Why must CIOs invest in business analysts to obtain better project outcomes?

According to the PMI Pulse of the Profession report, inaccurate requirements as a result of poor or missing business analysis processes are the second leading cause of project failure (39%), the first reason being changes in an organization’s priorities (41%).

There’s no second thought that the requirement’s quality largely determines the end-product quality. Today’s organizations are recognizing the value of business analysis more than ever, ensuring sufficient pre-project analysis is performed to align project, program, and portfolio investments to the strategy, goals, and objectives of the organization.

Demand for digital BAs continues to rise

Despite a pandemic, the demand for BAs has no end. Why? For a highly competitive industrial facet, organizations must wake up to reality and review their BA strategy. To establish a presence in the era of web 3.0, organizations should focus on upskilling their resources into the latest technologies such as blockchain, AI, Virtual Reality and others. 

Multiple research studies have proven that the majority of project failures and product defects happen due to inadequate business analysis. Organizations suffer significantly as they choose incorrect projects and solutions due to poor business analysis.

Developing business analysis competency in your organization

Progressive organizations are acutely aware of the need for business analysts and the value that they bring to the table. Currently, more than 30,000 business analysts and 600 organizations are members of IIBA, an international institute dedicated to promoting business analysis.

Developing business analysis capability requires careful planning and great leadership. The industry is growing at a CAGR of 7.3% and could tap USD 103.65 bn by 2026. This is a testimony to the fast-changing technological landscape for smarter professionals. 

For enterprises, it is wise to collaborate with a corporate training entity with proficiency in business analysis and allied subjects. For example, Adaptive US provides a comprehensive range of courses for multiple certification programs in business analysis. They assist organizations in building their in-house training programs and have been providing exclusive training to professionals as per one’s interest, caliber and subject-matter expertise. 

There are 3 key areas that every CIO needs to focus on for developing business analysis capabilities in their organization:

People capabilities: Improving the business analysis skills of your business analysts

Any business analysis initiative counts strongly on both technology and human aspects. Capable business analysts assist the organization to achieve its goals efficiently and stay ahead of the game, hence it makes enormous sense to get your business analysts trained in the strategy analysis, business analysis planning and monitoring, elicitation, requirements management, requirements analysis and solution performance improvement. It is also equally critical to train them on your recommended business analysis practices and business analysis tools. 

Process capabilities: Establishing and continually improving your business analysis practices

A well-defined process enables all business analysts in your organization to perform business analysis in a consistent, predictable and efficient manner. It is also critical to get your business analysis process benchmarked against the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), which is a global standard on business analysis practices. 

Tools capabilities 

About a decade back, there were very few business analysis tools and most of them were utterly expensive. Fortunately, over the last few years, a great number of high-quality and cost-effective tools have been introduced into the market. Some of the popular business analysis tools popular in the market are Jira from Atlassian, Balsamiq, MS Visio, ScopeMaster (Requirements analysis tool) and BizAgi Business Process Modeler.

Build your BA expertise!

Organizations with high-maturity business analysis processes also experience better strategic alignment to goals and higher performance. That makes seeking expert assistance in your business analysis practice journey very important. It may feel overwhelming as a CIO to improve BA capabilities in a short time. The good news is that there are consulting organizations that can help you to set up business analysis capabilities. 

How are you restructuring your BA competence? Share with me in the comments.