20 Best Business Analysis Tools for BA Analyst (2020 Update)

Business Analysis tools help Business analysts better collaborate, collect and sort data, document business requirements, use case analysis, workflow management, and prototype creation.

Today business needs to keep track of their performance and strategy to grow. There is plenty of business analyst tools available for the same. Using one or a combination of them can improve employee productivity.

1) Modern Requirements

Modern Requirements is recognized as a leading business analysis tool. It provides a collaborative requirements elicitation, definition, and analysis. It helps define requirements textually and visually. It supports diagramming, mockup, Smart Docs, use case, trace analysis, baselining, review management and various elicitation tools.

Features:

• Planning boards and Customizable dashboards
• Three visualization types: Diagrams, Mock-ups, Use Cases
• Online document authoring in pre-defined templates - Smart Docs
• Customizable document generation
• AI inspired BA Assistant- Alice
• Online review and approval with eSignature
• Baselining, Requirements reuse and Impact assessment
• Test Case Automation and User Story generation
• Supports BABOK, BABOK Agile, Scrum, Agile, CMMI and Hybrid methodologies

2) Microsoft BI

Microsoft Business Intelligence is a suite of business analyst tools for data ingestion, processing, integration, storage, management, analysis, reporting and sharing. Microsoft BI tools help businesses set up robust analytics and accelerate BI.

Features:

• Vast data integration capabilities – traditional data, big data, IoT data, etc.
• Data storage – cloud, on-premises and hybrid.
• Data analysis empowered with ML and AI capabilities.
• Batch and streaming analytics.
• Data visualization and data management capabilities.
• Self-service BI.
• Regular and ad-hoc reporting.
• High data security controls.

3) Adobe Acrobat X

Adobe Acrobat X allows you to change content or images without leaving PDF file. Using this software, you can edit the PDF document in your office. You can also use this software to create, secure, and distribute PDF files. It helps you to optimize PDF documents for CD/DVD applications, and also allows you to print.

It helps Business Analysts to enhance productivity while creating reports or project artifacts.

Feature:

• Simple and easy to make changes in the document.
• When you edit a PDF document, an existing paragraph adjusts automatically.
• Add or edit page content in PDF from anywhere.
• Automatically checks the spelling.

4) Blueprint:

A blueprint is a useful software for the Business analyst. This tool helps enterprises to build better applications. It allows aligning business strategy with IT execution.

Features:

• Ensure regulatory compliance
• It helps to reduce IT compliance risk by defining and standardizing the usage of certified compliance
• Support organizational transformation
• Easy-to-use dashboards and rich reporting tools.
• It helps managers to receive reports and analytics on every project in the portfolio.

Download link: http://www.blueprintsys.com/try-storyteller/

5) Axure:

The Axure tool provides the capability to produce wireframes, prototypes, and create documentation. This tool is used by professionals like business analysts, product managers, and IT consultants around the world.

Features:

• Axure RP generates project to HTML and provides link for sharing
• It allows multiple people to work on the same file at the same time
• It can runs on Microsoft IIS with a MySQL or Microsoft SQL Server database
• It helps to create and maintain widget libraries

Download link: https://www.axure.com/

6) Enterprise Architecture:

Enterprise Architect is a business analyst software. It helps managers to develop and view their organization's strategy, processes, and IT assets.

Features:

• Collaborate effectively globally
• Real-time and embedded development
• Helpful tool to collaborate globally
• It can easily improve business outcomes
• It is possible to load large model in seconds.

Download link: http://www.sparxsystems.com/products/ea/

7) CASE Spec:

CASE spec is a new kind of life cycle and Business analyst tool. It makes easy for the user to manage projects with complete traceability. This business analyst tool includes test cases, used cases, Issues, bugs, tasks and any other activities.

Features:

• Specify products with the help of trace graph or special specification editor
• Effortlessly manage trace relationships
• Readily use software with a predefined template
• Support customization with Views/Attributes and Link Types/ Attributes
• Easily Share and collaborate with a centralized repository
• Send manual and auto-notifications
• Predefined and custom reporting
• Attribute History Tracking
• Automatic concurrency control for multi-user environments
• Automatically generate trace reports in docx and xlsx formats
• Baseline comparison & difference reporting

Download link: http://casespec.net/free-trial

8) BitImpulse:

Bitmpulse is a fast, secure and stable business analytic software. It is possible to generate reports quickly on a vast amount of data. This tool offers powerful analytic features

Features:

• Flexible administration
• Integration with Microsoft Office
• Automatic sending of reports through e-mail
• Comfortable work online on any Internet connection speed

Download link: http://www.bitimpulse.com/Pages/prodtrial.aspx?lang=en

9) iRise Business Analysis Tool:

IRise business analysis tool offers working visualizations of business software. It allows organizations to visualize and interact with important business systems prior development.

Features:

• It allows managing users, track projects, to gain critical insights about the project.
• It offers Seamless ALM Integration
• Live customer service and support
• Set up automatic revision tracking to track instant changes
• Monitor the review cycle
• Flexible deployment options allow managing businesses according to their organization's needs

Download link: http://offers.irise.com/free-trial

10) JIRA Core:

JIRA Core is a task management and business analyst tool. It helps every business person across the organization to plan, track, and report on work. It is possible to use out-of-the-box templates or customize them as per specific business need with the help of this tool.

Features:

• Its task management feature helps to track simple tasks
• Everyone can see the project's status without having to email or set up meetings
• Project Management feature allows managing corporate website designs or employee training programs
• It allows measuring performance in different ways like a quick overview and pre-defined report

Download link: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/core/try

11) MeetingSense:

Meeting sense is a business analytics software. It allows companies to maximize their ROI for reducing meeting time and use of the technology.

Features:

• Easy Online Team Collaboration
• It helps users to implement best practices throughout the entire pre and post meeting lifecycle
• It offers easy-to-use web-based meeting notes for work management of the business
• Standardized tool for effective team meeting
• It provides easy-to-use team action item management in the Cloud

Download link: http://www.meetingsense.com

12) Top Team Analysis:

Top team analysis is a useful require management tool. It converts textual requirements into easy-to-understand diagrams. This tool helps all business owners to understand requirements without the need of reading too many documents.

Features:

• Simulate Application Behaviour
• Automatically Generate Test Cases
• Easily Visualize and Manage End-to-End Traceability
• It provides complete version history
• Quick traceability & Impact reports
• Feature for Integrated Change Management
• Integrations with Microsoft Visual Studio and HP Quality Center

Download link: http://www.technosolutions.com/TTAnalystTrialReg.html

13) VersionOne Lifecycle:

Version One Lifecycle is an important tool for business analysts. It can integrate with many open source software development tools and enterprise applications.

Features:

• Designed for agile and lean software development
• Scale up with ease across teams, project workspaces, portfolios, and locations
• Users can immediately update attributes using Inline editing
• The new filter interface helps to perform advanced field selections and include multiple values for each field
• This business analytics tool enables advanced analysis of project to take fact-based decision
• It has a special feature of Agile Data Mart designing for reporting
• Automate decision-making across entire software lifecycle
• Engage & communicate with team members seamlessly across any organization

Download link: http://info.versionone.com/v1-trial-free.html

14) Wrike Work Management

Wrike work Management is a real-time Work Management tool for the business analyst. It stores all information centrally. Thereby decreasing the cost of project analysis.

Features:

• Core Building Blocks of Work
• Request Forms & Automation
• Live Editing & File Management
• A visual timeline allows viewing the project schedule
• Balance resources and track performance using workload view
• Project & Team Reporting
• Keep track for the time spent by team member for precise planning and budget management

Download link: https://www.wrike.com/

15) Swot:

SWOT analysis is the most popular and very intuitive methods of evaluation business. It is widely used for several strategic analysis. This tool utilized by the business analyst to evaluate any business or product.

Features:

• It is free to use and most secure tool.
• It allows to load and save analysis to local XML files
• Allows export and view .png files

Download link: http://i-swot.com/

16) Heptalysis:

Heptalysis is a software solution for planning and analyzing companies and business ventures. It is widely used platform by business consultants to assess new ventures. It helps them to identify the high points as well as to find out areas which needed to work on.

Features:

• Helps to evaluate Market Opportunity
• Acts as a financial engine
• Allows to analyze potential return for any business
• It offers Margin of safety to users

Download link: http://www.heptalysis.com/index.htm

17) SmartDraw:

SmartDraw is a business analytic tool which helps to simplify the process of managing projects. Its automated design makes it as easy to use as a word processor.

Features:

• It helps to create powerful automation. Add, delete or move shapes
• It can integrate with tools like Microsoft Office, Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. SmartDraw Cloud also has plugins to increase functionality.
• It can be installed behind a firewall in the window's desktop
• SmartDraw can run on the mac supported devices
• This software is available in 100 languages for creating diagrams

Download link: https://www.smartdraw.com/downloads/download.htm

18) Gatherspace:

Gatherspace is a fully hosted project management solution. It addresses the chief problems and reasons of project management failure. It offers great project management functionality for small, medium and large enterprises.

Features:

• It is easy to add and define new requirements for multiple projects
• Web based reports feature help user to create easy to understand reports
• It helps organize, track, & publish requirements so that all the related items should stick together
• An ideal tool to work with multiple projects
• Highest bit encryption, redundancy, multiple backups, and high-security protocols

Download link: http://www.gatherspace.com

19) Balsamiq:

Balsamiq Mockups is a rapid wireframing tool which helps business to work faster & smarter. It is the best way to do remote, collaborative UX Design. It allows hosting projects online. It also offers collaboration between team and clients.

Features:

• Share or present mockups with embedded links using PDF
• Create templates, masters, and reusable component libraries
• Fast & intuitive user interface
• Allows to build wireframes using keyboard
• Linking allows user to click-through prototypes for demos & usability testing
• Extensive library of interactive, ready-to-use controls
• Plenty of users interface controls and icons
• It allows generating click-through prototypes for demos & usability testing

Download link: https://balsamiq.com/download/

20) Plutora Release Manager:

Plutora Release Manager is a useful business analytic software used for release management. This tool offers everything needed to manage the planning, deployment of IT releases, and deployment plans.

Features:

• Bridge the gap between business, stakeholders and software development team
• Supports the real-time assessment of release impacts across applications and components
• It can track the execution status of key activities and milestones
• Accelerated time to value
• Powerful release scheduler to orchestrate and view schedules, including critical dates
• Enhanced agility and flexibility

Download link: http://www.plutora.com/products/enterprise-release-manager

21) Abacus:

Abacus is a Business Process Management tool. It focuses on enhancing customer satisfaction and reducing the cost of managing project. The tool helps you manage projects in precise, methodical manner. It is helpful business analysis software to manages a wide range of IT governance techniques.

Features:

• Design and evaluate business processes by creating and analyzing multiple scenarios in the tool.
• Update data as well as monitor and optimize processes using the detailed reports and dashboards
• It allows each approach to leverage the results of the other
• It supports the Unified Modeling Language. It also allows integration with basic flowcharting and other related business frameworks
• Helpful tool to manage a wide range of IT governance techniques

Download link: https://www.avolutionsoftware.com/products/

22) QAComplete:

QAComplete is another BA tool used for testing purposes. It is a flexible web-based tool for all testing methodologies used in the recent time.

Features:

• Easily Manage Test Execution
• Centralized Test Case Management
• Reports and Metrics for Software Testing
• Defect Logging and Tracking
• It offers an easy Integrations with Jira, TFS, Rally, Selenium and Soap UI.
• Features of Traceability Matrix and Reports
• Plan a Testing Process for Full Visibility
• Maintain log changes made to test cases

Download link:

https://smartbear.com/product/qacomplete/free-trial/

23) Trello:

Trello is a business analyst tool for teams to collaborate, communicate, and share information securely. It allows admin to analyze the business data.

Features:

• It allows users to stay in sync across all of your devices and secure collaboration with team
• View team activity across boards
• Allows to add members from Google Apps account
• Organize and associate boards with Collections
• Assign admins to manage privacy settings
• Deactivate old members without losing any history of their work
• Export all team's data and history with a single click
• Dive into the details by adding comments, attachments, and more directly to Trello cards

Download link: https://trello.com/home

FAQ

❓ Why is Business Analysis Tools used?

⚡ Which factors should you consider while selecting a Best Business Analysis Software?