Experience is king. Attempting to perform a task, learning from your mistakes, and applying new learned ideas and strategies to solving the next challenge is not unique to being a business analyst (BA). While hands-on learning is one of the best ways to accumulate BA knowledge, picking up (and reading) a BA-related book has to be a close second. Reading gives the BA a way to learn new ideas from other experienced professionals who have been through the battles before and can point out common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid. Below are some of the books that have helped me most during my career as a business analyst.

Mastering the Requirements Process (2nd Edition) - by Suzanne Robertson and James C. Robertson
This is my all-time favorite BA-related book. This second edition was revised in 2006 to update the seven-year-old first edition. If you can only find the first edition, don’t worry as most of the book is unchanged except for additions to cover Agile methodologies. The Robertsons cover all the fundamentals one will need to become a great business analyst: use cases, requirements discovery techniques, prototyping, and quality control. They introduce their own requirements specification template, the Volere and include numerous examples using this template. The Volere process is developed throughout the book and also includes a 140 page appendix at the end of the book for further study. Well written, organized and presented in an uncluttered layout, this book can be read chapter by chapter or used as a reference book. I especially recommend Chapter 9 on Fit Criteria. Many requirements related books will help you to discover, organize and ultimately write good requirements, but this chapter stresses the importance of writing requirements that are “unambiguous, understandable, and importantly, testable”.

The Software Requirements Memory Jogger - by Ellen Gottesdiener
If there was only one BA book that you could have with you on a deserted island, this would be the book. Weighing in at only a few ounces and just slightly bigger than a shirt pocket, don’t let this book’s size fool you. Gottesdiener packs this little spiral-bound book with excellent reference information on all areas of software requirements: from discovery and validation to best practices. This book is a good one to keep in your briefcase or lying around on your desk just in case you need a quick refresher on event-response tables or state diagrams.

Use Case Modeling - by Kurt Bittner and Ian Spence
I’m guessing that most of you have had some exposure to use case modeling and/or use case narratives. If not, no worries, this book will provide you with a solid foundation to begin your study. One of the most important chapters in this book is the first chapter. Not only does it provide the reader with an understanding of why use cases are beneficial for a project, but also gives a good explanation of how use cases fit in with functional and non-functional requirements. The remainder of the book is broken down into two parts: Getting Started with Use-Case Modeling and Writing and Reviewing Use-Case Descriptions. Beginners will be well served to step through each chapter in order, while more seasoned BA veterans will likely skim the first half of the book and concentrate more on the detailed second section.

UML for the IT Business Analyst - by Howard Podeswa
Podeswa’s book has a strong focus on object-oriented principles and how BAs can better incorporate these ideas into their project documentation. The first half of this book focuses on business and system use cases while the second half focuses on state diagrams, class diagrams and working with IBM’s Rational Rose. This book can be quite detailed and even a bit dense at times, so it is best to read small sections at a time instead of reading large chunks. Like the Mastering the Requirements Process book, this book also has a generous appendix section with numerous templates and extra examples.

Software Project Survival Guide - by Steve C McConnell
OK. This really is not a BA specific book, it is more of a project management book. But it never hurts for a BA to be well schooled in the realm of project management. McConnell covers the entire software lifecycle as well as all the basics of fundamental project management: setting project scope and deliverables, using change and risk management, requirements management, as well as software design, construction and delivery. Much of this book will not be new material to a seasoned BA, but it is a book that will help the BA remember software project fundamentals and offers many software references for deeper study.

I welcome any and all comments to this article. What BA related books have helped you in the past and which ones are you still reading or referring to today?