Bite sized training sessions:
Scope of the
Business Analyst Role
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
Programme/Project Manager
“The sponsor will get it all,
now and for free”
Owner/sponsor
“I want it all
I want it now
I want it 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:
We’re going to the moon!
Project Manager:
ok, we have to plan…first off, SME’s, what do you need?
SME:
We’ll 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…
UAT
specs
…it is documented in products…
Drivers
Objectives
Scope
Business &
Functional &NF
Requirements
TOR
BA products
Processes &
Data
Models
Tech
Specs
Extracted
data
Business
Procedures
Code &
Databases
Loaded
Data
Business
Training
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
10 groups of people…
Owners
defines measures of success and $targets
…Business Analysts confirm & document
$Mone
y!
Strategists
Sponsors
determine the strategy to hit the targets
…Business Analysts help research, create strategy, challenge & document
establish a Programme that delivers the strategy
…Business Analysts document Programme TOR
and help build the Business Case
Programme Managers
Institute Projects that implement the programme
…Business Analysts document the Project TOR
Project Stakeholders
…Business Analysts specify requirements for
Projects (in the Business Model)
Solution Builders
build solution
…Business Analysts protect requirements & document compromises
Project managers
Implement solution
…Business Analysts help with
-Process and data migration
-Cutover planning
-Rollout
Design Analysts
design solution that satisfies the requirements
…Business Analysts write functional specifications, protect
requirements & document compromises
Solution Builders & Business
test solution
…Business Analysts ensure tested against requirements
Users
Accept solution
…Business Analysts help with
-$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? That’s elementary, Watson.
…and there’s 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
project…no-one else is accountable for
doing it…we 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?