I have been thinking a lot recently about what I would expect if I were hiring a Business Analyst.  My expectations are very different if the person is a starting Business Analyst, or someone with a few years experience, or someone very senior.

For a starting Business Analyst, I would expect the person to be able to elicit, organize, and verify information with the project stakeholders. Notice I do not say to elicit requirements, but rather to elicit information. I think it takes more experience to be able to determine what the actual requirements are, and this requires a person to be skilled in analysis techniques. The starting Business Analyst should have strong communication skills – listening, speaking, and writing – with people who have a wide variety of personalities and knowledge bases. I expect to spend more time with a starting Business Analyst, reviewing his or her work, guiding, and mentoring.

I expect my mid-range Business Analyst to have strong analysis skills. This person needs to be able to review a lot of information, determine the actual requirements and their priorities, write the requirements in the most appropriate form for the project, and manage the requirements throughout the project lifecycle.  The mid-range Business Analyst will take on more leadership activities, and will be more self-directed. I expect to spend less time with the mid-range Business Analyst.

I think that a senior Business Analyst will be more of a specialist. This person might decide to become more of a project manager, or might focus on human/computer interaction, or develop more technical skills to work more closely with the development team. The senior Business Analyst will be completely self-directed.

Employers tend to focus heavily on subject matter expertise, which in practice I have found to be the least important part of my job. There are plenty of Subject Matter Experts (SME) at any company, and I work closely with them. As a Business Analyst, I am really a communication expert, and I have been extremely effective in that role in many companies. But it can be hard to sell yourself to an employer that way, especially at the beginning, so developing subject matter expertise in order to get your foot in the door is a good plan.

Keep in mind that the point of a Business Analyst job is not the subject matter expertise. Rather, work to develop good Business Analyst skills of elicitation, analysis, communication, and management of information and people. This will allow you to more easily transition jobs in the future, because your work is not dependent on a particular industry.

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Now it is your turn.

Think about the Business Analyst job. What do the best Business Analysts do? What is a good transition path from starting through senior level positions?

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Resources for Business Analysts site at http://www.writingusecases.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as a Business Analyst in IT.

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I work on a lot of really large software projects.  Over the years, it has become clear to me that three roles, and the interactions between people in those roles, are really vital for the success of a software project. These three roles are the Project Manager, Business Analyst, and Project Architect. This article discusses these three roles and their interactions.

The Project Manager is responsible for interactions with the Project Sponsor, and for managing the people, budget, and schedules of the project. The Business Analyst is responsible for determining the goals and business requirements of the project, communicating that information to the project team and project stakeholders, and verifying that the goals and business requirements are met. The Project Architect is responsible for determining the technical requirements of the project, interacting with Enterprise Groups to determine Enterprise level technical requirements for the project, and for guiding the technical team in the implementation. Decisions made by one of these people will impact the work of the others, so all three people work closely together throughout the project to accomplish the goals of the project.

In a very small project, the three roles may be filled by one person. In very large projects, each role may be a lead over a team of people who fill the role.  There could be a Project Manager managing a group of  assistant Project Managers, a Lead Business Analyst managing a team of Business Analysts, and a Project Architect managing a team of Software Architects and Designers.  This is not theory – I have often worked on projects large enough to require teams of people to fill these roles.

In this approach of sharing the project leadership between three roles, the Project Manager is ultimately responsible for the success of the project. The Business Analyst and the Project Architect report to the Project Manager, but being senior members of the team, they will often interact with the Project Manager as peers, each bringing a particular viewpoint and set of concerns to their meetings about the project.

The Project Manager, Business Analyst, and Project Architect meet regularly (at least weekly) to talk about the project and any issues that need to be addressed. Some issues will be resolved by one role, while others may require the collaboration of all three roles to resolve. It is important to the project that the three people in these roles respect each other’s expertise and talents. A smooth working relationship between the three roles leads to a smoothly running project.

Some projects may require additional leadership roles, such as a Deployment Manager or Test Manager.  So the leadership team may be larger for those projects.  I focus on the roles of Project Manager, Business Analyst, and Project Architect because every project I have seen needs leadership in those areas. The larger the project, the more work there is to do, and the more need there is to divide these roles among multiple people all of whom have leadership responsibilities.

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Now it is your turn.

Think about projects you have worked on.  How did the relationships between the Project Manager, Business Analyst, and Project Architect affect your project?  What other leadership roles have you seen on a project team?

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You are invited to re-publish articles from this blog, in your publication or website, as long as the article is intact and you include the following Byline paragraph (with live links) after each article you use…

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* Article used with permission from Wyyzzk, Inc.’s Resources for Business Analysts site at http://www.writingusecases.com This website of reports and tips contains information to help you succeed as a Business Analyst in IT.

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Jason and I spent yesterday at a one-day class given by Edward Tufte on better ways to present data and information.

Wow!!

This was really worth our time. The cost is very reasonable for a one day professional course, and you get a set of all four of his books included in the price.

ET’s books are really great, but being there in person made such a difference. Listening to him talk about why he suggests various designs for information, and what is wrong with so many presentations of information, made a huge difference in my understanding of the topic.  Plus I got to watch a master presenter at work; I could watch how he presented his own information and learn from that as well.

For more information about his class, how to order his books, and access to his blog (Ask ET), go to his website www.edwardtufte.com

Best -

Geri

© Christophe Baudot . Image from BigStockPhoto.com

Iain: Hey – Look at this press release.
Karen: What about it?
Iain: Wyyzzk, Inc. and Procuit Inc. are announcing the release of a new website for the professional development of Business Analysts.
Karen: Ho hum. Not another one.
Raj: Wyyzzk – isn’t that Geri’s site? You know, the one where we get all those great tips?
Iain: Yes. And this new site is really different.
Karen: How so?
Iain: Well, they are planning to use Lean Startup and Agile software techniques to let users plan the features and development.
Karen: Really? They are letting us plan the site?
Iain: That is what it looks like.
Raj: I see there is an audio interview of Geri telling her vision for the new site. Let’s listen.

Press Release

Wyyzzk, Inc. and Procuit Inc. Bring Professional Development Services to Business Analysts in Information Technology
Interview with Dr. Michael Hudson
The Big Idea Guru

3 minute interview on new site

There will be a lot more information over the next few weeks. For now, see this press release that announces the product:

Wyyzzk, Inc. and Procuit Inc. Bring Professional Development Services to Business Analysts in Information Technology

I am REALLY excited about this!!

Geri

Geri,

My comment had to do with Agile programming. The problem I see is
getting a customer to pay for something without knowing what the final
cost will be and what final functionality will be included. 

For example, we are an application service provider (ASP).  We create
the software apps and provide the servers and data stores for our
customers who log in remotely. We are in the transportation management
industry.  We manage rail and truckload (multimodal) shipments for
railroads.

They pay hundreds of thousands of dollars up front and a per transaction
fee that amounts to millions over the life of their contracts (multi
year).  We become a core business process for our customers. 

I don't see how a new customer will sign up for our services with all
the TBDs of Agile.  They won't be able to sell, "trust me", to their
boards.

I like the idea of building small parts and letting the users try it
out.  We are bringing a new way of doing business to our customers.  But
there still needs to be a fairly detailed plan with costs, time lines,
and a good idea of functionality to be delivered.

Thanks,

Steve O

What feedback would you like to offer Steve? Who has experiences with Agile they would like to share?

Geri

I want to be more effective at providing you the information you need.

Because I want to help out more people, I’m asking you to help me by answering a couple of questions.

Please post your answers as comments to this post. You will see a comment link in the header of this post. Click that link to find the comment box.

Thank you!

Geri

• Assuming you are working as a Business Analyst, what kind of information do you need in your job? Where do you go to look for that information?

• If you are not working as a Business Analyst, but want to be, what kind of information do you need to prepare to be a Business Analyst? Where do you go to look for that information?

For clarification, imagine that there is somewhere a database of information you could access to do your job. What would you put in that database?  While domain specific knowledge (insurance, finance) would be useful, I am more interested in finding out more basic information that any Business Analyst would need to know.

I thought today I’d provide an example of the summary of one such description. I wrote this about 13-years-ago for an exercise in teaching how to write such a document. We looked at the fast-food restaurant McDonalds as an example, and I took as my focus the restaurant operations. (as opposed to delivery chain, backend operations, etc…)

Without further ado, here’s an example of how to write a business description summary in clear, and understandable English fit for executive sponsors.

Andrew Midkiff, Guest Blogger

The Encoding of Gastronomic Utopias in America:  The Construction of an (Arch)typical Kroc.

Our investigation of the structures of significance within the context of a late 20th c. McDonalds begins by presenting a perspective of the physical environment wherein the geometric and topologic economies operate as grids of certainties: networks of predictability and predication for the staging of behavioral routines, and episodic frameworks for inter-nutritional contact and avoidance.  In this sense we will see the restaurant as a matrix of ideological instruments for creating and sustaining an edible complex.

We shall see that the inner space is delimited by the panoptic locus of the counter from which perspective the customer and employee, the eater and the eaten can participate in their dialectic of consumption.  We will investigate the ubiquitous sign of the “golden arches” which serve to encompass Ray Kroc’s own regime of legibility within which fast food and its imagery (which is to say its ideologies) can be reckoned with, in the dual sense of that phrase — simultaneously _coped_ with and _thought_ with.

Dominating the view of this locus of commercial volubility is the menu, a given but dynamically changing matrix of food choices.  The menu is never neutral.  The surfaces and boundaries of dietetic dogma, the visibilities and occlusions of taste serve to track, measure, control and predict behaviors over space and time.  The realities it fabricates and maintains are invariably fictive — an ideologically-invested perspective on the proper gastronomic realities of individuals, groups and classes. In this sense, there is no menu which is not in some way a utopic fiction — or, more accurately, a matrix of varied and often conflicting fictions.

Thus the menu actively participates in this simulcrum of cuisine by establishing and maintaining a particular form of subjectivity — a perspective from which given, eaten meals cohere and appear ordered, legitimate and nutritious.

Enjoy! And for more hints on how to write this way, let me suggest the works of Donald Preziosi.

Andrew

I would love your feedback on it.

You can find the document here: What Are Requirements

Geri

In spite of serious security breaches in 2008, Mr. Kelleher states that organizations will continue to view security as an afterthought rather than a critical business consideration.  I agree that a business that does not see the value proposition in security investments is less likely to make such investments.  In order to raise information security as an agenda item to a board of directors, we must make a business case for it.

In “A common sense way to make the business case for software assurance”, several models for the communication of security investments are presented.  Among them is the balanced scorecard.  This model examines the organization through the use of four metric perspectives:

• Financial
• Internal Business Processes
• Learning and Growth
• Customer

The Financial metric requires accurate and timely information about the fiscal health of the company.  This includes data on assets, liabilities, and risks.  All investments boil down to an analysis of this metric.  Thus, the financial impact of a security solution must be communicated appropriately.

The Business Process metric allows executives to ensure that processes are meeting business requirements.  This metric is a powerful driver for change in business strategy.  Rather than struggle with existing processes and culture, security professionals must strive to design solutions that leverage these elements.  While change is sometime required, this change must be fostered by the leadership in order to be successful.

The Learning and Growth metric examines attitudes towards corporate and self improvement.  Learning extends beyond the immediate enhancement of knowledge.  If inculcated into the business, it can change the way the business competes for the better.  Given the value of intellectual capital, security proposals must highlight the educational enrichment they have to offer.  A workforce that understands how to counter the risks faced by the organization adds greater value to the bottom line.

Lastly, the Customer metric is an indicator of market satisfaction in the products and services offered by the business.  This metric includes the reputation of the organization.  Security professionals must show how their proposals will enhance customer satisfaction.  The must also show how the business can enhance its value proposition via security investments.

If information security professionals discuss security within this framework, they can communicate the business value of a given set of solutions.  By speaking the language of business they can get the attention of those in control of the budget.

I welcome discussion from my readers on how to sell security to business people.