Business Analysis – Defining the Optimal Solution

Presented by

Jennifer Colburn,

CBAP, PMP

July 21, 2010

http://www.stellman-greene.com/2007/08/03/qa-

how-to-get-ahead-in-business-analysis-without-r

eally-trying/

Jennifer C. Colburn, CBAP, PMP

Senior Business Analyst at Kindred Healthcare CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) by

the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) PMP (Project Management Professional) by PMI

(Project Management Institute) VP of Education for Louisville Chapter of the IIBA Member of the IIBA’s Business Analysis Competency

Model Committee Just returned from European vacation- London,

Brussels, Germany, and Croatia.

Business Analysis – Defining the Optimal Solution

Overview of Business Analysis Profession Key Terms- Solutions and Requirements BABOK Knowledge Areas Elicitation Techniques

Presentation material from the BABOK 2.0 (unless otherwise stated)

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International Institute of Business AnalysisTM

Develop and maintain standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of its practitioners

The IIBATM is an international not-for-profit professional association for business analysis professionals.

Founded in 2003www.theiiba.org

VisionThe world's leading association for Business Analysis professionals

Mission

KBa

Analogous to the PMI and the PMBOK, the IIBA has authored the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) reflecting generally accepted practices in the Business Analysis community.

Released in 2005 Version 2.0 released March 31, 2009

Business Analysis Body of KnowledgeTM

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BABOK Knowledge Areas

CBAP Certification

Certified Business Analysis Professional 7,500 hours business analysis work experience in last

ten years Experience and expertise in four of six knowledge areas 150 question multiple choice exam Almost 1000 CBAPs internationally At the end of 2010, the IIBA will also offer Certification of

Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA), an intermediate level designation.

Value of a Business Analyst

Anyone who has ever worked on a complex and lengthy software development project knows that the involvement of a business analyst can mean the difference between success and failure. ~ Thomas Wailgum, CIO http://www.cio.com/article/343013/

“Everyone agrees on the importance of the business analyst role, but few know exactly what it is that business analysts do.” ~ Carey Schwaber & Rob Carel, Forrester Research

April 2008

What is A Business Analyst?

Works as a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals.

Understands how organizations function to accomplish their purposes. Definition of organizational goals How those goals connect to specific objectives Determining courses of action that a business has to

undertake to achieve those goals and objectives Defining how various organizational units and stakeholders

within and outside the organization interact. (from the Business Analysis Body Of Knowledge v. 2.0, p. 3)

Why a Project Needs a Business Analyst

http://developer.motorola.com/fromfasttrack/February_09/agile_versus_waterfall.gif/

Business Analysis

Understanding: How an organization works Why the organization exists What are the organization’s goals and objectives How does an organization accomplish those goals

and objectives How does an organization need to change to better

accomplish those objectives and/or overcome challenges

Defining the scope of the solution

(from the IIBA “A Primer to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge” presentation)

Solution Definition

A solution meets a business need by solving problems and/or enabling the organization to take advantage of an opportunity.

System of interacting solution components such as: software applications, web services, business processes, business rules that govern that process, an IT application, revised org structure, outsourcing, insourcing, redefining job roles or any other method of creating a capability needed by an organization.

Business Analysis and Solution Scope

Business Analysis helps organizations define the optimal solution for their needs, given a set of constraints (time, budget, regulations, etc) under which that organization operates.

Solution Scope- the set of capabilities a solution must support to meet the business needs.

Project Scope- the work necessary to construct and implement a particular solution

Complimentary Roles

Project Manager – Project Scope: resources, budget, schedule, plan, risks, quality.

Business Analyst – Solution Scope: business risks/issues, requirements related tasks in WBS, solution quality, represent business.

Why a Project Needs a Project Manager and a Business Analyst

PM responsible for ensuring product delivered to customer on time and within budget.

BA responsible for ensuring product built according to requirements and built correctly.

Difference in focus is reason that both roles on team are critical.

~ Barbara Carkenord, President B2T Training

Requirements Definition

A condition or capability needed by a stakeholder to solve a problem or achieve an objective.

A condition or capability that must be met or possessed by a solution or solution component to satisfy a contract, standard specification or other formally imposed documents.

A documented representation of a condition or capability as in 1) or 2).

Types of Requirements

Business- high level goals, needs, objectives of enterprise

Stakeholder- needs of a given stakeholder and how they interact with solution

Solution – Functional Non-functional

Transition - implementation requirements such as data conversion

Knowledge Areas

Enterprise Analysis

Understanding the “big picture” Define business goals the solution must meet Integrate requirements into larger business

architecture Support initiatives and long term planning Strategic planning, business case development,

Cost Benefit Analysis, feasibility studies “Why are we doing this?”

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring

Focus on planning for the BA processes and activities.

“What do I need to do?” Specify the how the business analysis tasks

will be performed Identify the deliverables produced Describe how changes will be controlled and

managed

Requirements Management and Communications

Focus on presenting and communicating documented requirements to all stakeholders, including project team members, to bring the group to consensus on project scope.

Identify and manage change “Does everyone understand and agree?”

Elicitation

Focus on gathering requirements from various stakeholder groups

Identify the tasks, knowledge and techniques for capturing requirements

“What do the Stakeholders need?”

Requirements Analysis

Focuses on analyzing the data Defines the methods, tools, techniques to

structure raw data collected during elicitation Identifies gaps in requirements Defines the “solution” capabilities and can

serve as the foundation for selecting among solution alternatives.

“What must the solution do?”

Solutions Assessment & Validation

Focus on ensuring the best approach is chosen, that the solution will meet stakeholder objectives, that the solution is feasible, and guides solution “verification.”

“Does the solution do what it is suppose to do?”

BA Underlying Competencies

Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving- Creative Thinking Decision Making Learning Problem Solving Systems Thinking

Behavioral Characteristics- ethics, personal organization, trustworthiness

Business Knowledge Communication Skills Interaction Skills- facilitation &negotiation, leadership &

influencing, teamwork Software Applications

Elicitation Techniques:

Brainstorming Focus Groups Interviewing Observation Prototyping Requirements Workshop Survey/Questionnaire Document Analysis Interface Analysis

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is an excellent way to foster creative thinking about a problem.

The aim is to produce numerous new ideas, and to derive from them themes for further analysis.

Best applied in a group - it draws on the experience and creativity of all members of the group.

Participants are encouraged to use new ways of looking at things and free associate in any direction.

Focus Groups

“A means to elicit ideas and attitudes about a specific product, service or opportunity in an interactive group environment. The participants share their impressions, preferences and needs, guided by a moderator.” Pre-qualified individuals Homogenous or Heterogeneous groups

Interviewing

“Systematic approach designed to elicit information from a person or group of people in an informal or formal setting by talking to an interviewee, asking relevant questions and documenting the responses.” One-on-one or Group Structured – pre-defined questions Unstructured – open-ended discussion

Observation

“Means of eliciting requirements by conducting an assessment of the stakeholder’s work environment.”

Also known as “Job Shadowing” Documenting details about current processes Enhance or change a current process Passive/Invisible Active/Visible

Prototyping

Horizontal prototype Demonstrates outer layer of human interface only, such as menus

and screens; no logic behind the visualization Incremental prototype

The final product is built as separate prototypes. At the end, the separate prototypes are merged into an overall design

Throw-away prototype Simple, quick approach - can be paper & pencil or screen mock-

ups Discarded when final system is developed

Evolutionary (Breadboard) prototype A system that is continually refined and rebuilt until it is a fully

functioning system

Requirements Workshop

“A structured way to capture requirements. A workshop may be used to scope, discover, define, prioritize and reach closure on requirements for the target system.” Effective way to deliver high quality requirements

quickly Promote trust, understanding, and communication

among the stakeholders/team Produce deliverables that structure and guide future

analysis

Surveys/Questionnaire

Collect information about customers, products, work practices and attitudes from many people in a relatively short period of time

Can be Anonymous Closed - Respondent selects from predetermined choices

Easier to analyze, limited responses Useful when ranges of response is understood, but strength of

response needs to be determined

Open - Respondent is free to answer as they wish

Wider range of responses, difficult to quantify

Useful when issues known but range of responses is not

Document Analysis

“A means to elicit requirements by studying available documentation on existing and comparable solutions and identifying relevant information”

Gathering detail of AS-IS SMEs not available Enhancements to existing system Existing system to be included in new system

Interface Analysis

Purpose - identify interfaces between solutions and/or solution components and define requirements that describe how they will act.

TargetSystem

Hardware Device

HRSystem

USERINTERFACE

EXTERNAL

SYSTEMS

EXTERNALDEVICES

Benefits SupportDesk

Summary

BA has a variety of techniques available to elicit requirements depending on situation

Goal is to deliver a feasible quality solution that meets the business needs- the optimal solution

Help prevent scope creep and reduce project risks, including rework

Provide traceability to business goals Business Analysis is a formally defined profession Internationally acknowledged certification program