A good business analyst is not just one of the apples in a barrel, na uh! He or she has to have certain attributes that will make him or her stand out.

Here are the four (4) attributes of an excellent business analyst:

1. He or she is an intellectual elitist

To be a business analyst you have to be some kind of an intellectual, it simply means that you think, question and learn. An Excellent BA should be able to carry on an intelligent conversation about theoretical matters. He or she can envision things, and can debate the pros and cons of a proposal. As an elitist, a business analyst does not accept ignorance as an excuse, because he or she knows that by not updating your knowledge, you are likely to fall by the wayside to someone who spends his or her time keeping abreast with the world’s present, future and past information.

2. He or she is highly opinionated and knows how to be professional in every sense of the word

No business analyst worth his or her salt is a wall flower. The longer you work the more experience you garner and the more you sharpen your gut instincts – that is why some BA’s know the best solution to a business problem without actually carrying out tests. A competent BA will speak up without caring whose ox is gored if he or she has found a business problem caused by an important stakeholder.

3. He or she champions change

Not everyone sees change as a good thing but a good business analyst finds change to be exhilarating for him or her and unlike some people, they do not see change as threatening. He or she does not believe in hiding behind stacks of paper in fear of being downsized – No Sir! A good BA sees any kind of change as a positive thing.

4. He or she is an innovator

A good business analyst always carries a pen and paper with him or her all the time because their minds are constantly thinking up solutions to problems. He or she is also thinking up ways to implement their "super idea" without spending so much money or time. A good business analyst is always thinking up ways to solve a client’s problem without appearing to try too hard. It does not take Einstein to know that such a person is a genius in his or her own right.

No one wants to hire a dud. A smart business man or woman decides to hire a business analyst who in every other person’s opinion has the right answers. A good BA tells a client what is wrong or what needs to be changed in the client’s business. No one wants to pay his or her hard earned dollars on a BA who knows absolutely nothing about what he or she is talking about, because that’s just like taking money to the bathroom and flushing it down the toilet.