Business Analysis Tools

October 1, 2022

Business analysis is carried out by business analysts and they require certain tools to carry out business analysis. It helps business analysts in tracking, managing and describe requirements in detail.

Business analysts utilize business analysis tools to create better cooperation, gather and classify data and business requirements, managing projects, creating prototypes and portfolios. Now-a-days business requires continuous tracking and strategy making to grow.

Major Categories of Business Analysis Tools

Business analysis tools are majorly classified into following three major categories;

1. Requirements related tools

Every business analysts that is working on business analysis, requires these tools to carry out the operation and tasks. The analysis could be documentation analysis, identification of business gaps, SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis or any other.

There are reasons why some business analysts should use requirement related tools;

To keep track of changing requirements
To collaborate with different teams
To explore best possible requirements for the project
To manage different relationships

2. Modeling tools

Tools can be further classified into tools that are required for pictorial, diagrammatic and model representation. Models and pictorial representations are more effective than simple words, can be less manipulative, and well-structured.

3. Collaboration tools

The important role of business analysts is to collaborate and effective stakeholder management. They have to make key decisions keeping in mind the stakeholder’s benefits and collaborate with them for better decision making.

Major Categories of Business Analysis Tools

Types of Business Analysis Tools

There are various types of business analysis tools that are available and they are;

1. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is web-based CRM tool designed to enhance sales. It is designed to present data in readable form, allow sales personnel to collaborate, raise their sales numbers and forecast sales.

Pipedrive helps in creating sales reports, plan sales activities, monitor sales, and improve overall sales process. It helps you in customizing your reports according to your business. The information can be used to assess of a company or individual.

Key Features

It allows connection between customer and sales representative via live chat
It makes sales process more efficient and forecast the sales
It automate your business workflows and tracks business goals

2. Trello

Trello is a business collaboration and project management tool. It is used for teams to collaborate, communicate and share information privately between teams. Business analysts can easily track his projects, plans, tasks, activities and progress against goals.

Key Features

It can be used for personal work
It allows secure collaboration between the team
It allows exporting data with one single click

3. Wrike

Wrike is project management software tool for business analysts. It helps in reducing overall costs of the project analysis, through storing information centrally.

Key Features

It allows team and project tracking and reporting
It allows updating and assigning tasks from anywhere and anytime.
It helps you in balancing resources and setting deadlines.

4. Balsamiq

Balsamiq is software that helps you in creating the wireframes for an application or website. It helps businesses in creating a remote and collaborative UX design.

It allows cooperation between customers and business teams. An excellent tool for new product design, sketching ideas, brainstorming, and allows business analysts to share ideas with stakeholders.

Key Features

It allows you to create digital sketches of your ideas for an application or website
It allows you to build wireframes
Faster and smarter user interface controls and icons

5. Blueprint

Blueprint is a useful business analysis tool for business analysts. It helps businesses in making better applications and aligning business strategy with IT execution. It helps in enhancing business agility.

Key Features

It helps in delivering products faster
It makes sure the regulatory compliance
It allows business analysts to receive and analyze reports from every project

6. Google Docs

Google docs is a very important business analysis tool for sharing documents online with project managers, members and stakeholders.

Key Features

It allows you to create and edit documents from anywhere and anytime
It supports all formats of documents
It allows you to add images, fonts, and there are built-in templates for documents

7. Microsoft Office Suite

Microsoft office suite is on the best business analysis tool to use and there are following applications;

MS PowerPoint

Business analysts are needed to share and present their ideas, and provide updates to stakeholders. Communication becomes more powerful when they are presented with pictures, diagrams, charts, or any other interactive arts. MS PowerPoint is an excellent tool to create and present presentations.

MS Excel

It is a spreadsheet tool to create pivot tables, charts and graphs, examining trends and filtering data. MS excel is an important tool that allow you to perform all these activities. It also helps in data analysis through mathematical and financial functions.

MS Word

MS Word helps in creating and editing documents. It allows to have specific fonts, themes, objects, shapes, smart arts, charts and many other options.

MS Visio

MS Visio helps in making diagrams. It is a modeling tool that presents stakeholders ideas in the form of interaction and diagrams. It allows business analysts to prepare process flow charts, create data flows, creating sequence diagrams and activity.

8. Rational Requisite Pro

Rational requisite pro is one of the best business analysis tools for requirements management. It provides strong business solutions for requirements management. Rational Requisite Pro is a best tool for requirement sorting and gathering. It can manage documents that are linked to a project.

Key Features

It is a helpful tool for managing requirements
It helps in integrating with MS word and database
It helps in conducting impact analysis and tracks the changes

9. Pencil

Pencil is a prototyping tool that helps in creating decision models. It can be used very easily and locally. It allows user to create a screen through drag and drop elements.

Prototypes helps customer understands the products, its looks and features. It also helps in getting confirmation about the product from the customer. You can easily build it on Pencil through simple interface. You can make changes according to customer’s feedbacks.

Key Features

Created model can be tested against real data
It helps you in getting confirmation from customer
It helps you in meeting customer expectations

10. SWOT

SWOT analysis is one the most popular tool to evaluate business internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. It is widely used for strategic analysis and helps business analysts to evaluate business and products.

Key Features

It’s totally free and secure
It is very useful in decision making
It is used to convert external opportunities to strengths

11. Version One

Version one is an important business analysis tool for business analysts. It has a unique feature of integrating capabilities with business applications and software development tools. It helps businesses in engaging stakeholders and tracking and reporting through various platforms within the organization.

Key Features

It helps in taking fact-based decisions
Immediate update can be done by users
Helps in automating decision making

The Bottom Line

Here we conclude useful business analysis tools. Business analysis is done to avoid unwanted and unnecessary expenses. Business analysis is done to avoid doing the same task for a second time. It helps businesses and business analysts work in a faster and smarter way.