What is Business Analysis?
What is Business Analysis?
The definition, the scope, and the day-to-day reality of what Business Analysts actually do in organisations.
The definition
Business Analysis is the process of identifying business needs, analysing and evaluating those needs, and recommending practical solutions to meet them. It involves gathering and analysing data, identifying problems and opportunities, and providing recommendations for improvements to business processes, systems, and products.
A Business Analyst works closely with stakeholders — executives, managers, customers, and end-users — to understand their needs, identify improvement opportunities, and translate those into requirements that the delivery team can act on.
Core BA responsibilities
- Conducting research and analysis to identify business problems and opportunities
- Developing business cases to justify the need for change
- Defining and documenting business requirements and user stories
- Developing and analysing business process models
- Facilitating communication and collaboration among stakeholders
- Designing and testing solutions to ensure they meet business requirements
- Managing project scope, timelines, and impact on the business
📌 Key Points
Business Analysis is the discipline of identifying the right problem and ensuring the right solution gets built to solve it
BAs work across stakeholder groups — from executives to end-users — translating between business context and technical delivery
The core value BAs provide is preventing organisations from spending significant time and money solving the wrong problem
Ready to go deeper? The CBBA programme covers everything in this topic in detail — with practical ANZ case studies
What does Business Analysis mean to you?
Before diving deeper, take a moment to connect what you've just read to your own world. There are no wrong answers here — this is about building self-awareness as you start this course.