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Author: Marcos Ferrer

Stories from the Front!

Written by Marcos Ferrer on . Posted in Articles.

We are STILL receiving REAL news from BAs and CBAPs at the front lines.  Check these samples out, and send me an email ([email protected]) letting me know which one(s) you relate to the most, and sharing YOUR story.

Story 1

I spent about six months refusing a Connecticut based Enterprise Architecture-based job.  This was all related to my BA resume and CBAP certification.  Recruiters simply wouldn’t go away, though my on-line profile and response was always clear – “not going to Connecticut”. 

In the meantime, I got a few direct phone calls, from hiring managers – a little more fun than recruiters – and landed a contract to assist a government agency implement some BA BOK based standards.  For me, this is a dream job, a chance to help create an environment where BA is supported (even championed?).

After four months, things are going pretty well – executive involvement is way up, and stakeholders are eager to move to next steps.

The backing is all due to IIBA, the BA BOK, and the CBAP, vendor neutral certification.  As always, I am just one more voice in the project, it is the BA BOK that speaks surprisingly loudly, and surprisingly effectively.

Story 2

Not much has changed for me – I have been in a stable, and respected and supported position for several years.

AND we did have some hairy debates concerning data vs. business data vs. data modeling and who had influence and responsibility – my use of the BOK helped settle the matter more quickly and easily.

Story 3

I was engaged by a government agency to introduce BA standards and practices.  They worked with me for over nine months, and loved my work, BUT finally told me that they just weren’t ready to make such big changes.

After consulting BOK I realized that I had allowed myself to work on a TO BE, without insisting on eliciting an AS IS.  Next time I will not miss this, and will be able to tailor BOK to the actual situation, instead of the ideal one.

De du, de du, de du…that’s all folks!

Keep sending me your war stories!

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NEXT MONTH: YOUR STORY HERE or I will be forced to tell mine!

Thanks to my gentle readers for their frankness and willingness to share.

More shall be revealed. Have fun!

Stories from the Front!

Written by Marcos Ferrer on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Stories from the Front!

We have received REAL news from CBAPs at the front!  Check these samples out, and send me an email ([email protected]) letting me know which one(s) you relate to the most, and sharing YOUR story.

Story 1

I wrote and passed my CBAP in April of this year.  In February I was assigned to a new project and since I was deep into study mode, I was able to apply some new stuff I had learned to the project I was on.  I continue to refer to the BABOK regularly, refreshing my existing skills and utilizing new knowledge wherever I can.

In July, my manager interviewed a number of people for my mid-year performance review.  The Business Service Owner of my project told her that until now he had never really understood what it was that a BA did, and that I had raised the bar for the other BAs in the company.

Wow!

Story 2

Up to the moment I was certified I was convinced that I was pursuing a worthy goal.

Most people in the profession have been quite supportive but . . . those outside it seem bored or threatened by it.

After receiving my certification, there has been some resentment felt by me from other analysts and from IT architects.

There has been a certain amount of derision and mockery – one fellow began teasing me about my use of the CBAP designation (in my e-mail signature for example) as if I was trying to assume airs.

I think we have a LONG WAY to go to achieve any appreciation for what the designation means.

Story 3

Here are a few observations and experiences since certifying:

A better perspective on the big picture, maybe this is just my “proudness” of being a CBAP!

I have a better approach to BA work; from the high-level business  requirements to functional.

I have read more articles about PM/BA and about BA with Agile (we currently use Scrum).

In my travels, I still see the need to educate people on what a BA can do for a project!

I have gained more appreciation to work towards Enterprise Analysis and how BA can really make an impact with this.

NEXT MONTH

YOUR story here – or I will be forced to tell mine!

Thanks to my gentle readers for their frankness and willingness to share.  More shall be revealed.

Have fun!

Will the First CBAPs Be a Credit to the Profession? Well Will You?

Written by Marcos Ferrer on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Will the First CBAPs Be a Credit to the Profession? Well Will You?

Behold the world’s newest shortest BA column (a new record after last month – next month will undoubtedly tend back towards the mean, as do all things).

Obviously, at this moment, this column cannot answer the question it poses – it can only pursue it (no, not because I ran out of time to write, but because there IS NO INFORMATION on how this is going.

I put the question to all 400+ CBAPs – you know who you are, and it is time to lead by sharing.

Be a credit to your profession! Send me your testimonials about observations and experiences since certifying (use [email protected]).

Tell your story in a paragraph or so – no names required – and next month I will “anonymize”, “abstract”, and “analyze” these stories for any patterns or hints at what the future holds.

That’s it for this month – THIS IS IMPORTANT – enquiring minds want to know!

Will PMI Agree that BA Must Precede Projects?

Written by Marcos Ferrer on . Posted in Articles.

Behold the world’s shortest BA column (well, for me so far, anyway):

We have been discussing the great challenges to BA that I listed a few months ago.

Last month I dumped my own idea – that of having professional recognition for BAs at the level of accountants and attorneys. Not having it or having it – either way it is a great challenge for the profession (for now, we hide, not knowing what to do).

This month, I make the following points about PMI and IIBA cooperation, the second great challenge:

Many PMPs, upon first meeting a CBAP (myself) say: “I wish they would turn you guys loose before management just dumps some of the “projects” (actual word was not projects) they dump on us!”

Point well taken – it is a lot easier to make project estimates and plans when decent scoping and some due diligence (requirements and stakeholder investigation) is done up front.

When things do change, they are likely to be less radical, or if radical, they tend to pay of way better for the trouble taken to discover them (always remember that every project is a “team PhD” research effort, and change can be good when learning leads the way).

It is not fair to dump on PMPs. It IS dumping when a list of what Ivar Jacobsen calls “requirements assertions” gets laid on a project manager with a budget and a deadline. I get to say this because usually the PM dumps it on me (the BA), so I know, I know.

I acknowledge that this approach does not violate the rule of “you can tell me how fast, you can tell me how much, or you can tell me how good – pick any two”.

It doesn’t, because management only tells how long and how much – they typically DON’T tell how good, they just pretend they did, so they can complain and blame when they don’t get what they “wanted”.

Finally – how the HECK does anyone do earned value, when they aren’t even sure what anything is worth?

I call on PMPs to acknowledge this pre-project “analysis” gap, and to support BAs in the important task of filling it.

Don’t go crazy – not every project is worth a business case, and doesn’t that say something right there?

Let me know if you agree.

First Critical Issue – NOT!

Written by Marcos Ferrer on . Posted in Articles.

The first great challenge I listed last month was:

  1. Will the society at large empower BAs to operate at the level of professionalism required of (say) accountants (transparency, completeness, accuracy)?

Why might we want this?  Would it really make things better for project outcomes?  Would it help our professional success?  Watch me contradict myself!

Let’s brainstorm a little.  Don’t accountants “ruin projects” in their own way?  Sure they do.  How about:

  • Enron’s creative accounting, with the knowledge of the CFO (Fastow)
  • The failure of Baring’s investment bank, due to a one month long, 29 billion dollar speculative binge by a single young trader (responsible accountant’s name unknown).
  • Which accountants were overseeing the enormous investments being made in sub-prime mortgages?

What these all have in common is that certain members of each firm, who happened NOT to be accountants (except for Fastow, who clearly was in a position to know better), used their power to bypass accounting standards, intimidate and manipulate the accountants (aren’t you on our team?), and to invent new, unsustainable pyramid schemes, commonly known as no-brainer market opportunities (this stuff is only illegal for small operators like you or me).

This is similar to what happens in some projects: A PM, or executive sponsor uses their power to bypass the business investigation, analysis and due diligence performed by some BA.  The outcomes vary from unnecessary extra costs to complete project failure, sometimes even in the billions of dollars.

The difference is that the responsible accountants in the financial projects tend to go to jail.

Hmmm, maybe we don’t want this – can you imagine yielding to some PM’s pressure to stretch the rules, and ending up in jail when things go wrong?  You think maybe we wouldn’t like this? 

THEN WHY DO WE DO IT TO ACCOUNTANTS?  What is different?

The answer to this question tells us how to change challenge #1.

Mere certification cannot resolve these issues, AND it is a good start.  If you believe, like I do, that BA must rise in our society, please contact me with your ideas – we must lead, or continue to follow, and I for one am tired of being an armchair quarterback.

Thanks for being my reader, if this inspired you at all, please make a comment, so BA Times can know that we care.

Have fun!