Top 10 Most Effective Business Analysis Techniques

Today’s data-driven, the digital world offers countless new options and resources for
consumers and businesses alike. We could even make a case of saying that, in many
situations, there are too many choices to make.

An overabundance of options often brings paralysis, as people become overwhelmed

into inaction in the face of so many choices. While this is annoying and inconvenient for
the average private citizen, it’s catastrophic for the commercial sector, especially in
cases where the latter are attempting to put together a successful business plan.

That’s why business analysts are such an essential element for an organization’s
survival and success today. By using different structured business analysis techniques,
these analysts help companies identify needs, root out flaws, and sift through a flood of
data and options to find the right actionable solution.

We’re here today to explore some of the top business analysis techniques and how they
are successfully leveraged for an organization’s success. There are many of these
proven business analysis problem-solving techniques to choose from. Still, the ones
highlighted here are the more commonly used methods, and it’s reasonable to infer that
their popularity stems from their effectiveness.

Here is the list of top ten business analysis techniques:

1. Business Process Modeling (BPM)

2. Brainstorming
3. CATWOE
4. MoSCoW (Must or Should, Could or Would)
5. MOST (Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics) Analysis
6. PESTLE Analysis
7. SWOT Analysis
8. Six Thinking Hats
9. The 5 Whys
10. Non-Functional Requirement Analysis

But before we dive into the actual Business Analysis techniques, we should square away
some definitions.

A Quick Definition of Business Analysis

Business analysis is an umbrella term describing the combination of knowledge,

techniques, and tasks employed for identifying business needs, then proposing changes
and creating solutions that result in value for the stakeholders. Although a significant
number of today’s business analysis solutions incorporate software and digital
data-based elements, many professionals in the field may also end up advising on
organizational changes, improving processes, developing new policies, and participating
in strategic planning.

So, business analysts spur change within an organization by assessing and analyzing
needs and vulnerabilities, then creating and implementing the best solutions. Much of
the information used to draw these conclusions comes from data collected by various
means, often falling under the term “big data.”

Next, let us understand more about Business Analysis techniques.

What is Business Analysis Techniques?

Business analysis techniques are processes used to create and implement plans
necessary for identifying a company’s needs and delivering the best results. There is no
such thing as a “one size fits all” technique because every business or organization is
different.

Best Business Analysis Techniques

Here are the top ten business analysis techniques. Keep in mind that business analysts
who want to be project managers should be familiar with most, if not all, of them.

● Business Process Modeling (BPM): BPM is often used during a project’s

analysis phase to understand and analyze the gaps between the current
business process and any future process that the business is shooting for.
This technique consists of four tasks:
○ Strategic planning
○ Business model analysis
○ Defining and designing the process
○ Technical analysis for complex business solutions

Many industries, especially the IT industry, favor this technique because it’s a simple,
straightforward way to present the steps of the execution process and show how it will
operate in different roles.

● Brainstorming: There’s nothing like good, old-fashioned brainstorming to

generate new ideas, identify a problem’s root causes, and come up with
solutions to complex business problems. Brainstorming is a group activity
technique that is often used in other methods such as PESTLE and SWOT.
● CATWOE: CATWOE identifies the leading players and beneficiaries, collecting
the perceptions of different stakeholders onto one unified platform. Business
analysts use this technique to thoroughly evaluate how any proposed action
will affect the various parties. The acronym stands for:
○ Customers: Who benefits from the business?
 ○ Actors: Who are the players in the process?
○ Transformation Process: What is the transformation at the core of
the system?
○ World View: What is the big picture, and what are its impacts?
○ Owner: Who owns the impacted system, and what’s their relation?
○ Environmental Constraints: What are the constraints, and how do
they impact the solution?
● MoSCoW (Must or Should, Could or Would): Not just a city in Russia, MoSCoW
prioritizes requirements by offering a framework that evaluates each demand
relative to the rest. The process forces you to ask questions about the actual
necessity of any given element. Is the item a must-have or a should-have? Is
the demand something that could make the product better, or is it something
that would be a good idea in the future?
● MOST (Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Tactics) Analysis: MOST is a
robust business analysis framework—considered one of the best techniques
for understanding an organization’s ability and purpose. This technique
includes conducting a detailed, complete internal analysis of the
organization’s goals and how to approach them. The acronym stands for:
○ Mission: What is the organization’s purpose?
○ Objectives: What are the key goals that help achieve the mission?
○ Strategies: What are the options available for achieving the
objectives?
○ Tactics: What are the methods that the organization will follow to
carry out the strategies?
● PESTLE Analysis: Business analysts use the PESTLE model (sometimes called
PEST) to identify environmental factors that can influence their company and
how best to address them when making business decisions. Those influences
are:
○ Political: Financial support and subsidies, government initiatives, and
policies.
○ Economic: Labor and energy costs, inflation, and interest rates.
○ Sociological: Education, culture, media, life, and population.
○ Technological: New information and communication systems
technologies.
○ Legal: Local and national government regulations and employment
standards.
○ Environmental: Waste, recycling, pollution, and weather.
By analyzing and studying these factors, analysts gain a better understanding of how
they will influence the organization’s narrative. This understanding, in turn, makes it
easier for analysts to develop strategies on how to address them.

● SWOT Analysis: One of the most popular techniques in the industry, SWOT
identifies the strengths and weaknesses in a corporate structure, presenting
them as opportunities and threats. The knowledge helps analysts make better
decisions regarding resource allocation and suggestions for organizational
improvement. The four elements of SWOT are:
○ Strengths: The qualities of the project or business that give it an
advantage over the competition.
○ Weaknesses: Characteristics of the business that pose a
disadvantage to the project or organization, when compared to the
competition or even other projects.
○ Opportunities: Elements present in the environment that the project
or business could exploit.
○ Threats: Elements in the environment that could hinder the project or
business.

SWOT is a simple, versatile technique that is equally effective in either a quick or

in-depth analysis of any sized organization. It is also useful for assessing other
subjects, such as groups, functions, or individuals.

● Six Thinking Hats: This business analysis process guides a group’s line of
thinking by encouraging them to consider different ideas and perspectives.
The ‘six hats’ are:
○ White: Focuses on your data and logic.
○ Red: Uses intuition, emotions, and gut feelings.
○ Black: Consider potential negative results, and what can go wrong.
○ Yellow: Focus on the positives; keep an optimistic point of view.
○ Green: Uses creativity.
○ Blue: Takes the big picture into account, process control.

The six thinking hats technique is often used in conjunction with brainstorming, serving
as a means of directing the team’s mental processes and causing them to consider
disparate viewpoints.
 ● The 5 Whys: This technique is commonly found as often in Six Sigma as it is in
business analysis circles. While journalism uses the “Five W’s” (Who, What,
When, Where, and Why) in reporting, the 5 Whys technique just operates “Why”
in a series of leading questions, this approach helps business analysts
pinpoint a problem’s origin by first asking why the issue exists, then following
it up by asking another “why?” question relating to the first answer, and so on.
Here’s an example:
○ Issue: The client refuses to accept the delivery of some 3-D printers.
■ Why? Because the wrong models were shipped.
■ Why? Because the product information in the database
was incorrect.
■ Why? Because there are insufficient resources allocated to
modernizing the database software.
■ Why? Because our managers didn’t think the matter had
priority.
■ Why? Because no one was aware of how often this
problem occurred.
○ Countermeasure: Improve incident reporting, be sure managers read
reports, allocate budget funds for modernizing database software.
● Non-Functional Requirement Analysis: Analysts apply this technique to any
project where a technology solution is replaced, changed, or built up from
scratch. The analysis defines and captures the characteristics needed for a
new or a modified system, and most often deal with requirements such as
data storage or performance. Non-functional requirement analysis usually
covers:
○ Logging
○ Performance
○ Reliability
○ Security

Non-Functional Requirement Analysis is commonly implemented during a project’s

Analysis phase and put into action during the Design phase.

Do You Want to Become a Business Analyst?

If you’re looking for a more rewarding, better-paying career, you should consider
business analysis. The higher demand for Business Analysts means security,
marketability, and excellent financial gain. According to Salary.com, Business Analysts
can earn a yearly average of USD 75,400. Simplilearn offers a Business Analysis
Certification training course designed to make those first steps easier.

The Post Graduate Business Analysis program gives you expertise in the latest BA tools
and techniques like the ones mentioned previously. You will master planning and
monitoring, data analysis and statistics, visualizations, Agile Scrum methodologies, and
SQL databases. The course supplements your training with real-world case studies, to
make sure that you are ready for anything.

The five-course program equips you with more than 30 in-demand skills and tools, over
half a dozen real-life projects, and to top it all off, your master’s certification. Visit
Simplilearn today and make today’s business analyst techniques work for you!