An Industrial Survey on Business Analysis Problems and Solutions

The paper focuses on the problems reported by business analysts which have a negative impact on their work and on the applicability of available business analysis (BA) techniques as solutions to such problems. A unified set of BA techniques was developed on the basis of 3 industrial standards associated with IIBA, REQB and IREB certification schemes. A group of 8 business analysts was surveyed to list problems they encounter in their work activities and assess their frequency. A subset of most frequent problems was further analyzed and solutions were proposed by selecting the most suitable BA techniques. Solution proposals were validated through follow-up discussions with business analysts. The results indicate that the unified set of techniques addresses the problems reported by practitioners and solution proposals are generally accepted as valid, although several techniques can be used interchangeably.