Traditionally, companies hire an army of business requirements analysts (a.k.a. business analysts or BI analysts) who serve as translators between the business and corporate developers. This approach often falls short with data analytics because most business users don’t know what they want until they see it. Some companies supplement business analysts with “relationship managers”—senior people versed in both business and technology who form a strategic partnership with the business and proactively suggest solutions, rather than just take orders. For decades, technical teams have used business requirements analysts (BRAs or simply business analysts) to engage business users. In fact, many companies still have large departments dedicated to these business intermediaries. One client has 75 staffers in its “business architecture” department—their job is to meet with business users at the outset of a technical project, gather requirements, and translate those requirements into technical specifications for developers.

- Wayne Eckerson in Organizational Frameworks for Data Analytics: Establishing Programs, Teams, and Roles in the Age of Self-Service

January 6, 2019 (E-book)