LECTURE 1

What does a Business Analyst do?

IFS 231Business Analysis

Monday Tuesday Wed Thurs Friday 1 TUT

DL104 & 105TUT GH3.3 & 3.5 SEM 1D

TUT GH 1.2 & 3.8CLASS 2LFS AUD

TUT N99CLASS 2SC 7

2 TUT DL 4 & 5

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TUT T5C

TUT DL 104, SEM 1B, MS1.4

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6 TUT OCCLASS G2GH 2

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Part – Time

CLASSSC 1

Time Table

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What is a Business Analyst? Difference between BA, SA, PM The SDLC Role/Responsibilities of BA during

SDLC

Contents

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According to the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA™) a Business Analyst:

Works as a liaison among stakeholders to gather, analyze, communicate and validate requirements for changes to business processes, policies, and information and information systems

Understands business problems and opportunities in the context of the requirements and recommends solutions that enable the organisation to achieve its goals

What is a Business Analyst?

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The BA identify business needs and determine solutions to business problems.

Solutions often include a systems development component, but may also consist of process improvement or organisational change.

The BA is responsible to understand the actual needs of stakeholders not simply their expressed desires

Bridge between business and IT

Therefore……

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Business Analyst (BA): The main role is to: understand the business processes and procedures

(how the business works), to identify areas of improvement (problem areas), and to work with the business stakeholders to identify

suitable solutions.

If the solution involves the development or modification of information systems, the business analyst is also responsible to:

gather, analyze, and document the business requirements which must be

fulfilled by the software. 

Difference between BA, SA, PM

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Systems Analyst (SA): The main role is to: understand the business requirements

(documented by the BA) and design and document the functional and, often,

technical implementation of the software/IT system.

The systems analyst also helps solve problems and issues with existing systems through:

research of these systems, code reviews, data analysis/modelling

Often has a strong technical and/or programming background.

Systems Analyst

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Project Manager (PM): It is the person who is: responsible for the successful planning and

execution of a project manages people, money and risk, and ensures that

the team follows the project plan.

Role includes some of the following:• Planning and Defining Scope• Activity Planning and Sequencing• Resource Planning• Developing Schedules• Time and Cost Estimating• Analysing and Managing Risks and Issues• Monitoring and Reporting Progress

Project Manager

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The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application.

The SDLC

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The SDLC No universal standardised version of

SDLC: SDLC can be a general conceptual

framework for all the activities involved in systems development or acquisition

An SDLC can also be a very structured and formalised design and development process

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What Is the SDLC?Feasibility study

and project planning

Requirements definition and

systems analysis

Systems and program design

Implementation

Unit testing

Integration and system testing

Acceptance, installation, deployment

Maintenance

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Waterfall V Model Prototyping Lifecycle Incremental Model Rapid Application Development (RAD) Joint Application Development (JAD) Rational Unified Process (RUP) Spiral Extreme Programming

Some SDLC Models

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Initiation and Establishment (Business Case) Requirements Definition (Functional Spec) Solution Specification (Technical Spec) Construction and Testing (DB and User App) Implementation/ Rollout and Training (User

manual)

Common in all: Project Management and QA

Typical Phases in a Lifecycle

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Interacts with Business and Technical Investigate and Analyse Gather Requirements and Document Find Solutions Produce Specs (URS, BRS or FS) User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Assist with Implementation

Typical Role/Responsibilities of BA during the SDLC

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The focus tends to be on technology instead of the business

There is a rush to code/build There is insufficient client involvement Deficient requirements, processes,

practices and tools No measurement of business benefits

Without clarity about the role of the BA

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It’s about the business Knowledge of the future state of the business according to strategy

Indentify gaps in capabilities need to achieve the future state

Conduct feasibility analysis for the best solution to fill gaps

Build and continually validate the business case

Elicit, analyse, evolve, iterate, validate requirements/solution

The ultimate goal

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Realisation of the benefits Avoidance of unnecessary costs Identification of new opportunities Understanding the required capability

Modeling this for the organisation

How does BA add value

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