Aurora Skarbøvig og Frida Hornseth
The truth is that the BA role is both surf n turf and a mixture of similarities and differences, and depends on the project and the direction you want to go in. We are convinced that there are many who apply for a job without fully understanding what the job entails. By sharing your own experiences, we hope that you will gain a better insight into the role, so that you can more easily visualize your workday as a BA in Evidi.
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As two ladies graduated from Copenhagen Business School, we have heard the term consultant countless times. However, when it came time to start as CRM consultants at Evidi in the role of Business Analyst (BA), we'll honestly admit that we didn't really know what it meant. Lack of research on our part you might think, but let's explain further.
Working as a BA is more than just Dynamics 365 (D365), Microsoft’s own CRM solution. The D365 solution is at the core of the work one does, but there is a lot around that one must also keep in mind. To stay short and concise, we take this step by step. In reality, much of this takes place simultaneously and the extent to which you contribute to the steps varies between projects.
Mapping the customer's needs and the challenges to be solved is central to the role of BA, both for new and ongoing projects. Typical questions are what is perceived as heavy, time-consuming and manual today, and how can this be solved with the D365. As a BA, it's important to be curious. One must be able to dig for details, and not be afraid to question established processes. In the mapping phase, it is important to see the bigger picture. The goal is to find out how D365 and automation can simplify and increase the efficiency of your company's processes.
After completion of the mapping, the findings are used to define user stories and requirements for the solution. The user stories help us describe how the system should work from the users' perspective, and thus we ensure that we meet the needs that the solution should cover.
Once we have used the findings in the mapping phase to define requirements for solutions through user stories, we will work together with the team to deliver on the requirements and develop the functionality. The extent to which BA contributes to the development of functionality depends on how the role is defined in the project. It also varies to what extent you contribute to the development of functionality, and we have been in both projects where configuration has constituted a large part of the role, and projects where one rarely contributed to development.
Before new functionality is made available to end users, it must be checked that it works properly by means of testing. This can be either a dedicated role, or something you assist with, among other tasks such as a BA. Taking part in testing is very useful as a BA, as you become well acquainted with the solution you deliver and can best help the users of the solution to adopt new functionality.
When launching new functionality, you will assist in creating user documentation and hold training and workshops, so that users get the most out of the system in their everyday lives. In this part of the role, it is important to enjoy sharing knowledge, being a supportive partner and a helping hand, and being able to translate technical terms for the end users. You should enjoy talking to people and be motivated by seeing that others make it happen.
Despite the preparatory work, it will rarely be possible to avoid system errors or user errors. In these cases, BA assists with support and troubleshooting. In this way, weaknesses in the system will be revealed – either because the technical aspects did not go as expected, or because the system is not being used as intended. Here you have good opportunities to improve the requirements or uncover needs and formulate new user stories.
The responsibilities we have presented in this article are processes that will repeat themselves many times during a project, as one works to meet requirements in different work intervals (sprints). As BA, you have a central role in the team and will be a link between user and developer. You will work with a holistic approach and will have the opportunity to take part in many stages of the delivery. This gives you unique insight into both your business and users' needs, as well as challenges. Everyday life is varied, and you can feel what you enjoy best. Hopefully it is now clearer to you what can be expected as a BA consultant in Evidi.
Does this sound like something for you?
Do you want to know more about the workday as a Business Analyst and our delivery area Engage? Contact us for a non-committal chat.