Analytical and Problem Solving Skills

I measure the success of my 50+ year career in IT by the positive feedback I’ve received from colleagues, stakeholders, students, and readers. I started as a Cobol programmer, progressed to software analyst/designer, and for the last 30 years have performed the role of business analyst. Interspersed in those years I’ve shared what I’d learned through writing, teaching, presenting, and mentoring. This article discusses the top seven “Takeaway Points” from the over-30 BA resources I’ve produced related to requirements for information systems.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has drastically changed the business world, allowing companies to get useful information from huge amounts of data. The job of business analysts is very important in this change because they connect raw data to strategy decisions. One new skill that can help them make a bigger difference is prompt engineering, which is the art and science of making exact inputs to get the best results from AI models. By acquiring this skill, business analysts get insights that have never been seen before, Utilize AI solutions to fit the needs of their organizations, and stay necessary in a time when technology is fast pacing.

Software consultant Tim Lister defined project success as “meeting the set of all requirements and constraints held as expectations by key stakeholders.” There’s a vast body of literature on software requirements. In contrast, little is written about the various kinds of constraints that stakeholders might impose on a software initiative. Identifying, communicating, and working within constraints are essential aspects of successful software development. Let’s begin with a definition:

“A constraint is a restriction that limits the choices available for a product’s specification, design, construction, configuration, or project management.”

A software initiative is subject to three major classes of constraints: product, project, and process.

I don’t know if you are, but I am a very visual person.  When I see a diagram or process flow it helps me understand concepts quicker than reading it solely in text.  I have found that my mind just works that way and I tend to always make pictures when I am breaking down something complex or trying to understand a concept. I have found I even document my personal and professional goals visually and I do that through mind mapping.  I have found mind mapping to be a great way of brainstorming and organizing my thoughts and I want to share the magic of mind mapping with you. 

In the intricate world of business analysis, understanding the complex interactions between various economic agents is crucial for making informed decisions. One tool that plays a pivotal role in comprehending these interactions is the Circular Flow Diagram or CFD. Originating from the field of economics, this visual representation has found its way into the toolkit of business analysts, offering a holistic view of how money, goods, and services circulate within a vertical industry or within an organization. In this article, we delve into the essence of the Circular Flow Diagram and explore its applications in the realm of business and systems analysis.

Business Capabilities are at the heart of an organization’s planning ecosystem. Capability mapping serves many purposes, two of which are critical. First, business capabilities are instrumental in setting priorities more quickly focusing on the most profitable initiatives first. Second, well crafted detailed capability-based roadmap allows agile project planning that is more accurate, less risky, and takes less time.

As Business Analysts, when we’re at the sharp end of solution delivery that doesn’t match a customers needs, at that time it just can’t be rectified and we can’t help thinking that we might have been able to prevent this at the early stages. In this article we’ll explore 3 ways to get out the trap of being solution oriented up front to shift more into the problem and needs to get better requirements. 

We hear the buzzword “business transformation” everywhere. It has become almost expected of any organization to announce they are on their digital transformation journey. What does it mean?

There are many definitions of digital transformation. This abundance points to a broad interpretation of the term. The ambiguity of these statements reflects vague expectations of many organizations embarking on their “digital transformation journeys”.

When engaging on projects we need to lead our clients to get the outcomes we need for analysis. If we act passively and don’t take charge then they’ll take things all over the place and create chaos. In this article we’ll explore how a problem statement acts as a powerful tool to keep control of our engagement and analysis right through the project lifecycle.

Thanks to infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) architectures, the utility of and business case for model-driven, no-code and low-code platforms have become more compelling than ever. More and more enterprises are entrusting their digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and business process management objectives to model-driven, no-code or low-code business application platforms.  These model driven platforms also raise the bar for the business process modeling skills of the business analysts, systems analysts and process owners who use them.

There’s always more than one design solution for a software problem and seldom a single best solution. The first design approach you conceive won’t be the best option. As one experienced designer explained it:

You haven’t done your design job if you haven’t thought of at least three solutions, discarded all of them because they weren’t good enough, and then combined the best parts of all of them into a superior fourth solution. Sometimes, after considering three options, you realize that you don’t really understand the problem.

I was teaching a business analysis course recently and noted that few students had used a Fishbone Diagram along with the Five Whys for root cause analysis. This motivated me to write an article on root cause analysis using the combo method along with a short example.

It is strange how something that is supposed to be simple is actually so complex.  Something that is supposed to be a matter of linear career progression can actually end up in a state of a continuous loop, with no way of terminating such a loop.  A point of stagnation and frustration. This is a quandary facing many intermediate business analysts. They do not know how to shift gears and move one notch up and be senior business analysts - who play a strategic role in helping their business stakeholders bring their strategies to life through the right initiatives.

The COVID-19 crisis is reshaping businesses and livelihoods, and seasoned and new BAs alike have an unparalleled opportunity to put their analytical skills to great use. Whether you are still employed, or has been laid off or furloughed, now--while we navigate the pandemic crisis—is a good time to demonstrate the value of business analysis and the contributions you can bring to your current or future employer. Here are three examples of how you can accomplish that.

This final article in the Requirements in Context series discusses detailed requirements for a fully automated business activity. ‘Fully automated’ means that the business information system (BIS) is expected to perform the activity from start to finish without user involvement. A simple example is the system automatically posting a monthly fee against customer accounts. A more complex example is the system utilizing customer-specific pricing details to determine the amount charged for a purchase made by a customer.