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Entries for the 'SDLC, Process, and Methodologies' Category

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

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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...

» 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: 3 misconceptions I would like to see removed from the Agile Extension to the BABOK®

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3 misconceptions I would like to see removed from the Agile Extension to the BABOK®

The Agile Extension to the BABOK® describes “business analysis areas of knowledge, their associated activities and tasks, and the skills necessary to be effective in their execution within the framework of agile software development”. Below are 3 misconceptions that, in my opinion, the current draft of the Agile Extension is helping perpetuat...

» Methodologies & The Dance of the Fairies

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Methodologies & The Dance of the Fairies

In a nutshell, a methodology represents a series of steps in a project specifying Who is to perform What, When, Where, Why, and How (aka, "5W+H"), from start to finish. Perhaps the best way to think of a methodology is as a roadmap or an assembly line where a product is developed over a series of work stations.

» FEATURED: Lean Six Sigma for non-industrial organizations

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Lean Six Sigma for non-industrial organizations

Lean techniques use a process-oriented approach. In non-industrial organizations however, the process is invisible. In order to apply Lean techniques successfully in this environment, the visibility of processes has to be significantly increased. Employees have to learn to look at their organization from a process viewpoint. Furthermore, it is impo...

» FEATURED: Agile vs. Traditional... - Part III: Winning Through Integrative Thinking

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Agile vs. Traditional... - Part III: Winning Through Integrative Thinking

Instead of taking for granted that either you find a flavor of agile that will fit the needs of your organization, or you must completely dismiss the use of agile methods, a much more valuable approach is to determine, for each individual project, which agile concepts should be embraced or not.

» Iterative Analysis and the Diminishing Business Strategy

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Iterative Analysis and the Diminishing Business Strategy

Many IT managers have chosen to execute long-term projects in an iterative approach rather than a single linear fashion. This approach is not necessarily agile as the methodology is still “waterfall”-based but rather a series of waterfall executions (or terraced). This approach introduces new challenges for business analysts.

» FEATURED: Agile vs. Traditional... - Part II: Methods are a means to the end of project success, not the end themselves

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Agile vs. Traditional... - Part II: Methods are a means to the end of project success, not the end themselves

By taking a closer look at how your company is developing software, and what is working for projects with different profiles, it’s possible to leverage winning strategies and hybrid approaches to make your software initiatives equally or more successful in the future.

» FEATURED: Understanding and Managing Agile Transitions

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Understanding and Managing Agile Transitions

Software development process is undergoing seismic shift from traditional waterfall software methodologies towards agile methodologies. Agile software development methodologies deliver high quality software products in rapid iterations with high flexibility and adaptability to changing conditions. This article discusses the dynamics of agile projec...

» Three Types of Design Effort

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In I.T., are we really spending too much time on "maintenance"? Within any systems development organization, there are but three types of work effort: new systems development, maintenance, and modification/improvements. A mature development organization will spend approximately 5% of its time on new development, 10% on maintenance, and 85% of...

» FEATURED: The Next Wave: Valuable Products First, Process Second

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The Next Wave: Valuable Products First, Process Second

I'm hearing the word "value" a lot lately. This is partly because the economic downturn has us looking to get the most for our money. But that's not all. More and more managers, business analysts, programmers and testers are talking to me about value. They are concerned that their products provide value for their end users. Many of them express a k...

» Information Systems Theory 101

(6571 Views) (1 Comments)

Systems work is not as hard as you might think. However, we have a tendency in this business to complicate things by changing the vocabulary of systems work and introducing convoluted concepts and techniques, all of which makes it difficult to produce systems in a consistent manner. Consequently, there is a tendency to reinvent the wheel with each ...

» FEATURED: The Agile Business Analyst: Eyes for Waste

(12089 Views) (3 Comments)

Lean processes—whether you’re building bicycles, assembling TV dinners, or developing software—are all about value. Activities like rework, reprocessing, reformatting, storage, handling, and sign-offs are not valuable. In lean terminology, they’re waste.

» FEATURED: Integrating and Understanding Standard Business Analysis Methodologies To Develop New Technology Hybrids

(13713 Views) (1 Comments)

Across North America, businesses in all sectors are adopting standard development methodologies to turn out a higher quality of goods and services. The tried and true approaches that have yielded such great results for competitors are heralded as best practices. But here is the sad news: no one methodology fits all. In fact, different methodologies...

» FEATURED: Agile Business Analysis: Interview with Scott Ambler

(24194 Views) (18 Comments)

Whether you’ve never heard of Agile or you just finished your nth Agile project, you need to understand that Agile is here to stay! Are you, the Business Analyst, an extinct species in this new world? Is your career changing? Do you need new skills? Agile guru and visionary Scott Ambler talked with Adrian Marchis, ModernAnalyst.com's Publishing Ed...

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Business Analyst Articles: Business Analysis & Systems Analysis

Entries for the 'SDLC, Process, and Methodologies' 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 'SDLC, Process, and Methodologies' Category

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