What does the Business Analyst do? Part 2 – Role of the BA vs. Role of the Project Manager

Role of the BA vs. Role of the Project Manager

Ideally, the project manager and the BA will both be involved in the project as early as project initiation, each with clearly defined roles.  The project manager is responsible for orchestrating the project as a whole, and the BA is responsible for ensuring that requirements clearly reflect business needs and remain mapped to the business strategy.  Specifically, the project manager has overall responsibility for all project activities while the BA is responsible for all activities related to requirements development.  The project manager has primary responsibility for the vision and scope report and reviews the business requirements document (BRD) and the master test plan.  The BA authors the BRD and contributes to the master test plan.

Project Manager

  • Concerned with overall project;
  • Manages the project according to the triple constraint: time, cost, and scope;
  • Demonstrates PMP competencies;
  • Defines project scope;
  • Ensures the project is delivered on time, within budget, and within scope – removes issues/barriers;
  • Manages the change request process;
  • Identifies, assesses and evaluates overall project/organizational risk.

 

Business Analyst

  • ​Concerned with the overall success of the solution;
  • Manages requirements to ensure they are traceable, verifiable, and justifiable;
  • Demonstrates CBAP competencies;
  • Defines solution scope and works with project manager to refine project scope if necessary;
  • ​Ensures the “right” product is built – the one that meets the customer’s needs;
  • Manages the requirements necessary to support proposed change requests;
  • ​Identifies assesses and evaluates risks associated with requirements.

Next installment, “The Role of the BA vs. Role of the Systems Analyst and Test Manager“…