2. The IT Business Alignment Problem
Far too many IT projects fail to meet
•
business expectations
The Standish Group estimates an IT project success rate of
only 65%, and reports more than 80% of projects fail to meet
business expectations*.
So what can IT leaders do differently?
•
Source: 2006 Fourth Quarter Research Report: Where Will the Money Go?” - The
(*)
•
Standish Group.
3. The Business Analyst Role
• Regardless of the job title, a strong,
experienced business analyst is critical
to IT project success.
• Simply put, for most projects, without
a well-understood and validated set
of requirements, it is virtually
impossible to meet project
objectives.
4. The Business Analyst Role
• The business analyst is typically responsible
for:
– defining the business need
– managing solution scope and requirements
– translating business issues to developers, and
technical issues to business representatives
– modeling, validating, prioritizing and documenting
requirements
– testing and validating the solution
– acting as a liason among project stakeholders.
5. Business Analyst Challenges
• Knowledge and skills. Business analysts often lack
necessary analytical and problem solving skills.
• Barrier vs. Bridge. Business analysts sometimes assume
too much influence over project decisions and stand
between the technical and business communities, instead
of serving as a facilitator and enabler by bringing these two
groups to the table.
• Analysis Paralysis. Business analysts are often tempted
to overanalyze, expanding the analysis period rather than
using an interactive, incremental process that progressively
refines the requirements’ level of completeness and detail.
6. The Grooming of the Business Analyst
• How do IT organizations develop the
exceptional business analysts needed to
bridge the gap between the business and
technical communities?
• As with any other leadership role, competency
comes from acquiring education and training,
mentoring and coaching.
7. Business Analysis Seminar
Course Objectives
• Understand the key concepts, tasks and techniques
related to the business analysis practice.
• Learn how to:
– identify and involve the right people in the requirements
elicitation process;
– select the most appropriate business analysis techniques,
such as brainstorming, interviews, process modeling, etc.
based on the circumstances of the business problem;
– recognize and classify different types of requirements
(business, stakeholder, user, functional and non-functional);
– write quality requirement statements utilizing standard
formats to improve clarity and ensure consistency of
interpretation.
8. Business Analysis Seminar
Duration & Intended Audience
Duration
Three Days (24 course hours).
Intended Audience
Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, Project
Managers, Lead Developers and others who
have primary responsibility for gathering,
documenting, validating, and managing
changes to requirements.
9. Business Analysis Seminar
Course Outline
DAYS 1 & 2:
• Business analysis fundamentals
• Requirements planning and management
• Requirements elicitation, analysis and documentation
DAY 3:
• Analysis techniques and their applicability on real projects
10. Our Experts
The 2wtx Business Analysis Seminar is developed by 2 experts in the field:
Adriana Beal received her B.S. in electronic engineering and an MBA in strategic management of
information systems from two of the most prestigious graduate schools in Brazil. Since 2005 she is the
Lead Business Technology Consultant at ThinkInternational, a NY-based human capital boutique (now
ThinkBRQ). For the past 10 years, she has been providing business analysis consulting services to a
diverse client base, including major U.S. financial institutions. In 2005 she received an O-1 – Alien of
Extraordinary Ability visa from the U.S. in recognition for her achievements in the IT management field.
Her most recent academic publication is an article for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE) on strategic resource management in e-commerce environments.
Renato Cabral has a master’s degree in computer science and has accumulated over 15 years of
experience designing and implementing robust software solutions for companies like Bank of America,
Sheetz, SalesGene and ATM Corporation. Renato currently leads the team responsible for the
development and maintenance of mission critical applications supporting Bank of America’s loan
syndication business, run by over 300 users managing deals totaling hundreds of billions of dollars
annually.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at info@2wtx.com or visit our website:
http://ba.2wtx.com.
