Business Analyst Articles & Systems Analysis Articles

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“I may not know much about art, but I know what I like”. This famous punch line to a Monty Python sketch about a fictional conversation between a disgruntled Pope and innovative Michelangelo (who wanted extra disciples, multiple messiahs and a kangaroo in his first draft of the Last Supper), can also be seen to satirize our own modern fixation with...

» FEATURED: Objective Agility - what does it take to be an Agile company?

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Objective Agility - what does it take to be an Agile company?

Whether it is in software development, business analysis, portfolio management or business strategy, everyone wants to be Agile - and nobody wants to admit they aren't Agile. But what does it really take to be Agile? What is the state of Agility like?

» Agile Requirements: Not an Oxymoron

(6458 Views) (2 Comments)

Adult children. Jumbo shrimp. Seriously funny. I’m sure you recognize these expressions as oxymorons—self-contradictory phrases, often with an ironic meaning. Should we add “agile requirements” to the list? Does agile development fit in with traditional requirements practices? And if so, how?

» How to Deliver a Recommendation

(4193 Views) (2 Comments)

Like it or not, every business analyst will have to stand up in front of a group and present. The group might be your business clients, the project stakeholders or just your fellow team members but for many people, one of two things will happen: it will frighten the life out of them OR they’ll umm and ah their way through, sending the audience to s...

» FEATURED: Making the Most of Working with your Business Analyst Colleagues

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Making the Most of Working with your Business Analyst Colleagues

If you work with other business analysts, you are fortunate. Together with your colleagues, you can experience greater effectiveness than you could have achieved on your own. Additionally, your colleagues can provide you with a diverse and convenient pool of expertise from which to draw.

» FEATURED: Use Cases and Business Rules: Can They Work Together?

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Use Cases and Business Rules: Can They Work Together?

There is much written today about separating business rules from other dimensions of automated business systems. Without proper separation, they operate in enterprises without a great deal of thought given to them. Ironically, they may be the most important dimension because they represent important business thinking behind processes, use cases, fo...

» FEATURED: Systems Thinking: Management by Doing the Right Thing

(14482 Views) (3 Comments)

Systems Thinking: Management by Doing the Right Thing

What we have witnessed in the last 25 years is a series of programmes of change failing to achieve their intended outcomes. Customer Care, ISO 9000, TQM, ABC, BPR. All the research and experience show that the latest panacea does no better than its predecessors. Over and over again improvement programmes are thwarted by commonly-known but illusive ...

» FEATURED: A Baseball Analogy – Monitoring Processes through Leading and Lagging Metrics

(3867 Views) (1 Comments)

A Baseball Analogy – Monitoring Processes through Leading and Lagging Metrics

This article provides the business analyst an analogy on how process owners manage value chains by monitoring leading and lagging metrics. The article highlights the need for business analysts to provide process owners with these metrics. These metrics provide indications of positive and negative process and business risks. Examples of the traditio...

» FEATURED: Principles of Agile Architecture

(6168 Views) (1 Comments)

The benefits of Agile methods are becoming more obvious and compelling. While the most popular practices were developed and proven in small team environments, the interest and need for using Agile in the enterprise is growing rapidly. That's largely because Agile provides quantifiable, "step-change" improvements in the "big three" software developm...

» Measurably Improving Your Requirements

(3803 Views) (3 Comments)

Requirements continue to be a major problem area for most organizations. According to industry reports, the leading causes of quality, cost, and schedule problems are lack of understanding of the customer’s needs, incomplete requirement specifications, and managing changing requirements. In fact, requirements are so important that one of the defini...

» The Roles and Skill Sets of Systems vs Business Analysts

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The Roles and Skill Sets of Systems vs Business Analysts

The role of business analysts and systems analysts appears to be very closely related, and there is no agreement on the definitions of the roles or the required skill set to become one of the said analysts. Though the number of these positions is increasing, the understanding of what the business and systems analysts are remains unclear and differs...

» FEATURED: Video: What is a Senior Business Analyst?

(9009 Views) (10 Comments)

I get this question and variations of it all the time! What is a senior business analyst? What skills do I need to develop to become one? What are the most valued business analyst competencies? This is a tough question. And although finding the answer can be difficult, it’s also a tough question because it has multiple answers. Business analysis, ...

» FEATURED: An Overview of Requirements Elicitation

(9938 Views) (7 Comments)

A thorough discovery of business requirements is almost never readily available at an analyst’s fingertips—rarely can requirements be quickly looked up as one would gather information for a term paper or study for a test. Much of business or technical requirements is not documented anywhere—it resides in the minds of stakeholders, in feedback that ...

» FEATURED: Why Decision Tables are not enough: From Decision Tables to Decision Models

(5571 Views) (4 Comments)

Why Decision Tables are not enough: From Decision Tables to Decision Models

Decision tables have long been a successful technique for representing structured logic. Being visual, they circumvent the need for unnatural formal language or grammar. We use them not only to communicate that logic, but also to automate it. They are especially useful for validating the logic’s completeness and consistency. Yet, this article...

» FEATURED: Give Us Back Our Verbs!

(3331 Views) (2 Comments)

Data models and class diagrams are generally created to serve design purposes. If they include verbs at all, they are not vetted against business rules or other forms of operational business communication. Verbalization depends on well-constructed sentences, which in turn puts a premium on verbs. Fact models provide the basis for consistent and una...

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Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

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

Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

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