Over the years I've been involved in various projects and contracts for small to medium organizations (lets say companies with under 1000 employees).  In general I've found that such organizations have a clear need for business analysis to be performed at the operational, project and strategic levels.  Yet few organizations of this size understand what business analysis is and how it can help with their bottom line.

Have any of you worked as a Business Analyst (either formally or informally) in a small or medium size company?  What activities did you perform?  Were you considered a BA or someone doing 'stuff that needed to get done'?  What was your experience like?  Did you find an ongoing need for business analysis at the organization or was it more of a transitory need (e.g. new project)?