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Entries for the 'General Business Analysis' Category

» FEATURED: Facilitating virtual meetings

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I learned this in a virtual meeting where about 10 stakeholders were invited to give input to a mock-up created by our project. They were all subject matter experts within the area, and had earlier provided some input on an individual basis. I walked through the whole thing, and what happened? There were no comments or suggestions. I couldn't ...

» FEATURED: The 3 types of hybrid projects, and how they affect the business analyst’s work

(1538 Views) (7 Comments)

The 3 types of hybrid projects, and how they affect the business analyst’s work

I’ve written in the past about why hybrid approaches that incorporate traditional and agile methods of software development are been applied by organizations seeking to improve the results of their software projects. Here I’ll describe the 3 types of hybrid projects I have identified while working with different organizations in consulting assignme...

» FEATURED: Business Analyst Checkpoints: Checkpoint Alpha

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Business Analyst Checkpoints: Checkpoint Alpha

There are three basic checkpoints the business analyst can facilitate to help ensure that he or she is on the right track. Two are informal, merely a get-together with other parties to review the situation and not fraught with the imprimatur of approval. The other is a more formal presentation. I’ll address each of the three checkpoints in this ser...

» FEATURED: Business Analysts: Choosing Sides

(2034 Views) (3 Comments)

... it became clear to me that it was time to revisit the core role a business analyst fulfills in an organization. In my experience thus far, well over 75% of the business analysts I know report through the IT side of their organization. Of the 25% that report through the business side, most have a primary responsibility that is outside of the typ...

» FEATURED: What’s Really Needed to Align Business and IT Part 2: Strategy for a Business Solution

(2042 Views) (1 Comments)

What’s Really Needed to Align Business and IT Part 2: Strategy for a Business Solution

Does your requirements approach allow you to reliably identify blind alleys and showstoppers before your company invests large sums in modeling and software development? What’s missing? Most organizations do follow some project management approach. Do you find yours really helps in answering big-picture business questions?

» FEATURED: The Virtual BA (Business Analyst)

(2730 Views) (4 Comments)

As I've had the honor and privilege of mentoring and coaching business analysts (BA’s) one of the areas that has been a challenge to some is moving from facilitating and eliciting face to face meetings to facilitating and eliciting virtual meetings. More and more BA’s are working remotely, work for companies who have global businesses as well as co...

» FEATURED: Case Study: Using the Decision Model to Decompose Underwriting Calculations

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Case Study: Using the Decision Model to Decompose Underwriting Calculations

The project involved updating a quote process and the technologies underpinning that process, this included dealing with an underwriting calculation, which was embedded partly in the legacy systems and, partly, in heavily manual processes. The project team could not determine how to unpick this calculation and provide a detailed specification to a ...

» FEATURED: Which Should Come First, Requirements Management Tools or Processes? Hint: It’s Not What You Expect!

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Which Should Come First, Requirements Management Tools or Processes? Hint: It’s Not What You Expect!

I was asked my opinion about whether I’d want project managers to focus on processes first or tools first. Without hesitation, my response was “I don’t really care whether project managers focus on process or tools first,as long as they don’t get in the way of our doing good business analysis!”

» FEATURED: The 21st Century BA: The Adaptive Business Analyst

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The 21st Century BA: The Adaptive Business Analyst

Employers are looking for critical thinking and an ability to adapt, invent, and reinvent; collaborate, create, and innovate; and an ability to leverage complexity to compete. Standout companies are using projects as the hotbed of creativity – so that means BAs and PMs have to step up their game. According to the 2011 CHAOS Report from The Standish...

» Book Review: Building Business Capability by Ron Ross and Gladys Lam

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Book Review: Building Business Capability by Ron Ross and Gladys Lam

Ron Ross and Gladys Lam have written an important book for the business analyst community. It aims to get business analysts out of the technology ghetto that many of us get stuck in. Regardless of the type of analyst you are, I think it would be worth your time to get your hands on and read this book. I’ll explain why below.

» FEATURED: What’s Really Needed to Align Business and IT Part 1: Creating True Business Solutions

(2760 Views) (3 Comments)

What’s Really Needed to Align Business and IT Part 1: Creating True Business Solutions

So many IT projects ultimately end in failure and are simply written off. Same old story, time and time again. Why is it so hard? Why can’t we figure out beforehand whether some solution will actually work once we roll it out? Most project management approaches and many IT methodologies include steps for building business cases and provide guidelin...

» When Not Knowing The Answer is OK - Especially for the Business Analyst

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When Not Knowing The Answer is OK - Especially for the Business Analyst

Your meeting is underway and while you’re attentively listening to the business SME explain the detailed process for transferring a policy from one agency to another, you find yourself feverishly jotting down notes as the nuggets of information being thrown out are too juicy not to capture. Then it hits you: you have no idea what the business SME i...

» FEATURED: It’s a New World for the Business Analyst: We need to Grow up Fast!

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It’s a New World for the Business Analyst: We need to Grow up Fast!

In many organizations, culture and conventional wisdom make it difficult for the BA to break out of mostly tactical roles within projects. However, in many ways, the future competitiveness of your organization (and consequently of your future employment) depends on it! So don’t blink or you will miss out on the best BA opportunity of your career.

» FEATURED: True-to-Life Business Models: How Business Rules, Business Decisions, and Business Events Relate

(2356 Views) (1 Comments)

True-to-Life Business Models: How Business Rules, Business Decisions, and Business Events Relate

A business model should include behavioral rules, decision rules, operational business decisions, and operational business events — all as first-class citizens. Understanding their intertwined roles is key to creating top-notch business solutions and business operation systems unmatched in their support for business agility and knowledge retention....

» FEATURED: Top 10 Key Business Analysis Trends For 2012

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Top 10 Key Business Analysis Trends For 2012

I’m pleased to continue to uphold: the unveiling of this year’s top 10 business analysis trends. This year business analysts (BAs) will need not only the balanced portfolio of technical and business skills they have been perfecting, but also a more comprehensive perspective in order to meet the challenging business environment of 2012.

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Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'General Business Analysis' Category

Join the Premier Community for Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals, Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…

Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'General Business Analysis' Category

Join the Premier Community for
Business Analysts, Business Process Professionals,
Systems Analysts, Data Analysts, and more…