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

Owner/sponsor“I want it allI want it now

I want it for free”

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”

Subject Matter Experts/Users“We must have this

- and soon! -or our business will fail”

BUSINESSANALYST

Programme/Project Manager“The sponsor will get it all,

now and for free”

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 (pound-seconds) and some in metric units (newton-seconds).

Most project failures are due to incomplete/inaccurate requirements

What do you think are the other main causes of

project failure?

Discussion

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

Why Projects Fail

More chaos stats, stats and …

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

How can BAs mitigate the main risks for project

failure?

Discussion

ReqtsDesign

ProgramTest

AcceptLive

0

20

40

60

80

100

13

5 14 33

100

Relative cost of correcting error

Barry Boehm

Cost of analysis errors

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

• 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.

How much poor analysis £costs

What do you think a business analyst does?

Should PMs do what BAs do and vice-versa?

Discussion

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…

Drivers Objectives ScopeBusiness &

Functional &NFRequirements

Processes &Data

Models

BA products BA product application

TechSpecs

Code &Databases

UATspecs

Extracteddata

BusinessProcedures

LoadedData

BusinessTraining

TOR

POST-IMPLEMENTATIONBusiness Analysts feed back to the Owner how well their

measure of success has been achieved

Owners defines measures of success and $targets

…Business Analysts confirm & document

Strategists determine the strategy to hit the targets…Business Analysts help research, create strategy, challenge & document

Sponsors establish a Programme that delivers the strategy

…Business Analysts document Programme TOR and help build the Business Case

Programme ManagersInstitute Projects that implement the programme…Business Analysts document the Project TOR

Project Stakeholders…Business Analysts specify requirements for

Projects (in the Business Model)

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

Project managersImplement solution

…Business Analysts help with-Process and data migration

-Cutover planning-Rollout

Solution Builders & Businesstest solution…Business Analysts ensure tested against requirements

Solution Builders build solution

…Business Analysts protect requirements & document compromises

UsersAccept solution…Business Analysts help with-$MEASURING $BENEFITS $REALISATION

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…

$Money!

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.

» Definitions from Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008

…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?