Choose Your Business Analysis Tool for Competent Project Management

The first thing that you need to know is what a business analyst does. In simple terms, a BA specialist is a person who deals with analysis, elicitation, modeling, and requirements gathering every day. However, nowadays everything is done electronically, and that is why, when it comes to business analysis, you need an efficient tool that can help you perform required tasks easily and quickly. There are a lot of different BA instruments that you can find online, but you cannot learn all of them. Therefore, here we will only be focusing on those tools that are most commonly used in many organizations.

1. Version One

Version One is perhaps one of the greatest business analysis tools out there. It has a lot of features that allow you to integrate this software with other enterprise applications and development tools.

Features:

• The tool comes with Agile Data Mart Designing.
• Users can do inline editing.
• Version One is aligned with Agile software development.
• It also allows you to automate decision-making during the software lifecycle.

 

2. Wrike

Wrike is a great business analysis tool. It is quite unique as it is a real-time work management instrument. With the help of Wrike, you can make sure that you reduce the project analysis cost by storing all the information in one place.

Features:

• It allows you to organize file management.
• Wrike shows you a visual timeline to view the project schedule.
• This tool also allows you to track time and manage the budget.

 

3. SmartDraw

The main reason why so many business analysts are using SmartDraw is that it really makes their job easier. With this tool, project management becomes much simpler. If you are looking for a business analysis instrument that can make your life a little bit easier, then SmartDraw is the way to go.

Features:

• SmartDraw supports over 100 languages for creating diagrams.
• Security is not an issue with this tool because you can install it behind a firewall.
• One of the main features of SmartDraw is that you can easily integrate it with various tools, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Microsoft Office.

 

4. Trello

Trello is more of a collaboration tool that allows the business analysts to communicate with other teams and share vital information securely and easily. It also allows the admin to analyze business data.

Features:

• This tool allows you to view team activity.
• It easily organizes boards.
• Trello easily assigns the admins.
• Export data with a single click.

 

5. Pencil

Requirements gathering is one of the most important phases in the software development cycle. One way to gather requirements is by prototyping, where the customers can give you their thoughts on whether they like your design or whether they want you to add a few things. With the help of a prototype, you can help your clients understand the look and feel of software. This is where Pencil comes in, it is one of the best prototyping tools. It can be downloaded and used in a local mode and has a very simple interface.

6. SWOT

SWOT is another business analysis tool that you can use professionally. Using it will really make your job easier as this tool will allow you to do certain tasks much more proficiently. SWOT is mainly used for business evaluation and strategic analysis.

Features:

• One of the best things about SWOT that attracts people is that it is completely free and is very secure.
• This tool allows the business analysts or users to save their files locally in the XML format.
• With SWOT, you can also view and export PNG files.

 

7. Balsamiq

There are a lot of projects that require you to create wireframing applications. With wireframing, you can demonstrate your mockups of the system and show how it is supposed to look and work. It mainly focuses on user interaction and application content. If you are looking for the perfect wireframing app, then look no further because Balsamiq is one of the best tools for this purpose. With this instrument, you can hold brainstorming sessions and get feedback from the stakeholders then and there.

Features:

• It allows you to build wireframes.
• This tool allows you to create reusable templates and components.
• Balsamiq has a fast and easy user interface.
• It gives you the opportunity to present your mockups or wireframes in the PDF format.

 

8. Rational Requisite Pro

Rational Requisite Pro is undoubtedly one of the greatest business analysis tools that you can use when it comes to requirements management. With this tool, you can manage the business requirements for a large project from one place. Rational Requisite Pro provides features such as word processing and dynamic databases. With the help of these features, this instrument allows you to race the requirements of the project much more easily.

9. Google Docs

Google Docs is another tool that you can use if you find yourself sharing documents quite often. It supports almost all kinds of document formats, that is why you should use it.

10. Microsoft Office Suite

Last but not least, you can use Microsoft Office Suite. There are a lot of tools that are part of this suite, and they include programs, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Visio. With MS Visio, you can create data models and architecture diagrams, you can also create UML diagrams.

Conclusion

These were some of the main business analysis tools that you need to know about. If you are looking for the best ones, then choosing from this list won’t hurt you. When you are choosing a tool, you need to make sure that you understand your requirements, otherwise, you will end up choosing the instrument that you don’t actually need.