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2008 Management Concepts, Inc. This paper may be reproduced and distributed provided Management Concepts is credited asthe author and Management Concepts copyright notice is included in all copies. All other rights reserved. Version 1.0.

Harnessing the Powerof the PM/BA PartnershipKathleen B. Hass, PMP

Senior Practice Consultant

Management Concepts

Introduction

Projects play an essential role in the growth and survival of organizations today. It isthrough projects that we create value in the form of improved business processes and newproducts and services in response to changes in the business environment. Since data andinformation are the lifeblood of virtually all business practices, projects with significantIT components are often the key mechanism used to turn an organizations vision andstrategy into reality. Executives have their eye on the project portfolio to ensure that theyinvest in the right mix of projects, optimize their resources, develop expert capabilitiesto deliver flawlessly, and ultimately capture the expected added value to the business. Inthe 21st century we are bombarded with constant change brought about by the Internet,the global economy, and the prevalent use of technology; as a result, there appears to be anever-ending demand for new business solutions supported by IT products and services.

Executives across the spectrum are adopting the practices of superior project manage-ment and business analysis to increase the value projects bring to their organizations.

The Project Performance Partnership

In the spirit of high-performing teams, project managers align themselves with profes-sional business analysts, expert technologists, and business visionaries to understandbusiness problems or new opportunities , and determine the most appropriate, cost-effec-tive, fastest time-to-market, and innovative solutions. As this core team forms, a projectperformance partnership emerges that rivals the worlds greatest teams (e.g., tiger teams,special operations teams, professional sports teams, parametric teams). At the center of

the team is the dynamic twosome: the project manager and the business analyst. Theproject manager concentrates on the management of the project, ensuring the projectdelivers on time, on budget, and with the full scope of the requirements met. While thebusiness analyst focuses on management of the business needs, business requirements,and expected business benefits. The wise project manager welcomes this teaming trend,understanding that inadequate information relating to business needs leads to poor esti-mates, and makes time and cost management virtually impossible.


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2 2008 Management Concepts, Inc. This paper may be reproduced and distributed provided Management Concepts is credited asthe author and Management Concepts copyright notice is included in all copies. All other rights reserved. Version 1.0.

Business analysis and project management havebecome central business management competenciesof the twenty-first century. These competenciesare essential because requirements play a vital rolein engineering business solutions, and projects areessential to organizational success. In addition, or-

ganizations are realizing that the reasons projectsfail are almost always tied to poor requirementsand ineffective project management (The StandishGroup International, 2001). The following tabledepicts the resolution of 30,000 applications proj-ects in large, medium, and small cross-industryU.S. companies tested by the Standish Group from1994 to 2006.

YearSuccessful

ProjectsFailed

ProjectsChallenged

Projects

2006 35% 19% 46%

2004 29% 18% 53%

2000 28% 23% 49%

1998 26% 28% 44%

1996 27% 40% 33%

1994 16% 31% 53%

Source: The Standish Group Project ResolutionHistory, CHAOS Research Reports (2001)

Clearly there has been a steady improvement inproject performance since 1994. According to theStandish Group reports, the reasons for the overallimprovement include smaller projects (the averagecost of a project had been downsized more thanhalf by 2001); better skilled project managers; andbetter methods and tools to manage changes. TheStandish Group continues to recommend minimiz-ing project scope, reducing project resources, anddownsizing timelines to improve project success.The Standish Group also predicts that the numberof critical projects wills double each year; therefore,

we must continue to work vigilantly to improveproject performance, paying particular attention tothe elements it calls the Recipe for Project Success:The CHAOS Ten, which are listed here grouped bycategory. Notice that many of these elements relateto business analysis and the remaining are aboutbetter project management.

Recipe for Project Success: The CHAOS Ten

Project Management Business Analysis

Executive support1.

Experienced project2.managers

Standard3.inrastructure

Formal methodology4.

Reliable estimates5.

Small milestones,6.proper planning, andcompetent sta

User7.involvement

Clear business8.objectives

Minimized scope9.

Firm basic10.requirements

It is the project manager who owns the BusinessSolution Life Cycle, and the business analyst whoowns the Systems Requirements Life Cycle, fromunderstanding the business need to ensuring that

the delivered solution meets the need and adds val-ue to the bottom line (See Figure 1). For complextwenty-first century projects, the business analysthas a critical role throughout the Business Solu-tion Development Life Cycle, not simply during therequirements phase. Business requirements analy-sis differs from traditional information systemsanalysis because of its focus, which is exclusively onadding value to the business. In particular, projectmanagers rely on business analysts to assist in pro-viding more detailed project objectives; business

needs analysis; clear, structured, usable require-ments; trade-off analysis; requirement feasibilityand risk analysis; and cost-benefit analysis. Poorrequirements definition emerges without this keyliaison between business and IT departments, re-sulting in a disconnect between what IT builds andwhat the business needs.

Combining Disciplines Lead s To

Success

For organizations to achieve strategies throughprojects, a strong partnership between the projectmanager and the business analyst is essential. In-deed, when this partnership exists, and they bothembrace the contributions of expert technologistsand business v isionaries, collaboration, innova-tion, and far superior project performance is real-ized. For an in-depth discussion of the project


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2008 Management Concepts, Inc. This paper may be reproduced and distributed provided Management Concepts is credited as 3the author and Management Concepts copyright notice is included in all copies. All other rights reserved. Version 1.0.

Strategic PlanStrategic Goals

Value Management TechniquesFacilitation and Consensus Building SkillsConflict Management SkillsDecision-Making TechniquesKey Performance Indicator DevelopmentStakeholder Management SkillsRequirements Presentation Skills

Business CaseHigh-Level Product Description

Project CharterStatement of Work

User Class AnalysisRequirements Management Plan

Feature Prioritization MatrixRequirements Documentation

Requirements FeasibilityAlternatives Study

Requirements BaselineOutsource Development Decision

Request for Proposal (RFP)

Requirements Change Management PlanRequirements Traceability Matrix

Outsource Test DecisionRequest for Proposal (RFP)

Test PlanTest Cases

Test Scenarios

Development Code-Based Tests

Functional Tests

Supplemental TestsUser Acceptance Test

System DeliveryPost-Implementation Support

System Maintenance andEnhancements

Requirements Gathering ToolsRequirements Facilitation SkillsRequirement Writing SkillsEarly Requirement Verification TechniquesPartitioning and Decomposition of RequirementsRisk Planning TechniquesRisk Identification TechniquesRisk Analysis and Response Planning ToolsPrototyping TechniquesFeasibility and Alternatives Analysis Techniques

Change Management ToolsRequirements Allocation Techniques

Verification TechniquesValidation Techniques

User Surveys and Interviews

Change Management Tools

Deliverables

Skills and Techniques

Study

Strategic

Planning

Enterprise

Analysis

BusinessDomainScope

Definition

Requirements

Construction

Tes

t

Deliver

Deliver

Operations&

Maintenance

Operations &Maintenance

Deactiv

ate

ImplementationPeriod

OperationsPeriod

BusinessSolutionLifeCycle

Elicitation

Analysis

Specification

Documentationand Validation

Design

Allocate and Trace

Mitigate Risks

Trade-Off Analysis

Prototype

ManageChange

Trace

Test

SystemsRequirementsLifeCycle

Prototyping Techniques

Risk Monitoring and Control Tools

BusinessValueAttainment

BusinessNeed

Figure 1 Business Solution Life Cycle Mapped to the System Requirements Life Cycle


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manager and business analyst partnership, it ishelpful to frame the dialogue in the context of ageneric project cycle. Refer to Figure 1 once again,the Business Solution Life Cycle Mapped to theSystems Requirements Life Cycle, to providecontext as we examine the nature of the partner-

ship. The diagram shows a sequential developmentapproach, from strategic planning to the businessrequirements to the delivery of a complete businesssolution. This is a simplistic model that guides thedevelopment process through its typical phases.

Strategic Planning and Enterprise

Analysis

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is the first phase in the BusinessSolution Life Cycle. During this phase the currentstate of an enterprise is examined and the desiredfuture state is determined and described by a set ofbroad goals. The goals are then converted to mea-surable objectives designed to achieve the strategy.

Project managers and business analysts may notcontribute directly to strategic planning activitiessince it is the responsibility of the senior leadershipteam. However, senior business analysts and proj-ect managers may be asked to conduct market re-search, benchmark studies, or competitive analysissurveys to inform the executive team as input to thestrategic planning process. In some organizations,senior business analysts and project managers helpplan and facilitate strategic planning sessions. Nev-ertheless, business analysts and project managersshould have a full understanding of the strategicdirection of the enterprise to determine how newinitiatives fit into the long term strategy and/ormission of the organization, and to help build andmanage the business case and other relevant infor-

mation regarding business opportunities.

Enterprise Analysis

During the enterprise analysis phase, the collectionof activities for depicting the current and futureviews of the business determine the gap in organi-

zational capabilities needed to achieve the businessstrategies. Enterprise analysis activities then deter-mine new business opportunities to close the gaps.

Enterprise analysis activities begin after the execu-tive team of the organization develops strategic

plans and goals. The core activities center on iden-tifying new business opportunities or solutions tobusiness problems; conducting studies, gatheringinformation, and determining the solution ap-proach; and developing a business case or projectproposal document to recommend a new projectto the leadership team for their decision on selec-tion, prioritization and funding. If the new changeinitiative is selected, a new project is formed andrequirements elicitation and project planning com-mence.

Deliverables

The business analyst and project manager collabo-rate with selected business and technology expertsto produce the deliverables of the enterprise analy-sis activities.

Deliverable Description

BusinessArchitecture

The set o artiacts that comprise thedocumentation about the business

Feasibility,Benchmark,CompetitiveStudies

Conducting ormal or inormal

studies prior to proposing a newproject helps to discover veryimportant inormation about thebusiness opportunity

New BusinessOpportunities

As an outgrowth o strategicplanning, the business analystand project manager review theresults o easibility, benchmark,and competitive analysis studies,and the target business architectureto identiy potential solutionalternatives to achieve strategicgoals

Business CaseA business case should bedeveloped or all signicant changeinitiatives and capital projects

Initial RiskAssessment

Once the business case isdeveloped, the project managerand business analyst acilitate arisk management session using thesame set o experts


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PM/BA Collaboration Opportunities

The project manager and business analyst have nu-merous opportunities for collaboration to completethe enterprise analysis activities, including:

Conducting feasibility, benchmark, and com-petitive studies

Creating the business case, scope statements,preliminary time, and cost estimates

Conducting risk assessment and risk responseplanning

Establishing project priorities

Managing stakeholders

Getting the right people involved and excitedabout the potential project

Partnering with the senior IT architectureteam to create the solutions vision

Requirements and Design

During the requirements and early design phasesthe business need is discovered, analyzed, docu-mented and validated and the solution concept be-gins to come into view.

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements are always unclear at the beginning

of a project. It is through the process of progressiveelaboration that requirements evolve into maturity.Requirements elicitation involves conducting initialrequirements gathering sessions with customers,users, and stakeholders to begin the specificationprocess. Requirements gathering techniques in-clude discovery sessions and workshops, interviews,surveys, prototyping, reviews of existing systemsand business documents, and note taking and feed-back loops to customers, users, and stakeholders.

Requirements AnalysisRequirements are first stated in simple terms, andthen analyzed and decomposed for clarity. Require-ments analysis is the process of structuring require-ments information into various categories, evaluat-ing requirements for selected qualities, representingrequirements in different forms, deriving detailed

requirements from high-level requirements, andnegotiating priorities. Requirements analysis activi-ties also include determining required function andperformance characteristics, the context of imple-mentation, stakeholder constraints, measures ofeffectiveness, and validation criteria . Through the

analysis process, requirements are decomposed andcaptured in a combination of textual and graphicalformats. Analysis activities include:

Studying requirements feasibility to determineif the requirement is viable technically, opera-tionally, and economically

Tradingoff requirements to determine themost feasible requirement alternatives

Assessing requirements feasibility by analyz-

ing requirement risks and constraints andmodifying requirements to mitigate identi-fied risks. The goal is to reduce requirementrisks through early validation prototypingtechniques

Modeling requirements to restate and clarifythem. Modeling is accomplished at the ap-propriate usage, process, or detailed structurallevel

Deriving additional requirements as more islearned about the business need

Prioritizing requirements to reflect the factthat not all requirements are of equal value tothe business. Prioritization may be delineatedin terms of critical, high, average, and lowpriority. Prioritization is essential to determinethe level of effort, budget, and time required toprovide the highest priority functionality first.Then, perhaps, lower priority needs can be ad-dressed in a later release of the system.

Requirements SpecificationRequirement specifications are elaborated from andlinked to the structured requirements, providing arepository of requirements with a completed attri-bute set. Through this process of progressive elabo-ration, the requirements team often detects areasthat are not defined in sufficient detail, which,


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unless addressed, can lead to uncontrolled changesto requirements. Specification involves identifyingall the precise attributes of each requirement. Thesystem specification document or database is anoutput of the requirements analysis process.

Requirements Documentation

Requirements documentation must be clear andconcise since it is used by virtually everyone in theproject. Transforming graphical requirements intotextual form can make them more understandableto non-technical members of the team. Documen-tation involves translating the collective require-ments into written requirements specifications andmodels in terms that are understood by all stake-

holders.

Requirements Validation

Requirements validation is the process of evalu-ating requirements documents, models, and at-tributes to determine whether they satisfy thebusiness needs and are complete enough that theproject team can commence work on solution de-sign and construction. The set of requirementsis compared to the original initiating documents(business case, project charter, statement of work)to ensure completeness. Beyond establishing com-

pleteness, validation includes evaluating require-ments to ensure that design risks associated withthe requirements are minimized before furtherinvestment is made in solution development.

Deliverables

The business analyst and project manager collabo-rate with selected business and technology expertsto produce the requirement deliverables.


Stakeholderanalysis andcommunicationneeds

Interviews are conducted withindividuals and small groupsto determine what businessunctions must be supported bythe new solution.

ElicitationWorkshop

An efcient way to gatherinormation about the businessneed rom a diverse group ostakeholders.

Survey

A valuable tool to collect a largeamount o inormation rom anarray o stakeholders quickly and

efciently.

DocumentReview

The business analyst andproject manager review allexisting documentation aboutthe business system, includingpolicies, rules, procedures,regulations, and processdescriptions.

Test Plan

Typically a document thatdescribes the scope, approach,resources and timing o testactivities.

BusinessRequirementsDocumentationand Validation

Structured, validated, archived

and accessible requirements arethe unctional and perormanceneeds or the new solution. Theyare captured in documents,tables, matrices, models,graphics, and prototypes

RequirementsManagementPlan

A document that describes howchanges to requirements will beallocated, traced, and managed.


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The project manager and business analyst havenumerous opportunities for collaboration duringrequirements activities, including:

Conducting requirements elicitationworkshops

Determining the number of iterations ofrequirements elicitation, specification, andvalidation

Determining the appropriate life cycle choice(e.g., waterfall, Agile, Spiral)

Developing the project management plan

Conducting trade-off analysis for the require-

ments and solution trade-offsBalancing the competing demands

Validating requirements

Prototyping

Updating the business case

Planning and facilitating the control gatereview, sign-off on requirements, and go/nodecisions

Solution Construction and Test

During the solution construction and testing, thebusiness analyst and project manager collaborateto ensure changes to requirements are identified,specified, analyzed for impacts to the project (cost,schedule, business value added), and dis-positionedappropriately. The goal for both the business ana-lyst and the project manager is to reduce the costof changes and welcome changes that add businessvalue. Requirements management activities include

allocating requirements to solution components,tracing requirements throughout system design anddevelopment, and managing changes to require-ments.

Deliverables

The business analyst and project manager collabo-rate with selected business and technology expertsto produce the solution construction and test ac-tivities deliverables.


SolutionVericationand Validation

Validating requirements to provideevidence that the designedsolution satises the requirementsthrough user involvement intesting, demonstration, andinspection techniques. Thenal validation step is the useracceptance testing.

Veriying requirements to provideevidence that the designedsolution satises the requirements

specication through test,inspection, demonstration, and/oranalysis.

BusinessPolicies,Procedures,Rules, andEducation

For new business solutions,there are almost always changesto business rules, policies, andprocedures.

TestingIncludes integration, system, anduser acceptance testing.


The project manager and business analyst havenumerous opportunities for collaboration duringsolution construction and testing phases, including:

Developing the test plan and test approach

Validating activities to ensure the solutionmeets the business requirements (customerreviews, product demonstrations)

Reviewing test results and dis-positioningidentified defects

Conducting defect root cause analysis and de-

termining the appropriate corrective action

Managing issues

Managing stakeholders

Facilitating the go/no-go decision to deliver


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Solution Delivery

Planning for the organizational change manage-ment that is brought about by the delivery of a newbusiness solution is often partially or even com-pletely overlooked by project teams that are fo-

cused mainly on the IT application system. Whilethe technical members of the project team plan andsupport the implementation of the new applicationsystem into the IT environment, the business ana-lyst and project manager are working with the busi-ness unit management to bring about the benefitsexpected from the new business solution by:

Assessing the organizational readiness forchange, and planning and supporting a culturalchange program

Assessing the current state of the knowledgeand skills resident within the business, deter-mining the knowledge and skills needed to op-timize the new business solution, and planningfor and supporting the training, retooling, andstaff acquisition for skill gaps

Assessing the current state of the organiza-tional structure within the business domain,determining the organizational structureneeded to optimize the new business solution,and planning for and supporting the organiza-

tional restructuring

Developing and implementing a robust com-munication campaign to support the organiza-tional change initiative

Determining, enlisting, and supporting man-agements role in the championing the change

Deliverables

The business analyst and project manager collabo-

rate with selected business and technology expertsto produce the solution deployment activities deliv-erables.


DeploymentPlans

Developing and communicatingthe plans to implement the newbusiness solution.

Business

Policies, Rules,and Procedures

Implementation o business

policies, procedures, rules, etc.

Education andTraining

Training o business customers,stakeholders, and users to acceptand operate the new businesssolution efciently.

Post-ImplementationSupport

The business analyst and projectmanager provide supportto the business customers,stakeholders, and users to helpthem learn how to operate thenew business solution efciently,and to resolve any issues thatarise.

Lessons Learned

The business analyst andproject manager conductlessons learned sessions withthe project team, businesscustomers, stakeholders, users,and technical team to determinewhat went well, and what needsimprovement or uture projects.


The project manager and business analyst havenumerous opportunities for collaboration during

solution deployment activities, including:

Developing, communicating, and getting ap-proval for the deployment plan

Approach (deploy to all business units oruse a phased in)

Which business units are affected?

When will the business units beimplemented?

When will training be delivered?

When will post-implementation support bythe core project team end?

Making the decision to move to Operationsand Maintenance

Conducting lessons learned sessions


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2008 Management Concepts, Inc. This paper may be reproduced and distributed provided Management Concepts is credited as 9the author and Management Conceptscopyright notice is included in all copies. All other rights reserved. Version 1.0.

Operations and Maintenance

The business analyst and project manager s con-tributions to the success of the project do not endwhen the business solution is delivered and opera-tional. There are key responsibilities during Opera-

tions and Maintenance (O&M) that must be filled.O&M is the phase in which the system is operatedand maintained for the benefit of the business.Maintenance services are provided to prevent andcorrect defects in the business solution.

Deliverables

The business analyst and project manager collabo-rate with selected business and technology expertsto produce the O&M phase deliverables.


SolutionBenetsMeasurement

The actual business benetsthat are realized are captured,analyzed and communicated.

Identication,Prioritization,and Planningor SolutionEnhancements

Maintenance and enhancementsprojects are identied, prioritizedby business value, planned, andexecuted.

Decision toDeactivate

At some point, the solutionwill need to be replaced. Thedecision to do so oten involves

the enterprise analysis activitiesdescribed above.


The project manager and business analyst havenumerous opportunities for collaboration duringO&M, including:

Prioritization of enhancements

Root cause analysis of performance and value

attainment issues

Final Words

Gaps in technology, techniques, and tools are notthe fundamental reasons why projects fail. Rather,project failure most often stems from a lack ofleadership and poor choices made by people. Unde-

niably, the business analyst and project manager areevolving into strategic project leaders of the future.The key issues are no longer centered on controland management, but rather collaboration, consen-sus, and leadership. Team leaders develop special-ized skills that are used to build high-performingteams. When building software-intensive systems,well managed teams undoubtedly accomplish morework in less time than do poorly managed teams(Bechtold, 1999).

ReferencesBechtold, Richard. 1999. Essentials of Software Project

Management. Vienna, VA: Management Concepts.

Hadden, Rita. 2003. Leading Culture Change in YourSoftware Organization: Delivering Results Early.Vienna, VA: Management Concepts.

Mooz, Hal, Kevin Forsberg, and Howard Cotterman.2003. Communicating Project Management: TheIntegrated Vocabulary of Project Management andSystems Engineering. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley andSons.

The Standish Group International, Inc. 2007. 2007First Quarter Research Report, The StandishGroup International, Inc. .(accessed January 2008).

The Standish Group International, Inc., ExtremeCHOAS, The Standish Group International, Inc.(accessed January 2008).

Stevens, Richard., Peter Brook, Ken Jackson, and StuartArnold. 1998. Systems Engineering: Coping with

Complexity. Indianapolis, IN: Pearson Education,Prentice Hall PTR.

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White Paper Harnessing the Power.pdf