HN Explorer

Survey: Are there any BA's in the HN readership, and if so why do you visit?

16 points by Narutu ↗ HN
I wonder if there are any fellow BA's (Business Analysts) out there in the HN community.

There are a lot of different types of readers out there on HN, but I feel like my segment is being under represented... or is it.

14 comments

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detaro
"BA"?
Narutu
Business Analysts. Updated the description for clarity.
ggorlen
It might be worth editing the title as well. I clicked in to figure out what it meant. Bachelor's degree didn't make much sense...
markus_zhang
Worked as a BA in previous life. Just interested in HNs general technical gist.
ianai
I effectively have the knowledge and skill set of a BA. But tech was what hired me-always had a decent tech background, too.

The BA side helps me navigate lots of things though. Helps at work when needing to phrase things to non-techies.

tizio13
Hey there! I think there are a few of us out there. I just recently moved back into that role myself and I still read HN on the daily. Commenting not so much.

I visit mostly to keep up with tech news. Occasionally I'll stumble onto threads that give me ideas for solutions at my job. But mostly it's really just to decompress.

kylecazar
As you likely know, the BA role can be very technical, depending on the solution/client -- wouldn't be surprised if there are a bunch among us.
wheelinsupial
I think the product manager job and product owner role have replaced BAs. I'm a BA, but I think it's a disappearing role in software.

I think my reading falls into three categories. Product management related authors and topics, (technical) project management, and CS fundamentals & software development (this is by far my weakest area and needs a lot more effort).

goldenchrome
What's the difference between a BA and a PM?
wheelinsupial
Sorry, I don't have a good, concise answer for you.

Focusing on software, in my view:

1. BAs are focused on developing internal business applications to be used by the employees of a business. Whereas PMs are focused on developing products to be sold to others (B2B or B2C). BAs were used at organizations where software is a supporter or enabler of the business as opposed to at organizations where the business is software, which would use PMs.

2. The role of a BA is a subset of the role of a PM. So, the PM's focus is a little broader in scope and would include more work with external stakeholders, go to market strategy, revenue, profit and loss, and maybe budgeting.

Beyond that, what exactly is a BA? This is tough to answer because there is no standard definition. BA job descriptions will differ between companies and even within a company, they will differ between departments.

Not sure if that helps.

ianai
I think BA is more on the finance side of the house and may be lower level, depending on firm. I know there are PM certifications, but BA is more like MBA/MA or bachelors stuff. As someone else said, BA is a wider term.
tanseydavid
> What's the difference between a BA and a PM?

I was thought that you were priming us for a really good joke.

Come on! What's the punchline?

siproprio
I work at a hedge fund, so yeah, I’m kind of an analyst.
tsol
I'm a BA. Were somewhat technical, which is part of the reason I'm here. I also am trying to learn more about coding, etc and get further in depth on the technical side. It doesn't come naturally to me though. Hn is a nice place to slowly absorb knowledge about the industry