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Survey: Are there any BA's in the HN readership, and if so why do you visit?

• detaro 4y ago
  "BA"?
  • Narutu 4y ago
    Business Analysts. Updated the description for clarity.
    • ggorlen 4y ago
      It might be worth editing the title as well. I clicked in to figure out what it meant. Bachelor's degree didn't make much sense...
• markus_zhang 4y ago
  Worked as a BA in previous life. Just interested in HNs general technical gist.
• ianai 4y ago
  I effectively have the knowledge and skill set of a BA. But tech was what hired me-always had a decent tech background, too. The BA side helps me navigate lots of things though. Helps at work when needing to phrase things to non-techies.
• tizio13 4y ago
  Hey there! I think there are a few of us out there. I just recently moved back into that role myself and I still read HN on the daily. Commenting not so much. I visit mostly to keep up with tech news. Occasionally I'll stumble onto threads that give me ideas for solutions at my job. But mostly it's really just to decompress.
• kylecazar 4y ago
  As you likely know, the BA role can be very technical, depending on the solution/client -- wouldn't be surprised if there are a bunch among us.
• wheelinsupial 4y ago
  I think the product manager job and product owner role have replaced BAs. I'm a BA, but I think it's a disappearing role in software. I think my reading falls into three categories. Product management related authors and topics, (technical) project management, and CS fundamentals & software development (this is by far my weakest area and needs a lot more effort).
  • goldenchrome 4y ago
    What's the difference between a BA and a PM?
    • wheelinsupial 4y ago
      Sorry, I don't have a good, concise answer for you. Focusing on software, in my view: 1. BAs are focused on developing internal business applications to be used by the employees of a business. Whereas PMs are focused on developing products to be sold to others (B2B or B2C). BAs were used at organizations where software is a supporter or enabler of the business as opposed to at organizations where the business is software, which would use PMs. 2. The role of a BA is a subset of the role of a PM. So, the PM's focus is a little broader in scope and would include more work with external stakeholders, go to market strategy, revenue, profit and loss, and maybe budgeting. Beyond that, what exactly is a BA? This is tough to answer because there is no standard definition. BA job descriptions will differ between companies and even within a company, they will differ between departments. Not sure if that helps.
    • ianai 4y ago
      I think BA is more on the finance side of the house and may be lower level, depending on firm. I know there are PM certifications, but BA is more like MBA/MA or bachelors stuff. As someone else said, BA is a wider term.
    • tanseydavid 4y ago
      > What's the difference between a BA and a PM? I was thought that you were priming us for a really good joke. Come on! What's the punchline?
• siproprio 4y ago
  I work at a hedge fund, so yeah, I’m kind of an analyst.
• tsol 4y ago
  I'm a BA. Were somewhat technical, which is part of the reason I'm here. I also am trying to learn more about coding, etc and get further in depth on the technical side. It doesn't come naturally to me though. Hn is a nice place to slowly absorb knowledge about the industry