Can a systems analyst be a business analyst?

Question

Zippia Team · Accepted Answer

Yes, a systems analyst can be a business analyst. Many people think of business analysts and systems analysts as the same role; however, this is not usually the case. While one role can transition into the other, business analysts and systems analysts are typically considered two different positions.

The difference between systems analysts and business analysts is based on their roles and responsibilities in an organization, and it varies from company to company.

A business analyst, for instance, is someone who performs business analysis and is considered an expert in business processes. Systems analysts also perform analysis; however, they focus more on the technology aspect of the solution.

Business Analyst Roles and Responsibilities:

Business analysts understand and analyze the business processes and facilitate improvements.
Business analysts look at solving a problem from a business perspective.
Business analysts have strong communication, negotiation, presentation, relationship building, requirement elicitation, and documentation skills.
Business analysts communicate with business users and understand the business. They are good at conveying the technical stuff in layman language to the business stakeholders and business heads.

Systems Analysts Roles and Responsibilities:

Systems analysts analyze the approved requirements to determine what the systems need to do to fulfill those requirements.
Systems analysts look at solving a problem from a Technical perspective.
A systems analyst should have strong technical debugging, writing queries, drafting technical documents (class, sequence diagrams, etc.), data modeling skills.
Systems analysts communicate with IT, i.e., technical team, and understand the technical people and technology.