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Entries for 'David Wright'

 I keep seeing in BA skill descriptions or in specific articles that ‘negotiation skills’ are a necessity for Business Analysts. I just don’t see it myself. Negotiation is a difficult activity for many people, and I see this trend as an attempt to offload negotiation to other people… like Business Analysts. Why do I feel this way? As an activ...
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This entry was published on Sep 12, 2013 / David Wright. Posted in Business Analysis, Analytical and Problem Solving Skills, Roles and Responsibilities. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
Agile is an attractive word. It means swiftness with discipline, with an emphasis on alertness to change in one’s external surroundings and quickly responding to change as needed. The word I want to focus on from above is "external". A prime example of the difference between internal (controlled) and external (un-controlled) is an operating enter...
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This entry was published on Apr 29, 2013 / David Wright. Posted in Business Rules, Agile Methods. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
For those of you who do define requirements for their software development projects, but are new to buying packages, a cautionary warning; they are not the same thing. Consider the following “the system shall” requirement  statements.   1) The system shall determine if a person ordering pizza is a current customer. 2) The system shal...
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This entry was published on Feb 08, 2013 / David Wright. Posted in Elicitation (BABOK KA), Requirements Analysis (BABOK KA) . Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
In the wide world of information systems, development of new software receives the most attention from industry writers. Whether it is traditional magazine articles and books, or blog posts, or discussions in groups on LinkedIn and other sites, it is all about “green field” development. However, when one considers the wider view of organizations c...
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This entry was published on Dec 30, 2012 / David Wright. Posted in Requirements Analysis (BABOK KA) . Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
  People expect a lot from their information systems, but it usually it comes down to one thing: the system has to do stuff. When you talk about systems, the verbs are active: the system is running, it is executing a function, the system is responding, ....   And what do you want it to do? You want it to do as much of your business p...
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This entry was published on Sep 01, 2011 / David Wright. Posted in Business Analysis. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
Let me reprise the words of Mr. Brooks ... “… the hardest single part of software development [remains] deciding precisely what to build." Fred Brooks Author of the 1986 paper "No Silver Bullet” The unspoken corollary to this is you have to be sure you don't build the wrong system. Knowing what and wha...
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This entry was published on Aug 24, 2011 / David Wright. Posted in Business Analysis. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
Back to the nasty question - what sort of Information System shall will we build? "What sort of system do you want?" "hmmm, one that processes all our customer orders, I think. What do you think, George?" "Well Fred, I suppose so, but I know it has to be fast, and run 24/7." "OK.........(???)" We already know the problem with asking people...
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This entry was published on Aug 16, 2011 / David Wright. Posted in Business Analysis. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
Software is a uniquely new invention, different than anything else we humans have come up with in the past. ... "The software-controlled electronic information system is fundamentally different from physical labor-saving devices such as the cotton gin, the locomotive, or the telephone. Rather than extend the ability of hand motion, leg motion, ...
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This entry was published on Aug 10, 2011 / David Wright. Posted in Business Analysis, Leadership & Management. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
Information Systems Users don't know what they want... So, don't ask them what they want: and definitely don't write some software and then say "how's this look?". On the other hand, don't have someone spend weeks talking to various people about what they want ( and not get to talk to other people ), write it all down and deliver a document, sayin...
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This entry was published on Aug 06, 2011 / David Wright. Posted in Elicitation (BABOK KA), Business Analysis. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
What do you need the most when eliciting Requirements? Face-time with Subject Matter Experts and their Managers.  As a Business Analyst employed in a typical organization, what is the thing you get the least of? Face-time with Subject Matter Experts and their Managers. Who will Subject Matter Experts and Managers make time to see? Outside Cons...
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This entry was published on Apr 28, 2011 / David Wright. Posted in Elicitation (BABOK KA), Business Analysis. Bookmark the Permalink or E-mail it to a friend.
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As we start a new year many of us will take the time to reflect on our accomplishments from 2012 and plan our goals for 2013. We can set small or large goals. goals that will be accomplished quickly or could take several years. For 2013, I think Business Analysts should look to go beyond our traditional boundaries and set audacious goals. Merriam-...
Recently, I was asked by the IIBA to present a talk at one of their chapter meetings. I am reprinting here my response to that invitation in the hope that it will begin a conversation with fellow EEPs and BAs about an area of great concern to the profession. Hi xx …. Regarding the IIBA talk, there is another issue that I am considering. It's p...
Continuing the ABC series for Business Analysts, Howard Podeswa created the next installment titled "BA ABCs: “C” is for Class Diagram" as an article rather than a blog post. You can find the article here: BA ABCs: “C” is for Class Diagram Here are the previous two posts: BA ABCs: “A” is for Activity Diagram BA ABCs: “B” is for BPMN

 



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