Is Business Analysis as a Service (BAaaS) the flexible on-demand model we need?
Across the business world, IT transformation remains a hot topic. Small, medium and large companies are embracing change as they move into the digital age – at pace. In particular, advancing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) are revolutionising the way businesses operate. They offer countless benefits including efficiency, automation, enhanced decision-making, cost savings and that all-important competitive edge.
To support any transformation initiative, the business analysts (BAs) are at the heart of every organisation. It’s their role to analyse just about anything and everything, but their core skill is the ability to navigate and make sense of complex landscapes. They make sure that requirements meet the correct level of detail. And they ensure the ‘as is’ and the target ‘to be’ state is fully understood before any new solution or system is implemented.
Whether your project or workstream impacts people, procedure, process, systems or all four of these factors, the analyst is pivotal at every stage. This will typically include the business case and the analysis and discovery, right the way through to implementation, or ‘going live’. From small changes taking weeks, right through to large enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations that can typically take several years, the analyst is a key player from start to finish.
The BA evolution
The BA role has evolved. Once upon a time, you had your traditional business analyst, who was mainly business-facing, and the systems analysts, who were more technical and typically worked within the IT department supporting changes to software applications, systems and infrastructure. But over the decades, the analysis remit has changed.
It’s unlikely that organisations will have every single one of the skill sets required when kicking off programmes, projects and workstreams. So traditionally, managers had two options – hiring a permanent resource or hiring an expensive contract resource (typically on a three-month rolling contract).
Hiring permanent staff is often not viable if the resource is only required for the duration of the project. And contract resources can prove to be expensive if you need to keep renewing them, especially on larger project teams.
Flexible option
Now there is a third option available: Business Analysis as a Service (or BAaaS for short). This offers a flexible resourcing model in which you can request resource for one day, 10 days or as many days as you need them.
It can be a short-term engagement if, perhaps, you need an analyst on a consecutive number of days or on a fractional basis such as three days per week for the next six weeks. Or you might need an analyst for 30 days over a three-month period.
Whether you’re looking to take your company to the next level or simply want flexible options in a fiercely competitive market, BAaaS can be a valuable resource for your business strategy.
Benefits of BAaaS
The simplicity and flexibility of the BAaaS resourcing model has multiple benefits, including:
- Cost effectiveness: You only pay for the resource you need (no expensive contractors twiddling their thumbs when the project has quiet spots).
- Efficiency: Resource on demand model keeps you firmly in control engaging the right resource only when you need it.
- Mobilisation speed: The right resource for your project, as quickly as the next day.
Why come to us?
Howard Lock Consulting Ltd have been offering BAaaS since 2018 and our founder, Howard Lock, has 25 years’ experience in the analysis space.
Many satisfied customers in both the private and public sectors come back to us time and time again. We regularly provide all types of analyst for any project, no matter how large or small and we can provide our services from one to 1,000+ days. With a direct pool of more than 2,000 consultants who’ve been thoroughly vetted – plus access to an additional 8,000 – we can cover just about every sector imaginable.
