Which seat is mine?

KMUK — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:16:00 GMT

I've been working with a company now for a little over a year as a contract business analyst and I think it's fair to say that they are still evolving their understanding over how to effectively utilise BA's like myself. So far, i've been fairly successful in deploying methodologies, BA tools and techniques, but i've been perplexed over opposing views about where i should physically sit when it the office - with the IT team, or, 'the business' team.

Personally, I feel that building relationships with the end-customer is vital in a BA role, and with this in mind, I have worked hard at spending the balance of time with 'the business' and this has delivered great results in the projects I have worked on. This is somewhat of a rarity between the IT and 'the business' in this organisation due to the typical 'them' and 'us' approach which stifles progress.

My concern is now that i feel under pressure to spend more time with the IT folks, which i really can't understand the drivers for. I had one comment about being "too business orientated" but there is absolutely no basis for this - I suspect this stems form a touch of ignorance from IT that they are always right and are not interested in the business view of things (plus, have no regard for the very role the BA is trying to perform.

Am i missing something here? I'm kinda stuck between sticking to my guns - which is a proven approach and builds a bridge between the two functions, or, relenting - spending more time with IT and potentially jeapordising the delivery of the project. Ironically, the person that signs my invoice is the individual applying pressure.

Any views welcome!

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Which seat is mine?