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Business Analysis in theInformation Age

Barbara A. Carkenord, CBAP, PMP, PMI-PBA, PMI-ACP, SAFe POPM

Barbara A. Carkenord

• Board of Directors, Vice Chair of InternationalInstitute of Business Analysis®

• Original contributor to IIBA BABOK® Guide

• Author of business analysis standards , books,articles, training materials

• Consulted with Fortune 500 companies

• Maintains certifications in business analysis,project management and agile development

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Whybusinessanalysis? 72% of CEOs believe

that … the next 3 yearswill be more critical thanthe last 50 years

KPMG LLP: Business Analysis – Positioning for Success,2016

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4

Industry Disruptions

Stimulatecollaboration

&continuous

improvement

Analyzewhat

is valuable

Get realusing

examples

See the whole

What is Business Analysis?

… the practice of enabling change in an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutionsthat deliver value to stakeholders.

… performed on a variety of initiatives within an enterprise. Initiatives may be strategic, tactical, oroperational.

It can be used to understand the current state, to define the future state, and to determine theactivities required to move from the current to the future state.

Footnote: A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge ® (BABOK® Guide) V3

What Is Business Analysis?Analyze the business

1. Learn the business to recommendimprovements/innovations (Business Requirements)

2. Develop solution requirements (Functional And Non-

functional Requirements)

3. Assist with a smooth transition to the solution(Transition Requirements)

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Beth the Business Analyst

• 10 years work experience in and out of IT

• Strong general business knowledge withexpertise in 1-2 operating areas (e.g.accounting, marketing, manufacturing)

• Hardworking, loyal, committed to highquality products and customer service

• Enjoys details

• Great collaborator

Photos by rawpixel.com on Unsplash

What is a Requirement?

• Usable representation of a need

Solution Requirements

TransitionRequirementsFunctional

RequirementsNonfunctionalRequirements

StakeholderRequirements

BusinessRequirements

Difference from Project Manager

Business Analyst

• Expert on stakeholder andbusiness needs

• Focus on detailed requirements

• Dedicated to product design

Project Manager

• Expert on getting projects done

• Focus on meeting project goals

• Responsible for resources,budget, schedule, and productquality

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Pete the Project Manager

• 15 years experiencemanaging IT projects

• Driven to meet deadlineswithin budget constraints

• Comfortable givingdirection

What Is Business Analysis?Analyze the business

1. Learn the business to recommendimprovements/innovations (Business Requirements)

2. Develop solution requirements (Functional And Non-

functional Requirements)

3. Assist with a smooth transition to the solution(Transition Requirements)

1. Learn the Business

• Learn business objectives, identify areas of business impacted by thechange (scope)

• Elicit an understanding of current (AS IS) business environment• Processes/procedures/workflow

• Business rules

• Information (data) used

• Stakeholders involved

• Software/hardware/applications used

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1. Learn the Business (cont.)

• Understand problems and opportunities

• Find root cause of problems

• Identify business risks

• Creatively work with business and technology to identify possiblesolutions to increase business value

• Develop business cases

Sally the Sponsor

• 17 years of executivemanagement experience

• Driving the organization tochange and innovate

• Authorized to allocate scarceresources within theorganization

What Is Business Analysis?Analyze the business

1. Learn the business to recommendimprovements/innovations (Business Requirements)

2. Develop solution requirements (Functional And Non-

functional Requirements)

3. Assist with a smooth transition to the solution(Transition Requirements)

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2. Develop Solution Requirements

• Define and document solution scope

• Facilitate prioritization of features, release/sprint planning

• Develop detailed requirements• Workflow (TO BE)

• User interface design (i.e. screens, reports)

• Software functionality

• Integrations with other applications

• Validate the solution meets business needs (UAT)

Igor the IT Guy

• 10 years of technicalexperience

• Deep understanding ofexisting applications

• Loves anything tech

Designing Technology for Business

RequestWe need security on thesystem; maybe differentlevels for different types ofusers.

Technical SpecsHow many characters inthe field user name? Casesensitive? Alphanumeric orjust Alphabetic?

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Designing Technology for Business

AnalysisWho is your typical user? Whereand when will they be signing in?Have you thought aboutfingerprint or voice recognition?

Value Provided by Business Analysis

User View

• Open-endedrequirements

• Unrefined or raw• Needs-based

Technical View

• Precise language• Technically soundsystem

Solution

BusinessAnalyst

How much will it cost to build?

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What Is Business Analysis?Analyze the business

1. Learn the business to recommendimprovements/innovations (Business Requirements)

2. Develop solution requirements (Functional And Non-

functional Requirements)

3. Assist with a smooth transition to the solution(Transition Requirements)

3. Assist With a Smooth Transition

• Assess organization and stakeholder readiness for the change

• Develop a transition plan• Plan communications about the change

• Technical implementation schedule

• Data conversion/migration

• Develop employee procedures and training

• “Sell” the change to impacted stakeholders

Organizational Change Management

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An Excellent Business Analyst

• Is an outstanding communicator

• Is able to see the big picture and also enjoys verydetailed research

• Is skilled at organizing and managing large amountsof information in various forms

• Is customer-focused

• Is flexible and adaptable, loves learning

• Comes with a toolkit of techniques to elicit, analyzeand communicate requirements

Facilitation and Collaboration

• Works to gain a clear understanding ofgoals, managing differentexpectations, personality and otherconflicts

• Is the champion of communicationwithin the team

• Understands how heterogeneous groups of people work, anddon’t work, together

Negotiating and Navigating Politics

• Diplomacy and tact must temper facts and logic

• Focus on clearly defined goals to defuse volatile political situations

• Realization that politics can derail any business endeavor

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Business Analysis Professionals

BusinessFocus

TechnicalFocus

Tactical(Operational) Level

Strategy Level

Enterprise BAManagement Consultant

Business Systems AnalystLead Developer

Power UserProduct Owner

Business ArchitectEnterprise Architect

BA Generalist

Project InitiationIdea for a

change

Initiate a project

Analyze(what impacts

would this have?)

Plan(How would we do it?)

Business Case(is there value in this

idea?)

STOP

Is this agood idea? BA

Sponsor

PM

Architect

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)

• Professional organization for people performing business analysis

• Provide a forum for knowledge sharing

• Maintaining standards and certification

• Offers a competency model for business analysis

www.iiba.org

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IIBA OFFICIALCONFERENCE

IIBA Enterprise

Business AnalysisCapability (EBAC)Framework

KEY OFFERINGS

Program

A Guide totheBusinessAnalysisBody ofKnowledge(BABOK®

Guide)

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Business Analysis Core Concept Model™ uses 6 key concepts todefine a conceptual framework for business analysis

5 Perspectives: Agile, Business Architecture, BusinessIntelligence, Business Process Management, InformationTechnology

New techniques add to the BA’s toolkit

Competency-BasedCertificationFramework

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CBATL

CBAP

CCBA

ECBA LEARNNo work experienceDeveloping BA skills

DO2-3 years experienceResults Oriented

LEAD5+ years experience

Delivers Business Value

THOUGHT LEADER10+ years experienceAdvances BA Profession

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Business Analysis Certifications

• Level 1: Entry Certificate inBusiness Analysis™ (ECBA™)

– Recognizes individuals enteringthe field of business analysis

• Level 2: Certification of Capabilityin Business Analysis™ (CCBA®)

• Recognizes BA Professionals whohave 2-3 years of BA experience

• Level 3: Certified Business AnalysisProfessional® (CBAP®)

• Recognizes BA Professionals wholead and have over 5 yearsof BA experience

• Level 4: Certified

Business Analysis ThoughtLeader ™ (CBATL™)

• Recognizes BAProfessionals whoadvance the BA professionand have over 10 yearsof experience

• PMI Professional inBusiness Analysis(PMI-PBA)®

Questions?

Twitter: bcarkenord

IIBA.org

New Palmetto Chapter of IIBA

Meeting tonight