State of the Market

[Bluenose]

a combination of offshoring and market saturation caused by a lot of Visas being given out a few years back for people who now have leave to remain and a lot of ex-permanent

it may not help but i tend to change skillset every 4 years.

[LondonManc]

Never met a good BA who would make a credible PM or visa versa, but hey maybe you've broken the mould - or you work for clients who don't know the difference... hey if it works good for you, maybe when I'm stuck for a decent PM position I won't just skip over those BA/PM positions I usually scoff at.

Mind you I would make an awful BA...

Clearly not worked much. A good, ambitious BA who has shown leadership and organisational/motivational skills can easily transition up to PM with the right training and a chance to use it. Managers who have become project managers won't make good BAs and similarly technical BAs won't generally make good PMs.

[Major Hassle]

Clearly not worked much. A good, ambitious BA who has shown leadership and organisational/motivational skills can easily transition up to PM with the right training and a chance to use it. Managers who have become project managers won't make good BAs and similarly technical BAs won't generally make good PMs.

Clearly I've spent 35 years in IT delivery with my head in the sand, I would bow to your superior knowledge but arrogance prevents. Guess we should just agree to differ. Spent the first 17 years of my career as a developer the last 17 or so in the project/programme management space - no significant career gaps.

[LondonManc]

Clearly I've spent 35 years in IT delivery with my head in the sand, I would bow to your superior knowledge but arrogance prevents. Guess we should just agree to differ. Spent the first 17 years of my career as a developer the last 17 or so in the project/programme management space - no significant career gaps.

It could be more a case of experience. Happy to differ on opinion, just going off what I've seen. Yes, they're not common, but it does happen and, I guess you've kind of hinted at it with saying one or the other because they're generally different mindsets. It's hard to be involved in two projects at once and carry out the different roles on each. I was a senior BA back in the late 90s then got PM training and managed projects. Other BAs wanted to stay as BAs because they either weren't as ambitious or didn't have the aptitude to become PM.

[MrMarkyMark]

It could be more a case of experience. Happy to differ on opinion, just going off what I've seen. Yes, they're not common, but it does happen and, I guess you've kind of hinted at it with saying one or the other because they're generally different mindsets. It's hard to be involved in two projects at once and carry out the different roles on each. I was a senior BA back in the late 90s then got PM training and managed projects. Other BAs wanted to stay as BAs because they either weren't as ambitious or didn't have the aptitude to become PM.

All BAs won't always make PMs simply because they don't like / can't manage people.

Spent the first 17 years of my career as a developer the last 17 or so in the project/programme management space - no significant career gaps.

In fact many people could say exactly the same about the Dev---> PM / Programme Manager route.

To be totally honest, I believe that if you have the mix of skills you can actually do anything and well, if you are good.

[kaiser78]

Clearly not worked much. A good, ambitious BA who has shown leadership and organisational/motivational skills can easily transition up to PM with the right training and a chance to use it. Managers who have become project managers won't make good BAs and similarly technical BAs won't generally make good PMs.

What do you mean as a technical BA ? Surely a BA is a BA and a technical BA is a TA/SA (Technical/Systems Analyst) ? Big distinction here.

[LondonManc]

What do you mean as a technical BA ? Surely a BA is a BA and a technical BA is a TA/SA (Technical/Systems Analyst) ? Big distinction here.

You'd think there's a big distinction until you work in banking. Then anyone who is in a project team needs a title and anyone who isn't PM, PMO, Tester or Dev becomes a BA by default it seems!

[Major Hassle]

You'd think there's a big distinction until you work in banking. Then anyone who is in a project team needs a title and anyone who isn't PM, PMO, Tester or Dev becomes a BA by default it seems!

SMEs..what's left of them, dwindling fast here. The joy of listening to someone you can understand is boundless, ah well off to another VC where I can make out 10% of what is being said....feeling grumpy

[LondonManc]

SMEs..what's left of them, dwindling fast here

I've worked with an SME who I was told at the start of the project that I was working on was a business analyst. He's never been on a BA course in his life, never heard of pareto or MoSCoW, wasn't aware of business interviews or anything like that. He was an out and out self-confessed SME and a nice guy, but not a BA by any stretch.

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Anyone else on the bench thinking the unthinkable?

That this isn't ever going to pick again? Yes, I'm in a dark mood tonight....

I'm ok for a few more months but my resources are finite & I've already been benched for 3 months which is longer than 2008 (excluding the 2 false starts I've had)

I'm beginning to think I'm going to have to find another way of pulling some money in case this is a long term situation.