IT departments involved in projects including software development should never underestimate the importance of good business analysts. Carey Schwaber, a senior analyst of application development at Forrester Research, believes the best business analysts are corporate diplomats, savvy negotiators and skilled peacemakers who understand where the technical and business elements all fit. 

"They are good at finding common ground; they are good at being objective," she said. "They are really looking at, oftentimes, conflicting needs from the business and from IT.'' 

She added that they are the key to making a project hum. But other times, she believes, a bad business analyst can be the "critical failure factor."
 
To read more about the successful formula:
- see this CIO.com article [1]