Business Analyst Role Vs Project Manager

2 slideshare goals this slideshare seeks to clarify the roles between project managers and business analyst and identify ways to create synergies for project success.

Business analyst role vs project manager. As mentioned earlier a business analyst s primary responsibility is improving the efficiency of a particular department within an organization while a project manager is meant to oversee a. In a nutshell a business analyst s role is a more analytical role which generally requires a good knowledge of it systems and looks at quite a low level of detail. In essence project managers are responsible for delivering the solution to a problem.

Business analysts are responsible for discovering the problem and determining the solution. Let s take a look at each profession and see where it takes you if you choose the route of generalist specialist or make a more lateral move into a field that benefits from the skills acquired. Let s start with defining what we mean by a business analyst and project manager.

Both roles ensure that the need is clearly articulated but because the person who articulates the business need usually ends up owning the project and the end product it should be someone representing the business. And a senior business analyst. From what i ve seen the career paths of a business analyst and a project manager and vary in some ways but often still end up coming together down the road.

Project manager eliminating the confusion. Let s start by clarifying the difference between the roles of the project manager and the business analyst. On the other hand the ba focuses on the end product analyzes the business issues and offers a technological solution.

While a project manager is ultimately responsible for effective project planning control and delivery a business analyst takes care for ensuring the quality of the pm activities. If the manager plans out and controls project implementation then the analyst explores and measures the value of the project output. The project manager manages the project the application of knowledge skills tools and techniques to provide activities to meet the project requirements the business analyst conducts business analysis the set of tasks and techniques used to work as a liaison among stakeholders to understand the structure policies and operations of an organization and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to meet its goals.

The project manager typically focuses on the project as a set of tasks creates baselines communicates with development team members and resolves project issues. For a deeper dive into the business analyst role check out my article what is a business analyst. Where as a project manager manages tasks and people rather than delving into the design details of a new system or process.