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

Programme/Project Manager
The sponsor will get it all,
now and for free

Owner/sponsor
I want it all
I want it now
I want it for free

BUSINESS
ANALYST

Subject Matter Experts/Users

We must have this
- and soon! or our business will fail

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

Sponsor:
Were going to the moon!

Project Manager:
ok, we have to planfirst off, SMEs, what do you need?

SME:
Well 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

Discussion

What do you think are

the other main causes of
project failure?

Why Projects Fail

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

More chaos stats, stats

and

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

Discussion

How can BAs mitigate the

main risks for project
failure?

Cost of analysis errors

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

Barry Boehm

100
80
60

100

40
20

Reqts

Design

Relative cost of
correcting error

Program

Test

14

Accept

33

Live

How much poor analysis costs

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.

Discussion

What do you think a business

analyst does?

Should PMs do what BAs do and

vice-versa?

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
UAT
specs

it is documented in products

Drivers

Objectives

Scope

Business &
Functional &NF
Requirements

TOR
BA products

Processes &
Data
Models

Tech
Specs
Extracted
data
Business
Procedures

Code &
Databases
Loaded
Data

Business
Training

BA product
application

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

Owners
defines measures of success and $targets
Business Analysts confirm & document

$Mone
y!

Strategists
Sponsors

determine the strategy to hit the targets

Business Analysts help research, create strategy, challenge & document

establish a Programme that delivers the strategy

Business Analysts document Programme TOR
and help build the Business Case

Programme Managers
Institute Projects that implement the programme
Business Analysts document the Project TOR

Project Stakeholders
Business Analysts specify requirements for
Projects (in the Business Model)

Solution Builders
build solution
Business Analysts protect requirements & document compromises

Project managers
Implement solution
Business Analysts help with
-Process and data migration
-Cutover planning
-Rollout

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

Solution Builders & Business

test solution
Business Analysts ensure tested against requirements

Users
Accept solution
Business Analysts help with

-$MEASURING $BENEFITS $REALISATION

POST-IMPLEMENTATION
Business Analysts feed back to the Owner how well their
measure of success has been achieved

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? Thats elementary, Watson.

Definitions from Encyclopaedia Britannica 2008

and theres 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

projectno-one else is accountable for
doing itwe 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?