Many people have asked me if a Business Analyst need to understand the technical side of the project or not. 

My answer to it – “No and Yes”..

Let me explain. 

This is when Business Analyst does not need technical knowledge:

As a beginner when you join the BA group, it is not expected that you will be able to guide someone or your team technically. Your job is mainly focused onto – 

• Identifying the stakeholders
• Preparing questionnaire for the stakeholders 
• Understanding the business requirements 
• Documenting the requirements 
• Asking questions if anything is not clear 
• Coordinating with the team members to ensure they understand the requirements and deliver accordingly 

Gradually you gain experience of the project, the domain or industry, the customer’s business processes and also the technical solution that you are working with. 

Over a period of time, with number of years experience, you become a guide to the team. Because I have seen that the technical team is more happy if they work on code and design work while they will need someone to approve and provide them confidence that what they are developing will meet customer’s requirements. Here comes the Business Analyst because he knows the requirements best. 

This is when Business Analyst should gain some Technical Knowledge:
When it comes to technical knowledge, I will advise a Business Analyst to grab the fundamental knowledge on the following – 

• Structured Query Language (SQL)
• Database Structure 
• Data Integration (DI)
• Extract Transform Load (ETL)
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Business Process Management (BPM)
• Master Data Management (MDM)
• Big Data
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Ecommerce 
• Cloud 

Don’t try to gain these technical knowledge in one day. It takes time to gain knowledge. Take your time. Go to Youtube or Google, search and learn it. It will polish you to become a Senior Business Analyst. 

Apart from these, a Business Analyst should have Functional knowledge on the specific solution that is being developed in the current project. Suppose, I am working in a project to implement Microsoft CRM solution, I will research about the CRM solution offered by Microsoft. I will try to understand the features, functionalities, limitation, customization, deployment details of the tool. I may not be able to code or configure but I should know how the CRM works and what is the ideal process that my customer should follow. All these information are available if you google it.  

I am not sure if you will agree; but I have seen many business analysts who have sound technical knowledge and can challenge a technical architect also. However, you don’t have to become an Architect but the Fundamental or Functional knowledge that you gain will make you more relevant and valuable resource in the team. It’s a continuous process; to learn and help your team. I do it and it helps me build great impact on your clients because they see me as a consultant who can guide rather than a BA who always says “I will get back to you after discussing with my technical team“.