A mobile business analyst is an essential part of any successful app development project. You might be wondering why a business analyst is so important to mobile app development. After all, great apps require creativity and technical programming skills. A business analyst will not be building an application, and they are not technical experts in computer programming, so why are they so important?
If you want to build a successful mobile app and run a mobile business, your team will need more than just skilled app developers. You must give your project management team all of the tools it needs to produce a successful product. A business analyst will bring valuable market and consumer insights, budget planning skills, and more to the table.
In many cases, companies choose business analysts to lead their project management teams because of their diverse skills and planning abilities. Let’s learn more about the role that business analysts play in app development. Along the way, you will see why this professional is so crucial for successful mobile application development.
What Is a Mobile Business Analyst?
A mobile business analyst is a business analyst that specializes in mobile app development and the intricacies of running a mobile business. There is far more behind a successful mobile app than a great idea and technically skilled programming. How much will it cost to develop your app? What is the potential market for your app idea? What are the long-term goals of your project?
Those are just a few important considerations that many app developers fail to account for until it is too late in the development process. A mobile business analyst is a professional that brings focus and defines clear goals for development projects. You might be surprised to learn that many companies and startups move ahead with app development without a clear understanding of what they are trying to achieve.
Far too many startups have a clever idea for an app, but they don’t have the business sense to make their vision a profitable, sustainable reality. As a result, the vast majority of startups will either fail outright, struggle to make their idea profitable and repay investors, or have to make significant changes to their app by the time they make it to the final stages of development.
There will always be changes in any development project from the beginning of the initial idea to the final product. Still, a skilled business analyst can help minimize the changes needed after the bulk of the development has been done. It is far more costly to make big changes late in the development process, both in terms of time and money. Including a business analyst at the outset of development can help your business establish clear goals and results, organize, and improve internal communications.
The Responsibilities of a Mobile Business Analyst
To truly understand the value a business analyst brings to development projects, you have to clearly understand the responsibilities associated with this role. Common responsibilities for a business analyst include:
- Market research
- Budget planning
- Enabling clear lines of communication
- Clarifying requirements
Market Research
Market research and analysis is the primary responsibility of a business analyst. Market research and analysis should be the first step of any app development project. This task will provide decision-makers and key stakeholders with important information necessary to plan and deploy software. Your organization cannot realistically prioritize or set goals without understanding what the market wants and needs.
Accurate market analysis improves your chances of success greatly. Typically, analysis is done in a few different ways that are all important to overall success. First, analysts must take the product requests from stakeholders and compare them to current market demands to find opportunities for the business.
In addition, business analysts need to review competitors and other technologies that solve similar problems that your app is being built for. Competitor research can give your business insight into how you can improve your app idea. Finally, mobile business analysts look for potential product flaws and pitfalls before they occur so your business can avoid them and create a quality mobile app.
Budget Planning
Budget planning is another major responsibility a business analyst can handle. Analysts combine statistical data, industry experience, and market demand forecasts to plan the most effective ways to budget a project. If you’ve ever worked on a big project, you might know that an accurate budget plan can help save your business a lot of money and time.
Business analysts use market forecasts to help them build effective budget plans. For example, suppose you can accurately forecast high levels of demand in the coming months or years. In that case, your business can plan to budget accordingly, spending more when demand increases and less when demand wanes. Market forecasts also help attract investors, calculate potential profits, and evaluate the potential for an app idea’s success.
Enabling Clear Lines of Communication
Mobile application development often requires the involvement of multiple teams. The more teams and people involved in a project, the more potential there is for miscommunication. You might be surprised to learn that another key responsibility a business analyst handles is communication. Business analysts are uniquely positioned to facilitate clear communication because they work closely with and as an intermediary between key stakeholders and the teams working on the project.
Miscommunication can easily happen when technical and non-technical team members try to convey concepts to one another. A business analyst can help bridge the gap between technical and non-technical teams.
Clarifying Requirements
The clarification of requirements is closely related to clear communication, but it is slightly different, so we separated it as its own point. Before app development can begin in earnest, business analysts must specify the project’s requirements to the development team. The business analyst plays an important role here. Not only does an analyst identify the needs and opportunities for the project, but they also must communicate the requirements to the developers to ensure efficiency.
Vague functional requirements or specifications will lead to costly issues as the project nears completion. You don’t want to spend valuable resources on development only to find you have missed key app functionality requirements at the end.
Final Thoughts
The business analyst is typically involved in every phase of the Software Development Lifecycle. The inclusion of this professional ensures efficient development that meets the demands of the business and the market. If you’re interested in learning more about the role business analysts play in DevOps, reach out to an app development partner. They might not have technical development expertise, but a mobile business analyst is essential in any mobile app development project.
