Meet Asandiswa Jokozela, our Senior Business Analyst extraordinaire. Our business analysts are the bridge between the business and our developers. In this blog, we take a closer look at how our team of skilled Business Analysts transforms business needs into actionable recommendations that propel our company forward.
Discover the critical role they play in delivering results across the organisation and step into their world to see how they create a lasting impact on every project they touch.
What inspired you to become a Business Analyst?
Many BA’s would tell you that they “stumbled” on being Business Analysts, and that is because it is only recent that institutions introduced BA as a qualification. The role of a Business Analyst is so versatile that there isn’t a specific qualification that is required as an entry into the role. As for me, I studied Financial Information Systems, and I knew that I did not want to pursue a career in finance, but at the same time I did not enjoy coding and that is how I ended up being a Business Analyst.
What is the role of Business Analysts at BET Software?
Simply put, the role of a Business Analyst is to be the bridge between business and developers and so much more.
What is the impact that BA’s have in a company/business?
As Business Analysts, we take pride in ensuring that we deliver value to stakeholders, in enabling successful change by clearly defining the business need and consequently ensuring that the proper solution is implemented.
We focus on ensuring that our work does indeed become that bridge between business and the developers using our super powers of translating a business need/request to specification, which the developers will be able to work on. We do this by eliminating any ambiguity and getting responses to all the crucial questions, and of course BA’s always find themselves doing even more.
Can you share a moment when your team’s collective effort led to a breakthrough in your work or on a project at BET Software?
There isn’t a specific moment but, when I joined BET Software, I was assigned to the Premium Team – this is the team that worked on a new site which was recently released. Being the only BA on such a big project, with limited industry knowledge was intimidating I must say, however, the Product Team (BA’s and Product Specialists) had my back.
I will never forget how each member of the team ensured that they shared their knowledge with me, some even offering to attend meetings with me to ensure that they introduce me to the correct sources of information. The BA team has since grown, and I am no longer the sole BA, but the support from other BA’s responsible for other projects continues amongst the team.
Recently, your team attended the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Lean Coffee Session to network with other Business Analysts. Why is it important to have knowledge-sharing sessions with other industry professionals?
There is immense wealth of knowledge out there and this is not always captured on blogs and or LinkedIn posts, so such sessions become a platform for one to learn from other BAs’ knowledge and experiences. I have also learnt that some of the issues we encounter are not unique to a specific company and it is in such settings that one can learn how to deal with or even prevent these in your own work space.
What’s one book, podcast, or resource you’d recommend to aspiring Business Analysts, and why?
I am part of the mailing list of modernanalyst.com, I like it because it helps me to be in the know in terms of the latest in the BA world including webinars, blogs, resources and so much more, including some BA humour. And of course, it goes without saying, you must follow IIBA and IIBA SA Chapter on LinkedIn and the various platforms.
