IT Glossary
What is business analysis?
Business analysis is the work of understanding a company's real needs, structuring them and translating them into clear requirements for a software project.
Most software projects that fail do not fail because the code was bad. They fail because the wrong thing was built, and business analysis is precisely the discipline that prevents that. Before a line of code is written, the analyst talks to the people who do the work, maps processes as they genuinely run rather than as the org chart imagines them, identifies where time and money leak away, and converts all of it into precise requirements: what the system must do, for whom, under which rules and with which exceptions. It is the architectural drawing that precedes a building — skip it and you discover at handover that the kitchen has no window. For your company the stake is directly financial. A requirement clarified during analysis costs one conversation; the same requirement discovered after launch costs rewritten modules, missed deadlines and a doubled budget. The requirements document also becomes a shared language with your supplier: comparable quotes, a clear contract, and an acceptance process that does not end in a dispute.
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Why it matters for your business
Build the right thing first time
Requirements validated with the people doing the work remove the that-is-not-how-we-operate discovery that otherwise lands at launch, when fixing it costs most.
Comparable quotes and a realistic budget
With a solid requirements document, suppliers price the same scope. You can compare numbers honestly and avoid a stream of unforeseen variations later.
Improved processes, not merely digitised ones
Analysis exposes redundant steps and bottlenecks in the current flow; often the gain comes from simplifying the process rather than moving it into software as-is.
Frequently asked questions
What does a business analyst actually do on a software project?
They interview key people, observe processes at ground level, document the current and the intended flows, write functional and non-functional requirements, prioritise with you what belongs in the first release, and stay on the project as translator between the business and the developers.
Can I not just explain what I want directly to the developer?
On very small projects, yes. On any system touching several roles and processes, what I want stated verbally turns out to be incomplete and self-contradictory, because each department wants something different. Analysis exists to collect, reconcile and fix those requirements in writing before they become expensive code.
What share of a project budget should go to business analysis?
Typically ten to fifteen per cent of total effort, concentrated at the start but continuing through the project for clarifications and changes. It is the best-returning percentage in the budget: requirement defects are consistently the most expensive category of error once they reach production.
Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247