Best Business Analysis Tools. Your Guide to Choosing.

Business relies on processes and tasks to create their outputs and deliver their value proposition to their customers. In small and big organisation alike, communication between stakeholders is at the forefront of priorities to keep processes moving smoothly. This is where a business analysis tool comes into the picture. With the primary goal to optimise business solutions, analysis tools and techniques must be applied based on the task at hand and are useful in streamlining how a business operates.

With the rise of automation, artificial intelligence, and cloud solutions, business analysis tools are transforming how businesses function for the better in a myriad of ways.

What is the Business Analysis Tool?

Business analysis tools aggregate data and provide analysis to provide predictive analytics and visual reports in the form of dashboards. Not only do these tools help to identify where a business can implement business process improvements to maximise efficiency, but they also can help to identify past business trends to predict the future and identify strengths and weaknesses.

Why Do I Need the Business Analysis Tool?

Business analysis tools offer to clarify, the accuracy of the information, increased efficiency and assistance for compliance within your organisation. They can also be used to track, model and collaborate between teams.

There are different types of tools in the market and analysis that they can provide.

Types of Analysis

To first determine the best type of business analysis tool you want, you’ll need to ask yourself what kind of information does your business need. There are various business analysis techniques you can employ to achieve your business goals, which span:

SWOT Analysis:

• SWOT, which stands for Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, considers internal and external forces to assess where a business stands. To create a SWOT analysis, each section is placed into a quadrant and is relatively easy to implement.

MOST Analysis:

• MOST, which stands for Mission, Objective, Strategy, Tactics, is used to maintain strategic alignment and define a business’ abilities and purpose. MOST analysis can be completed at each level within an organisation to remain on track.

Business Process Modelling:

• BPM is focused on process improvement, such that is can help to see where a process has gaps between how a business currently implements a process in comparison to how it hopes to improve in the future BPM diagrams outline the flow of a process in a diagram and is especially useful within an IT department.

Use Case Modelling:

• As the name implies, use case modelling diagrams how a process should function through user interactions. It’s a popular tactic in software development

CATWOE:

• An acronym for Clients, Actors, Transformation, World View, Owner, Environmental Constraints, CATWOE brings together various stakeholders in one visual diagram to provide a holistic overview for the analyst.

Types of Tools

Every business functions differently, and therefore, requires their respective kind of analysis tools to get the work done. There are requirement-related tools, modelling tools and collaboration tools which help businesses function and teams to work together, especially in a time when organisations are working remotely in higher frequency.

Business Analysis Tools Out There

For each need, there’s a tool that can help fill the void and enhance your business practices. Let’s take a look into what types of analysis tools currently exist on the market.

Process Automation & Data Processing

SolveXia:

• SolveXia offers complete and robust process automation using Robotic Process Automation to accomplish data processing, data management, analytics and reporting through an easy-to-use and low-cost system.
• SolveXia automates the manual and repetitive tasks by consolidating data from all your systems and databases.
• SolveXia transforms all the data into a format acceptable for each audience (e.g. board, CFO, regulators) removing the need for complex accounting or actuaries.

Automation Anywhere:

• A digital workplace platform, Automation Anywhere uses RPA to complete tasks along with a central control room that monitors and analyses digital workers.
• Customers can select from hundreds of bots to add to their workflow to remove the necessity for repetitive tasks on behalf of human employees.

Alteryx:

• With a heavy focus on data and analytics, Alteryx is a collaborative platform that allows data scientists, business analysts and IT professionals to work together to optimise business practices.
• With a library of over 250 tools, users can create customisable “workflows” and schedule analytics automation.
• Models can be versioned and therefore deployed or rolled back.

Data Manipulation & Analysis

Microsoft Excel:

• Microsoft Excel is compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS and Android and is a spreadsheet tool that can be password protected.
• Excel offers calculation, supports macro programming language and can be used to aggregate and store data from various sources.

SWOT/MOST:

• These tools are used to outline a business’ value proposition and assess where it stands concerning its competition in the marketplace.

Project Management/Testing

Jira:

• Jira is an agile management tool which can be used to create workflows or select from existing ones.
• Jira can help with sprint planning and can be integrated with existing tools.

Wrike:

• As a cloud-based management software, Wrike is mobile-responsive and can be used to update tasks from any location.
• It helps to schedule and set deadlines for the execution of projects and provides a calendar function with the ability to include communication and approval within the software.

Trello:

• Trello is a web-based project management tool that can be used for free to sync data from all devices and helps teams collaborate to execute projects and tasks promptly.

Business Process Diagramming, Wireframing, Flowcharts

Microsoft Visio:

• To create diagrams, Microsoft Visio can be implemented to connect data from various sources to graphically display the information.

Lucid Chart:

• Lucid Chart is a visual communication tool that exists online and can be used to create any diagram or flowchart.

Balsamiq:

• Balsamiq can be utilised to design wireframes for websites.
• It can be accessed via a desktop integration or plug-in for Google Drive, JIRA, or Confluence. Balsamiq includes a GUI with the mock-up.

Robotic Process Automation Tool Buyer’s Guide

It takes time and consideration to change any business practice, so this robotic process automation tool buyer’s guide is here to help you check off all the boxes before adding a new tool to your stack.

Before selecting the tool that’s right for your specific business needs, consider the following factors, too:

• Programming Knowledge: You don’t need programming knowledge to run an automation tool. Make sure that the tool you select is easy to set up or provides your team with assistance throughout the process. 
  

• User-Friendly: You want to be able to maximise the number of people across divisions that can use the tool, so its ease of use is an important consideration. 
  

• Analytics: Data means nothing if it can’t be analysed. Find a tool that offers analytics, reporting and customisable dashboard so that your data can work for you. 
  

• Scalability: Businesses change and hopefully grow. In such cases, you want a tool that can easily adapt and scale with your business needs. Before buying any software, ask the provider about scalability. 

• ‍Non-Disruptive: When introducing a new software into your organisation, it should be seamless. Employees should not feel threatened, and other existing technology should be able to work well with the new tool, if need be.
  

How to Choose the Best Tool for You

With the wide variety of tools in the marketplace, here is a quick step by step guide for how to narrow down your choice and choose the best analysis tools.

Begin Internally: Talk to your employees and stakeholders to brainstorm and identify where you need help.

Look for Solutions: Create a spreadsheet of the various business analysis tools on the market with their costs.

Connect the Dots: Compare steps 1 and 2 to see which tools best match your business goals and budget.

Take It Further: You can go one step further by defining your mandatory features and technical requirements, as well as the required level of support you’d need from the vendor.

Get Going: Try a demo and read reviews and testimonials to understand the perception and use cases of the analytics tool.

The Bottom Line

Business analysis tools exist in many different shapes, sizes and prices for various purposes. Once you have assessed precisely what your business needs, you can implement these tools such as SolveXia to achieve your goal. To enhance workflows, automate processes, decrease human error, understand strengths and weaknesses and more, business analysis tools are necessary for all organisations to thrive.