Digital Practitioners

As part of our work to define digital career pathways we asked people to provide short ‘day in the life’ story about their role. Here we share an APS member's thoughts what it is like to be a Pega Business Analyst.

"As a Pega Business Analyst I have a great variety of duties which include:

• Working closely with business stakeholders to facilitate discussions and gather/elaborate on their business requirements
• Providing live playbacks to demonstrate things that have been built during a project sprint
• Documenting specifications and elaborating on application designs through user stories, acceptance criteria, wireframes and design mock ups
• Prototyping mock applications or business functions on the Pega platform to help demonstrate how it could work and the value to business users, developers and testers
• Investigating defects, assessment the severity and impacts and then assigning it to the a Pega Service Analyst for remediation as necessary
• Collaborating with internal stakeholders to deliver training material and communications packages for our clients
• Mentoring and guiding junior staff new to the Pega Business Architect role to build up their confidence, skills, and capabilities and ensure they can achieve their potential."

Getting out in the field

"One of the most rewarding parts of the role is being able to meet our clients out at their operational sites. This really allows us to build some connections on a personal level, understand our clients’ day-to-day operations and processes, and understand their pain points better. This directly informs the solutions and outcomes we can provide for them using Pega."

No two days are the same

"As someone who really enjoys working in a fast pace and challenging environment, I like to expect the unexpected, as no single day in the role is ever the same.

I like a good balance of autonomy, which I get in this role. I also enjoy the high degree of collaboration I have with business stakeholders, business architects, system architects and testers.

Since the team all work together toward the same goals to build quick and robust applications for our clients, it always feels fantastic to see a smile on our client’s faces at the end of the day. The systems that I support help to enforce the country's various quarantine, customs, and immigration and finance laws."

Design, analysis and technical knowledge

"I do a lot of design and analytical thinking in my role.

While I am not the most technical person, I have found that having a level of technical knowledge or experience enhances a Business Analyst’s understanding of how rules, activities and classes are built in Pega.

The role encourages me to think creatively and out of the box, as there are so many different ways to utilise the Pega platform to achieve business outcomes and meet user requirements.

Being in a role that is very visible to staff and stakeholders, I must also consider what is happening within the wider organisation to better align the delivery and scope of our project work with other on-going pieces of work and strategic outcomes."

Solving problems to achieve meaningful outcomes

"I’ve worked closely alongside a few lead and senior business architects, many of whom have been mentors to me and shared their experience in the Pega space.

Being self-driven, collaborative, a good communicator and a keen problem-solver with an aim to achieve meaningful outcomes is key to succeeding in this role. I also aspire to become a good leader and an experienced resource in the Pega space who others can benefit and learn from."

Involving customers

"My customers are always excited to influence and shape the way their applications are built.

Being closely involved with our customers through constant elaboration sessions ensures they are engaged throughout the entire process. This means we properly understand their needs and allows us to build tailored, quality products for our customers so they can efficiently do their jobs and focus on more important, core tasks."

See how you can upskill to be a Pega Business Analyst.

All views expressed in this blog are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily reflect the view of the department or agency.