BA Role or Skill:

With David Mantica

ASPE Training
 Agenda
• A look at the SDLC – Moving to being a trusted advisor
– Crossing the Chasm – The outgrowth of the PM role
• What is a PM to do?
– Decisions in SDLC
– Career Path
– Overview and Roles in the SDLC
– Trusted Advisor pathway
– The Challenge
– Model of the Challenge
– Need
• BA brief history
– What is it
– Growth
• Disruptions
– Agile
– PMI PBA
• BA Evolution model
– BA evolutionary model
Section One

THE SDLC
 A Picture of the SDLC

The “Chasm”

The Business Camp The Technical Camp

Business Analysts
Internal Business Customers Project Managers IT Department

“Biz Talk” “Translators” “Tech Talk”

Systems and software must reflect the needs

of your business functions and your goals.
 Business Environment
Vision Values
Mission

Goals
and
Objectives

Business Needs/ IT Needs/

Opportunities Opportunities
Projects

RESULTS

STAKEHOLDERS
 Overview of the SDLC
• SDLC = Systems and Software Development Lifecycle
– Methodology used to build software or systems
– Positions in-between the business and hard core IT
– Organization that develops software and business systems for an
organization

• Positions in the SDLC can include:

– Process modeling (BPM)
– Requirements Elicitation (BA)
– Project / Portfolio Management (PM)
– Testing (QA, QC, Testers)
– Systems Architecture (EA)
– Developers/Programmers
 SDLC Overview
“In Project”
Phases Planning / Design / Acceptance /
Roles Initiation Requirements Development Testing Deployment
Approve project
Project
Allocate funds Approve Plan Approve changes Approve changes Approve changes
Sponsor Charter project
Investigate Begin WBS Monitor & control
Project Monitor & control Monitor & control
constraints Populate WBS Manage changes
Manager Write charter Complete plan
Manage changes Manage changes
Close project
Identify need Identify high-level Evaluate design Acceptance testing
Request project requirements implications Evaluate defect Evaluate defect
Customer Identify requirements Evaluate implications implications
Approve implementation Approve changes Approve changes
requirements Approve changes Accept product
Support acceptance
Document deliverables Validate design
testing
Analyze need Identify BA tasks implications
Triage defects Triage defects
Business Investigate options Document Validate
Maintain Maintain
Analyst Study feasibility requirements implementation
requirements requirements
Recommend approach Finalize Maintain
Support deploy-
requirements requirements
ment & training
Design test strategy Test software Support acceptance
Software Identify testing tasks Develop test cases, Test system integration testing
Testers Estimate effort data, etc Report defects Document defects
Change tests Test changes Test changes
Design software Deploy to acceptance
Deploy to test
Identify development Develop software environment
Software environment
tasks Unit test Correct defects
Developers Estimate effort Software integration
Correct defects
Implement changes
Implement changes
Implement changes Deploy product
 Defining Our Challenge

• Our development teams are building something that doesn’t

exist.
• The customer is attempting to describe what they imagine this
non-existent product should be.
• Our developers then try to imagine what the customer is
describing and the build the product they believe they heard
the the customer describe.
• And finally, the first opportunity anyone has to truly see if the
product built is one that the customer needs and wants is
after development is complete.
How do I get what I want from my efforts?

Where does software develop

fit?
 New Project Law: s + s + $ ≠ 
how Agile sees project world
on time all scope within budget happy customer

Schedule: Scope: Budget:

‣ Everything originally ‣ Did not spend a single
‣ Project delivered
requested is delivered cent more than originally

≠
within the timeframe estimated to spend
originally identified ‣ Everything delivered
works perfectly as the ‣ Did not need any
‣ No date slips additional resources,
customer requested, no
hardware, etc.
‣ Every milestone bugs
throughout entire
achieved project

+ +
 BA Brief History
• Software Engineers (very technical)
• Systems Analysts (Design Document)
– Connected by Architect work
• IIBA BA vision (2003)
– In project focus on need based on defined project
scope
• 2015 beyond “out of project” definition of
need and understanding of business function
– Enterprise Analysis / Business Architecture
 Critical SDLC Position: BA
Position Overview
– Enterprise Analysis (business case)
– Project scope
– Process modeling
– Requirements Analysis, Elicitation, Management
– Converting from technical (systems) to business (functional)
requirements

Position Profile
– Should act a lot like a Product Manager
– Should have solid user knowledge of system, power user
– Should be technical enough to “talk-the-talk”
– Much more concerned about outcome than budget, schedule or costs
– Must be able to state business case of system/software
 Who or What Governs the BA Role
International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)
– www.iiba.org
– Started in Canada, now based in Atlanta
– 11 years old
– BA Body of Knowledge (BABOK)
• Current version 2.0, but moving to 3.0 by late 2014 or early 2015
– Two certifications:
• Certified Business Analyst Professional (CBAP)
• Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA)
– New PMI-PBA certification potential impacts
Overall
– Still in infancy
– Doers know it and love it. Companies don’t know what it is or offers
– BA position means something slightly different to different organizations
– BABOK 3.0 getting a lot of negative feedback
 Growth in BA Role
• Median pay: $76,200
Top pay: $109,000
10-year job growth: 22.1%
Total jobs*: 544,400

• What they do all day? These tech experts keep companies

caught up with the latest technology to improve efficiency
and production. Better computer programs can mean big
cost cuts for businesses, so IT business analysts are in high
demand, especially these days. --J.A.

Source CNN Money

Section Two

DISRUPTION
 What is Agile??
Important Observation

Plan-driven Development VS. Adaptive Development

 Agile in a Nutshell

• Transformational way of working

• Built on a foundation of principles and values
– No one-inch-thick rule book
• From those values and principles come practices
– Like daily stand-up, retrospective, story points, etc.
• Practices are organized into flavors
– Agile “flavor” model on next slide

Highly extendable – very similar to open source

Scrum is to Agile like Red Hat is to Linux
The Mechanics of Scrum,
where does BA fit??
 BA Role In Iteration
• First off, Iterations are work-specific, not role-specific
• Work specific BA actions include:
– Chunk requirements into User Stories
– Provide input on need and prioritization of Stories
– Write non-functional test cases
– Perform non-function tests / acceptance tests
– Write specifics
– Write documentation / training

• In Iteration, work focuses on only one aspect of the BA

skill set. In Agile a lot of the role is in and around Iteration
zero
 Is BA Work A Role or a Skill?
• IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis)
– Sees the BA as a role
– Specific function in defining what is going to be done and
how it is going to be done
• Agile (the way of working)
– Sees the BA as a skill
– Focused around writing and managing requirements and
testing output at user interface level
• How does PMI see BA Work?
PMI-PBA Demographics and Certification
Vision
• Based on the make up of the PMI-PBA designation
PMI sees the BA as a skill
– It is something that can be added to a professional’s set of
skills and tools
– Anyone in the SDLC and beyond can gain these skills based
on their experience level
– The skills certified are tied to “in project” BA work
– The skills are transfer to what is needed in an agile
production environment
The BA Evolutionary Model
 BA Trends: “Out of Project”
1. Future State Modeling
1. Automation process and data flows

2. Enterprise Analysis
1. Reviewing solution options
2. Business case development

3. Business Architecture
1. Organization strategy and function by business unit
2. Planning organization adjustments based on automation / project goals
before project execution
3. In-depth understanding of business capabilities and functions
BA Career Path
Thank you!!!
I appreciate your time.

David Mantica
President, ASPE Training