Business analysis is the process of studying a business or any organization to identify business opportunities / problem areas and suggest potential solutions.

Business analysis focuses on both Problems as well as Opportunities.

There are three fundamentally different levels of business analysis:

• Strategic Business Analysis (Enterprise level)
• Tactical Business Analysis (Project level)
• Operational Business Analysis (Operational level)

Strategic Business Analysis is the study of business visions, goals, objectives, and strategies to identify the desired future. It encompasses the analysis of existing organizational structure, policies, politics, problems, opportunities, and application architecture to build a business case for change.

Tactical Business Analysis is at the project or initiative level to flush out the details of the proposed solution and to ensure that it meets the needs of the business community. At this level, business analysis identifies impacted stakeholders, captures their individual concerns, elicits stakeholder requirements, conducts feasibility analysis, analyzes and prioritizes the requirements, and manages changing requirements throughout the life of the project.

Operational Business Analysis works on specific business applications. It’s input is the result of tactical business analysis expressed as traditional Stakeholder Requirements or in the form of Agile User Stories to define Solution (Functional and Quality) and Transition Requirements. This level is most concerned with the business use of information technology. 

Business analysis ultimately is the business process of ensuring that the evolution of the organization mirrors the goals and objectives set by executive management.

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