The Business AnalystThe Business Analyst TheThe Pivotal IT Role Pivotal IT Role

of the Futureof the Future

Presented by:Presented by:

Kathleen B. (Kitty) Hass, PMPKathleen B. (Kitty) Hass, PMPProject Management and Business Analysis Practice LeaderProject Management and Business Analysis Practice Leader

Khass@managementconcepts.comKhass@managementconcepts.com

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1. The Past – Challenged Projects

2. The Future – High Stakes

3. The Project Performance Partnership

4. The Professional Business Analyst

5. Business Analyst Development Program

6. Requirements Engineering Considerations

AgendaAgenda

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The Past – a Dismal RecordThe Past – a Dismal Record

Over Time or Budget: 53%

Failed: 18%

Succeeded:29%

71%

I.T. Projects in the United States, 2004 Survey *

* Source: The Standish Group, 2004 Third Quarter Research Report

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The Present – Still TroublingThe Present – Still Troubling

Succeeded:35%

Failed: 19%

Over Time or Budget: 46%

65%

I.T. Projects in the United States, 2006 Survey *

* Source: The Standish Group, 2006 Chaos Report

Nearly ⅔ of all projects fail or run into trouble.

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What the Experts Say – The Root Cause is Poor Business What the Experts Say – The Root Cause is Poor Business RequirementsRequirements

Meta Group Research - “Communication challenges between business teams and technologists are chronic - we estimate that 60%-80% of project failures can be attributed directly to poor requirements gathering, analysis, and management.”

Forrester Research - “Poorly defined applications have led to a persistent miscommunication between business and IT that largely contributes to a 66% project failure rate for these applications, costing U.S. businesses at least $30B every year.”

James Martin - “56% of defects can be attributed to requirements, and 82% of the effort to fix defects.”

Source: www.iiba.com/events.cfm#pww

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Change is the norm

Fierce competition is the driver

Lean thinking is the latest call to action

Success is the only option

Strategy depends on projects

The Future – Fierce CompetitionThe Future – Fierce Competition

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Projects are essential to the growth and survival of today’s organizations

Projects create value by responding to changing environment, competition, marketplace to

– Improve business processes– Eliminate waste & drive inefficiencies out of operations– Offer new products and services– Flow higher value to customers

Often business needs can only be satisfied by large change initiatives that have a significant IT component

Result: a never-ending demand for new IT systems

– IT is viewed as a value provider– IT is faced with an extraordinary combination of pressures – How can we eliminate most of the challenged and failed projects?

The Future - IT is at the Heart of Business StrategyThe Future - IT is at the Heart of Business Strategy

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Executives have their eyes on the IT portfolio to ensure that they:– Understand their capacity to deliver– Invest in the right mix of projects– Develop expert capabilities & optimize their

resources – Cancel high-risk, under performing projects– Deliver flawlessly– Flow value through the business to customers

The BA role is now about value!

Achieve Strategy Through ProjectsAchieve Strategy Through Projects

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Can You Relate?Can You Relate?

How has the past been for you?

How critical are the projects you are working on?

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A bridge is built between the business and technical communities

The business need is understood before solutions are developed

The customer is involved in the project throughout the life cycle

Breaking the Cycle of Challenged ProjectsBreaking the Cycle of Challenged Projects

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The New Project LeadersThe New Project Leadersare Strategy Executorsare Strategy Executors

In the past, PMs were primarily implementers of solutions

– Narrow orientation focused on technical implementations– Skills narrow focused on budget, schedule, specs

Role undergoing major transformation due to new business realities

– Effective project management tantamount to effective business management

– Skills broadened, encompassing all aspects of business management Business Analyst role professionalizing

Project leadership teams emerging

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How Well Do We Execute Strategy?How Well Do We Execute Strategy?

Studies indicate that less than 10% of strategies successfully formulated are effectively executed

– 85% of executives spend less than one hour per month on strategy

– 95% of the workforce don’t understand their organization’s strategy

– 60% of organizations do not link strategies to the budget– 70% of organizations do not link strategies to incentives

Source: David Norton, Project Balanced Scorecards – a Tool for Alignment, Teamwork and Results.

ProjectWorld & The World Congress for Business Analysts Conference Proceedings, November 2005

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Combining disciplines leads to success

– Business analyst– Project manager– Business visionary– System architect/technical lead

Each taking the lead depending on the project needs

Determined to break the cycle of challenged projects

The Project Performance PartnershipThe Project Performance Partnership

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Traditional Project TeamTraditional Project Team

Business Team &

End-users

IT Architecture

TeamTest Team

Project Manager

Business Sponsor

BusinessAnalyst

Team Leads

Test Manager

Architect

BusinessVisionary

DevelopmentTeam

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Core Project Team ConceptCore Project Team Concept

Business Team &

End-users

IT Architecture

Team

Test Team Project

Manager

Business Sponsor

BusinessAnalyst

Team Leads

Test Manager

Architect

BusinessVisionary

DevelopmentTeam

SMEs

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A senior position in the enterprise placed either in

– Business units– IT organization

As IT moves beyond efficiency to business effectiveness

– BA becomes the central figure on the project team who is “bi-lingual” – i.e., speaks both business and technical languages

Differs from traditional IS analysis in that it focuses almost exclusively on adding value to the business

Enter The Professional Business AnalystEnter The Professional Business Analyst

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Typical Business AnalystTypical Business Analyst

40 years old

Well educated

Paid $78K per year

Hails from IT

More than 5 years experience performing BA functions

– 36% > 10 years

Analysis skills acquired on the job

Disturbingly, they report

– Most of their projects do not deliver all requirementsSource: The New Business Analyst: A Strategic Role in the Enterprise,

November 2006 Evans Data Corporation Research Study

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Ambiguity in the BA RoleAmbiguity in the BA Role

Business Analysis 29.3%

Project Management 18.7%

Developer, Engineer, Development Lead

15.4%

Subject Matter Expert, Domain Expert 13.5%

Tester, Test Lead 10.1%

Other 13.0%

Source: The New Business Analyst: A Strategic Role in the Enterprise,

November 2006 Evans Data Corporation Research Study

Conclusion: there is a need for Business Analyst competency and career path definition

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Business Analyst Career PathBusiness Analyst Career Path

Level Proficiency Responsibilities Competencies

Strategic Ability to perform strategic tasks with minimal direction

Strategic PlanningEnterprise AnalysisMentoring

Business & IT StrategyProgram and Portfolio Mgt.Systems Engineering, BPR, Six SigmaEnterprise ArchitectureBusiness Case Development

Senior Ability to perform complex tasks with minimal coaching

Elicit, Analyze, Specify, Validate, Manage Requirements

Business & IT DomainsProject & Program Mgt.Systems Engineering, BPR, Six SigmaRequirements Engineering

Intermediate Ability to perform simple-to-moderately complex tasks with minimal assistance

Elicit, Analyze, Specify, Validate, Manage Requirements

Business &/or IT DomainProject ManagementBPR, Six SigmaWorkshop FacilitationRequirements Modeling

Associate Ability to perform simple tasks with assistance

ScribeSimple modelsHelp Desk support

PM/BA PrinciplesBPR, Six Sigma PrinciplesBusiness Writing

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Technical Analytical Business Leadership

• Systems engineering concepts and principles

• Fundamentals of business analysis

• Business process improvement and reengineering

• Fundamentals of project management

• Complex modeling techniques

• Ability to conceptualize and think creatively

• Strategic and business planning

• Capacity to articulate vision

• Communication of technical concepts to non-technical audiences

• Techniques to plan, document, analyze, trace and manage requirements

• Communication of business concepts to technical audiences

• Organizational change management; management of power and politics

• Testing, verification, and validation

• Requirements risk assessment and management

• Business outcome thinking

• Problem solving, negotiation, and decision-making

• Technical writing • Administrative, analytical, and reporting skills

• Business writing • Team management, leadership, mentoring, and facilitation

• Rapid prototyping • Cost / benefit analysis • Business case development

• Authenticity, ethics, and integrity

• Technical domain knowledge

• Time management and personal organization

• Business domain knowledge

• Customer relationship management

Staffing Surveys Reveal Increasing Demand for Senior Staffing Surveys Reveal Increasing Demand for Senior BAs Who are Multi-SkilledBAs Who are Multi-Skilled

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Business Analyst Organizational PlacementBusiness Analyst Organizational Placement

Level Organizational Placement

Strategic Part of an enterprise-wide PMO or center of excellence with a strategic focusWorking on pre-project analysis, serving as BA for strategic initiatives, and managing projects for value

Senior • In IT (67%)• The business may not take ownership of problems

• In BU (10.8%) • Difficult for BAs to feel like a “community of practice” and hard

to manage BA standards and improvements

Intermediate Usually placed in IT

Junior Usually placed in IT

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BA Role - The PastBA Role - The Past

Elicitation AnalysisElicitation Specification Validation andDocumentation

Requirements PhaseRequirements Phase

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For the system architect, poor requirements results in– A disconnect between what IT builds and what the business

needs For the project manager, inadequate requirements lead to

– Poor estimates– Time and cost management becoming virtually impossible

For the business– Challenged/failed project– Business needs not met

Getting Requirements RightGetting Requirements Right

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BA Role - The FutureBA Role - The Future

EnterpriseAnalysis

Strategic Planning Requirements Design

Construction Test DeliverOperations

andMaintenance

Deactivate

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What do Today’s BAs Really Do?What do Today’s BAs Really Do?

Enterprise analysisBusiness architecture

Opportunity analysis

Problem analysis

Solution feasibility analysis

Business case development

Solution assessment and validation

Benefits measurement and management

Requirements managementPlanning

Elicitation

Analysis

Specification

Validation

Change management

Communication

Organizational changeOrganizational readiness

Organizational change management

Business artifacts: business policies, procedures, rules, training, retooling, restructuring

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EnterNew Mkts

Increase

Quality

GrowMarket Share

ReduceCosts

ImproveShopper

Experience

Certify 1000 Reps

Coaching

Job-related

e-learning

HigherHiringStds

LearningManageme

ntSystem

TMMNAITF*

In-storeLearningKiosks

ContentAcquisitio

n

Training

Policy

etc.

DB Boxes Apps etc.

Certificate

Process

The BA Drives Strategic AlignmentThe BA Drives Strategic AlignmentThe BA Drives Strategic AlignmentThe BA Drives Strategic Alignment

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Strategic Business Analyst Role: Strategic Business Analyst Role: Managing the Business ValueManaging the Business Value

1. During the project life cycle

– Once projects are funded, they must be managed throughout the project life cycle to ensure that the business case remains valid and continued investment in the project is still warranted

2. After solution delivery

– Once the project delivers the new business solution, the Business Analyst ensures organizational measurements are in place:

– Actual benefits that are achieved vs. – Benefits promised in the business case

3. For solution enhancements

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Business Solution ValueBusiness Solution Value

Cost to Develop, Operate and Retire the Solution

Business Value

Deployment

Value = Benefits – Costs to Develop, Operate, Retire

Project Costs

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The BA & PM partner to conduct requirements phase planning and to

Understand (or create if non-existent)– Business vision, drivers, goals and objectives – Business needs, environment & constraints– Business case, project charter, and scope definition

Assemble and educate the requirements team

Define the requirements artifacts to be produced (documents, graphs, models, matrices)

Develop the requirements management plan– Use your PM to help plan requirements activities

Requirements PlanningRequirements Planning

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Discovery– Interview management and end users– Review current business process, supporting systems,

studies– Document business problem and opportunity

Current Vs. future business architecture– Develop/refine current state models (“As Is”)– Develop/refine future state models (“To Be”)

Scope statement, WBS and scoping models– Start with information in the business case– Build to clearly defined and approved scope– Use Problem Domain (aka Conceptual Domain)

models to describe the context in which the business solution will operate

Business Planning & Scope DefinitionBusiness Planning & Scope Definition

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Conduct requirements gathering sessions with customers, users, and stakeholders

Requirements gathering techniques include– Requirements workshops– Discovery sessions– Interviews– Surveys– Prototyping– Note taking and feedback loops to customers, users, and

stakeholders Acquire/hone your facilitation skills!

Requirements Elicitation and DiscoveryRequirements Elicitation and Discovery

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Requirements Analysis ProcessRequirements Analysis Process

2. Decomposingrequirements

4. Studying and assessingrequirements feasibility

5. Prioritizingrequirements

1. Modelingrequirements

3. Confirming Scope

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Structure requirements information into various categories

Evaluate requirements for selected qualities

Represent requirements in different forms

Derive detailed requirements from high-level requirements

Negotiate priorities

Determine function and performance characteristics

Define context of implementation

Identify stakeholder constraints, measures of effectiveness, and validation criteria

Requirements are first stated in simple terms, then decomposed, restated and captured to:

Requirements Analysis – The KeyRequirements Analysis – The Key

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What is Requirements Modeling?What is Requirements Modeling?

Describes requirement using specialized notation, languages, and symbols

Goal:

– Simplify reality and filter out “noise”– Aid understanding of complex systems and processes– Provide different views and perspectives on what is important to different

audiences– Assure that all aspects of problem are considered– Translate more easily into solutions

Because you have multiple models that you can apply, you need to know their strengths and weaknesses to be effective in their use.

Since each modeling technique has its pros and cons, to be effective you will want to have several requirements modeling techniques in your toolkit.

Source: Scott W. Ambler 2005

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Modeling CategoriesModeling Categories

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What is Requirements Specification?What is Requirements Specification?

Process of documenting a system’s requirements in a structured, shareable, and manageable form

Structures functional and supplemental requirements

Provides structured requirements repository with attributes specified

Source: Karl E. Wiegers, Software Requirements

Business Need

WrittenFunctional

Requirements

Graphical Functional

Requirements

SupplementalRequirements

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The Importance of Requirements SpecificationThe Importance of Requirements Specification

The amount of information we must manage increases rapidly as we move lower down the pyramid

Prepares for requirements allocation

Provides foundation for requirements traceability (ability to follow a requirement forward and backward)

Accomplishes cross-referencing of project deliverables

Needs

Features

Business Solution Requirements

Modified from Dean Leffingwell

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Identifier – a unique reference

Acceptance criteria – nature of the test to demonstrate the

requirement has been met Author

– who wrote the requirement Complexity

– how hard the requirements will be to implement

Ownership – the individual or group that needs the

requirement Performance

– how the requirement must be met

Priority – the relative importance

Source

– who requested the requirement Stability

– how mature the requirement is, to determine whether the requirement is firm enough to start work on

Status – indicating whether it is proposed,

accepted, verified with the users, or implemented

Urgency

– how soon the requirement is needed

Assign Requirement Attributes for ManageabilityAssign Requirement Attributes for Manageability

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How Do I Recognize “Good” Requirements?How Do I Recognize “Good” Requirements?

“Good” Requirements The requirements have been specified

uniquely in well-written, unambiguous language

Absent duplicate or overlapping requirements

Stated in their entirety

Do not make assumptions about how the requirement will be implemented – solution free

Not outside the capability of current technology

Used to conduct further analysis

Reduced rework caused by defects in requirements

Invalid Requirements: Incomplete in some way

Vague

Ambiguous

Inconsistent

Incorrect

Un-testable or not measurable

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Requirement Guidelines and PitfallsRequirement Guidelines and Pitfalls

Guidelines: Use natural non-technical

language

Text Vs. diagrams:– Use clearly written text Vs.

diagrams for the precise definition of concepts

– Use diagrams to express structure and relationships

Pitfalls: Incomplete understanding

– Failing to ask for clarification Incorrect interpretation

– Applying personal filters to the information that alter the intent

Writing about implementation (the how) instead of requirements (the what)– Implementation decisions should be deferred to

as late a point in the requirements gathering process as possible

Using undefined acronyms

Using incorrect sentence structure

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Requirements ValidationRequirements Validation

Benefits

– Defect reduction: avoid errors before they propagate to later development phases

– Reduce project risk– Reduce ambiguity in requirements– Improve planning – Avoid insufficient involvement from

development team– Address issues of minimal specifications

Understandability

Ambiquity

Sweet Spot

Requirements validation is the process of evaluating requirement documents, models, and attributes to determine whether they satisfy the business needs and are complete enough that the technical team can commence work on system design and development

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Requirements Phase ExitRequirements Phase Exit

Prepare for Phase Exit:

– Conduct requirement risk identification, analysis and risk response planning

– Develop detailed plans for design and construction phases

– Update business case– Conduct phase exit control gate

reviews

Prepare for Requirements Management:– Baseline requirement specifications– Ensure requirement documentation

is structured and easily accessible

– Develop requirements change management plan, process, and tools

– Communicate need for requirements change management process, change control board (CCB), roles and responsibilities

– Begin to build the requirements traceability matrix and process

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Allocating requirements to different subsystems or sub-components of the system.

Tracing requirements throughout system design and development

Managing changes and enhancements to the system to add, delete, and modify requirements during all phases of the solution development life cycle

Continue validating and verifying requirements to:– Ensure the system satisfies the

customer – Determine whether the system

satisfies specifications and conditions imposed upon it by the requirements

Requirements ManagementRequirements Management

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Organizational Change ManagementOrganizational Change Management

Planning for the organizational change is often overlooked by IT-focused project teams, including:

– Business unit knowledge and skill assessment– Training/retooling/acquiring staff for skill gaps– Reorganization– Communication– Managements’ role in the championing the change– Updated policies, procedures, business rules

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Requirements Best PracticesRequirements Best Practices

Stakeholders actively participate Confirm scope with customers and sponsors Focus on how, not what Prioritize needs, wants and desires Deliver in increments Speak business and user terminology Ensure management support Choose the right size modeling and documentation effort

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Ranks of IT and the business– As the IT development role is being outsourced, business

savvy IT staff are transitioning into the role of BA Expertise

– Conventional business knowledge – Supplemented by IT domain knowledge

As with any leadership role, competency comes from:– Acquiring education and training– Seeking mentoring and coaching– Leveraging organizational support– Jumping in headfirst to learn the discipline

Where do Exceptional Business Analysts Come Where do Exceptional Business Analysts Come From?From?

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Business outcome thinking

Ability to conceptualize and think creatively

Capacity to articulate vision

Interpersonal skills, ethics, and integrity

Negotiation and conflict management skills

Customer management skills

Analytical and communication skills

Broad (not deep) IT technical knowledge

BA Development Program: BA Development Program: It’s More About the Business than ITIt’s More About the Business than IT

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It’s a difficult and risky business

– Requirements definition is difficult – Estimation of IT projects is often unreliable until requirements and the

solution are well understood

Requirements change because:

– Difficult to articulate – always unclear in the beginning– Iterative nature of requirements definition– Dynamic business environment

Concepts to consider

– Firm basic requirements – not expected to change– Iteration – the best defense against ambiguity– Agile requirements – allows requirements to emerge– Scalability – barely sufficient is enough to move on

Final Words: Final Words: Requirements Engineering ConsiderationsRequirements Engineering Considerations

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Lean methods alone will not ensure project success

Follow the Recipe For Project Success

– Ingredients:Ingredients: minimization, communications, standards– Mix withMix with: full-time core team (business analyst, project

manager, business visionary, lead architect/developer) coached by an involved project sponsor

– Bake:Bake: no longer than six months, no more than six people, at no more than $750,000

Source: Standish Group International, Inc., Unfinished Voyages, A Follow-Up to The CHAOS Report (1999)

Recipe for Project SuccessRecipe for Project Success

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Kathleen B. (Kitty) Hass, PMPKathleen B. (Kitty) Hass, PMP303-663-8655303-663-8655

KHass@managementconcepts.comKHass@managementconcepts.com

For Further InformationFor Further Information