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What’s all the hubbub about these job titles? Are they the same thing? Are there any differences and what does that mean?

I would consider this to be where “old world” meets “new world” (not so new anymore, in 2022 – Scrum having been around since 1995!)

I’m of course referring to the ever ongoing debate between Waterfall and Agile project mechanisms and the roles therein.

As a BA I like to think about outcomes, and what that means in the context of the organisation that’s made up of teams and people. Both can work, both can create value but with different priorities and perspectives.

But Mark, what does all this mean?

Well, going by the Business Analyst Body Of Knowledge (BABOK) glossary:

business analyst

Any person who performs business analysis, no matter their job title or organizational role.

business analysis

The practice of enabling change in the context of an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.

Ye olde time Business Analysts would write requirements after elicitation with a client and hand off to a development team and move onto the next client/project. I think the global adoption (including anti-patterns) of Agile has moved the BA role into further collaboration across the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and this is a good thing – more client engagement leads to better buy in.

The “Agile” Business Analyst, or a Business Analyst in an Agile environment has somewhat morphed into the Product Owner role, working as an embedded resource within a team, the difference typically is that a larger project is broken down into smaller bits of work (See: Scrum’s 1-4 week cycles or Shape Up’s 6 week cycles) so that the work can be completed and put into production sooner, this also prevents expectation slip between what the client thinks they’ve ordered and what they’re delivered.

The Product Owner is accountable for maximizing the value of the product resulting from the work of the Scrum Team.

The Product Owner (PO) shapes the flow of work into an Agile development team by managing a “backlog” of work with the intent of maximising the value of the product, typically broken into themes, epics and user stories. This allows for rapid prototyping and involves the client (or client delegate) as a part of the sprint and their ongoing feedback can be utilised for a successful outcome.

This change of focus allows for a Product Owner to step back from the detail that a Business Analyst would typically be associated with to allow developers and designers to be creative to solve the problems that clients have presented.

It can be difficult to differentiate the two roles as they can overlap based on the needs of the client and the culture of the team/company. However I think that the Product Owner allows for more value to a client sooner and encourages ongoing collaboration and could be seen as the evolution of the traditional Business Analyst.

References:
BABOK Glossary
Scrum Guide 2020

Mark Marciniak