Insight Blog: How Capmation’s BAs and PMs drive project success

Software development, artificial intelligence and automatization projects require strong technical knowledge and experience. That’s why the right technical team is so crucial for the successful execution of a project. Driving that process are the Business Analysts (BAs) and Project Managers (PMs).

BAs and PMs must have a clear understanding of the client's problems and business goals to ensure the final product meets stakeholder expectations. Their role is key in increasing the project’s ROI by providing value increments each sprint and reducing project costs.

ROI = (Financial Value - Costs - Investment)/Investment

Our skilled BAs and PMs increase the ROI of the project in a number of ways.

1. Before the development even begins, our BAs and PMs reduce the possibility of re-work by clearly understanding the customer’s needs and translating these needs into the right requirements. This takes listening, collaboration and creative thinking. From there, they provide our development team with detailed direction. The ability to effectively go from business need to innovative solution to efficient execution is critical in boosting ROI and avoiding additional costs.
2. In addition, our BAs and PMs play a significant role in ensuring quality assurance and a high level of client satisfaction because, before sending deliverables to the client, they ensure business expectations are met or exceeded. For example, with a mobile application project, our PMs test the application manually to make sure the product meets the acceptance criteria of the user stories. A quality product with high levels of client satisfaction are key benchmarks for increasing financial value, which offsets other factors in the ROI formula.
3. Our BAs and PMs keep the project's ROI stable by avoiding potential delays or removing blockers. They do this by maintaining effective communication with stakeholders. When stakeholders are actively engaged and supportive, they’re much more likely to make decisions on time. At Capmation, we create communication channels and communication plans with clients, the Program Manager, CEO, and SVP of Business Strategy, etc. By involving the team, stakeholders and customers, we can respond to changes rapidly and keep the project on track.
4. Lastly, our PMs increase the ROI by focusing on real value. A client-oriented PM stays true to the business needs of the project. As a result, deliverables and work effort are aligned with the value that the customer expects.

How Capmation’s BAs, PMs and Tech Leads complement each other throughout the project lifecycle

The roles and responsibilities of the BAs, PMs and Tech Leads are different but complementary throughout the whole project cycle, from planning to closure. The diagram below illustrates which responsibilities are unique to each role and which are shared in order to strengthen the team. By merging the technical experience of the Tech Lead with the client-oriented mindset of the BAs and PMs, Capmation helps ensure a successful project delivery.

Different focus/complementary approach
Our BAs and PMs focus on managing resources, schedules, stakeholders and sprints. They ensure the project stays on track and aligns with business objectives. Our Tech Leads focus on development methodology, software architecture and code quality. During planning and execution, both roles ensure the team delivers a high-quality product with functionality that meets the client's needs and addresses their problems.

Critical project coordination
Our BAs, PMs and Tech Leads work together to coordinate project activities. Our BAs and PMs manage the overall project processes, and our Tech Leads ensure tasks are properly completed. By coordinating these critical technical and business decisions, our BAs, PMs and Tech Leads ensure smooth execution and avoid bottlenecks.

Leadership focused on high performance
Leadership is a vital soft skill that our BA, PMs and Tech Leads need to manage a team. Our Tech Leads provide technical guidance for the development team, helping our team members grow their skills. Our PMs create teamwork environments that boost collaboration, productivity and professional development. The combination of both types of leadership fosters a high-performing team.

A closer look at how each role adds value

Business Analyst
Our BAs are the first to the table, specifically, in the elicitation process, business proposal and requirements buildout. During elicitation, they identify stakeholders and gather information to understand the business needs and problems. They listen actively and ask relevant questions. Our BAs bring analytical skills that enable them to understand complex business problems and untangle requests into clear requirements for the technical team. For example, our BAs translate requirements into user story tickets in Jira or other project management tools that clearly express the activities that developers must carry out. From there, our BAs translate these business needs or desired features into clear and concise requirements for the development team.

Project Manager
When the project starts, our PMs jump on board. Our PMs, alongside our Tech Lead, execute and monitor a project with an established budget and timeline. Their problem-solving skills uncover and address challenges strategically, helping the team meet deadlines and stakeholders’ expectations. As expert communicators and presenters, our PMs keep clients informed about the tasks completed during the sprint and share project metrics such as team velocity and overall progress. They’re also critical in building and maintaining collaboration and teamwork.

Tech Lead
Our Tech Leads our experienced technical professionals who provide leadership and oversee the software development. They ensure the development team implements the solution correctly and is following best practices. They’re also responsible for making critical technical decisions to ensure high-quality code.

In summary

At Capmation, we know how important every team member is to the success of a project. Having skilled BAs, PMs and Tech Leads reduces the possibility of re-work, helps ensure quality assurance and a high level of client satisfaction, prevents potential delays and keeps the project focused on value. Working together—and alongside our knowledgeable developers—our leaders are key to increasing project ROI.

Ready to increase your project ROI with the right team driving your success? Connect with us to get started.