Who are the Business Analysts (Part 3/3)

What did I learn?

In summary, I learn a lot of who are the BA, and their roles in the business world. However, merely attended a two days conference do not make me a BA.  It has given me more ideas if I want to move from a technical orientated career to a business orientated career. Another important thing I learned is that there are many hybrid BAs, existing in between the non-technical and the technical worlds. I find that more people move from technical to more a business role than the other way around.

Do Company Needs BAs?

During the conference, I kept wondering why do company need a BA. The answer is very simple. If a company wants a dedicated person to do business analysis, it hires one.  Typically in a small company, resources are tight, and the employees usually have multiple roles. Most likely there wouldn’t be a single person doing business analysis. As the company grows, employees who are interested in business may move to a more business orientated rule , like project manager. If the company keeps growing, sooner or later it will have dedicated people to do just the business analysis.

Do I want to be a BA?

So, after knowing more about the BA, I asked myself do I want to be a BA, or be interested in moving to the business.  In the current stage of my career, BA is probably not what I am looking for.  Not pointing finger at anyone, people who treat software development as a job rather than a career would tell me they want to get into more a business-orientated such as project manager, product manager, business analysis and etc.  The argument lays on the assumption that non-technical position is more interesting than dry technical position.  A number of engineering friends decided to study MBA or business courses in order to move to a business orientated career.  Unfortunately I rarely hear people moving from a non-technical position to a technical position. Possibly it is easier to do a non-technical job. Possibly it is more fun to attend business meetings, travel to other places, talk to real people, instead of sitting in a office typing your life away.

To me, as long as software development is fun and enjoyable, I will keep doing it.  However, I know that some time I may no longer able to keep up with the changes in the technical world, may eventually move to a less technical position.