Managing Business Analysis Services

A Framework for Sustainable Projects and Corporate Strategy Success

Barbara Davis

• Publisher: J. Ross Publishing
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN: 9781604270792
• eBook ISBN: 9781604277333
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Project Management
• Index: Business

This unique desk reference offers the information, models and guidance needed to plan and deliver complete, end-to-end business analysis services. Its step-by-step approach enables maximum utility of the business analysis (BA) role, development of more complete solutions for meeting the strategic goals of a business, and dramatic and sustainable improvements in project success rates. Managing Business Analysis Services: A Framework for Sustainable Projects and Corporate Strategy Success provides chief information officers, business analysis managers and consultants the information required to maximize the efficiency and productivity of technology projects, obtain higher returns on investment from BA services, reduce operating costs, and increase alignment of products to better serve the company or the client organization.

EXPOSING BUSINESS
ANALYSIS THEORIES
AND PRACTICES

This section provides a pragmatic view of business analysis services, and how those services are managed and delivered in today’s marketplace. Within this view, business analysis is an ad hoc role that is inconsistently delivered across multiple projects, from resource to resource, and is equally inconsistent when the same resources deliver the same services multiple times.

In addition, this section discusses two primary business analysis services models (the current, as-is model and a new, proposed optimized model) and introduces the concept of Business Analysis Stewardship. The discussion is intended to expose the inherent weaknesses in the management of business analysis, and then propose an alternative solution.

The current model is inconsistent and chaotic, being highly subjective to the whims, interpretations, and applications of individuals within specific companies. It is predicated on a rudimentary understanding of business analysis, which has only a very small margin of commonality amongst practitioners and companies that employ business analysis resources.

The proposed model is an optimized one that displays the central tasks and functions of business analysis as a driving force for the translation of strategic goals into practical solutions for the business in order to ensure complete alignment between what is needed and what is actually being built. The optimized model is founded on the principles of a planned and managed approach to business analysis, as well as the idea that business analysis is a catalyst for the sustainability and continuity of the business through technology.

Finally, this section introduces the concept of Business Analysis Stewardship as a fundamental obligation on the part of business analysts to ensure the protection of the client organization’s interests and assets through careful planning and management, and by employing financially sustainable methods. This is a new concept that elevates the role of the business analyst to the role of strategic partner with the business in order to help that business achieve its goals and continue to remain viable. This information can be used to empower business analysis managers and resources and to enable CIOs to quickly move beyond their current project challenges to a more streamlined and viable model for business analysis. This model presents a stronger means of achieving greater alignment between business, strategy, and information technology.

The key precept is that the objective of business analysis is to safeguard and protect the interests of the business. This objective is accomplished by creating solutions and products that enable the strategy to be realized, and by utilizing fiscally sustainable practices in the creation of those solutions. However, it also demands an approach that is carefully planned, managed, measured, monitored, and controlled, so that it may be optimized through a continuous improvement process.

Again, the most prolific model that is being applied today is fundamentally flawed, serving to exacerbate underlying problems within business and technology organizations, and ultimately leading to project challenges and failures. In some cases, where the failures mount and recovery actions are not taken, the results can be catastrophic failure of the business.

While this section effectively “kicks the tires” of business analysis in theory and in practice, it is meant to shatter the myths of business analysis, shake up technology management, and remove the complacent attitudes toward this critical function. The intent of this shake up is not only to talk about the elephant in the room, but also to provide management with a realistic alternative to leaving things as they are.

MISCONCEPTIONS,
PROBLEMS AND THE
AVERAGE BA MODEL

Business analysis as a discipline has been around in one form or another for over a decade. No matter what you call it, or how you prioritize it, its roles and expectations are roughly the same: Enable the development of technology products that more closely align to business and consumer needs. Business analysts do this by understanding the problems, limitations, needs, business model, and the industry, and then utilize their understanding of that information to define requirements for a solution.

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS

Unfortunately, there are a few misconceptions about business analysis, and there are also misconceptions about the significance of the roles that analysts play in the continuity of the overall business. One misconception is that business analysis, in and of itself, is wholly the task of defining and creating requirements. In essence, the business analyst is regarded and then treated like an “order taker.” This means that most analysts are not given opportunities to contribute fully towards the business goals and objectives by getting involved in the creation of a solution.

What is being missed is that the business analyst is in a unique position to be a key enabler of the long-term strategy and goals of a business simply because of the types of solutions that are needed, and the specific accumulation of knowledge and skills that they must have and be able to draw from in order to be successful within their positions. While it is appropriate to delegate and allocate specific tasks within business analysis according to levels of knowledge and experiences of the individual resources involved, the technology industry and business community at large must recognize that business analysts have the ability and unique insights to play a more critical role in the successful realization of strategic plans through the development of solutions by which the business will bring its strategic plans to life and meet their overall objectives.

It must also be recognized that, in the same way that a server at a restaurant helps to create an experience for the patron or diner and plays a critical role in the overall dining experience, the business analyst is equally involved in the creation of the experience of the business customers (both internal and external). Indeed, when the wait staff engages the customer in conversation and offers recommendations for the meal and various side dishes, the customer has a more rewarding experience and is far more likely to continue to return to the restaurant.

As a case in point, several years ago I stepped into a Fortune 500 outsourcing company as the Senior Business Analyst. My objective was simple: I was hired to set a standard for the business analysts within the company. The company was dealing with some common industry-wide issues with the placement of business analysts, and faced stiff competition from other boutique vendors with a more formalized structure in place to manage and govern business analysis. At that point in time, the customer satisfaction scores for business analysis averaged 2.5 to 3 points out of 10. The analysts themselves were struggling and feeling neglected by the executive management. Morale was quite low among the team and within individual team members.

To start my work, I began creating the processes that all business analysts would be required to utilize in order to conduct their tasks and activities. I devised training programs to roll out the new processes quickly and effectively, and authored role descriptions, a competency model, and an assessment framework for screening all business analyst candidates. I quickly found myself in high demand for interviewing prospective candidates. I also started getting calls from account managers to make recommendations for specific roles within their accounts. During one such conversation, where I was being asked by an account manager for a recommendation of an available business analyst resource, I realized that I had no idea who was available because I had not yet been made privy to that information.

Shortly after that discussion, I was asked by that same manager to prepare a resource forecast for the remainder of the year. I realized that I could not do that, either. So, I brainstormed on how I was going to accomplish both tasks and get the blessing of upper management to do it. I made a quick presentation to my manager about how I needed to “take stock” of the existing business analyst team before I could complete the forecast that was requested. I also mentioned that I had been getting requests for resource recommendations and could not make any because I did not know the majority of the analysts on the team. I argued that this assessment effort could accomplish both objectives.

Since I already had the framework for conducting assessments in place, and it was well implemented into our interviewing processes, I requested authorization to use the framework to conduct assessments of all permanent, internal business analyst resources. My point was that I could make well-informed recommendations and complete the necessary forecast with a more accurate picture of the numbers of analysts already on board, including current project allocations and domain knowledge, as well as skill levels.

Using this framework, I personally screened over 300 analysts for this company, and in doing so, discovered quite a lot about the business analyst talent pool. This effort, in turn, drew the attention of other groups that had been trying to accomplish the same standards, and so I started getting calls to support their internal framework development resource pool assessments. I was shocked to learn that groups like the project management office (PMO) had been struggling with completing this task for over two years! I initially started getting calls because they wanted to know how it was that I had managed to accomplish the task single-handedly within only seven months. Their interest peaked when they learned that it was completed in a manner that was 100% billable.

I learned a lot from this experience in terms of motivating others through structure and accountability. Successful business analysis requires the practitioner to be an expert in processes and requirements, and a generalist in every other aspect of business. I had utilized simple techniques for requirements and business analysis to create the processes and frameworks, then utilized my knowledge and experiences in inventory control, human resources management, conflict resolution, training, and leadership to support the people as part of finalizing the infrastructure. Management also caught a glimpse of how the application of this type of accumulated knowledge and skill, with a clearly defined structure or framework in place, can impact the internal and external customer experience. The BA team became highly charged, cohesive, and motivated, and the company’s customer satisfaction scores for business analysis jumped to an average of 6 to 7 out of 10. We implemented the structure and organization, and they ran with it.

Homeless: A Business Analyst’s Life

Without the adequate management, structure, and framework for performing the job of a business analyst, there is a resemblance to the displacement of homeless people. Business analysts move from project to project like temporary shelters that give them a sense of empowerment over their situation for a short while, but in the end, they almost always have to move on.

Whereas homeless people have little or no shelter from nature or other people, many business analysts do not have the protection and shelter that comes from having a structure within an organization where they belong, and where they could grow and thrive. The analysts go on about their work on requirements as if it is the most important work in the world. However, there often seems to be little recognition of the value of that work by the business stakeholders or their technology peers, who are looking only at the bottom line in terms of how much time it will take or how much it will restrict their ability to be creative in development.

Like the homeless, there can be little or no routine or predictability in the work of a business analyst because there are so few standard frameworks to provide that level of guidance for them. Analysts trying to change their circumstances often look like the guy on the street corner carrying an “End of the World” sign, warning of the doom and gloom of the shared situation.

However, it does not have to be this way. Business analysis managers and BA communities can make a difference and change this underappreciated situation. Many business analysts do not report into a formal operational structure. They report temporarily to project managers and recruiters, but for the most part, do not have the basic infrastructure that so many other roles within an organization take for granted. It is infrastructure that enables personal and professional growth, job satisfaction, leadership, consistent improvement, and ongoing performance. Each of these attributes of infrastructure has a direct and indisputable, deterministic impact on the end product and the quality of the work done to build that end product. This lack of infrastructure for business analysts is definitely a problem that needs to be properly addressed.

CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Many companies are transitioning to a Center of Excellence (COE) as a model for building a structure, a formalized process, and consistency. While I can attest to the merits of this model (having built several from the ground up for clients), this is not a permanent solution until we start really looking at building out a full-scale operational and delivery model for business analysis as a part of the organization. Until that structure exists, Centers of Excellence are only like temporary housing; they lack the stability and continuity of an operational model.

Does that mean that Centers of Excellence are not important? Absolutely not! Centers of Excellence are absolutely valuable in that they provide and foster skills within all members of the organization to readily adopt a business analysis group, and for the business analysts themselves to internalize the structure and processes advocated by that Center.

In fact, Centers of Excellence can be quite dynamic and foster a level of innovation and leadership that you may not see within a typical business model that comes with a standardized organizational structure because every member of the team contributes and adopts more accountability and responsibility for the ownership of processes, templates, and events. The Center becomes a focal point for learning and knowledge-sharing in the same way that coffee houses often spark pedagogical debates and discussions among college patrons.

COE as a Functional, Educational and Unifying Force

As a case in point, an outsourcing consulting firm was searching for someone to set the standard for all of the business analysts within their company. I w...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• About the Author
• Web Added Value™
• Section 1—Exposing Business Analysis Theories and Practices
• Section 1—Conclusion
• Section 2—Introduction: Managing Business Analysis Services
• Section 2—In Conclusion
• Section 3—Introduction: Creating Seamless Transition Points Across Delivery and Engagement
• Section 3—Conclusions About Service Delivery and Engagement Models
• Section 4—Introduction: Transitioning to a Managed Business Analysis as a Service Model
• Section 4—Conclusions About Transitioning to a Managed Business Analysis as a Service Model
• Epilogue