Business Analyst Related Questions

Are you aware of the various software methodologies? Name a few

There are various SDLC methodologies which are available and used by the majority of the organizations for their software development projects. Some of these software development methodologies are:

a) Waterfall method – this is one of the most widely used systems development process

b) Agile methodologies like RUP (Rational Unified process), RAD (Rapid Application development), JAD (Joint Application development) .

 c) Prototyping Model –involves the presentation of a simplified prototype of the system based on the requirements

d) Spiral model – hybrid of the waterfall and the prototyping method

2.      What are the various testing stages in a software project life cycle? 

The major testing stages in a software development life cycle are:

a)      Unit Testing – this is usually done by the developers who have coded the unit

b)      Integration testing – this is done by the QA team (quality assurance) and /or the business analysts to test that the integration of the units is working fine

c)      System testing – is done by the QA team or the Business Analysts to see whether the system is working as a whole or not

d)      Regression testing – is done to test whether the current parts and the new development are synchronized and there is no impact on any other system. This testing is done by the analysts.

e)      User acceptance testing – is covered by the end users in order to test that the requirements given for the system are in line with the developed application

f)       Stress and/or Load Testing – is done by the technical team to test whether the system can sustain heavy load and usage etc.

3.      What are some of the challenges you have faced as a Business Analyst

As a business Analyst, one has to be an interface between the users and the technical team and provide regular support. Some of the major challenges which a business analyst has to face in his profile are:

·         There should be clarity regarding the requirements as they lay the foundation of the project. In case of any gaps, there can be huge repercussions.

·         There are several software methodologies, technologies, documentation standards in the market and they keep on evolving. The business analyst has to be on top of such methodologies and trends to be successful in the profile.

·         The business analyst Is regarded as the knowledge house regarding domain knowledge and has to keep on updating himself with the industry and company know-how to keep himself at par.