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New Post 2/16/2009 6:58 AM
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User is offline Jocelyne Messih
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Business Process Analysis and Requirement Analysis within the same project 

Hello,

Picture a large CRM project which envolves IT and process reigeneering. A bunch of business analysts and another bunch of business process analysts. What do you tackle first ?  Requirements or Processes ? Which one feeds the other ? Also, BA and BPA want to get information form the same user community. Is combined workshops (requirement elicitation and process analysis and documentation) the solution ?

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or experiences on this.

JM

 
New Post 2/17/2009 12:29 AM
User is offline Adrian M.
764 posts
3rd Level Poster




Re: Business Process Analysis and Requirement Analysis within the same project 

 jmessih wrote

A bunch of business analysts and another bunch of business process analysts. What do you tackle first ?  Requirements or Processes ? Which one feeds the other ? Also, BA and BPA want to get information form the same user community. Is combined workshops (requirement elicitation and process analysis and documentation) the solution ?

Wow... it sounds like a project with a role identity crises.

I think I've mentioned this in a recent post but a BPA (Business Process Analyst) is a BA (Business Analyst).

So... regardless of the title, everybody needs to be on the same page as to the goals and vision of the project.  The business has decided to spend lots of $$$ to achieve some result or to solve a problem - make sure everybody is on the same page as to what that is since, on the same project, the BA & BPA should have the same goal - perhaps slightly different responsibilities.  How is going to do what and in what order will depend on the type of project, the goals, the current state, stakeholder availability, etc.

Here are some thoughts (I'm assuming that the BA vs. BPA distinction must stay in your project - even though I'm not so sure):

  • Are there existing business processes in place?  If so, are these documented/mapped? If not then the BPA can at lest begin the process of identifying and documenting the existing business processes.
  • So what do you tackle first? Answer: the business need/problem!  Most business executives/owners/stakeholders do not wake up one day saying "I want to change my business process" out of the blue.  Change requests and requirements come from specific business needs, goals, or problems.
  • Do NOT make the mistake of sessions where the BA and the BPA meet separately with the business stakeholders!  That would only cause confusion and conflict.  There should be one head analyst (title is not relevant) or a team of analysts who are responsible for the analysis process from end to end: understand the business needs/problems/goals, gather requirements, identify and validate the solution.  Yes, the solution might involve changes to the business process but then it might not.

- Adrian


Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!
 
New Post 2/17/2009 5:45 PM
User is offline Jarett Hailes
155 posts
6th Level Poster




Re: Business Process Analysis and Requirement Analysis within the same project 

 I agree with Adrian's thoughts - this needs to be a coordinated effort between all pre-development personnel.  Also don't jump to conclusions about what needs to be business process change versus system requirements.  

In general I see the process for such an endeavour as follows:

  1. Understand the problem space.  That means coming up with a comprehensive view of current state.  Use whatever existing relevant artifacts there are, engage stakeholders to create whatever you need, but at the end of the day have a very good handle on the details of how things work now and how they relate to the general problem/goal the project is focused on.
  2. Analyze the current state with respect to the problem at hand - what options are there to solve the problem?  This is where you look at things from both a business process and IT solution perspective.  Get all the necessary people in a room for a given subset of process scope/functionality and hash out the options.  Perform whatever options anlaysis you need to in order to determine the best set of options that will solve the problem(s) at hand.
  3. At this point you will have a collection of recommended options which involve a combination of business process re-engineering and IT solutions (aka high level future state).  Validate this model with your users and then present your findings to your sponsors.  Get buy-in to proceed with gap, impact and transition analysis/planning for the process changes and requirements gathering for the system.  
 
New Post 2/18/2009 2:46 AM
User is offline KJ
243 posts
6th Level Poster


Re: Business Process Analysis and Requirement Analysis within the same project 

JM,

My take on this is:

1) Requirements come first. Why? Because process (or behaviour) is governed by requirements. This point is made by Fowler (of UML distilled fame) in his earlier works and its still true today!

2) BPA normally wants to know HOW things work, so that the process can be "improved" etc.   BPAs can sometimes focus too much on solution; which is akin to design. BPAs can get you into serious trouble as its gives you an SMEs perspective of how, he or she for example process an invoice. Process improvement falls into the design category, which is a HOW.

3) The BA wants to know WHAT processes are required. If you have time consult Yourdon's essential modelling technique - those of us familiar with DFDs know this intuitively. However, have a read of the first few sentences at http://yourdon.com/strucanalysis/wiki/index.php?title=Chapter_17#THE_ESSENTIAL_MODEL. How to get from HOW to WHAT.

All the best JM

warm regards,

K

 

 
New Post 2/18/2009 2:50 PM
User is offline Leslie
2 posts
www.umllmu.com
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Re: Business Process Analysis and Requirement Analysis within the same project 

My thoughts:

How can the BAs gather requirements if they have not identified a process for gathering those requirements?

My answer is process first,

then requirements,

then more process,

etc ..

then the final requirements.

I do not see any point in defining process after all the requirements have been documented.

Leslie.

 
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