There is some overlap between Business Analysts (BA) and other analysts, but they also have some distinct differences, as their approaches are diverging. Compared to the conventional business analyst position, which has existed for decades as businesses implement agile approaches, the agile business analyst role is somewhat new. Both are trying to bridge the gap between business and technical teams, but their approaches are different, their skills are different, and their mindset is different.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover:
- A brief history of business analysis
- The rise of agile methodologies
- Key traits and responsibilities of BAs vs. ABAs
- Skills and tools needed for each role
- How the two roles collaborate
- Salary outlook and career paths
Whether you’re interested in pursuing business analysis or agile business analysis services for your career, looking to hire for one of these roles, or just want to understand how they fit into the organizational puzzle – read on!
The Evolution of Business Analysis
Traditional Business Analysis
The business analyst role has existed since the 1940s, emerging from the systems analyst role. In the 1980s and ’90s, as technology systems grew more complex, the need arose for specialists who could liaise between business teams that requested technology solutions and the technical teams that built them.
Business analysts in the early days were heavily involved with documentation and project management processes. Waterfall development was plan-driven, sequential and siloed teams.
The business analyst took on the role of central conduit for the gathering and documenting of requirements, quality assurance, user acceptance testing, and solution implementation.
The Rise of Agile
In 2001, a new set of values and principles revolutionized the software development world. The Agile Manifesto rejected heavyweight process in favor of:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
- Working software over comprehensive documentation
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
- Responding to change by following a plan
Agile gave quick iterations, customer comments, and ongoing planning top priority, along with cross-functional teamwork.
Business analysis also had to change when agile approaches like Scrum and Kanban changed development teams.
Key Traits of a Traditional Business Analyst
What is agile business analysis? Traditional business analysts typically have these core traits:
- Detail-oriented – Can research solutions in-depth, document intricate requirements and processes
- Organized – Keeps structured records, documents, and materials
- Analytical – Excels at analyzing data, processes, and solutions
- Communicative – Interfaces with diverse teams and specialists
- Strategic thinking – Understands business objectives and challenges
- Process-driven – Follows system development lifecycle stages
These traits suit the waterfall approach, with its emphasis on comprehensive planning and documentation before development begins.
Responsibilities of a Traditional Business Analyst
The traditional BA role centers around these core responsibilities:
- Interview stakeholders, research needs, document requirements, specifications, requirements planning
- Maps current state processes, identifies improvements
- Prioritizes and tracks requirements through the development and has requirement management of all types
- Outlines costs, benefits and risks to justify the project and describes business case development
- QA and testing – Develop test plans and cases to account for quality.
- Trains users, supports implementation and helps with transition and adoption
- Coordination of plans, resources and budgets – project management
The BA owns the business side of solution delivery, while developers tackle the technical side. They collaborate to bring stakeholders’ vision to life within constraints.
Key Traits of an Agile Business Analyst
The role of business analyst in Agile evolved quite differently from its traditional predecessor. Here are some of its hallmarks:
- Flexible – Adapts to changing priorities and environments
- Practical – Focuses on usable solutions instead of exhaustive documentation
- Collaborative – Thrives in cross-functional agile teams
- Creative problem-solving – Thinks out-of-box to meet iterative challenge
- Customer-focused – Aligns goals around end-user value
- Love of learning – Continually ups skills as technologies rapidly advance
The business analyst role in agile fits neatly into frameworks like Scrum, which favors action, adaptation, and innovation.
Core Responsibilities of an Agile Business Analyst
The business analyst in agile focuses more narrowly on these responsibilities:
- Customer proxy – Sees customer needs, and fights for them
- Requirements prioritization – Collaborates so the highest value features develop first
- User story development – Defines agile user stories for the product backlog
- Sprints support – Gives inputs and answers questions for the development team
- Prototype review – Feedback on software increments
- Implementation planning – Plots rollout, marketing and post-release steps
- Process improvement – Advises on optimizations to improve customer experience
The ABA works directly with developers as they create each component of the solution instead of fully recording needs ahead.
Core Skill Sets Compared
While both business analyst roles require soft skills like communication, leadership and strategic thinking – some specialized hard skills vary significantly.
Key Skills for Traditional BAs
- Business process modeling using BPMN to map current and future state workflows
- Requirements modeling with UML diagrams, decision tables, and state charts
- QA testing methodologies – writing test cases and scripts
- SQL, Excel – for data analysis and reporting
- Project management tools and methodologies
These skills help the traditional BA thoroughly plan and document complex future state solutions.
Key Skills for Agile Business Analysts
- Design thinking – innovating creative solutions for customers
- User story mapping – structuring agile backlogs
- Prototyping – mocking up user interfaces for feedback
- Product ownership – maximizing and communicating end-user value
- Agile ceremonies like sprint planning, standups, retrospectives
- Web and mobile technologies – high-level understanding
These skills allow the ABA to actively engage with agile development teams to bring user stories to life.
Working Together Towards Common Goals
Although the traditional business analyst and agile business analyst may seem like opposites, in many larger organizations, these complementary skill sets collaborate to help technology solutions succeed.
Here are some ways the roles intersect:
Enterprise analysis – BAs analyze existing processes and systems at the macro level to inform ABA customer journey mapping
Transition planning – BAs document future state processes so ABAs can work on transition planning
Legacy system integration – BAs handle integration with legacy systems so development can focus on new user-centric features
Compliance – BAs own regulatory and compliance processes so ABAs can concentrate on customer value
Training – BAs develop training programs for any updated processes while ABAs train on the new tool functionality
Both skills are distinct but highly symbiotic. Business analysts and agile business analysts contribute huge organizational value together.
Career Trajectories and Salaries
Every business domain is being infused by technology, and both business analyst and agile business analyst careers have strong growth potential. The salary outlook and career ladder for each role is as follows here.
Business Analyst Salaries
According to Glassdoor, average salaries for business analysts are:
Entry-level BA – USD 72,000
Mid-career BA – USD 99,000
Senior BA – USD 170,000
It’s common for business analysts to transition into related roles as they advance, for example:
- Solution architect
- IT consultant
- Project manager
- Program manager
- Chief technology officer
These roles command six-figure salaries, indicating substantial career growth is achievable.
Agile Business Analyst Salaries
There are currently fewer salary statistics available specifically for agile business analysts than for the more established BA role. But average ABA salaries are:
Entry-level ABA – USD 86,000
Mid-career ABA – USD 103,000
Senior ABA – USD 175,000
This career path can also progress into lucrative related roles such as:
- Product owner
- Scrum master
- Agile coach
- Director of product management
Business analyst and agile business analyst careers are both highly secure, satisfying, and advanceable careers in technology-driven business environments.
Which Is Right For You?
If you’re deciding whether to pursue a business analyst agile methodology or ta raditional career path as a business analyst, consider which role best suits your attributes.
Traditional BAs tend to thrive when they can analyze data, document thoroughly, manage complex projects and smooth transitions. Detail and process orientation are key strengths.
Agile BAs tend to solve creative problems in a highly collaborative environment. They prioritize customer perspectives, quickly adapt to change, and embrace ambiguity.
Of course, skills can be built over time. But your innate preferences may nudge you towards one role.
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
The agile business analyst role emerged to meet the needs of companies adopting agile software development approaches.
While the traditional business analyst focuses on requirements, process documentation and project execution – the agile BA champions customer needs within agile product teams.
Soft skills overlap a little, but BAs prefer modeling, quality assurance and project management, whereas ABAs focus on product ownership, design thinking and technical skills.
Both careers have strong salaries, from ~ $60K for entry-level to $95K for senior, with a lot of room for advancement.
Some organizations allow BAs and ABAs to work symbiotically to bridge business objectives with technical execution.
As technology reshapes how every business operates, demand for both business analysis and agile analysis skills will continue flourishing. Hopefully, this guide has helped illuminate which career path resonates most with your talents and passions.
