Project Methodologies in Business Analysis: Comparing Agile and Waterfall

Let’s start by discussing what Business Analysis is, since our whole argument would be void if we dont have an understanding of it. It is the process of identifying needs, gathering or eliciting requirements and ensuring that the solutions delivered by the projects meet the necessary or desired project/organisational goals. The activities done by business analysts is related to the project methodology used in it. There are two widely used methodologies that are quite different from each other, and this blog compares them to ascertain what the best methodology for Business Analysis might be. Waterfall methodology is a linear and sequential process where the following phases occur one after the another, and only when one phase is done, can we go to the next phase. These phases are Requirement Gathering, Requirement Analysis, Design, Development, Testing, Implementation and Deployment. Changes later are difficult to execute here, and there is a huge focus on detailed requirement documentation here. The good things about this methodology is that it has very detailed, defined and clear documentation, scope and timelines, which come in handy while progress tracking, and it could be said that this methodology is suitable for projects with stable requirements that will not change. But, this methodology is not without it’s disadvantages too. It can be difficult to accommodate requirement changes, there might be a possibility that the stakeholder may have less involvement with the project post the requirement phases. And the biggest disadvantage would be that the initial requirements being incorrect. All in all, we can say that this project is very suitable for government, banking, infrastructure, or compliance heavy or related projects where requirements are fixed early and there is very very little room for any change in them. Now, that we have discussed at length about the Waterfall methodology- its strengths, its disadvantages, it’s suitability to certain types of projects, let us discuss the other more dynamic methodology- Agile. Agile follows an iterative and incremental approach where work is delivered in small cycles, or sprints. Requirements evolve continuously, and stakeholders are involved and provide regular feedback. Business Analyst, here works closely with stakeholders and development teams throughout the project, helping refine requirements continuously. In Agile, there are various frameworks like Scrum and Kanban. We put the functional requirements in the form of user Stories that are put into the product backlog which is owned by the Product Owner, and upon discussions and meetings with everyone, some items are decided to be shifted from the product backlog to the sprint backlog, where developers, in sprints, work on turning those user stories into functionality. There are meetings like Sprint planning, sprint review, sprint retrospective meeting, backlog refinement meetings and daily standup meetings. Agile is particularly good and suitable for software product development, startups, etc, places where requirements may frequently change. Its strong points are high flexibility to changes, continuous stakeholder involvement, faster feedback resulting into faster improvements, and early deliveries of working features. But on the same side, it could also result in delays due to scope evolving continuously, and less upfront documentation. It is tough to compare these two methodologies, since they each have their own merits and demerits. Therefore, identifying a single “best” methodology for Business Analysis may not be practical. The effectiveness of a methodology depends largely on factors such as project scope, requirement stability, stakeholder availability, organizational maturity, and risk tolerance. Increasingly, organizations are adopting hybrid approaches that combine the structured planning strengths of Waterfall with the flexibility and responsiveness of Agile. Such balanced approaches enable Business Analysts to deliver solutions that are both well-planned and adaptable, ensuring long-term project success.