Product Owner Vs. Business Analyst: Unmasking the Anonymity
So, let’s discuss the difference between Business Analyst and Product Owner.
- Overview of Product Owner
- Overview of Business Analyst
- Job Description: Product Owner and Business Analyst
- Educational Qualifications: Product Owner Vs Business Analyst
- Roles and Responsibilities: Product Owner and Business Analyst
- Skills: Product Owner Vs Business Analyst
- Career path: Product Owner or Business Analyst?
- Product Owner Salary Vs Business Analyst Salary
- Conclusion
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Overview of Product Owner
Product Owners are crucial to the overall success of the project. These professionals interact directly with the business to obtain project-related information to justify why specific features are implemented.
Also, these professionals contribute to the product’s vision excluding the technical aspects. They also act as a business-side voice, a single point of contact for getting alignment, clarifying questions, reaching consensus, and driving decisions.
Overview of Business Analyst
Business Analysts form an interface between clients of different divisions and IT specialists. These experts work with executives from various departments to identify business issues and offer technological solutions. Apart from that, they keep track of existing company operations, make organizational changes, and design software systems.
Job Description: Product Owner and Business Analyst
Now, let us have a look at the job description of a product owner and a business analyst.
Job Description of a Product Owner
Product Owners are the head of an agile team. These are the people who evaluate the work done by the team members of Scrum.
The Scrum team generates software for product development. These IT professionals assess the software and make sure that the software matches the functionality and attributes of the product to attain maximum efficiency.
Also, POs are responsible for conducting time-to-time meetings to achieve high performance and fulfill project deadlines, identify product challenges, determine product roadmaps, and complete client targets and objectives.
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Job Description of a Business Analyst
Business Analysts are versatile and perform a wide range of tasks in various disciplines. The job description of a Business Analyst varies with different sectors and distinct organizations. A Business Analyst in a technical team, for example, is in charge of monitoring and upgrading systems, whereas a BA in a sales team is in charge of addressing customer issues and gathering feedback.
A Business Analyst is a word that encompasses several different job titles, including data analyst, enterprise analyst, business consultant, marketing analyst, product manager, requirements manager, system analyst, and many more.
Educational Qualifications: Product Owner Vs Business Analyst
Educational qualifications for both professions are quite similar.
- Bachelor’s degree is a must-have
- Bachelor’s degree in
- Business Administration
- Finance
- Accounting
- Statistics would be preferable
- A Master’s degree in any of the above fields could be advantageous for advanced roles
Apart from the above-mentioned qualifications, one needs to have the following specifications for becoming a Product Owner:
- At Least 2 years of experience in the business field
- Should have managerial qualities, outstanding verbal and written communication skills
- A track record of producing excellent products on time is preferred
You can begin your career if you meet the qualifications listed above. Otherwise, you’ll need to get certified in a variety of courses. To enter business analysis, you must first obtain the Business Analyst/business analytics certification.
Check out the Business Analyst Interview Questions from our blog and excel your hiring journey!
Roles and Responsibilities: Product Owner and Business Analyst
Let’s have a look at the duties of a Product Owner and a Business Analyst.
| Product Owner | Business Analyst |
| Manage and prioritize the backlog of products | Identify areas for improvement and put technical solutions in place. |
| Assess the progress of the product development at each iteration | Modernizing and automating existing systems |
| Transform product managers’ strategies into development tasks | Provide management and other teams with a plan of action. |
| Maintain contact with developers to address questions | Collaborate with clients, the IT department, and management personnel |
| Assess significant changes while ending the Sprint | Ensure cost-effectiveness and resource allocation |
| Assist in the coordination of product and development | Performance monitoring and project management |
| Learn about the market and the needs of customers | Obtain information from a variety of stakeholders to provide valuable reports |
| Act as a primary liaison | Analyze current business processes and devise improvement solutions |
| Involve in Scrum, Sprint Reviews, Retrospectives Meetings, and Sprint Planning on a daily basis | Keep track of corporate processes and anticipate future needs/problems |
Role of Product Owner and Business Analyst in an Agile Team
Now, let’s understand the roles and responsibilities of a Product Owner and a Business Analyst in an agile environment.
Product Owners envision the product based on domain/industry knowledge and market need.
Their duty is to guarantee that the product satisfies market and stakeholder demands; to do so, he or she does a market study followed by an enterprise SWOT analysis. The PO is also in charge of the product’s go-to-market plan.
The Product Owner seeks to leverage their domain experience/expertise, market need, industry or domain in which it operates, the organization’s market position, and consumer expectations of the product as observed over time.
BAs are facilitators, and the link between users, stakeholders, and the agile team. They challenge assumptions and requirements, evaluate needs, identify gaps, and collaborate closely with SMEs to describe user stories and elicit requirements.They model and elicit requirements, maintain dataflows and clarify requirements for the team.
The Product Owner is assisted by the Business Analyst in delivering comprehensive artifacts. We frequently think of the Business Analyst as a stand-in for the Product Owner. This gives the agile team more access to the viewpoints of the Product Owners.
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Skills: Product Owner Vs Business Analyst
Any Product Owner or Business Analyst should have the following skills –
- Interpersonal skills
- Communication skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Technical skills
- Leadership and management skills
- Critical thinking
- Organizational
- Analytical skills
Most of the skills of a BA and PO overlap while a few are different. The comparison of skills of a BA and PO is given in the following table.
| Product Owner Skills | Business Analyst Skills |
| Communicate on product requirements and goals, technical knowledge, project statuses, and stakeholder and user feedback | Need to be skilled in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint) |
| Ability to say no to feedback which hinders the development of the product | Maintain a team-oriented and collaborative atmosphere with a feeling of leadership |
| Ability to write epics and user stories | A high level of technical knowledge is required |
| Support documents, images, and, possibly, rough wireframes for user stories | A thorough grasp of the structure of the organization and procedures is required |
| Ability to design product roadmaps to keep track of the product development | Possess the capacity to deliver presentations and write reports based on the results of the analysis |
Career Path: Product Owner or Business Analyst?
Traditional Business Analysts advance to:
- Senior Business Analyst
- Business Architect
- Senior Business Architect
In an agile framework, you may progress from BA to:
- Product Owner
- PMO director
- Vice President
- Senior Vice President
- Chief Information Officer
A Business Systems Analyst may advance to a:
- Senior Analyst
- Technology Architect
- Enterprise Architect
You can go from Project Manager to:
- Senior Project Manager
- Program Manager
- Business Owner and so on
Anyone pursuing a career as a Business Analyst can grow in their career by moving laterally from one department to another with specialized abilities necessary for that area.
To go from a senior Business Analyst to a business architect, you must change your perspective from tactical to strategic, focus on the outside rather than the inside, and take a holistic view of the organization.
You’ll need leadership skills, a customer-centric attitude, and decision-making authority to make the shift from Business Analyst to Product Owner.
As you go up the corporate ladder, you’ll need to look outside the box and think more holistically to bring greater value to your company.
Check out our blog on Business Analyst Career Path to learn more!
Product Owner Salary Vs Business Analyst Salary
It can be inferred from the graph that in a few countries Product Owners are paid higher as compared to Business Analysts. This might be due to the shift of responsibilities towards the Product Owners. In other countries, Product Owners are paid similar to Business Analysts or even slightly higher as their roles are evenly distributed.
Salary Trends in India
In India, the Product Owners are paid at par as compared to Business Analysts. This is due to the fact that Product Owners shoulder higher responsibilities when compared to Business Analysts in India.
While a Business Analyst with 5-9 years of experience can expect to earn about Rs 8,30,975, a Senior Business Analyst with over 15 years of experience can expect to earn around Rs 12,09,787. The pay rises to Rs. 16,54,946 as you go above.
Conclusion
Though Business Analysts and project owners work in the agile team, their responsibilities vary. Product owners focus on the development of the product while Business Analysts focus on the business operations taking place in the team. While a Product Owner is confined to an agile team, a Business Analyst can work in different sectors.
If you’re a person who is flexible and would like to explore more, then you’re well suited to become a Business Analyst. And if you’re a person who is keen to work on a particular aspect, then you must try for a Product Owner. You can always become a Product Owner from Business Analyst with the right skills and qualifications.
If you’re interested in becoming a Business Analyst, check out Intellipaat’s Business Analyst course, which may be your first step toward a successful career.
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