Business Analysis and IT Systems27 Oct
Business analysis places an emphasis on improving the operation of the entire business system. This means that, although technology is viewed as a factor that could enable improvements to the business operations, there are other possibilities. The focus on business improvement rather than on the use of automation per se results in recommendations that typically, but not necessarily, include the use of IT. There may be situations where a short-term non-IT solution is both helpful and cost-effective. For example, a problem may be overcome by developing internal standards or training members of staff. These solutions may be superseded later by longer-term, possibly more costly, solutions but the focus on the business has ensured that the immediate needs have been met. Once urgent issues have been handled, the longer-term solutions can be considered more thoroughly. It is important that our focus as business analysts is on identifying opportunities for improvement with regard to the needs of the particular situation. If we do this, we can recommend changes that will help deliver real business improvements.
There are four primary areas to be considered when analyzing a business system:
The process
The people
The organization context
The technology