A business analysis helps companies make key decisions about process changes and new product development. Here’s how a business analysis is done and how long it takes.
Key Basics
A business analysis is an examination and evaluation of a company’s processes. It’s conducted to find points of business growth. The analyst examines the current situation, assesses the goals the director or owner is striving for, and helps find opportunities to realize them.
Companies that have expert analysts on their staff conduct the analysis on their own and only involve developers for a specific project.
If the company does not have internal expertise, it invites external specialists to conduct the analysis and perform the task.
The main purpose of a business analysis is to understand which processes require changes and to suggest mechanisms for correcting the situation. In order to properly assess the current situation and points of growth, it is necessary to analyze the business comprehensively.
First of all, such work helps to identify ways to increase the efficiency of work. Business analysis begins with a study of the company’s processes and the needs of the customer. After that, the analyst prescribes all goals and objectives in numerical values. Abstract concepts (profitability and efficiency) in the process of business analysis are turned into concrete indicators – for example, the price of consumables or the amount of time to write a PlayAmo casino review.
This approach allows you to find ways to organize business processes, product monetization models and features that will bring additional revenue or help save time and resources.
Besides, a business analysis allows you to establish the exact cost of the project. It forms a clear idea of what the company needs and how to achieve it with the help of information technologies. This notion is executed as a specification – a project plan. Such a document contains all the details you need to calculate and approve the final cost of the project.
The specification helps to choose a strategy: to do everything at once or divide the development into stages, start the MVP, and gradually develop the project.
Such an analysis helps to reduce costs. You need to spend money on the business analysis at first, but it prevents you from overspending in the future. For example, the specification can be made as an appendix to the contract with the developer. Then it becomes a legal guarantee that the development will stay within the budget.
If you don’t do a business analysis, you may overpay. Without a specification, developers will encounter unexpected requirements and complexities. The company runs the risk of getting a non-viable product that will require additional money to rework.
How a Business Analysis Is Conducted
There are two key approaches to business analysis: European and American.
In Europe, business analysis is usually performed by systems analysts with a technical background. They know early on which technologies to use, where to store data, and which routes to take.
In the U.S., an analyst first and foremost has a deep understanding of the business. Such a specialist leaves the technical details to the developers and spends more time describing the project as a commercial product.
Combine the advantages of the American and European approach. This will allow you to see both opportunities to increase profits and clear technical solutions that will help achieve this goal in an optimal way.
Here’s a business analysis plan based on a combination of the two approaches:
- Signing an NDA (non-disclosure agreement). Confidentiality is necessary because the analyst goes into all the nuances of the customer’s business processes.
- Interview with the customer. At this stage an analyst finds out what is to be developed and who will use the new IT system. He examines the business model of the company and collects the basic requirements for a new product.
- In-depth interviews. The analyst asks additional questions and interviews users of the system. This is needed to better understand the purpose and functions of the product, to develop a scheme of the company’s business processes.
- Graphic prototype. The analyst prepares screenshots. They help to understand how the product will look and work, and how users will interact with it.
- Prototype discussion. At this stage the analyst discusses the prototype with the customer and makes changes.
- Preparation of the specification. Based on the prototypes, a list of all the requirements for the future IT system is prepared.
- Approval of the specification. The analyst and developers discuss the specification with the customer and make changes if necessary.
Once the prototypes are checked, the specification is approved, and the details of the collaboration are agreed upon, development can begin.
Business Analysis Results for the Company
Business analysts will point out the points of growth and help understand which features of the future product are the most important. This will help eliminate unviable ideas and save money and time on development.
As a result of the business analysis, the company receives:
- A complete project specification, which includes a description of all functions and user features envisioned in the product.
- A visual prototype of the product, which shows the device and features of the user interface.
The specification is a ready guide for developers, while the visual prototype is a visual aid for designers. With these documents, the business will be able to launch development with any contractor.
