What Is The Role of a Business Analyst in Quality Assurance?
Though QA business analysis is very significant for a company’s advancement on the market, people tend to confuse it with market analysis, UX research, data analysis – probably, with all other analytical activities. Actually, it is not surprising, given the blurry line between roles and responsibilities each of the mentioned activities implies.
Meanwhile, it may seem complicated to decide what falls under the responsibility of a Business Analyst during quality assurance procedures and what should remain a task for QA engineers and a Team Lead.
We decided to clarify this matter and, explaining the ties between BA and testing, the role of a Business Analyst in the QA process, and the place of this professional in a quality assurance & testing company.
Who Is a QA Business Analyst?
A QA Business Analyst is a member of a product development team whose task is to bridge the gap between an IT team and a business team. Usually, this specialist:
- analyzes business domain;
- evaluates strengths and weaknesses;
- measures the potential business value;
- outlines business requirements;
- participates in acceptance testing or beta testing;
- comes up with new strategies and initiatives.
Here’s a more illustrative explanation. Let’s say, there is a product owner – a person with a clear understanding of the business objectives and business value of a certain project. This person also has the approximate requirements outlined: software type, core features, maybe even a highlight. However, the exact plan of getting from point A, where they are now, to point B, which is product release, is not apparent. Very often, product owners are not good at the tech aspects of the implementation. Meanwhile, IT specialists tend to prioritize tech aspects before business objectives. That’s where a Business Analyst steps in to help both sides find common ground.
Business Analysts use data-driven insights to determine the requirements and/or cover the areas that can be improved to increase the delivered business value. They introduce the reports for stakeholders and come to the IT team to balance the approved ideas with what is technologically feasible. It can also be the opposite process: a BA specialist analyzes whether feasible ideas are financially reasonable, blend with other functional and UX aspects, etc.
Roles & Responsibilities of a QA Business Analyst
A Business Analyst doesn’t necessarily have a tech background. As long as they can gather and process business data, turning the findings into ideas on improvement, a general understanding of how a system works will do just fine.
So what does a Business Analyst do specifically? The role and responsibilities of this professional usually account for the following tasks:
- Gather information about products and/or processes by observations, interviewing stakeholders and team members, using related reports, etc.
- Analyze business processes to understand the problems and their root causes, distinguish opportunities, and define areas that need improvement.
- Based on the independent analysis, find solutions that will boost product potential and performance on the market.
- Explain the idea and present the plan of its implementation to the stakeholders.
- Discuss the technical implementation for the idea with the development team to test its feasibility.
- Analyze the feasible solutions within a given budget, deadlines, existing requirements, etc.
- Validate the business requirements to make sure that all parties involved in the development process are on the same page.
The mission of a BA specialist can end at this point. The implementation becomes the task for a development team. However, a Business Analyst can supervise the implementation as well.
- Identify the steps or tasks to complete for the implementation of changes.
- Standardize the development process so that the team sticks to the single previously outlined workflow.
- Verify the expected result. If everything was done right, the analysis of the same aspects (business processes, customer satisfaction, etc.) shows positive dynamics after change implementation.
As a rule, a company’s practices and processes determine the scope of responsibilities for a Business Analyst. In other words, both parties should discuss the tasks and level of involvement before they start the cooperation.
Software Testing vs Business Analyst
By the time testing starts, a Business Analyst completes studying and evaluating a company’s processes. There is already a plan for improvements, and a testing team sticks to it. So, a BA doesn’t run testing, but they can participate in preparing test cases.
For example, a BA specialist can check if the tests are written in conformance with the requirements. A Business Analyst can also be on the list of people authorized to sign a testing plan. For example, they can check the coverage and match scenarios with user stories before approval.
On the one hand, it is obvious for QA Engineers that they should address the requirements to create test cases. That’s the only way to make sure that the system performs as specified. Therefore, it is not a BA’s task to check if a certain testing activity complies with the requirements. On the other hand, a business perspective can alter the priorities a bit. It means that a Business Analyst can be the one to prioritize certain requirements and features in case of tight deadlines, lack of resources, or other issues.
The Role of a Business Analyst In Testing
A Business Analyst is a person QA Engineers can approach with questions at any stage of testing. As mentioned above, a BA doesn’t have to participate directly, but they can be a consultant, an advisor.
- Functional testing: a Business Analyst can participate in writing specifications or be fully in charge of this. Therefore, QA Engineers can ask questions if something is unclear, inform about gaps in logic, etc.
- Regression testing: a BA specialist may select test cases to include in regression testing, making sure that all the business-critical features are covered.
- UX testing: Business Analysts often advise on how to improve a particular feature to deliver higher quality and value, so it makes sense for them to check the implementation result
- End-to-end testing: just like in the case with functional testing, a Business Analyst can work together with a testing team to create a test plan, review and approve the plan, or provide clarifications on requirements if needed.
- User acceptance testing: at this stage, the team is to validate that software as a wholesome product meets business requirements, and Business Analysts are likely to participate in it. As a rule, a software product is handed to real users and stakeholders who agree (or not) to proceed with the release.
- Beta testing: this activity is beyond the scope of a testing team’s tasks. It implies the involvement of real users – employees or a selected group of users from outside the company. A BA specialist can participate or supervise the process, taking notes on further improvement.
QA Engineer to Business Analyst: a Career Path
In case you are interested in career opportunities, here’s a piece of useful information. QA Engineers’ professional growth is marked by achieving certain QA grades as milestones. Eventually, a person can become a Senior QA Engineer, take a management position, or move in a bit of a different direction – business analysis, for example.
The good news is that QA Engineers make good BAs. Constant work with business requirements shapes a good understanding of product planning. Years of participation in testing activities build attention to detail and analytical skills. As a result, QA Engineers have both technical background and solid analytical skills.
When Does a Team Need a Business Analyst?
Some companies don’t have a position of a Business Analyst. Nevertheless, someone needs to cover the BA responsibilities, at least partially. Developers and QA Engineers can come up with improvements on the way and offer new solutions. Product Owners can be in charge of requirements writing. So what makes a team realize that they need to involve a dedicated BA on the project?
Every business is different, so the particular situations when you may need a BA specialist are different, too. We decided to unite the possible cases under three general categories.
- You run or work in a medium company or corporation. The management sets realistic goals, but achieving them is difficult or impossible. A Business Analyst will study the standard processes and workflows to search for the bottlenecks.
- A company notices a decline in customer retention, customer satisfaction, sales rates, etc., and the reason for it is not evident. A BA specialist will review the activities and detect the changes that led to the decline.
- A small company plans to scale and move to a new level, but the management cannot define the right direction or doesn’t understand what steps to take. A Business Analyst helps to determine the growth opportunities.
In other words, a Business Analyst helps to find weak spots in the business processes and/or find an opportunity for business growth. If a company faces at least one of those needs, hiring a professional is a good idea.
To Sum Up
A QA Business Analyst has a significant one to play in the development process. Low customer satisfaction is one of the many reasons why a business may need improvement. The changing technologies, outdated systems, inefficient processes are also tasks where a Business Analyst initiates the change.
A BA professional helps to see a company’s processes in detail – with all the highlights and flaws – and suggests the way for improvement. At the same time, they are able to see a bigger picture and advise on specific steps to take to reach the ambitious business goals.
A Business Analyst doesn’t always participate in testing directly. However, they can contribute to an efficient testing strategy and help a QA team to understand business priorities better. That’s why outsourced software companies often include BA on the list of services they provide. So if you feel like your business has hidden potential or, on the contrary, lacks efficiency, think about finding a BA specialist for your team 😉