A Business Analyst’s primary tasks are collecting requirements and creating specifications. Her presence significantly reduces the risk of misunderstandings between the customer and the team. There's always work for a business analysis on a project: you need to find out what the customer wants, formulate it into specific requirements and document them , and develop solutions. If there are no Business Analysts in a company, these tasks are performed by someone else, perhaps a Project Manager. However, a BA can perform these tasks more efficiently.