Discover customer needs using various methods and strategies to determine customer challenges, share those insights with your customers, and identify opportunities for ways they can improve how they work. By understanding your customer, their business, and any obstacles to the project, the business analyst co-creates, alongside of your customers, successful strategies to address their needs.

Using empathic research, the business analyst must first thoroughly understand the current state of the customer’s operations and how they are using Salesforce. A detailed understanding of what is and isn’t working today is critical to the success of suggesting future state improvements.

As the business analyst performs different tasks and roles throughout the implementation, understanding what is required at which stage is important to successful implementations. From requirements gathering to creating documentation to performing project management duties to achieving a successful rollout, the business analyst needs to understand what those roles and responsibilities are at all stages of the implementation lifecycle. Additionally, the business analyst must possess the following skills: Writing, ability to ask questions to elicit needs, perform analysis of data, recommend and implement solutions.

To create a successful implementation, the business analyst must understand the implementation lifecycle, including managing various releases throughout the development phase. The business analyst should be able to use the various development models to manage deployments.

To successfully implement solutions that meet customer’s needs, the business analyst should proactively analyze the customer’s Salesforce environments to check the health of those environments, as well as identify any constraints they must work within when suggesting improvements. The business analyst should be able to maintain and improve those environments using tools that are built into Salesforce as well as identifying tools available on the AppExchange.

The business analyst must use their knowledge of the Salesforce platform, both its capabilities and limitations, to recommend solutions that will work to meet the stakeholders’ business needs. Knowledge of the Salesforce connected ecosystem, Salesforce 360, its benefits and how it can be used throughout an organization, is critical to being able to recommend appropriate solutions to meet the needs of the various stakeholders.

Understand the various stakeholders a business analyst works with and the methods of engagement required to effectively collaborate with each. Use appropriate tools at every stage of the engagement to ensure that the information collected is accurate and complete.  Ability to draft appropriate documentation needed to write requirements, create buy-in, confirm alignment and ensure transparency throughout the engagement.

Identify stakeholders a business analyst works with and the required methods of communication when working with each. The Business Analyst must understand how to build and maintain a positive relationship with all the stakeholders to ensure a successful engagement from start to finish – from requirements gathering to diagramming those requirements and ensuring that the stakeholders understand and see the value of the recommendations the business analyst makes. A good business analyst knows how to advocate for their customers.

Ability to use a variety of tools and methods to understand and document the current and desired states. Use the appropriate method to elicit needs and impediments to achieving those needs. The business analyst needs to be able to create a safe environment where stakeholders feel understood and heard and are willing to collaborate, as elicitation is one of the most important stages of any project which sets the basis for everything that follows. The business analyst should understand and use all the tools available to ensure that elicitation is detailed, accurate, and complete.

Understand the various analysis tools used to identify the differences between the current and future states and any impediments to achieving the future state. Identify any barriers or limitations to achieving the future state, and ensure that any suggested improvements and recommendations are feasible based on barriers or limitations that cannot be overcome.

As a business analyst, managing the project from start to finish requires managing multiple and sometimes conflicting priorities of different stakeholders, which is often a challenge.  The business analyst should have a thorough understanding of the skills, tools, and methods needed to help manage and limit delays, changing priorities, scope creep, and disagreement between stakeholders.

The business analyst should know the various mapping tools available and when each is best used to document a process to communicate the data therein with the stakeholders. Process mapping also helps the business analyst understand the process in detail, which helps the business analyst during the analysis phase.

The business analyst must understand the various process mapping tools to identify which should be used to convey the desired information, as different maps display information in different ways, based on the process being mapped. The business analyst should be able to state which process map is appropriate for the process to be mapped and understand that different maps may be required before analysis can begin.

Document requirements clearly and concisely following the V2MOM process. Use the documented format for writing user stories when documenting requirements. Explain why stakeholder alignment is important to successful completion of any project as well as the ramifications, should alignment not be given and maintained. Use documentation to gain and maintain stakeholder alignment.

Explain the Agile framework of system development using both Scrum and Kanban workflows. The Business analyst should be able to define the Scrum and Kanban workflows and when each would benefit a project, so they can use the appropriate workflow based on the project’s circumstances.

Explain the purpose of a version control system (VCS) is and how it benefits project teams. State what project aspects are stored in a VCS. Illustrate how a VCS impacts the development lifecycle. Understand the differences between a central VCS and a distributed VCS. Explain the benefits of using a VCS in projects.

Explain the parts of a user story. Explain the differences between a persona and archetype and how they relate to user stories. Able to write appropriate user stories based on the requirements. Explain what makes a good vs poor user story. State what should not be included in a user story.

Understand the benefit of maintaining version-controlled project documentation. State how version-controlled documentation impacts team collaboration. Explain the best place to store project documentation.

Understand the decision-making process for deploying new functionality based on UAT feedback and the available options for go-live decisions. Understand the differences between acceptance criteria and the definition of done, and their significance for project success. Learn how to create effective acceptance criteria, their relation to user stories, and define the concept of done and its role within the development framework.

Understand the concept of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and its role in ensuring the system aligns with business requirements. Learn about the optimal timing to initiate UAT during the project phase, key stakeholders’ involvement, step-by-step UAT procedures, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid. Gain insights into various testing types and the significant role of Business Analysts in the UAT stage. Business Analysts’ involvement in the project from the outset and their comprehensive understanding of the delivered features are vital aspects covered in this module.