Business Analyst vs Business Systems Analyst, part 1

I market myself as a Business Systems Analyst (BSA).  I think it's the best description of my skill set and the work I typically do with my clients.  The only problem is that Business Systems Analyst doesn't mean the same thing to everyone.

I have always understood a BSA to be a combination of a Business Analyst (BA) and a Systems Analyst (SA).  I bring both skill sets to a project in one convenient package.  The advantage to the client is they get a flexible resource that can wear either hat over the course of a project, and can avoid extra hand-offs between the BA and SA tasks.  The advantage to me is that I should be able to charge a slight premium rate over a pure BA or SA -- at least in theory!

However, there are some who use the term BSA to identify a specialized type of SA who specializes in Business Systems, as opposed to manufacturing systems for example.  There are others who just use BSA as a synonym for BA, arguing all good BA's must have some systems knowledge as a basic requirement.

My experience shows that BA and SA roles are distinct but related, and fortunately a couple people who are smarter than me agree.  Australians Alan Vongsavanh and Bruce Campbell published an insightful article in 2008 entitled "The Roles and Skill Sets of Systems vs Business Analysts."  Their research shows the two roles have overlapping skills, and they present them along a spectrum.

My simplified version of their skill spectrum is that the BA has strong skills on the business side of the spectrum, and decreases in strength as you move towards the systems side of the spectrum.  The SA is strong on the systems skills and decreases in strength as you progress towards the business skills.  Both have some skills on each end of the spectrum, but their strength lies on one end only.

By extrapolation then, Business Systems Analysts should be strong across the entire spectrum.

In the next part, I want to look at the specific skills that lie along that spectrum.