Richard I Anderson wrote an amazing post about the fact that User experience professionals continue to attempt to move their work and impact "upstream" -- to play an earlier and more strategic role in their workplaces' business. Here is some gems from that Post:

"The same communication skills that help designers create effective visual and interaction designs for products can also play a significant role elsewhere in the product development process especially during early strategic work. ... ... Especially early on in the product development process, design artifacts are able to create buy-in for a product vision, provide market context, or illuminate data, processes, goals, and the impact of decisions."