ITIL for BAs – Part IX; BAs and ITIL Service Transition

Written by Terry Longo on March 17, 2009. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on ITIL for BAs – Part IX; BAs and ITIL Service Transition

So now we’re following good practices in both the BA space and the IT space around IT solution design. We’re taking into account not only the functional requirements but also the Quality of Service requirements represented by the ITIL Service Design processes.

One approach to understanding the importance of the BA’s involvement in Service Transition is to review its underlying policies. First, though, before we dive into those details, I’d like to emphasize (again, probably!) the following philosophical points:

IT’s focus is on the IT Service and its lifecycle, but the business solution that the IT Service is a part of undoubtedly comprises other elements that may be outside of IT’s scope (for example, internal or external marketing requirements, customer-facing collateral development, end-user training, etc.)
The BA would do well to consider the application of Service Management principles to domains outside of IT, as indeed, those non-IT elements of a business solution are as subject to lifecycle forces as the IT Services are.

My use of “BA” henceforth is referring to a business BA, one who is responsible for the entire business solution rather than just the IT portion. (The notion of where a BA is hosted in an organization has been treated, perhaps ad nauseam, in earlier columns and by other BAs.)

To this point in our ITIL for BAs series, we’ve looked at the specific ITIL processes within specific lifecycle phases. For Service Transition, we’ll first look at the policies upon which transition processes are based, as understanding those policies will greatly enrich our understanding of the value of those processes in delivering services that are valuable to the business. Let’s take a look at the first seven of 14 Service Transitions (the section number from the Service Transition book is included with each policy):

3.2.1 Define and implement a formal policy for Service Transition
At the core of both Business Analysis and Service Transition, we find the common element of managing change. The business and IT must work in lockstep in marshalling those changes from conception to operation. This synchronization is necessary to ensure that IT’s deliverables do indeed drive desired business outcomes.

3.2.2 Implement all changes to services through Service Transition
In days of yore, IT organizations began to recognize that a significant portion (I’ve heard figures as high as 80%) of incidents could be attributed to changes made to the infrastructure. One fundamental objective of Service Transition is to control changes in order to maintain a sufficiently high level of quality, both of the service being transitioned as well as of the services already in operation. The BA needs to be familiar with change procedures and policies to ensure that the constraints imposed by those procedures accommodate the business’s needs.

3.2.3 Adopt a common framework and standards, and
3.2.4 Maximize re-use of established processes and systems
The BA will producing artifacts that are inputs into various Service Transition processes. Furthermore, the BA is an important source of input to ensure that IT frameworks and standards are consistent with business frameworks and standards.

3.2.5 Align Service Transition plans with the business needs
I keep thinking about the issue of BAs “throwing the requirements over the fence” to the project team and then moving on to another BA activity. It is easy to find project post-mortems indicating that there was little or no match between the project’s deliverables and the business’s needs. (It is possible for a project to succeed in terms of scope, schedule and budget, yet fail from the business stakeholders’ point of view.) I envision BA and PM being the two sides of a zipper which, if not continuously drawn together results in a disconnect between the solution and the requirements. (The Zipper of the Jacket of Solution Integrity? Sorry, that’s the best I can do right now!)

3.2.6 Establish and maintain relationships with stakeholders
Now, the term stakeholders as used here refers to any stakeholder in the service, but certainly the BA is a pivotal character in the IT/business relationships, and this policy (as well as others) manifests itself in the design of transition processes that encourage, indeed require, such relationship management.

3.2.7 Establish effective controls and disciplines
These controls and disciplines include controls and disciplines directly involving the BA. These include defining roles, responsibilities, and handoff protocols and verification during all build, test, release and deployment activities.

In the next installment we will cover the remaining seven Service Transition policies, and in the subsequent installment we’ll move into the specific Service Transition processes of

Transition Planning and Support
Change Management
Service Asset and Configuration Management
Release and Deployment Management
Service Validation and Testing
Evaluation
Knowledge Management

Thanks again for visiting! And during the next couple of weeks, consider sharing your thoughts about the above as well as your perspective on how ITIL and BA can help organizations weather our current economic challenges.

The Latest Bad-Ass BA Techniques

Written by Cynthia Low on March 17, 2009. Posted in Articles.

Demystifying “Return on Investment” (ROI) and Business Benefit

One of my managers, Denny Brown, used to say to me, “It’s all analysis”. He was talking about projects, so I was confused. It took me years to figure out that he was talking about “end-to-end” execution of a project. First we analyze the business need, then we determine the requirements, then we design a solution, then we implement the solution, then we measure the results to analyze how well the solution is meeting the original need.

How many of us work on projects where we actually get to do the “measure the results?” And notice I said, “is meeting,” not “has met.” How many of us actually work with business teams who are prepared to track the performance of the business after we “toss the solution over the wall?”

The Business Requirements Document is often the first deliverable that a BA contributes to a project. If the project is following best practices, then there’s a Business Case document that feeds the BRD, and in that Business Case document there should be a description of the benefits anticipated from no longer having the problem that is the reason for writing the BRD. A key metric for business benefit is Return on Investment, or ROI.

We’ll look at what the components of ROI are so that when you start writing the business requirements for reporting on business benefits, you’ll know what is needed.

Return on Investment

Project funding committees always want to know when a project will “pay for itself”, or return 100% of the money spent to solve the problem. ROI is a time measurement, e.g., months, quarters, or years. To calculate annual ROI, or the number of years it will take to obtain 100% return on investment, you would use this equation:

(<business problem cost per year> + <project cost per year>) /
<anticipated savings or revenue gain per year>

For example, let’s say we have a business problem that costs $100,000 per quarter in lost productivity. The project to solve the business problem will cost $150,000 (completed in 1 quarter). The expected increase in recovering productivity plus an increase in revenue resulting from that productivity is $250,000 / quarter. The return on investment for this example is 100% in one quarter.

In our BRD, we want to write requirements that enable collecting the data that will be the source for the report that will show progress towards a 100% ROI in the expected time period. Just think, if the time period is one quarter, even hitting a 95% ROI is pretty darn good. Being able to show that the actual result was 101.45% ROI in one quarter is even better.

We BAs want to provide the evidence of benefits that will give our customer bragging rights. The Business Case must articulate estimated benefits that are measurable and assessed over time. In the BRD we want to write requirements that will validate that the benefits were in fact achieved.

Let’s take a look at these components in detail:

cost of the business problem
project cost
anticipated savings or revenue gain

Cost of Business Problem

Most business groups have already figured out what the business problem is costing them. If the business context is manufacturing, then a problem can result in a product recall, which is both costly to administer, and has a huge impact on brand image, which results in a dip in revenue until the brand image is restored. Senior executives wish they could forget the business cost of a product recall – they shudder just thinking about it. If the business context is service delivery, then any delays in being able to provide the service to the customer give the customer an opportunity to find a vendor who delivers faster. Most product managers have the competitive information that enables them to calculate the cost of not being able to do business fast enough. Just ask the sales person who lost a major account to a competitor because her company couldn’t guarantee a particular service delivery time.

If the business problem cost can’t be measured in direct terms, e.g., loss of revenue, then use this heuristic method which focuses on productivity:

Number of people who spend time compensating for the problem
Number of hours each of those individuals spends per week compensating for the problem
Hourly rate for those individuals
For a quarterly estimate: use 12-13 weeks; For an annual estimate: use 50-52 weeks

If the business problem is poor data quality, then the business cost of the problem can be formulated based on the effort needed to compensate for the poor data.

For example, If 5 people each spend about 2 hours a week revising spreadsheets to correct the poor data quality, then an estimation of the quarterly cost of the problem would look like this:

5 people * 4 hours/week * $150/hour * 13 weeks/quarter = $39,000 / quarter

The hourly rate will vary according your industry. The $150 hourly rate is a burdened rate for high tech workers in Silicon Valley.

In our BRD, we want to describe the current business situation in a brief quantifiable manner. Something else to consider is the cost of the “work around” the business may be using right now while they are waiting for a real solution. What is the cost of the workaround? There may be some short-sighted people who will try to say that the work around is good enough, and there’s no need to spend the money for the real project.

Here’s where clever articulation of benefits and metrics really can save the day and prevent a short-term work around from becoming cast in concrete and causing a much larger headache in the future. Use the method above to quantify the cost of resources being used to perform the work around. As the volume of the work increases, will the work around be sustainable or will more resources be needed? When will it be more cost effective to solve the root problem?

Cost of the Project

Some projects use Net Present Value (NPV) to determine the cost of a business problem. NPV applies when the bulk of the cost savings generated from the project occur more than a year in the future. We aren’t going to cover NPV here.

The method provided here is an estimation of the cost of the project provides:

An understanding of the value of a solution to the problem
A means to estimate the project’s Return on Investment

Convey the estimate of the project cost as a range, for example, < $US100,000, < $US100,000 - $US499,000, <$US500,000 - $US999,000, <$US1M - $US5M. Be sure to include service provider, e.g., IT and third party service providers, and costs the business customer may incur.

Our BRD should have ROI reporting requirement(s) enabling us to produce a report that shows the proportion of the investment recovered and the time periods.

In the BRD we need to articulate the following:

The estimated cost of this business problem
How we calculated the estimated cost of this business problem
The estimate cost range of the project is –
The estimated ROI period is

Anticipated Savings or Revenue Gain

To determine anticipated savings or revenue gain we need to indentify the business benefits. There are two types of benefits:

Direct benefits are quantifiable and therefore measurable.
Indirect benefits are not directly quantifiable, but still need to be assessed. It may be possible to estimate indirect benefits from other quantifiable measures.

Direct Benefits

Direct benefits are quantifiable benefits that will be appreciated as a direct result of the business problem being solved by the project being undertaken. Describe these benefits in measurable terms, as compared to the current business situation, such as:

Revenue – expected revenue increase quarterly/ annually
Cost Savings – projected savings in consolidating licenses/ hardware/ decommissioning of systems.
Cost Avoidance – cost not incurred if the problem is solved, e.g., doubling the number of resources needed. Cost avoidance (time savings, fewer errors) can result from automating workflow, if the alternative is adding headcount.
Productivity / Efficiency – Efficiencies that result in headcount reduction
Compliance – ability to demonstrate compliance with

Questions to ask for Direct Benefits are:

What metrics will be used to report on progress towards achieving the benefits and at what frequency (monthly, quarterly)?
How will each benefit be measured? Can data be collected automatically or will a manual effort be needed?
What is the length of the time anticipated to achieve the goal? (duration)

Indirect Benefits

Indirect benefits are efficiencies that result in time savings without headcount reduction. Indirect benefits may be realized indirectly as a result of the project being undertaken. They also include benefits that cannot be easily measured. Indirect benefits may require informal or subjective analysis, but are required.

Examples of efficiencies are:

Reduction of errors
Increased reporting capability
Improved ease of doing business
Enhanced customer experience
Improved Decision Making (decrease margin of error, …)
Increase Customer / Partner Satisfaction (identify high visibility pain points )
Extra time available to multitasking resources to focus on other areas of their jobs

Questions to ask for Indirect Benefits:

What metrics will be used to report on progress towards achieving the benefits and at what frequency (monthly, quarterly)?
What subjective criteria will be used for measuring success?

Describe how the cost of the problem being quantified now. Is there a way to associate a metric with the benefits by comparing the metrics to the business situation / current state? Or is the goal 100% improvement in one quarter? What is an appropriate frequency and time frames for reporting on changes in the cost of the business problem? Monthly? Quarterly? We need a statement that says something like this, “The progress made towards achieving the benefits will be measured by and will be monitored by on a basis.”

The BRD should have requirements for validating the benefits but we will not go into that here. Our focus is on how ROI is estimated, which helps us write a requirement for reporting on success, that is, the achievement of the benefits that were anticipated in the first place.

Summary

Return on Investment tells the business how long it will take for the project to pay for itself. In order to calculate that time period, we need to know cost of the business problem, project cost, and the benefit to the business articulated as anticipated savings or revenue gain.

The role of the BA as described in the BA BoK describes a role that has a strategic relationship with the business customer. The better you understand the business context, and can articulate the benefits to the business, the more strategically valuable you are to your customer (read “the more you are a Bad-Ass BA”). A BRD documents “what” the business needs. In addition, a BRD should include requirements for reporting on the success of the project. If our customer is expecting $8M uplift in revenue in the next fiscal year and 100% ROI in less than 12 months after project completion, then we want to build requirements into the project to generate a report that demonstrates the accumulation over time of that uplift, and, as claimed by the customer, that the 100% was achieved in less than one year.

Remember,” it is all analysis.”

Thank you, Denny Brown, President, Expert Support, Inc., for 26 years of guidance and encouragement. Thank you, Rebecca Burgess.

Cecilie Hoffman is a Senior Principal IT Business Analyst with the Business Analysis Center of Excellence, Symantec Corporation. Cecilie’s professional passion is to educate technical and business teams about the role of the business analyst, and to empower the business analysts themselves with tools, methods, strategies and confidence. Cecilie is a founding member of the Silicon Valley chapter of the IIBA. She writes a blog on her personal passion, motorcycle riding. She can be reached at

[email protected].

Top Ten Tips for Tackling the CBAP Exam

Written by Cynthia Low on March 17, 2009. Posted in Articles.

It’s no surprise that the certification of business analysts is more sought after today than ever before. Worldwide the demand for qualified practitioners, and the ability for them to quickly demonstrate their capabilities in requirements management and development, continues to grow.

Growing almost as quickly is the number of people taking the Certified Business Analysis ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) exam. The 150-question exam is based on the International Institute of Business Analysts’ (IIBA®) Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK®). This constantly evolving business analyst’s handbook reflects the most current, generally accepted business practices, and is one of the best references in preparing for the challenging multiple-choice exam.

So what does this mean to you? For those looking to take their careers forward, or to give themselves an advantage over the competition in the job market, the CBAP certification can mean an advanced career path, documented professional expertise and a positive impact on your organization. The exam is as challenging as the certification is valuable, but the time you take to prepare, from collecting and submitting your extensive application materials, is well worthwhile.

As with any standardized testing, there are literally hundreds of sources for information, tips and strategies. From that mountain of information, here are 10 widely recognized best practices for applying for, preparing for and taking the CBAP exam.

Take your time, part 1. Even applying to sit for the exam will take a significant amount of time. Most experts and CBAPs agree that you should give yourself at least eight hours total to complete the application. Yes, you read that right. Eight total hours. (When you read #2 below, you’ll understand why.)

Read each question and section carefully. Answer to the best of your ability and take the time to really focus on the application.

To further minimize omissions and errors – or the odds of having your application rejected – always use the IIBA-supplied templates, available with the application at http://www.theiiba.org/ under “get certified.”
Know the requirements and fees. To successfully apply for the exam, you must demonstrate your professional experience, specifically in indentifying business needs and determining the best solutions for business problems. The completed application must meet the following five requirements:
1. Work Experience: 7,500 hours of verifiable, hands-on business analysis work over the 10 years preceding your exam application.
2. Knowledge Areas: Demonstrable experience and expertise in at least four of the six knowledge areas: Enterprise Analysis, Requirements Planning and Management, Requirements Elicitation, Requirements Analysis and Documentation, Requirements Communication, Solution Assessment and Validation, and Business Analysis Fundamentals.
3. Education: High school or equivalent
4. Professional Development: 21 hours of verifiable coursework in the past four years, directly related to business analysis.
5. References: Two references from a career manager, client (internal or external) or CBAP are required. These references must indicate that you are a suitable candidate for the CBAP® certification.
  
  Next, consider applying for IIBA membership before applying for the exam. As you will see below, the fee schedule for the exam varies, depending on whether or not you are an IIBA member, with savings of $125 for members (exactly the amount of the application fee). Consider the idea that you will probably join IIBA after gaining your certification- so why not essentially apply for “free?”
  
  Fees:

IIBA® membership fee:	$95 USD	Paid annually.
Application Fee	$125 USD	This fee pays for the processing and administration of your application. It is non-refundable.
Exam Fee – for IIBA®Members	$325 USD	The fee pays for the initial exam sitting and will NOT be reimbursed if you do not pass the exam.
Exam Fee – for non-IIBA® Members	$450 USD	The fee pays for the initial exam sitting and will NOT be reimbursed if you do not pass the exam.

Please note: You can submit both the application and the exam fees with your application. If your application is declined, you will be reimbursed the exam fee.

Know your study style. Once you’ve applied, you can then expect to devote a substantial amount of your time and attention to preparation. Experts estimate total “ideal” study time at anywhere from six weeks to six months.

Before jumping in, have a clear understanding of how you learn and retain information. This point can’t be stressed enough. Quite simply, what many people forget, especially if they haven’t taken an examination in some time, is that not every study method works for every person.

For example, you may be a visual learner, or perhaps you remember spoken words more readily. Do you do better taking classes and interacting with others or working through study guides on your own? Tailoring your preparation to your style will save you hours – if not days – of frustration and increase your confidence on exam day.
Know your resources. With the vast number of available study methods and resources, narrow your choices by creating a list of study resources and be very selective, keeping in mind your personal style (#3 above). CBAP study guides featuring practice examinations are available, as well as business analysis courses to help you prepare for the exam, maintain your certification, and build upon your existing skills.

Regardless of the preparation regimen you ultimately choose, it’s wise to contact your local IIBA chapter. Many chapters offer study groups, or you can leverage the knowledge of peers who have already achieved their CBAP® certification.
Get a flash of brilliance. Even in this age of palm-sized computers and high-speed mobile Internet, one popular preparation method is decidedly “low-tech.” Many CBAPs laud flash cards as study tools for exam terms and definitions of each knowledge area – so much so that the study technique is actually featured in many preparation courses. Even if you’ve chosen not to take a formal course, consider making some flash cards for yourself. They’re an easy, efficient way to study anywhere.
Demonstrate intimate knowledge. Memorizing terms and knowing the BABOK is just one part of passing the CBAP exam. Since the exam uses situational scenarios throughout, understanding of language, usage and context for all six knowledge areas is also very important. Success depends on your ability to align your business analysis experience with the exam questions.
Know your activities. Next, memorize the tasks and activities within each knowledge area. If you aren’t already, become familiar with the input and output of each activity across all knowledge areas. Knowing what you’re supposed to get out of a solution will increase your confidence as you work your way through the examination.
You can get a feel for activities by creating your own small models for each knowledge area or by using the models included in many of the available classes or guides.
Know your modeling. Usage, process, flow, data and behavior models are all areas tested on the exam. Since the exam focuses on practical, situation-based questions, it’s very important to devote significant time to practicing modeling and more importantly, becoming familiar with when to apply each.
Practice, Practice, Practice. All the studying in the world is for naught if you’re surprised when you sit down for the actual exam. Whatever your preparation method, be sure to develop a plan for practicing with CBAP-format questions or full-blown practice examinations. Set aside three hours, find a quiet spot, and work your way through. After a few practice exams, and knowing exactly what to expect, the real one won’t seem so intimidating.
Take your time, part 2. The night before the exam, don’t try to cram or re-read the BABOK. Just get a good night’s rest – it is a three-hour-long, taxing test, and being focused and alert is the best favor you can do for yourself.

On the day of the exam, dress comfortably and bring paper and pencil to work out your answers. Most testing facilities provide these, but it never hurts to be prepared.

If you’ve memorized items, you are allowed to write on the exam booklet, so get them written down before you begin – it will give you one less thing to think about.

Finally, put everything you’ve learned to use and pace yourself. You’re not scored on how quickly you complete the exam and rushing leads to costly mistakes. If you do not pass the exam, you must wait three months before you are allowed to re-take it.

Scoring the exam takes up to 30 days and results will include knowledge area breakdowns for those who have not passed.

Without proper preparation, the CBAP examination can be intimidating. However, if you solidify your skills and knowledge and take advantage of your experience as a Business Analysis professional, you’ll have your certification sooner than you think.

Good luck.

Glenn R. Brûlé, Executive Director, Client Solutions, ESI International, is author of CBAP Exam: Practice Test and Study Guide, First Edition. He has more than 18 years experience in many facets of business, including project management, business analysis, software design and facilitation. At ESI International, he is responsible for supporting a global team of business consultants working with Fortune 1000 organizations. These engagements focus on understanding, diagnosing and providing workable business solutions to complex problems across various industries. Glenn is a Member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of Chapters of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). For more information, visit http://www.esi-intl.com/.

BA Survival Guide. Part 1

Written by Marcos Ferrer on March 9, 2009. Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on BA Survival Guide. Part 1

A project is in trouble. You have been volunteered to help clean it up. A million details are spinning out of control, generating constant debate. Political egos have intervened, to no good effect, as they understand the details even less than the stakeholders and the project team.

There is just enough confusion and frustration that you see an opportunity to influence the egos to “re-set” thinking along clearer lines and key priorities. But how do you know what clearer lines are? Do you just express YOUR opinion about the details, and imagine that your opinion will suddenly be persuasive? How do you back your opinion up? Why are you qualified to lead or influence?

One answer suggests that you are qualified, because as a BA, you know how to raise your point of view. You can rise above the trees, to see the forest, and the coastline, and the mountains, and the sinkholes. Let’s look at how BABOK offers one platform high enough and wide enough to survey the situation. It is time to RTFM (Read The Pretty Manual).

BABOK offers a key diagnostic tool in the form of two tables, displayed below:

The trick to diagnosing is to size the project using the project sizing grid, and then consider whether the Enterprise Architecture artifacts are up to snuff – a gap analysis. At this point you review the BABOK EA sections (we all remember reading, yes?), using them as a checklist – any activities that were not performed can be considered as a possible approach to reducing the project confusion.

On many projects, this is easy – Any EA of value is simply missing, and in its place is some executive “vision” document. This vision document is often not questioned for political reasons (yes, I am talking about YOU, YOU know who you are, discouraging examination of your “brilliance”), EVEN THOUGH less is known about the problem at “vision time” than will ever again be the case.

In cases like this, the solution to managing complexity may be to figure out enough EA to fill critical gaps and re-set priorities. Don’t fall for the trap of believing that this must delay the project by another year – ANY EA is better than none, and a parallel track team can be set up to generate the highest priority EA, if necessary.

In one organization, document management had been considered for over 20 years. Every committee, every project, got wrapped around the axle of complexity, legal issues, departmental egos (we don’t do that!), and side issues (document archive retention contracts, much more). In the process, some EA was created, but there was almost NO business process/architecture devoted to the “document” problem. One diagram was created, showing the “AS-IS”, where it could take weeks to get a document, and suddenly the committee came together, and the project is underway.

On other projects, it may be sufficient to “re-visit” the EA – perhaps the business case needs modification, after all, some unanticipated risk has emerged, there may be a key business process “AS-IS” or “TO-BE” that was not described properly, perhaps a feasibility “SWAT” team can resolve important technical issues.

In the event that EA is NOT the issue, it may simply be that complexity is – some problems are too big to solve, yet sometimes we must try. The solution here will require digging deeper into BABOK, and deeper into other best practices – stay tuned for BA Survival Guide. Part 2.

More shall be revealed; keep the feedback coming to [email protected].

Have fun!

The New Role of the Business Analyst and The Strategic Implications

Written by Cynthia Low on March 9, 2009. Posted in Articles.

The new role of the BA is far more strategic in both the organizational sense as well as at the project level. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the BA, when appropriately leveraged, represents a liaison between business, project and customer teams. This shift in responsibilities identifies two areas that need to be addressed by any organization seeking to expand this role:

The organizational structure must support the actions of a “strategic” BA position.
The BA candidate must have wide skill sets, encompassing many general management competencies.

As organizations shift to become “projectized,” the roles and responsibilities that have supported projects within a traditional matrix structure must shift as well. Over the years we have seen organizations struggle with the following challenges related to shifts in both structure and culture:

Broken or disjointed cross-functional communication channels.
Uncertainty around roles and responsibilities within the project structure and beyond.
Quality concerns at the point of project delivery.
Skewed scope statements and, thus, implementation plans due to early-stage breakdown.
Overall loss of productivity on project teams due to lack of continuity and methods.

The items noted above are tell-tale signs that several strategic components of a best practice project management environment are missing. In the past, we addressed the discussion around project office and methodology; the topic of BA is an integral component to bring both of those items to life in the real world.

Forward looking or best in class organizations have aggressively embraced the concept of the BA role. What sets them apart from the old school thinking associated with this job title is the escalation and expansion of the roles, definition and responsibilities. Not too many years ago, a BA may have been confined to a very technical role within an IT environment working on specifications, functionality and even some quality and testing related to one or more project life cycles. Today we are seeing BA positions filled from across the organization and expect that this trend will continue, as it should.

Let’s address these points in the context of how they can be leveraged to meet the challenges:

Broken or disjointed cross-functional communication channels

A BA should be in front of any project communication produced, from the point of team inception to the close-out phase. This interaction does not mean that the BA takes on the role of project manager (although we have seen organizations combine the two roles), as it is not effective on larger and longer term initiatives. Our experience shows that an independent BA position can help to promote better communication, align protocol and help the project manager to extend his/her reach into the project teams.

Uncertainty around roles and responsibilities within the project structure and beyond

The BA functions as a tour guide through the project plan ensuring that all of the moving pieces are touching at the right points. We call these critical communication points and they can be built around time, budget or deliverable expectations. The BA will be assigned a protocol map within the project structure to enable better access to expectations, and provide for a proactive way to reach team members.

Quality concerns at the point of project delivery

In reality, the BA is monitoring quality points through the project life cycle, thus producing a quality product at the close of the project. Very much like the thinking around proactive quality control, the BA is in front of each deliverable and monitors the progress against the project plan. This allows for immediate communication between the project manager, customer and associated teams.

Skewed scope statements and thus implementation plans due to early stage breakdown

The planning stages of a project are obviously critical to the implementation plan and ultimate quality. A BA should be assigned early in the process and work hand in hand with the project manager to ensure the highest level of intimacy with the plan. Just as important, they need to have a direct connection to the internal and external customers in order to ensure collaboration and proactive attention to emerging issues.

Overall loss of productivity on project teams due to lack of continuity and methods

A strategic BA assists the project manager and PMO with the execution of best practice within an organization’s project management structure. The BA has a unique opportunity to guide the process through an existing methodology and essentially help the project to operate in better alignment. This is accomplished by having a dedicated individual who is consistently working against the deliverables and is not distracted by the operations management associated with the project manager’s job.

By taking the above steps you have begun the shift toward the organizational structure needed to take advantage of the BA position. With that said, we still have one more change to make in order to secure success.

It is obvious that the BA role, as defined here, will require wider skill sets than the more traditional BA position, still driven from the IT departments of yester-year. To that point we have begun to see a trend where the BA position can spawn from either business or IT. This is an interesting point as it speaks volumes to an organization’s maturity around project management. Imagine, for just a moment, an organization that has no boundaries within in its functions and everyone on the team collaborates toward a common goal. I like to call this organizational desegregation and cultural morphing. As we begin the next phase of benchmarking the project management industry and clients, we are beginning to see this shift as a representative of the next wave of advancing thought in the project management space. It was not too many years ago that I published an article on the emerging role of the project manager as the CEO of his/her project. I am confident that the BA role will take a firmly positioned spot in the upper hierarchy of any world class project organization within the next few years.

In order to succeed the BA will need to have a competency profile that meets the following criteria:

Excellent understanding of both business and technology within the project environment.
Be a leader, communicator and professional.
Understand the skills associated with internal consulting techniques.
Be proficient in project management skills as well as a complete understanding of the internal process.
Epitomize the essence of a collaborator and team player.
Understand and be able to navigate through the organization’s politics and structure.
Be able to manage without having authority via negotiation.
Understand true stewardship-based service.

So, the BA role probably looks a little different than a traditional structure may have dictated. Yet, this is the trend and, I believe, will become the norm. As organizations look to enhance productivity and quality while reducing cost, they are finding this role to be extremely important. Additionally, project managers we spoke to during the research for this article all stated that having a BA on the team made their job easier, and allowing them to focus on deliverable based activity.

It is important to note that this type of structure is recommended for mid- to large-size projects, but on the smaller initiatives we found that these attributes were part of the project manager’s role.

Phil Ventresca is Founder, CEO and President of Advanced Management Services, Inc. (AMS), a full service management consultancy servicing an international client base. Phil has utilized his extensive background in management and consulting to lead AMS to its current status as a multi-million dollar enterprise with an international customer base. Phil has led the organization to recognize several strategic breakthroughs such as developing partnerships with distance education providers, software developers and publishers. Through these efforts, AMS has emerged as a leader in consulting, training and assessment services. He has also founded three other businesses which remain under his direction, PTV Equity Management, WIT Group and AMS Aviation. For more information regarding this topic Phil can be contacted at [email protected].