Business Analysis, what is it?

Business analysis is a discipline that involves identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems. 

It encompasses understanding how organizations function to achieve their goals and defining the capabilities an organization requires to provide products and services to external stakeholders.

Key aspects of business analysis include:

1. Requirement Elicitation: Gathering information from stakeholders to understand their needs and requirements.

2. Requirement Analysis: Examining and prioritizing the gathered requirements to ensure they align with business goals.

3. Requirement Documentation: Clearly documenting the requirements in a format that can be easily understood and referenced by all stakeholders.

4. Solution Assessment and Validation: Evaluating potential solutions to determine their feasibility and effectiveness in addressing the business needs.

5. Stakeholder Management: Engaging with all relevant stakeholders throughout the analysis process to ensure their needs are understood and met.

6. Strategy Analysis: Identifying the business strategies that need to be employed to meet the organization’s goals.

7. Process Improvement: Analyzing and improving business processes to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

Business analysts use various tools and techniques such as SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, use case modeling, and process mapping to perform their tasks. 

The ultimate goal is to facilitate change in an organization by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.