Main responsibilities of business development specialists
- Recognize and acquire potential “good fit” partners
- Explore the potential clients’ technical needs
- Offer the best software solution
- Maintain smooth relationships between the SDLC
Business analyst (BA)
What is the role of a business analyst in software companies?
BAs enter the game when the client has row ideas and needs business help along with software development and implementation. Business development specialists hand client requests over to BAs when clients need assessments of their business performance and assistance in the improvement of their processes and systems. BAs in IT companies conduct research and analysis to come up with the most profitable software solution to their business problems. They later introduce this solution to the client and the technical team acting as a bridge between the business leaders and the IT department.
Responsibilities of business analysts (BAs):
- Gather, validate, and document business requirements
- Analyze and evaluate the current business processes of the company
- Identify the areas for improvement
- Review the top-notch business processes and offer the latest IT advancements to ensure the company’s services are up-to-date and modern
- Organize meetings and discussions with the stakeholders
- Monitor the project performance
- Collaborate with the users and stakeholders
- Work closely with the senior software development management team, partners, clients, and tech department
Business development managers vs. business analysts
Business development managers focus on closing profitable deals by bringing new clients to the company. They are also responsible for maintaining smooth communication with these clients.
On the other hand, the role of business analysts is much broader. They act as a bridge between the technical team and stakeholders. BAs evaluate and improve various business processes.
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Product managers
What is the role of product managers in software companies?
Product managers identify the customer’s product needs. They define the main business objectives of the product and its features. The responsibilities differ based on the size of the company that the product manager works for. In big companies, researchers, marketers, and analysts work closely with product managers to gather input, while in smaller companies, product managers concentrate on defining the vision of the product.
Responsibilities of product managers
- Gather and represent user needs
- Prioritize product features
- Analyze the market regarding the product and its features
- Define the vision and mission of the product
- Align both the technical team and the stakeholders around the product vision
- Own vision, marketing, and ROI of the product
Product owner
What is the role of the product owner in software companies?
Product owners draw up an ideal success plan for their products, and they rally the team to follow certain steps to make it a reality. Product owners define user stories and create a product backlog. Product owners are the primary contact between the product users and the technical team. They gather and represent the users’ concerns and requirements to the tech team. Product owners work within the Agile software development methodology.
Responsibilities of product owners
- Create and manage the product backlog
- Design the product managers’ strategies into user stories or tasks for the development team to work on
- Arrange and prioritize sprints
- Assess the progress and problems at each stage of the software development
- Act as a bridge between the product and development
- Give answers to the software development team’s questions
Product managers vs. Product owners
Product managers have broader responsibilities toward the success of the product in the market, while product owners are responsible for the successful development and implementation of the product.
Project manager (PM)
What is the role of the project manager in a software company?
Project managers work on the planning, organizational, and management aspects of the project. PMs ensure the project is delivered within the time frame, expected budget, and scope. PMs work on projects following both the Agile and Waterfall software development engagement models and operate based on the main principles of each methodology.
If a small software development team follows Scrum software development methodology, a scrum master may take on the role of a project manager as well. However, the role of a project manager is much broader. PMs oversee the project as a whole, its risks, budget, and logistics. Scrum masters ensure their software team follows the 5 main principles.
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Responsibilities of PMs
- Manage the production of the required deliverables
- Plan, monitor, execute, control, and close the project within the expected time, quality, and budget
Delivery manager
What is the role of the delivery manager in a software company?
A delivery manager is responsible for the productive and smooth function of the team. Apart from maintaining efficient communication within the team, DMs are also accountable for establishing and managing efficient communication with other teams.
Responsibilities of DMs
- Establish and maintain a good relationship between the team members
- Motivate the team members to collaborate and work efficiently
- Find pitfalls and help the team to overcome challenges
- Help the team members communicate smoothly both within their own and with other team members
Project manager vs. Delivery manager
Delivery managers are more concerned with client feedback. DMs work closely with the client and product users to ensure the software follows their requirements. Project managers concentrate more on the software development team. PMs have more internal roles interacting with the team members to build a high-quality product. DMs usually report to PMs.
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The Core Software Development Department
Chief Technology Officer (CTO): The CTO, or chief technology officer, is an executive-level position within a software development company or entity. The CTO manages the company's technological plans, oversees data security and management, and controls the company's network. CTOs also analyze various types of tech stacks and envision how they can be used within the team. CTOs explore various opportunities to improve their software outsourcing firm’s technical assets. CTOs control the employee hierarchy at IT companies as well.
Software development manager: A software development manager is responsible for leading a tech team. They ensure their team successfully designs, troubleshoots, and optimizes software programs. Software development managers are responsible for the growth of their team members. They also solve issues and analyze trends.
Front-end, back-end, and full-stack software developers: Front-end developers use specific tech stacks (for example, JavaScript front-end development frameworks, React.js, Vue.js) to create and implement the visual elements of web applications. They create the front end of the product, which the users see and interact with. Front-end developers work closely with back-end developers to create and update various websites, applications, or specific functions.
Back-end developers, in their turn, are responsible for the appropriate and correct functionality of the product features. Their work is "behind the curtains". The most popular back-end software development languages and frameworks in 2023 are PHP, Laravel and JavaScript, Node.js.
Full-stack software developers work both on the back-end and front-end development of the product.
Network engineer: Network engineers ensure the network's security by installing, configuring, and supporting firewalls. They implement network solutions, troubleshoot issues, and maintain the network infrastructure.
Senior system engineer: System engineers manage and monitor the installed IT systems. senior system engineer leads teams of engineers to install, configure, test, support, and maintain computer systems and system management tools.
Mobile developer: Mobile developers build mobile applications. We have hybrid and native mobile app developers. Hybrid mobile app developers build cross-platform mobile applications that work both on the iOS and Android operating systems. Native mobile app developers build mobile applications separately for each operating system. Testing, debugging, and updating applications are also among the main responsibilities of mobile app developers.
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UI/UX designer: UI designers create the visual elements that users interact with, such as buttons, icons, toggles, etc., along with their interactive properties. UI designers focus on the user's visual experience. UX designers work on the product's entire interaction with the users, creating an intuitive and aesthetically pleasing, coherent design interface. They identify and solve user problems. A UX designer usually performs UI-related work as well and the other way around.
Computer network architect: Computer network architects create plans and layouts for data communication networks. They include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), and intranets. Data communication networks transmit digital data from one computer to another using various wired and wireless channels.
Software architect: Software architects are software engineers with more responsibilities and knowledge. These professionals design the system’s structure and behavior as well as frame technical standards. Software architects define which platforms, tools, and coding standards to use.
Data scientist: What is the role of a data scientist in a software company? Data scientists analyze and synthesize data into clear reports to solve issues. They determine the best data sets and variables and collect structured and unstructured data. Organizing data into understandable formats, building predictive models and machine learning algorithms, and identifying missing and relevant data sources are among the top responsibilities of a data scientist.
Data modeler vs. Database administrator: Data modelers design and create databases according to specific business needs. Data modelers also explore and suggest cutting-edge data solutions and make recommendations for data usage. Database administrators manage and maintain software databases, including client information, statistical data, user credentials, and accounts.
DevOps engineer: The core responsibilities of DevOps engineers include automating and improving development and release processes and testing, examining, and analyzing the code written by software engineers and developers. DevOps developers also build and set up new development tools.
