Business Analysts and Quality Analysts also collaborate on a specific software development project. As the business analyst gathers all of the requirements and information for developers to commence with the development project, they have specified quality analysts in their team to test the developed product and determine its flaws and features.
Business Analysts are important to every industry because the requirements and trends worldwide keep changing over time. And they are the ones who would do the needful to keep the business up to date with dedicated efforts. The development team works in collaboration with them to reciprocate the gathered information.
Following that, the quality analyst collaborates with the business analyst in the team. The business analyst will instruct the QA to test the software to find the flaws and errors in the existing software. It is essential because the end client needs flawless software for their business operations.
The business analysts and quality analysts work not just for software development projects but have different industries to deal with almost all types of B2B service executions. There are business analysts and quality analysts in the BPO sectors, but the software development industry has leveraged its maximum potential.
So, to help you learn more about it, this article intends to help you learn the job roles, responsibilities, and practical differences between BA and QA.
BA And QA Compared
Here is a brief comparison of how business analysts and quality analysts differ in their job roles, career potential, and other factors.
1. Job Requirements
The job responsibilities of a business analyst are quite evident for a company to grow! They acquire information from clients and gather the required data for specific development projects. There are certain expectations of supervisors of the company from the BAs. Therefore, they dig deep into the project details provided by the client and talk to them about what requirements can help the client’s business grow.
They determine the purpose of the software or product concerning the business. They note all the available information from various resources and document it for the developers to refer to and carry out their programming or coding part. The next job is of the quality analysts and the business analysts to test the software for perfection or minute flaws.
Not just software development but a few other sectors also work on implementing quality analysis for the perfect execution of special projects such as manufacturing, customer service, and others. In the world of software development, product quality counts as a priority. The concept and design are not proficient alone in identifying the flaws within a software. Therefore, the company requires separate professionals for doing the manual job!
Quality analyst professionals have gained immense significance across various sectors for handling responsibilities, regardless of their pursued domain. The focus of quality analysts is to design and create plans for examining the software product to determine if it has met the policies of the organization or client.
2. Future Career Potential And Opportunities
Business Analysts verify all of the requirements by referring user’s perspective, whereas the QAs verify all of the requirements of an application. QA is accountable as an expert in the main operational domain of your industry as compared to a BA. Therefore, the belief is that a QA can always become a great BA, but it cannot happen vice versa without proper training.
The job role of BA offers high pay and better growth opportunities. As per the statistics are concerned, the work-life balance quotient is high with BAs over QAs. The quality analysts need to test the products and report the flaws to the developers or manufacturers, respective to the industry you refer to.
And they correct it for the BAs to verify it as per user perspective. They do the main job when they have completed the information gathering and documentation for the project.
After that, the front-end workers carry the most out of the job by bringing the entire product to the table. Therefore, QA has a higher growth scope than a BA.
The company will promote the analysts from junior to senior designations by validating the skills and expertise of an individual.
3. Job Satisfaction
Business Analysts have better job satisfaction as the stress levels are low here! They take charge of inquiring the clients about their root requirements and expectations from the end product. Based upon that, they talk to all of the client’s stakeholders to take their views on their specific requirements.
The job of a BA doesn’t get over with it, but they have to consolidate the clients over time about the progress of their project as well.
Even with all of the responsibilities, a BA’s job is at ease compared to that of the QA. The quality analyst has to work to & fro with the person in the development section to modify, test, and finalize the end product before the deployment date.
The final output is then sent to the BA for review, and only then the product gets approval and is ready for deployment to the client. It is an entire chain of operation that has different role branches.
4. Compensation And Benefits
The role of a Business Analyst is to get involved in the initiation and ownership of the deliverables. They must have good communication skills and be the face of the company for the client. They have a specific role in the project management sector of the business. On the other hand, the job of a QA is to be a team member for the BA and own the job to certify, test, and determine the quality of deliverables.
In the initial days, the QA will start the job as an intern, but with experience over time, they will grow more, and the promotion aspects will also be high for them. But, if you compare the salary of a BA with QA in the long term, the BAs will always have more salary and visibility in terms of promotion chances, better job roles, and higher performance quotient than the QAs.
BAs own destiny to run the show, and the QAs will work from behind in collaboration with them.
The salary for the quality analyst and business analyst differs based on the location and company age. The average salary for a quality analyst is $71,000 per year, which might differ in other countries. On the same record, the average salary of business analysts is $83,000 per year.
5. Culture & Relationships
The BAs have the job to maintain a healthy relationship with the managers and all higher officials directly or indirectly about the business. Quality Analysts are in direct contact with the developers and BAs to review the end products and work on determining the loopholes in them.
The recognition of BAs is more than that of the QAs. It is because they are in work relationships with more officials than that with the QAs. But the QAs have a good rapport with their work colleagues and their BAs. The prestige of both the job posts is high, as they both have a load of work to execute the seamless operations to achieve the end output.
Which Is Better- BA Or QA?
BA and QA are accountable for the prime job posts in the development, manufacturing, and customer service industry. But the prominent use of these roles is in the software development industry. The betterment of one job role over the other is specified based upon the individual factor comparison.
A QA can always be a better BA in terms of job growth, but that cannot happen otherwise! But, in terms of salary, BA is a better job role than QA! The growth prospects in terms of promotion are nearly the same for both BA and QA. So, it is upon your knowledge and preference to decide which is better for your perspective. The job that comforts you and meets your requirements is a better option!
Conclusion
It is a detailed explanation of business analyst and quality analyst job roles! The differences and similarities between these roles define their potential in terms of career options. Irrespective of all the factors, these roles have immense potential to help an individual build a successful and thriving career in life.
Moreover, QAs and BAs might meet at a similar level of salary structures at some point in time if their experience and skills support them. There are promotions to higher levels in both posts, and the recognition is excellent! So, consider these factors and decide which job post is preferable as per your knowledge and skills.
