational activities by maximizing the value provided by systems to that particular business unit or Subsidiary. In addition, work with users to identify ways in which IT services can benefit their business, and define the detail of their requirement in terms of functionality and performance.
Qualifications
Strategy & Planning
I. Collaborate with project sponsors to determine project scope and vision.
II. Clearly identify project stakeholders and establish user classes, as well as their characteristics.
III. Conduct interviews to gather user requirements via workshops, questionnaires, surveys, site visits, workflow storyboards, use cases, scenarios, and other methods.
IV. Identify and establish scope and parameters of requirements analysis on a project-by-project basis to define project impact, outcome criteria, and metrics.
V. Work with stakeholders and project team to prioritize collected requirements.
VI. Research, review, and analyze the effectiveness and efficiency of existing requirements-gathering processes and develop strategies for enhancing or further leveraging these processes.
i. Maintain an understanding of business’ processes and their IT needs.
ii. Maintain an awareness of current and emerging technologies.
iii. Identify opportunities where business objectives can be met by using IT.
iv. Develop and manage relationships with business and subsidiary management and assist all levels within the business area to define their overall business requirements.
v.
vi. Provide Business units/ Subsidiaries with advice, guidance and assistance in the identification, selection, testing, and analysis of IT Services’ capabilities.
vii. Work with users to define the details of their requirements, in terms of functionality and performance.
viii. Support introduction of new services
- Documentation design
- Training IT Services staff
- Training users and Service Delivery Group
ix. Pro-active identification of value-adding IT business solutions for the business units he/she represents.
x. Ensure business requests align with IT strategy and recommend IT solutions that will maximize influence and business processes improvements.
xi. Draw out business prioritisation process – assist in ‘making the case’ for funding and supporting stakeholder discussion leading to approval.
xii. Represent specific business user constituencies in developing SLAs ensuring that realistic but robust requirements are submitted.
xiii. Produce systems development specifications in alignment with expressed business needs.
xiv. Interact within IT Services structure facilitating the understanding of specific requirements and adequate packaging of service for represented Business/Subsidiaries.
xv. Monitor overall and Business Unit/Subsidiary specific operational service performance against SLAs within specific user constituencies.
xvi. Monitor overall operational service performance against SLAs and trigger appropriate actions in case of breach.
xvii. Monitor overall application and functionality build, ensuring requirements are implemented.
xviii. Manage key stakeholders in IT and business community and ensure tight alignment of IT initiatives with the business objectives.
xix. Coordinate communication strategies with end-users and business community.
xx. Establish (with Business and Technical Solutions) the best technical approach to deliver cost-effective solutions satisfying the business requirements and needs.
xxi. Monitor specific functionality build, ensuring requirements, budget and calendar are respected.
xxii. Assist with service release acceptance and user testing.
xxiii. Voice concerns and/or satisfaction of the user community with IT service, effectively creating a continuous improvement circle.
Formal Qualifications:
i. First degree in Business or ICT related Discipline; an MBA/CBAP is an added advantage.
ii. Knowledge of business modelling conventions and/or a mainstream software development framework (e.g. AGILE, CMMI) are an advantage.
Years of Experience:
i. Minimum of 0 – 5 years IT Service Delivery experience or Minimum of 2 years Technical Account Management and Project Management experience for Financial Services ICT solution Provider