I was talking to a group at a meeting the other day and they
asked me what prediction I would make for business analysis over the next few
years. I have made predictions in the
past, but cannot remember what they were or whether they came to pass. So take
it for what it’s worth, here is what I said:
Executives will still look for the silver bullet and quick
fix especially where people can be removed from the product development
equation. At the same time analyzing the business (marketplace, product mix,
competition, business structure, root cause analysis of business problems,
business capabilities, business capacity, etc.)
will become increasingly important as a factor of business success.
Business analysts will move away from IT and requirements orientation and take
a more strategic position analyzing the business to uncover problems,
weaknesses, vulnerabilities and opportunities which will then be passed to
Agile teams to solve or implement. Business analysts who are requirements
documenters only will find their jobs dwindling while those business analysts who
focus on solving business problems will flourish.
