Re: The role of tech writers when working with business/systems analysts

["Ned Bedinger" <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com>]

----- Original Message ----- 
> What is the relationship of tech writers to business or
systems analysts in
> your organization? I'm working with a client that uses all
three, and it
> seems like technical writers could do many of the same
tasks that analysts
> do. Recently, someone in the organization who was
searching for an analyst
> said that there was no such thing as an analyst anymore;
that technical
> writers with specialized skills fulfilled these roles now.
I found that
> interesting because many of the systems analysts that I
have known
> preferred to do programming, not documentation.

I have a theory based on a small sample set of experience:
Only the most specialized roles are clearly defined and have
a line drawn around them.  Many other roles can be
marginalized, for example by filling them with an
entry-level candidate who has long-term potential but may
not arrive in the job with enough know-how to do the entire
job  from day one. People in other roles assume any
responsibilities not met by the new hire.  The job filled in
that way can disappear from the budget the next time it is
empty.

If there are horzintal career paths for tech writers in big
IT environments, I would think it was into an analyst
position.  But it isn't a straight transfer of skills, it is
more like tech writer has a demonstrated aptitude for
recording and managing complex knowledge, and this serves
well in the apprenticeship of a tech writer becoming an
analyst.  I think it would take years to make that
transition, less if the writer is adept with shell
scripting, is a "power user" of whatever systems the analyst
is responsible for, and knows about the system in the larger
business context.

The only practical reason I know for drawing parallels
between analysts (systems analysts in this case) and tech
writers is that the writers may be writing documentation
that the analysts use.  This is less true of business
analysts in my expereience.  I have seen a few BA documents,
but they did not capture requirements that I could use as
source of insight into customer requirements. This may be
another instance of roles being blurred by overlapping
responsibilities, where dev teams get the information they
need by participating in the requirements discovery process
instead of getting the BA document.

--Ned


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