What does hiring an IT business analyst entail?

The role of the business analyst in IT projects

The business analyst plays an extremely important role in the software development process. He is the “bridge” that connects the business world with the world of technology. His main tasks include identifying and understanding real business needs and user problems, translating them into precise and unambiguous functional and non-functional requirements for the IT system, and then communicating these requirements to the development team. The analyst ensures that the solution being developed actually addresses the business needs and delivers the expected value.

When do companies decide to hire an analyst?

As with project managers, companies choose to hire a business analyst in a variety of situations:

• Lack of internal competence: The company does not have specialized IT business analysts within its structures.
• Increased project demand: The need to fill the analyst role on multiple concurrent projects exceeds the capacity of the internal team.
• Temporary needs: The need for analysis is limited to a specific phase of the project (e.g., requirements gathering, pre-implementation analysis) or applies to a project of a specific duration.
• Domain-specific knowledge: the project requires an analyst with experience in a specific industry (e.g., finance, insurance, logistics) or knowledge of specific business processes.
• Need for objective analysis: The desire for an external, objective view of business processes and system requirements.

Responsibilities of the hired analyst

A hired IT business analyst typically performs a wide range of tasks, including: conducting workshops and interviews with business stakeholders, business process analysis (AS-IS, TO-BE), process modeling (e.g., BPMN), creating requirements documentation (e.g., use cases, user stories, functional specifications), managing the product backlog in collaboration with the product owner, supporting the development team in understanding requirements, participating in acceptance testing, and supporting implementation and user training.

Collaboration model and benefits

The cooperation is usually carried out in a body leasing model (time & material or lump sum). The hired analyst becomes part of the client’s project team. The benefits for the client include quick access to key analytical competencies, flexibility in resource management, the ability to acquire domain expertise, cost optimization, and the assurance of high-quality analysis and requirements documentation, which translates into a lower risk of project failure and better alignment of the solution with business needs.

Requirements for the supplier

A provider of business analyst hiring services should have professionals with proven analytical skills, communication skills, knowledge of tools and methodologies (e.g., UML, BPMN, Agile) and, if possible, experience in various industries. The process of verifying the analytical competence of candidates is key to ensuring the quality of the service.