Anatomy of a Software Development Role: Functional Analyst

The role of Functional Analyst is one of the keys for successful software development. In Cracking the Code: Breaking Down the Software Development Roles you get a high level view of the software development industry and the various roles involved including that of the Functional Analyst.
The role of the functional analyst (FA) is to capture, consolidate, and communicate the information from the Subject Matter Expertss (SMEs) to the rest of the team. This may seem odd if there's only one Subject Matter Expert; however, the typical case for a sizeable software development project is that it takes several SMEs in order to provide the necessary information to create a solution. Because of this the Functional Analyst is a critical link between the Subject Matter Experts providing the business requirements and the rest of the team trying to construct the solution.
Depending upon the organization that the software development is being performed in the functional analyst title may be called by other names as well. Another very common label for the FA is Business Analyst, or sometimes simply analyst. No matter what the name, the need to help capture, consolidate, and communicate the information from the SMEs to the rest of the team is the critical, bridge-the-gap, role that this person plays. An organizational chart gives you an idea of how each position fits together within an organization.