Business Analyst
In earlier skill categories the point has been made that not all organizations have the same
structure, and that as a result the Business Analyst often finds they are needed to perform roles
and responsibilities of other functions. If there is no project manager, the BA may be needed
to fulfill those responsibilities. If there is no test manager or designated test lead, the BA may
be doing that work. There are however specific roles and responsibilities for the BA in the
acceptance testing process:
• Participate in the creation of the overall test plan and assist with the necessary
maintenance to reflect changes to the overall project plan
• Plan for and participate in early life cycle verification activities such as
requirements inspections and early development and inspection of use cases
• Plan for and participate in functional, regression, stress, security and performance
test execution, analysis and defect tracking as needed, with specific attention to
those aspect of acceptance testing that are essential to the successful
implementation of the finished product
• Coordinate the integration of the sub-plan for acceptance testing into the overall test
plan
• Understand what testing tools, techniques and strategies will be needed to
effectively perform acceptance testing for the project and ensure the subject matter
experts know how to perform appropriate testing and test verification
• Provide expert insight into functionality and performance issues that arise from the
development and execution of test cases