What's In A Title / Job Description - Programmer, Developer, System Analyst, Business Analyst

A reader from Singapore (fantastic place by the way) wrote me with a question a few weeks ago -- " Just wonder how a BA [business analyst] is different from a SA[system analyst].   My understanding of a good SA has attributes given in the 'job description. "  This is an interesting question as the two titles are often used interchangeably along with 2 other titles: programmer and developer.

If we look as some simple descriptions from Wikipedia we see some similarities and overlap and a progression.  There are lot more that can go into the job descriptions but these simple description do illustrate the point.

• Programmer - A programmer is someone who writes computer software.
• Developer - A software developer, one who programs computers or designs the system to match the requirements of a systems analyst.
• System Analyst - A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements.
• Business Analyst - A business analyst or "BA" is responsible for analyzing the business needs of clients to help identify business problems and propose solutions.

What we see is a progression from highly technical orientation to highly business orientation.  Graphically it might look like this:

In terms of definition although there distinction in skills and responsibilities for each position there is also some overlap especially with one position compared to the next.  The distinctions are primarily one of focus technical versus business.  However in real world terms these may be a distinction without a difference.

In large organization you may actually see all 4 roles but in many cases the terms are used interchangeably to some extent.  Programmer and developer often are used in the same way as are system analyst and business analyst.  In smaller organizations the person doing the business analysis may also be the one programming the code.

So to answer the original question - it depends on how you want to define your organization and the roles in it.  A system analyst can be something different than a business analyst or it can be the same.  For my money I wouldn't worry too much over the distinction and would generally consider them the same.

What do you think about this?  How do you use these titles in your organization?

"Programmer's aid" photo by dunkv

If this topic was of interest, you might also like these:

• CIO Job Description And The Need For Technical Experience
• Business Analyst Job Description
• Let's Get Down to Business
• Or the posts in the "Information Technology" category

Comments

[Dave Weiss]

I've been in the IT business for 14 years, and I've never understood all the workplace titles and job descriptions, nor the job titles and requirements for the postings you find on CareerBuilder, Monster, or any other career site.

Over the course of my career, people who have hired me for project work probably don't really understand the job descriptions they hire for, either (if the job description even exists).

What happens, I think, is that the few people whose skills overlap those job descriptions are seen as people who "get it" and can solve business problems from both a technical and analytical perspective. These are the people who get hired right away and are seen to add value.

On the flip side, those whose skills do not overlap are less effective and efficient and are a hindrance to "getting things done". They don't speak the same languages and their ability to work cohesively and effectively is minimized. They are more of a commodity - a dime a dozen.

Shouldn't a programmer have enough business sense to say "hey, this won't work in this situation" or "this functionality you asked for looks great for department X, but how does this effect department Y?"

Shouldn't the business analyst be able to tell users that the changes they are requesting will require significant changes to data models, interfaces or whatever, and pre-empt the all too common user vs management vs programmer show downs that tear projects apart and run up the costs?

To solve this, I think your graphic might also need a vertical component - the Project Managers and PMO. They can also run across the spectrum from technical to business orientation. A good project manager that bridges gaps is worth their weight in gold.

[Mike]

David,

Thanks for stopping by. I think you've hit on the heart of the issue - what they do is more important that what you call them. Those that get things accomplished are more highly valued for those accomplishment than their job title.

Add a vertical component as you suggest does add more perspective into the whole IT organization.

Mike

[Ralph D. Wilson II]

Mike,

>System Analyst - A systems analyst is responsible for researching, planning, coordinating and
> recommending software and system choices to meet an organization's business requirements.
Business Analyst - A business analyst or "BA" is responsible for analyzing the business needs
> of clients to help identify business problems and propose solutions.

While I would tend to agree with the BA definition that you provided, I have always held that a good Systems Analyst is not limited to software systems. A good SA should be able to identify the issues and requirements of virtually any organization and then derive a solution, whether it involves software, manual processes, or whatever. Analyzing a system rather than the business needs, to my mind, is the distinction between the two. Personally, I would tend to think that the capabilities of a BA would be included in the capabilities of an SA.

>For my money I wouldn't worry too much over the distinction and would generally consider them the same

I would have to disagree with that statement. All too often I have seen them considered to be interchangeable or the same; however, as you so rightly pointed out, a BA is much more "business oriented". The BA's that I have dealt with have frequently had misguided misunderstandings of how the systems within the organization worked, especially the software systems. They almost invariably want to talk about screens and reports as though those were the database and the programs that had to be changed or created and they often seem to assume that they appearance of data on more than one "screen" or in more than one report means that it exists in more than one place because all of the data for a screen or report just has to be in one table or file.

To my way of thinking, the BA "knows" what the business needs (or, more commonly, wants ;-) and the SA knows a) whether it can be done, b) how it can be done and c) what it will take to do it.

[Mike]

Ralph,

That's a great description of the SA role perhaps "Process Analyst" might be appropriate. Whether it is an SA or BA role may depend on the size of the organization. Many simply do not have the luxury of having 2 distinct roles and therefore combine them.

[Sade Tagbo]

Good distinctions between the BA and the systems analyst. Now if only everyone out there knew this...

[Mike]

Sade,

I appreciate the comment. Part of the issue is to be able to figure out when the distinctions are important and when the are not. To do that you as the IT leader have to make sure that you understand it.

Mike

[Lisa]

Often the term "Programmer Analyst" is also used. I think this is the equivalent to your "Developer" as well as a hybrid between Programmer and Systems Analyst.

I however, would NOT classify the business analyst and the systems analyst as the same thing - especially in larger organizations where the SA and BA come from different backgrounds and have different objectives. I have known (echoing the comments above) too many BAs who simply don't understand the technology enough to say yeah or nay to user requirements. They think SAs and the technical team can deliver magic. On the reverse, you also have SAs who simply don't understand the business and just implement solutions and stick it down users' throats and expect acceptance. This is not to say that there aren't SAs or BAs who are perfect for their job and are able to exact requirements and technical solutions as required.

Just my 2 cents. Thanks for the article though. I was looking for a clear break-down of these roles as part of my research for a re-org at my organization.

[Mike]

Lisa,
 
Thanks for commenting.  I think you've hit on 2 important points.  First as you say there are also "programmer analysts" the point here is that not everyone uses the titles the same way.  An systems analyst at one company may have the same duties as a business analyst at another company.
 
The second point is the impact of the size of the organization.  Larger organizations can afford more specialization while smaller organizations may have people "wearing multiple hats".
 
Mike

[Account Deleted]

the article is very good, thanks for posting it.
Business Systems Analyst Job Description

[technical analysis course]

I had a job where I was called a Business Analyst. All they had me doing was producing reports. It was such a waste.