To survive and prosper in the modern economy, businesses must be able to quickly adapt to changes in the market
place. They must identify and address
problems and leverage technology and other opportunities faster
than their competitors. Intense international competition and rapid
technological change requires that companies be lean and dynamic.
To survive in this environment, organizations must have an intimate understanding of
their own business processes, data and
organization. Although executives can formulate new new strategies,
many organization are unable to implement needed changes,
without inflicting pain and disruption on its employees, suppliers and
customers. To implement organizational change with
surgical precision, the business must "know
itself".
The business analyst plays a crucial role in developing an understanding of the business and
sharing this business knowledge with the decision makers. Understanding the barriers
and enablers to change is essential. Barriers often include a
complicated patchwork of legacy computer systems, outdated business
processes and lots of data but little useful information. Enablers can included things
such as
robust underlying architectures, valuable business intelligence hidden deep in databases
and highly capable individuals lost in the corporate shadows.
Good business analysts will discover your organization's strengths and
weaknesses.
