Every business person, whether a business owner or a simple employee, must have some business analysis
skills, just like project management. These two are fundamentals that every professional should have
foundational knowledge in. But what is business analysis?
In short, it examines how a business performs, how the employees do things, why they do such things, the
company’s general goal, and how all the operations performed by all employees contribute to achieving
that goal. Business analysis aims first to ensure that things are being done correctly. Secondly, we strive to
determine what enhancements or changes we can bring to improve productivity, enhance business goals,
and increase profitability and revenue.

This exercise requires that we at least understand how businesses work. That is important. You would not
believe how many employees do not know how a business operates. This is not professional at all. It is
paramount that any employee understands how a business operates and their role in its operations.

That will allow them to appreciate things better and contribute to general profitability and operations. I firmly believe that understanding how businesses work and operate makes us better in what we do, whether in system engineering, applications development, support, accounting, or other business operations.

You are part of a bigger engine, and you must know how this engine works and what your part is.

Unfortunately, this is not the case. Not every employee has this knowledge or these interests. On the other hand, that is precisely what Nettobe should be offering as a service: Professional Business Analysis.

When a company seeks solutions, it always wants to solve a problem. These problems can be related to productivity, revenue, customer relationships, sales, marketing, etc. The decision makers get a report that a department is not working, that there are too many complaints, that profit is not enough, and that the company is at risk.

They need to do something—but what?

Most of the time, they look for solutions that can fix their issues. But the products and solutions they go for do not necessarily fix the problems; they may provide some relief, but soon, other issues crop up. Do you know why?

They have not thoroughly analysed what is going wrong and how these matters are connected to the company’s overall operations.

Without that analysis, they cannot understand the root causes. They just act on a symptom, thinking that will fix the issue.

It’s like taking a Panadol for a headache when the real cause is an injury. We are calming the nervous alarms but not healing the wound.

In a typical sales cycle, the salesperson sits with the customer and tries to convince them that they need their products. They research the company’s operations and the person they are meeting, and they plan how to persuade the customer to purchase. That has a 50/50 success rate, because often the customers say they don’t need the solution or services. Other salespersons will use the “pain points” approach, which speaks about the customer’s struggles in doing business. They will then showcase how their products, solutions, and services can help fix these pain points. That has a higher success rate, because the customer will usually share their pain points. But even that is not a certainty.

Since proposing Zoho solutions and services, we have seen that these sales strategies do not work well in this space. What we also discovered is that the products or solutions are not enough. We needed something more to make the experience better and, most importantly, to satisfy the real needs of the customer. We need to dive into their business to understand how they function, their processes, how each employee carries out their tasks (whether correctly or not), and how the decision makers view the company and what they expect. This will allow us to make our solutions and software truly work for the customer and help them. This is what business analysis is, and to be professional, there is a framework that needs to be adopted so that this exercise is successful.

We understood that we cannot propose Zoho without an initial business analysis exercise. This does not honour the customer, and it does not do us any good. We ran into a deep issue with one of our customers because their project manager did no proper business analysis, and we made the error of trusting him to lead that project. It was a mess. This served as a lesson, and we decided to gain business analysis skills and certification, which we now blend into all our Zoho offers. While not mandatory, business analysis is essential to ensure the adoption of any solution. Customers need to understand that, as solutions integrators, we must ensure that the product serves each employee’s needs and requirements. The only way to achieve this is to conduct a proper business analysis, which we call stakeholder engagement.

August 2025 www.net2be.net

At Nettobe, we decided that we could not approach this matter lightly. Business analysis cannot be reduced to a few conversations or assumptions—it requires a disciplined and structured methodology. We have embraced the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) framework. This global standard gives us the tools, techniques, and mindset to understand our customers at every level.

It allows us to align business needs with technology solutions in a way that is not random or experimental, but proven, professional, and consistent.

Customers who choose our approach do not just buy Zoho licenses or applications. They invest in a process that ensures every solution is analysed, adapted, and implemented with their real business objectives in mind. They can be confident that their employees’ voices and daily realities are heard and taken into account. Their processes are mapped, understood, and improved before technology is applied. Their leadership vision is translated into concrete, measurable outcomes. Their investment in solutions will bring lasting value, not just temporary fixes.