A business analyst or a project manager?

I saw this very interesting article at the tail end of last week, over at nothingButSharePoint.com. Have a read for yourself, but the in summary it discusses the important of having a business analyst on a SharePoint project. I couldn't agree more (checkout my previous posts on the subject) and totally agree that rushing into a project without fully understanding the problem is often the cause of untold issues on many IT projects.

A little snippet at the start of the article states that BAs are seen as 'junior project managers' in the authors organisation. This is something I hear time and time again and infuriates me. A while back I was working at a small IT agency, and was tasked with putting together a team of business analysts. The company had seen the light with this role and wanted one on every project team. It was a very refreshing approach. However trying to find the right people to fill these roles was very tough. At least half of the people interviewed described themselves as a "BA or Project Manager". A good portion of the rest answered the question "Where do you see yourself in 2 years?" with "As a project manager". I discarded both sets of people in an instant. If they couldn't see the difference in the roles, then how could they fulfil that of a BA properly?

I understand in small companies people sometimes double up on roles. However this is different to thinking the roles are linked, or in some way related on the career path. The skillset of a business analyst is very different to that of a project manager. If you can find someone who can do both well, then hire them and keep them very happy for they are rare! But typically you will find people who are good at one, or the other, not both. And the first step to finding someone good at one of the roles, is finding someone who understands that the roles are indeed different.