How Agile and Business Analysis Work Together

Business analysis and Agile development share the common goal of process improvement through identifying business needs and determining solutions. Many corporations have adopted the use of both, and earlier this year, the two sectors followed suit and announced a collaboration.

The International Institute of Business Analysis™ (IIBA), a professional association dedicated to helping the business analysis community, is working with the Agile Alliance, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting the concepts of Agile software development, to create publications, host events and stage engagements to help broaden their causes.

“The goal of this strategic alliance is to support BA practitioners and their organizations utilizing Agile approaches in being more efficient and delivering better results more effectively,” said Stephen Ashworth, IIBA’s President and CEO, according to an IIBA press release. “Working together, IIBA and Agile Alliance will further explore the integration of business analysis practices with Agile approaches, share ideas, and seek opportunities to support the evolution of Agile business analysis through industry events, joint research, and white paper development initiatives.”

How Business Analysis Fits into Agile Methodology

Business analysts can fill many roles throughout the course of a project, but their primary function is communication during a project’s lifecycle, from beginning to final delivery. Analysts ensure all contributors are communicating clearly at all times, and they properly articulate project progress and expectations to outside stakeholders. This requires business analysts to have extensive knowledge of the business domain, processes and flow of whichever projects they work on.

When it comes to the role of a business analyst in an Agile environment, it’s all about flexibility. It’s an organic position, and responsibilities typically change frequently. That’s why the Agile methodology has proven so useful. Agile allows business analysts to test and observe and learn, all the while making steady progress toward an end goal.

According to global services company APPIRIO, a business analyst may be asked to assume four roles while working on a project within an Agile landscape.

• Product Owner – In this role, the business analyst professional focuses on continuously refining the requirements to provide better solutions to any affected business processes, and to ensure the goals of the business are met.
• Innovator – Here, the business analyst is expected to diagnose infected processes within the business through the use of innovative measures.
• Leader – Because Agile methodology is focused on teamwork rather than individual performance, the business analyst leader must initiate any change or improvement that needs to happen across the organization.
• Storyteller – In this role, the business analyst is responsible for listening to the client’s needs and then converting them into the requirements and user stories that will help meet those needs.

The Future of Agile Development

Agile isn’t a new concept, but it has experienced a recent upswing in popularity because it brings a lot of counterintuitive elements to the forefront of business and encourages people to experiment and vet them.

As it gains momentum in the corporate world, certain aspects of Agile are turning heads in big businesses. Agile is empowering, for example. The methodology is focused on continual improvement and refinement, and most empowering is its center of general ambiguity: roles are much more fluid in an Agile process. Team members help wherever they can, however they can.

As Agile absorbs clearly defined roles, it’s also consuming the notion of testing and evaluation. Testing and quality assurance are becoming day-to-day considerations. No longer do teams have to pour months into projects, submit them for testing, wait several weeks and then return to the project for significant revision and rework. Instead, projects are vetted as they’re built. Outcomes are tested. User experiences and project efficacy are evaluated every step of the way, instead of at the project’s conclusion.

This fluid, creative, collaborative approach to work is creating workplaces that are totally balanced. Everyone becomes his or her own manager, and teams work in one flowing direction – toward a shared goal – constantly evaluating and strengthening each other’s work along the way.

The IIBA and Agile Alliance recognize this as the future of business. They understand that improved business outcomes rely on adaptability and organic teamwork. Through their collaboration, they aim to show the world that business – like the Agile methodology advises – should always be trying to better itself.

“Building on the work of the first release of the Agile Extension, this collaboration is an example of how Agile development is constantly evolving…new ideas are emerging and existing ideas continually being refined and honed,” said Shane Hastie, Director, Agile Alliance, according to the IIBA press release. “In the spirit of the Agile manifesto, this collaboration is firmly about bringing individuals together to explore and share our understanding of the important analysis approaches and practices which contribute to effective Agile development.”