Top 5 Business Analysis Tools
Each professional uses specific tools to achieve success in their work. Business analysts also need to use a variety of tools for work tasks such as collaborating, collecting and sorting data, documenting business requirements, managing workflows. With 5 Business Analysis tools, you can accomplish important tasks more efficiently.
Microsoft Office Suite
The Microsoft Office Suite of tools is a valuable toolbox that is popular among Business Analysts for a variety of reasons. Firstly, these tools reflect the many responsibilities of a Business Analyst.
- Powerpoint and Word assist with presenting and sharing information, while tools such as Visio and Excel help BAs categorize and analyze data sets.
- Presenting data and justifying claims are important tasks that Business Analysts must accomplish regularly. MS Powerpoint allows them to do these tasks by providing professional templates for presentations.
- MS Excel was designed to make creating tables, graphs, and other types of data presentations easier. This spreadsheet tool also comes with built-in mathematical and financial functions to make charting and graphing faster.
- MS Word is a tool for creating and sharing documents. This feature keeps team members involved in projects. MS Visio is a modeling tool that prepares process flow charts, data models, and architectural diagrams. Though it is not free the Microsoft Office Suite is one of the most popular and user-friendly tools among Business Analysts.
Trello
Trello is a Business Analysis tool that was designed to make collaboration and sharing of data secure. While working with a team, BA needs to share their documents and presentations as well as view their team’s work. In addition, Trello has an excellent user interface that is interactive and easy to use. By allowing teams to organize projects and share information securely, Trello has revolutionized the safety of online project collaboration and is an excellent business analytics tool.
Balsamiq
It is a Business Analytics tool that specializes in making wireframing and collaboration faster and easier. Many projects require wireframes. In other words, it’s blueprints of a proposed system or solution which focuses on content and user interactions. Tools such as Balsamiq meet this need by speeding up the process of creating a wireframe. In addition, Balsamiq specializes in collaboration, allowing Business Analysts to host online sessions with stakeholders, customers, or team members to present projects and initiate discussion. The user interface of Balsamiq has become popular in the BA community because it is efficient and easy to use.
Pencil
Requirement gathering is an important primary step in Business Analytics. Establishing and sharing requirements is the main purpose of Pencil – a prototyping tool. This free tool is helpful for creating new concepts from scratch and is available as an application and a Firefox plug-in. By making prototypes, Pencil helps customers interact with projects and products while saving Business Analyst’s time it takes to mock up a prototype and share it.
LucidCharts
- LucidCharts is a web-based tool that helps draw simple and complex diagrams and charts. You can use it when you need to design a flow chart or connect live data with a diagram.
- LucidCharts is a popular time-saving tool for Business Analysts. Because a diagram is the best way for a BA to present interesting data trends or propose new business solutions.
- LucidCharts is the simplest and best option. Even though it is not free, many BAs find the subscription fee is well worth it!
