The Far Future of Business Analysis

If you were to tell me what tomorrow looks like, I would ask you what day after tomorrow would be like, and then the next month, next year, next decade... Who would like to stop asking? Future is always intriguing. And the farther it gets, the more thrilling!  

Though a lot has been written on 'the future of business analysis', you know it's never enough! And as if I didn't have enough dose of excitement reading it all, I decided to venture into the far future of the business analysis! But alas, in the absence of a time-machine, all we can do is analyze (yes, that BA soul in us...) and speculate. And above all, enjoy those speculations. So, let us do some research and some calculated predictions (and not-so-calculated speculations) on The Far Future of Business Analysis!  

BAs (and even the developers) will be Out from Mundane IT Projects

Already there are business process engines out in the market, though not so friendly yet. However, in future there will be sophisticated and highly intuitive process engines which will allow users to easily define a business process by drag-n-drop. These engines would be smart enough to read the diagrams and generate code to govern the processes without requiring writing a single line of code or query.  

Besides, the new generation is getting more and more tech-savvy. (Imagine when these 3-year-old kids of today, who play with tablets and smartphones, will grow up and become managers...) Managers of the future will be much more comfortable with these process engines and similar software. They would design and build enterprise level apps within days... without the old-fashioned BAs and developers. 

Lesser Dependence on BAs in Enterprise Software

Software Consumerism will finally prevail the enterprise software arena. SaaS will gain popularity. Vendors will provide feature-rich solutions. Enterprises will indulge in picking from available features and using SaaS for subscriptions instead of investing millions of dollars and years in implementing on-premise software. Should you need to customize user interfaces or processes, help yourself! There will be easy-to-use visual tools and process engines.  Instead of each department giving their requirements, the managers of the departments would work directly on the software and customize it via visual (and user-friendly) interfaces! 

Business Analysts Will Need to Learn About 'User Experience'

Today, software consumerism is already a reality. People are getting hundreds of choices for solutions or apps for their personal needs. Competition is ferocious than ever, and only the solutions and apps that appeal the users and give enhanced satisfaction survive. This consumer-psychology will also spread to work-environment.

People won't be happy with those dull, dreary, bare software that just do the job. They would expect solutions to be feature-packed, appealing, intuitive... etc. The focus will move on to 'user experience', whereas functionalities would be taken for granted! Solution providers will compete and try to excel on the basis of superior 'user experience'.  

It won't be just in the software, it will be everywhere. Future of business will be driven by 'user experience'. Business processes, products, services, will all focus on it. Today we talk about functionalities, efficiency, cost, tomorrow it will be about user experience, user experience, and user experience. The book 'What's the Future of Business?' by Brian Solis talks at length about this phenomenon. 

And who would incorporate user experience into solutions, business processes, products, services...? Primarily, we - the BAs. User Experience will become a key knowledge area. 

Information Analysts Will be Highly Specialized and Highly Sought After

Big Data is that magical crystal ball that businesses stumbled upon but don't know yet how to harness it. However, advances in storage technologies (liquid state storage, HAMR...), and in computing (quantum computers - Jesus! how appealing this concept is - , distributed computing, streaming databases...) will destroy all the limitations on data storage, manipulation and processing. Computers and frameworks (such as Hadoop) would be able to run so-called highly complex scripts and analyze trillions of records and give results within seconds, essentially the so-called super-computers of today will become a commodity. 

Information Analysts would build newer and more complex algorithms and techniques to harness the power of the Big Data. They would also have to specialize in information privacy laws of tomorrow. Information Analysis (business intelligence, social intelligence) in itself will become a science - highly specialized.  

Consider this: a manager got an idea of a new digital film that can be glued on to the refrigerator door, and kids can satisfy their drawing frenzy by scribbling, painting, drawing anything on it. But he needs some information on how promising this idea is. And the information analyst scans the big-data of whole wide world and draws information on number of families with children between age 2 and 10, estimates on their income, their languages... by analyzing the content on their Facebook  timeline, tweets, Pinterest boards, blogs, LinkedIn profiles... 

Social platforms and the web is already holding this data. Access to big data will be available on subscription. There will be computers powerful enough to process this data. Then all they need will be highly capable information analysts! 

Data Analysts will Win the Race for Growth

Sure the demand for BAs (and their salaries) will grow, and grow at a very high rate. However it won't be the management analysts or systems analysts but the data analysts that will win the race. Growth rate for data analyst jobs will be highest of all business analysis branches, followed by systems analyst jobs, whereas management analysts will be lagging behind. Got knowledge of Hadoop? You can make 120,000$ annually without any work-experience right now! 

Management Analysts will Struggle to Gain Prominence

Businesses are all set to face a turbulent time ahead: social platforms, shorter product life-cycles, shift towards customer experience and newer technologies popping every now and then... The managers will feel the strain, and innovation will become a norm to succeed in business. Need for innovative business processes and solutions will be higher than ever. However, the management analyst role overlaps several other managerial roles and that would continue to be the reason for them to keep struggling to gain prominence. 

MBA will Also Mean 'Master of Business Analysis'

With growing demand for BA professionals, and growing complexity of this discipline and its branches, prestigious universities would start offering dedicated programs at bachelors and masters level for business analysis. To get an entry level job in business analysis one would be required to study at least two years full-time course and possess a degree in business analysis. Not to mention that before that there would be a period when universities would offer hybrid courses on business management and analysis (MBAA?).

Whew... we can go on and on forever! Predicting future is a game. Doesn't matter if we win or lose, fun is the takeaway. I don't know how many of these predictions might come true, but I hope you enjoyed the speculations. And though it's a game, a game is a game! So, prove me right, or prove me wrong, or add your imaginations and add to the fun... down below in the comments section!