The increasing demand for business analysts in recent years has brought about the need for a proper articulation of the Business Analyst’s role. Despite the growth of the business analysis field, and its value, academic research on the practices, competencies and capabilities of a business analyst is still limited. Drawing on the Resource-Based View of the firm theory and the concept of practice, this study proposes a business analysis capability model. A positivist qualitative research methodology has been conducted using a directed content-based analysis approach. This research analysed 300 business analyst online job advertisements in order to identify the practices, competencies and capabilities of business analysts as perceived by employers based in South Africa (SA) and the United Kingdom (UK). The findings suggest that, both in SA and the UK, analysts with systems skills, practices, competencies and capabilities are preferred by employers over those with business skills. The results of the study suggest that South African employers demand additional skills, practices and competencies from a business analyst than are required by employers based in the UK. This suggests that SA based business analysts are capable of competing for employment in the UK without the need for them to acquire additional skills. This research makes conceptual contributions to academia, and also offers managerial contributions to practice.

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The diploma thesis explores the meaning of business analyst role in IT. What possible influence this role has on successfulness of IT projects and how companies could effectively educate such an employee using optimized framework of their internal processes. Suggested process framework for business analysts' development involves five areas of company's life: company culture, education, knowledge management, practical application of gained experience and last but not least - the recruitment process. Processes of these areas affect each other and together create integrated system, which allows for effective education of business analysts. Process framework enables complex approach to employees development and effectively links human resources development strategy and company's global strategy.

Affärssystem erbjuder effektivt informationsflöde samt större kontroll överprocesser mellan olika moduler på ett företag. Det bidrar till att företaget kanreagera snabbare på marknadens möjligheter och på konkurrenstrycket. För attlyckas med implementering av affärssystem behöver företaget ta hänsyn tillkritiska framgångsfaktorer som kan vara utgångspunkten iimplementeringsprocessen.Denna fallstudie studerar kritiska framgångsfaktorer för implementering avaffärssystem utifrån ett affärsanalytiker- respektive IT-personalperspektiv genomatt genomföra fyra intervjuer på ett specifikt företag. Utgångspunkten äridentifierad genom en litteraturstudie om kritiska framgångsfaktorer förimplementering av affärssystem. Även företagets åtgärder för att underlättasamarbete och kommunikation mellan de två grupperna presenteras.Detta resulterade i att utvärderingen av fyra av de åtta undersökta faktorernaskiljer sig mellan de två undersökta grupperna. Dessa faktorer är ”tydliga mål ochsyfte, planering”, ”utbildning av användarna”, ” business process reengineering”och ”project management”. Vidare vid en utvärdering anger IT-personal ”tydligamål och syfte” som den viktigaste kritiska faktorn. Enligt affärsanalytiker finnsingen faktor som hamnar på högsta plats i granskningsskala. Däremot ”topmanagement support” och ”effektiv kommunikation” hamnar på andra plats igranskningsskala i båda grupperna i frågan om de mest kritiska faktorerna.Oavsett skillnader i utvärderingen av de undersökta faktorerna betraktasfortfarande alla faktorer som kritiska och viktiga. Det undersökta företagetfokuserar mycket på att underlätta kommunikationen och samarbetet mellan detvå grupperna genom att jobba agilt samt öka närvaro i varandras vardag. / Enterprise resource planning (ERP) provides an efficient flow of information and agreater control over the processes between the different modules of an enterprise.It helps the company to respond more quickly to market opportunities andcompetitive pressures. To succeed in business systems implementation, thecompany needs to consider the critical success factors that can be the starting pointin the implementation process. In this case study, we analyze critical successfactors for ERP implementation based on business analysts and IT staffperspective, through four interviews on a specific company. The starting point is toidentify critical success factors for ERP implementation through a literature study.The company's measures to facilitate cooperation and communication between thetwo groups are also presented.As a result, the review of the eight tested factors differs between the two studygroups. These factors are “clear goals and objectives”, “user training”, “businessprocess reengineering” and “project management”. In particular, clear goals andobjectives are identified as the most critical factor by the IT staff. However,according to business analysts, no factor ends up in the highest level of the reviewscale. In contrast, “top management support” and “effective communication” end upin second position of the review scale in both groups on the question of the mostcritical factors. Regardless of the differences in the examination of the factors allare still considered critical and important. Investigated company focuses onfacilitating communication and cooperation between the two groups by workingagile and increase the presence in each other's everyday lives.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Technology: Information Technology in the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / The alignment between business and information technology (IT) strategies has been a challenge for many years. Strategic alignment models and enterprise architecture methodologies and frameworks have been developed to assist business and IT managers with improving alignment between business and IT strategies. The business analyst, systems analyst and project manager are key role players in delivering the information systems (IS) needs of business and therefore key in aligning business and IT strategies. Despite literature and research suggesting a positive influence of emotional intelligence on occupational performance in various industries, the development of emotional intelligence of the business analyst, systems analyst and project manager is neglected by software development organisations. Emotional intelligence is neglected in industry IS competency models as well as documented standards for the business analysis and project management profession (BABOK and PMBOK). Emotional intelligence is not addressed in strategic alignment models and enterprise architecture methodologies and frameworks. Emotional intelligence is equally neglected in IS literature. Systematic research investigating the impact of emotional intelligence on occupational performance of IT professionals remains sparse. The purpose of this study was to determine which emotional intelligence competencies are needed to improve the occupational performance of business analysts, systems analysts and project managers in delivering business information system needs. The study took the form of a multiple interpretive case study. Qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from 20 software development organisations utilising the roles of the business analyst, systems analyst and project manager. Quantitative data was collected using the Genos Emotional Intelligence Inventory with the aim of identifying the patterns of emotional intelligence visible in the sample of business analysts, systems analysts and project managers assessed. The study suggests emotional intelligence has a role to play in alignment between business and IT strategies. It is proposed that industry IS competency models as well as the standards for the business analysis and project management profession as documented in BABOK and PMBOK include specific emotional intelligence competencies. The study also proposes that higher education institutions in IT/IS such as universities of technology, as well as training providers focusing on business analysis, systems analysis and project management, should focus not only on technical skills but emotional intelligence skills as well when developing the supply pipeline of business analysts, systems analysts and project managers. Keywords: Emotional intelligence, business – IT alignment, information technology, enterprise architecture, business analyst, systems analyst, project manager, competencies, non-technical skills.