INSIDE IMS: Meet Harbz Kaur

After graduating from the Economics Programme at Manchester Metropolitan University with the highest ever average score followed by a stint travelling America for 3 months, Harbz joined IMS ­with the same impressive drive and determination that she had shown in her studies. Now, quickly approaching her 5-year mark within the business, she has progressed from her initial role as a Configuration Analyst to a Junior Business Analyst and now to a fully-fledged Business Analyst (BA).

This wide exposure to the business has driven an enhanced understanding of the IMS business processes and product offering which now makes Harbz an extremely valued member of the Quality and Process Department.

‘The role of a BA is to assess how our customers are currently operating through research, analysis, and in-depth customer engagements. We identify areas for improvement and provide solutions to business challenges, which includes driving efficiencies across their current processes and systems.’

Working as part of the Business Analyst team, Harbz has regular team meetings to plan workload, discuss projects and demo new ideas to gain valuable colleague feedback.

‘The day of a Business Analyst massively varies. Some days are filled with customer interactions to gather requirements and others are focused on writing detailed documentation. Meetings with internal teams, such as the Development team or the System Architects, also forms a huge part of my role. These meetings are imperative in order to overcome technical challenges and meet – and exceed – the customers’ needs.’

A key requirement of the BA role is to quickly grasp complex technical concepts and make them easy to understand in business process flows and documentation. This also must be effectively communicated to the customer to demonstrate how the IMS solution will address their challenges and requirements through the application of the IMS software.

When asked what Harbz likes most about her role, she responded:

‘I like the variety the role provides me, with every day, task and customer being different, and I really enjoy interacting and working with a wide range of different people both internally and externally. However, mostly I enjoy I the problem-solving aspect of finding solutions to our customer challenges and requirements. I like the fact that I literally watch documentation turn into real functionality that creates value for our customers across the areas that matter the most to them.’

After joining as a Configuration Analyst, Harbz had her sights set on becoming a BA, and the freedom and support the culture at IMS provides enabled her to progress into this role after just one year with the business.

‘IMS provides me with the flexibility needed to learn skills outside of my role. This freedom means that I am not only constantly learning, but I am given the space to evolve my understanding of what I want from my career moving forward, and this really helped in my transition from a Config Analyst to a Business Analyst.’

As a trusted founder of the IMS Social Team, any spare time Harbz gets in her working day is dedicated to organising fun activities for her colleagues to help form relationships and strengthen community spirit – something that is extremely important post-pandemic and with the home-office hybrid working culture remaining at IMS.

‘A good working environment, with space to build informal and positive relationships is extremely important in any organisation. I like to encourage team building and to see people get involved, and to watch how this builds better communication and trust across all areas of the business. This sense of community would be important to me in any role I was in, and it is always well received and well regarded at IMS. I am looking forward to rowing again for Team IMS at this year’s local Dragon Boat Race – even if we have more chance of winning the fancy dress title again than we do the actual races!’

Her enthusiasm for team sports don’t stop there, as Harbz plays netball for her local village women’s team twice a week in between taking her German Shepherd for long walks after work.

‘I also love embracing new cultures and trying new food – Bali is up there with one of the best!’