International Institute of Business Analysis

Vision: The world's leading

association for
Business Analysis
professionals”

Mission: To develop and

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

1
Business Analysis: the Next Step
Towards Project Success

Dave Wirick, PMP, CMA

Copyright © BabSim, LLC 2007

Workshop Overview

 Describe the importance of requirements

management and business analysis and the
challenges of them
 Introduce participants to the emerging profession of
business analysis with a focus on project
requirements definition
 Describe the role of the BABOK and the
International Association of Business Analysts (IIBA)
 Describe the roles of business analysis and the
requirements cycle
 Describe training options for increasing the skills of
business analysts and for achieving better project
outcomes
 The IT Professional Outlook:
Where do we go from here?
 By 2010, IT Professionals will need to
possess expertise in multiple domains.
 Technical aptitude alone will no longer be
enough.
 IT professionals must prove they can
understand business realities- industry, core
processes, customer bases, regulatory
environment
 And contribute real business value to their
enterprise.
 Consider These Statistics:
 66% of software projects aren't expected to finish
on time or on budget
 56% of project defects originate in the
requirements phase of the project
 Completed projects have only 52% of proposed
functionality
 75-80% of IT project failures are the result of
requirements problems
What the Experts are saying about BA!!

 "What CIOs increasingly demand is a business

analyst-someone who can use a rich knowledge of
the business end of things to develop applications
that actually work well for the business." "The New IT
Department: The Top Three Positions You Need” CIO
Magazine, January 1, 2006

 "As part of its annual skills and salary survey, Foote

Partners listed the hot jobs most likely to withstand
offshoring. If you're starting out or seeking a change,
consider these disciplines: Business analysts; Data
modelers; Project managers.””A Tale of Three Studies"
Certification Magazine, March 2006
What is Business Analysis?

 The set of tasks, knowledge, and techniques required to

identify business needs and determine solutions to
business problems (BABOK Version 1.6)
 What Is a Business Analyst? (1)

Business Analysts are responsible for identifying the business

needs of their clients and stakeholders to help determine solutions
to business problems.
The Business Analyst is responsible for requirements development
and requirements management. Specifically, the Business Analyst
elicits, analyzes, validates and documents business, organizational
and/or operational requirements. Solutions are not predetermined
by the Business Analyst, but are driven solely by the requirements
of the business. Solutions often include a systems development
component, but may also consist of process improvement or
organizational change.

Source: IIBA,
What Is a Business Analyst? (2)

The Business Analyst is a key facilitator within an

organization, acting as a bridge between the client,
stakeholders and the solution team.
Business analysis is distinct from financial analysis, project
management, quality assurance, organizational
development, testing, training and documentation
development. However, depending on an organization, an
individual Business Analyst may perform some or all of these
related functions.

Source: IIBA
Roles of the Business Analyst
 Gather requirements
 Document processes
 Identify improvement opportunities
 Document business requirements
 Act as the liaison between users and architects
 Metaphors for the Business Analyst

 Watchdog (over business objectives in

projects)
 Translator
 Entrepreneur
 Archivist
 Detective
 Diplomat
 Storyteller
 Economist
 Vendor manager
The Business Analyst and Knowledge
Management
 The BA gathers data (which is unstructured and
unusable-comments from users)
 Converts that data into information (which has
structure-requirements)
 And then converts that information into knowledge
(which is structured and usable by those who will
build the application-requirements analysis and
modeling)
Business Analysis as a Profession

 IIBA intends to achieve that goal by:

 Creating and developing awareness and recognition of the value and
contribution of the Business Analyst
 Defining the Body of Knowledge
 Providing a forum for knowledge sharing and contribution to the Body of
Knowledge
 Identifying the required skills and competencies of a qualified Business
Analyst
 Defining training and professional development standards
 Publicly recognizing and certifying qualified Business Analysts
Challenges of Good Business Analysis

 Pressures on an organization to assign existing resources to

a project (resources which may not have the skills necessary
for adequate and effective analysis)
 The lack of advance planning
 The lack of training for Business Analysts
 Gap between what Business Analysts are assigned to do
and what they should be assigned to do
 The ad hoc and irregular deployment of business analysts
 Outsourcing and relying on external contractors to perform
major roles in system development
 Organizational impatience with the planning process
Business Requirements

 “A condition or capability needed by a stakeholder to solve a

problem…” (BABOK Version 1.6)
 Focus on a particular business process or processes
 Describe the business need or problem and address all the
functions associated with the accomplishment of these
processes
 In project terms, are the detailed items necessary to
accomplish the goals of the project which are documented in
the scope statement
Business Requirements (2)

 Should focus only on the “What” of the project

 What functions and features must be included?
 What other systems, organizations or projects will impact this project?
 What people will be using the product of the project?
 What people will influence the project’s completion?
 Not simply a list of functions and features
 Should also prioritize these business needs and address in specific
terms the details of each
 Should not include specifics on how these processes will be
accomplished, which is the role of the systems analyst.
Good Requirements

 Necessary
 Verifiable
 Attainable
 Clear

Source: Ivy F. Hooks and Kristin A. Farry, Customer Centered Products (AMACOM,
2001)
The Requirements Cycle

The Requirements Cycle

Enterprise Analysis : Requirements Planning and Requirements Elicitation

Management
-Define the problem
-Gather the requirements
-Define the solution scope -Plan the requirements
process

Requirements
Communication

-Present models
-Create consensus
-Refine requirements

Requirements Analysis and

Documentation

-Apply analysis models

-Identify gaps
-Refine requirements

Solution Assessment and

Validation

-Ensure that the project

meets the requirements
The Difference between many current BA
courses and Premier Knowledge Solutions
BA?

A major difference between current

courses and ours is the inclusion of the
most current BABOK, which is becoming
the standard for best practices for business
analysis. Either now or in the future,
teaching a BA course without basing it on
the BABOK may become like teaching a
non-PMBOK PM course or a non–
authorized Microsoft Course.
 What is the BA BOK?
The Business Analysis Body of
Knowledge
Business Analysis is • Captures the sum of knowledge
the set of tasks,
knowledge &
within the profession of Business
techniques Analysis
required to identify – Areas of knowledge
business needs & – Associated activities & tasks
determine solutions – Skills necessary to be effective
to business
problems • Reflects what is currently accepted
practices
• Owned & enhanced by the
professionals who apply it
 BA BOK Knowledge Areas

Requirements Planning & Management

Enterprise
Analysis Requirements
Requirements Requirements Six Knowledge
Analysis &
Elicitation Communications Areas
Documentation

Solution Assessment and validation

Business Analyst Roles in Leading Enterprise
Analysis

 Provide management with the information they need

 Work with other stakeholders to collect the necessary
information to inform decision making that takes into account
cross-organizational impacts
 Focuses at the enterprise level to ensure that inter-project
dependencies and system interfaces are adequately factored
into decision making.
 Need to balance the cost of information gathering with the
amount of information required
Requirements Planning Is Necessary So
That…

 Stakeholders have a common understanding of the

process
 The most appropriate activities are performed
 The requirements work effort is coordinated
 The requirements team understands its role and the
activities they will perform
 The business analyst can react appropriately to
changes
 Supporting tools and resources are available to the
requirements team when they are needed
 Changes are managed so that the objectives of the
project are met
Requirements Traceability

 Link products to the purpose for which they were

created
 Confirm that requirements gathering is done
 Ensure that work outside scope is not performed
 Ensure stakeholder notification of changes
 Increase quality
 Facilitate the change control process
Document Requirements (1)

 May use a common format and may include:

 A vision document
 Business process description
 Business requirements document
 Request for proposal/quotation
 Software requirements specification
Data and Behavior Models

 Static models (i.e., they show the model at a point in

time)
 Include:
 Business rules
 Class models
 CRUD matrices
 Data dictionaries
 Data transformation and mapping
 Entity relationship diagrams
 Metadata definitions
Process-Flow Models

 Activity diagrams
 Data flow diagrams
 Event identification
 Flowcharts
 Sequence diagrams
 State machine diagrams
 Workflow models
Usage Models

 Illustrate the interaction of a user with a solution

 Allow a focus on the analysis of the requirements from the
point of view of that user, who will play a major role in
determining the success of the system.
 7 usage models:
 Prototyping
 Storyboards or screen flows
 Use case descriptions
 Use case diagrams
 User interface designs
 User profiles
 User stories
Create Requirements Package

 Determine which components of the overall

comprehensive requirements document should be
grouped together
 Assess the audience to whom the requirements
will be presented
 Evaluate the documentation required based on the
type of project
 Package the requirements for presentation
Ensure the Usability of the Solution

 The business analyst can support the efforts to create a

usable solution by keeping the team focused on the
requirements
 The business analyst can also serve as an advocate for
the interests of users as a counter-balance to the
interests of the technical team.
Support the Implementation of the Solution

 The business analyst may have the best and most

thorough knowledge of the users of the solution
 Can provide effective insight to the implementation team
and assist in their communications with the users.
Business Analyst “The Pivotal IT Role of the
Future”

“Technical skills are relatively easy to

outsource, but organizations cannot
abdicate control of their business
requirements in virtually every
organization, the pivotal leadership role
of the business analyst is beginning to
shape the future of IT” Kathleen B. Hass, PMP
 Babbage Simmel
and IIBA + PMI ®

• For over 24 years, Babbage Simmel has been a leader in business processes; including PM, BA,
organizational development and advanced technology training and consulting
• PMI® Global Registered Education Provider (PMI® R.E.P.)
• IIBA – Charter member (EEP) Endorsed Education Provider and sits on the IIBA Advisory Council
• Courses aligned with PMI’s® Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) and IIBA BABOK
• Babbage Simmel is a Four Tier Microsoft Gold Partner
 Babbage Simmel’s BA Program is
recognized for…
 A strong curricula, based upon the IIBA
methodology that is becoming the standard BA
Methodology for BA Certification.
 An unequaled delivery platform that consists of
curriculum created by industry subject matter
experts and delivery by those same experts.
 BS facilitators are recognized for their ability to
provide instruction of theory and their ability to
ground the theory in real life application!
 Learning Objectives for BA Training

 Reduce requirements development time and improve

market responsiveness
 Control costs
 Generate greater customer satisfaction
 Increase morale and team building
 Enhance productivity
 Organizational effectiveness and project success
 Babbage Simmel BA Courses
 Two-, three, four-, and five-day intro to BA
 Five-day intense workshops leading to
International Institute of Business Analysts
(IIBA) certification
 Two and three-day focused workshops.
 Those workshops can also be combined into
a ten-day comprehensive professional
certificate series.
 The Babbage Simmel business analysis
suite of workshops conforms to the IIBA
Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (the
BABOK™).
 Questions?

Thanks for coming

today!