Business stakeholders look up to, among others, business analysis practitioners to help them conceptualise and develop customer-centric and sustainable solutions. Therefore, a business analyst must have the requisite skills and mindset that drives the development of sustainable business processes and solutions. By embedding sustainability in the business analysis processes, the business analyst can ensure that the practice remains integral to designing business solutions that deliver sustainable value.

Sustainable business analysis can be thought of as a skill, a mindset, or a way of working.

The only constant in life is change. Consequently, organisations are always evolving to perform better. More often than not, business analysts are at the forefront of this change. They help to bridge the gap between the ‘here and now’ and the future. However, much like the change that is happening around the role, the role itself is also evolving to include leadership and collaboration responsibilities. Business Analysts have the opportunity to influence, integrate, engage and excel. The context in which business analysts operate is no longer limited to software or service development. It has grown to encompass the whole enterprise. The next-level business analyst is a leader who collaborates! In the same vein, the business analysis practice needs organisational leaders who are bold enough to advocate for it as an essential service to facilitate change. These are leaders who believe in this practice. They are enablers.

Being a master in any field requires acquiring the right skills, and making continued effort to keep these skills fresh and relevant.  The business analysis discipline is no exception. And business analysts cannot escape the need and expectation to equip themselves with future skills and competencies. This is a cornerstone on which mastery of business analysis is anchored. It is one of the key ingredients required to enable business analysts to thrive in an evolving business landscape and power up into the next decade and beyond. New capabilities have to be defined, and existing ones repositioned to keep up with the new business and customer demands. This is a collective effort driven by education providers, academic institutions, subject matter experts and any institution that is shaping and reshaping emerging business analysis skills. It is about firming up the core skills and taking a peak into the future skills. It is about carving practictioners who are masters in the business analysis practice.

Maturing a business analysis practice is an exciting journey that holds the key to unlocking the immense potential to any organisation’s future success. One of the effective ways of transforming this practice is by understanding its current maturity level and defining its future maturity level. This involves identifying key milestones to measure how it is progressing to reach its target maturity objectives. As businesses increasingly recognise the value of business analysis in driving project success, the focus shifts towards envisioning a future where a business analysis team operates at the highest level of proficiency. It is time to explore the characteristics that define an organisation’s current business analysis workforce and how to transform it into the next level of maturity.