Businesses today are becoming increasingly reliant on business analysts to help guide them through the process of digital transformation. When it comes to business software development, business analysis can unlock a whole host of benefits that you may not have even considered. Luckily, we are going to explore them fully below.
Taking your business to the next level with digital transformation
A lot of business owners and employees today are spending their work hours plotting the next steps when it comes to digital transformation, and rightly so. After all, we live in a world that is very much dominated by technology, and if you do not embrace this, you are only going to get left behind. You need to make sure that your business is able to compete on a technological level, and this is something that requires clever planning and strategic oversight.
Digital transformation will give you a better understanding of your customers by collecting useful analytics that will help you to better serve your consumer base. This is one of the main benefits associated with digital transformation. It is also why we are seeing a lot of companies turn to bespoke software so that they can create a solution that gives them all of the insights and tools that they need to get the best possible results.
Why should you develop your own business software?
There are many benefits that are associated with developing your own business software, and this is just one element of digital transformation. Yes, off-the-shelf solutions can serve a purpose, yet they do tend to be very rigid and simply hold businesses back. Instead, you need a solution that is going to be completely tailored to suit your business and your audience.
You will be able to ensure that the software you are building only has the features you need and does not contain any redundant elements, which will significantly boost efficiency. Aside from this, the software you use will also scale with your business, meaning you can easily tailor it to high periods of demand, as well as the quieter periods. You are in complete control with bespoke software.
What are the benefits of using business analysis for your digital transformation needs?
Now that you know about the significance of moving your business forward and creating bespoke software that can help you to achieve your goals, let’s take a look at the benefits of using business analysis to create improved software and achieve digital transformation.
Elicit requirements for your project
The business analyst you hire will be able to gather all of the business and technical requirements that are needed for a final product or a minimum viable product (MVP), in cooperation with all stakeholders, including employees, company leadership, product owners, project managers, and software engineers.
In an ideal scenario, this research will also involve input from end-users or customers, as they are the people who will actually use the product, and they are, therefore, in the best position to make sure you are informed regarding the functionality of the product, as well as their failures, successes, and challenges when utilizing the product.
By including the end-user, you will also know if the attempts to get buy-in are introducing other unanticipated processes or artifacts to product users that could have an impact on the overall return on investment (ROI).
Without thorough and correct business analysis before building the software, developers could end up designing an incomplete application that does not solve the issues they intended to. Even worse, the software may have to be scrapped and the process may need to be started all over again after a considerable amount of time and money has been spent.
Reduce your expenses
One of the most significant advantages of hiring a business analyst is that this will help in terms of reducing business expenses.
A business analyst will use data analysis and recommend work methodologies so that strategies can be created to reduce project expenses.
Depending on the software development framework the team is working under, the business analyst will brief the team on how to work, as well as monitor the process for any possible efficiency improvements or pitfalls.
This will help to reduce expenses and enhance time to market (TTM) for the finished application.
There are literally heaps of different ways that you can use business analysis to help lower your project expenses and overruns.
Project implementation and testing
The actual development or building phase of a project will include preparing and implementing the software or application solution that is necessary to fulfill business requirements in the form of a working, successful product.
Business analysis also plays a critical role in terms of testing and implementation. Your business analyst will work with your testing team to review overall functionality and specific features.
Your business analyst will make sure that the developed product will meet all of the specific requirements from the technical documentation and product backlog throughout application walkthroughs and other testing activities in every release cycle.
They will also get involved in actual product testing. They will give your entire project team direct feedback regarding compliance and requirements.
Throughout the testing and implementation stage, the business analyst will also assist with change management and crisis anticipation. All of this will boost the likelihood that the end product is going to meet the specified end-user requirements, within the stipulated budget and timelines.
Bridge communication between stakeholders
Aside from the benefits that we have mentioned so far, another benefit of using business analysis when building SaaS software is to bridge communication between stakeholders.
Your business analyst will function as a bridge between your development team and stakeholders. They will ensure your business requirements are translated so that engineers and developers can understand them in technical terms.
At the same time, your business analyst will communication any concerns that the project team has to the relevant stakeholders, ensuring that all sides of the time have the information that is needed and everything is understood across all silo boundaries.
By ensuring that this vital communication is filled, it helps to make sure that anyone else in your business, both on the development and business sides, can understand the project’s value. This will ensure you are protected against any sort of misunderstandings.
You are also protected against the possibility of developing a product that is not consistent with the vision your consumer has.
Aside from this, it will also lower the risk of eventual communication letdowns in terms of product specifications or requirements.
Hiring a business analyst
As you can see, there are many benefits that are associated with using a business analyst in SaaS software development. But you need to make sure you find the best business analyst for this to be the case.
Make sure to test IT business analyst skills so that you can be sure the individual in question has the skills that you are looking for. Aside from this, make sure that the person has the required experience and find out what software development projects they have worked on before.
Final words on business analysis in software development
So there you have it: a great insight into the benefits of business analysis when it comes to software development.
Not only can business analysis act as a communication bridge between various stakeholders but it can lower your costs, improve strategy and decision making, and assist with project implementation. When your factor all of this in, it is a no-brainer for your business.