Scope of the Business Analyst Role

Bite sized training sessions:

Objectives
Review the scope of the BA role Make a case for the importance of the BA role Discuss whether a BA really is a BA Think about the analyst part the BA title

Putting the Business Analyst in context

Owner/sponsor I want it all I want it now I want it for free

Programme/Project Manager The sponsor will get it all, now and for free

BUSINESS ANALYST

Subject Matter Experts/Users We must have this - and soon! or our business will fail

Solutions developers Given all the other projects we are already doing for you, the best we can do is a bit, in 6 months and it will of course cost a bit

Sponsor: Were going to the moon!

Project Manager: ok, we have to planfirst off, SMEs, what do you need?

SME: Well need a spaceship and spacesuits! Business Analysts: Do we need anything else?

Business Analysts: to answer your question I need to know Why are we going to the moon? (Problem analysis) How will we know it was a worthwhile trip? (Objectives analysis) Therefore - what will we need to ensure it is worthwhile? (Requirements analysis)

Developer: So we need to develop solutions for the following requirements

An example of rocket science...?

Mars Climate Orbiter went in to orbit at 57km above Mars instead of 150km. It was completely destroyed. Cause: some navigation calculations performed in Imperial units (poundseconds) and some in metric units (newtonseconds). Most project failures are due to incomplete/inaccurate requirements

Discussion

What do you think are the other main causes of project failure?

Why Projects Fail

The Standish Group Chaos Report (1994)
The landmark study of project failure covering 365 executive managers and 8,380 applications in all major industry segments including: banking, retail and wholesale.

Some of the contents of this slide were taken from www.it-cortex.com

More chaos stats, stats and

Source: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/dannawi/archive/2009/05/15/2009standish-chaos-report-we-are-successful-in-the-failure.aspx

Discussion

How can BAs mitigate the main risks for project failure?

Cost of analysis errors

The cost of correcting analysis errors rises almost exponentially the longer they remain undetected.

Barry Boehm

Relative cost of correcting error

How much poor analysis costs

40-56% of bugs can be traced to requirement errors

Finding and fixing requirement errors consumes 70-85% of project rework costs
The average project exceeds its planned time schedule by 120% 52.7% of projects will cost 189% of their original estimate Only 16.2% of projects will be completed on time & on budget 30% of projects are cancelled before completion.

Discussion

What do you think a business analyst does?

Should PMs do what BAs do and viceversa?

Scope of the Business Analyst role (I)

There is a chain of reasoning that leads from the statement of a problem to the implementation of solutions
it is documented in products
UAT specs

Drivers

Objectives

Scope

Business & Functional &NF Requirements

Processes & Data Models

Tech Specs

Code & Databases Loaded Data

Extracted data Business Procedures

TOR

Business Training

BA products

BA product application

Scope of the Business Analyst role (II)

There is a chain of reasoning that leads from the statement of a problem to the implementation of solutions

involving up to
Owners
defines measures of success and $targets Business Analysts confirm & document
$Mone y!

10 groups of people

Strategists Sponsors
establish a Programme that delivers the strategy Business Analysts document Programme TOR and help build the Business Case determine the strategy to hit the targets Business Analysts help research, create strategy, challenge & document

Programme Managers
Institute Projects that implement the programme Business Analysts document the Project TOR

Project Stakeholders
Business Analysts specify requirements for Projects (in the Business Model)

Design Analysts
design solution that satisfies the requirements Business Analysts write functional specifications, protect requirements & document compromises

Solution Builders
build solution Business Analysts protect requirements & document compromises

Solution Builders & Business

test solution Business Analysts ensure tested against requirements

Project managers
Implement solution Business Analysts help with -Process and data migration -Cutover planning -Rollout

Users
Accept solution Business Analysts help with

-$MEASURING $BENEFITS $REALISATION

POST-IMPLEMENTATION Business Analysts feed back to the Owner how well their measure of success has been achieved

Definition of terms for Business Analysis

Business: why Business? should it be Change Requirements???
Analysis: the process of breaking a concept down into more simple parts, so that its logical structure is displayed (OED) a : examination of a complex, its elements, and their relations b : a statement of such an analysis (Merriam Webster)

Inductive VS Deductive Analysis

Induction: a method of reasoning from a part to a whole, from particulars to generals, or from the individual to the universal. Example: whenever I let go of a hammer, it falls to the ground. Therefore, every time I let go of a hammer it will fall to the ground. Deduction: a rigorous proof, or derivation, of one statement (the conclusion) from one or more statements (the premises) i.e., a chain of statements, each of which is either a premise or a consequence of a statement occurring earlier in the proof. Example: All fairies are pink. Tinkerbelle is a fairy. Therefore, Tinkerbelle is pink. Which is better? Thats elementary, Watson.

and theres more the BA needs to be thinking about

Argumentation theory how to discover the truth. Philosophy what is truth in a business context and how to do we prove it? Rhetoric persuasion and/or enquiry? Opinions they matter but are only one tool not the only tool! Communication theories how to best communicate what to who?

BAs are the analytical engine of a projectno-one else is accountable for doing itwe better do it well!

You are not alone

www.smart-BA.com Articles Sample analysis documentation www.ModernAnalyst.com Excellent BA community Articles Forums Sample analysis documentation www.RequirementsNetwork.com Another excellent BA community Articles Forums www.TheIIBA.org BA professional organisation BA professional qualifications (CBAP) www.BCS.org BA professional qualifications (ISEB Diploma)

Questions?