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Enterprise Requirements Alignment: The Top Three Challenges

Written by Terry Longo on . Posted in Articles.

1. Change Management as an enterprise core competency. Consider any particular requirement. At any point in time, one of the following is true:

  1. The requirement is valid but not being met – in which case some aspect of the solution must be changed. 
  2. The requirement is not valid (even if it used to be) – subjecting it to further iterations of the requirements life cycle and corresponding changes to the underlying solution 
  3. The requirement is being met and will remain valid for the foreseeable future – in which case attention will turn to changes to the solution for increased efficiencies. (This means, by the way, that even the “as is” operational elements of an enterprise are as subject to change as the transformational elements.

    In other words, if the requirement is not being met, change is necessary. And if the requirement is being met, change is necessary. Earlier posts to this blog have said plenty about the position that everyone in an enterprise is carrying out requirements management within their respective domains. But what is requirements management but a specific form of change management?

2. Financial Fluency as an enterprise core competency. It is easy to construe scenarios in which the failure of even a single small-scope technical component of an IT based business solution can totally eliminate the solution’s business case. That means that senior management’s view of the solution’s status throughout the life cycle would ideally assimilate the status of that component, requiring the component’s owner to be able to express status in senior management terms of cost, risks, and trend. In other words, each contributor to a solution needs to be financially fluent within his or her domain. And, every time a change must be accommodated, contributors to the solution must reflect how that change impacts the financial picture for their own contributions.

3. The Business Analysis Center of Excellence (BACOE). Enterprise-wide consistency in managing changes to requirements and solutions, along with consistency in measuring, monitoring, and status reporting across, up and down the enterprise requirements hierarchy, demands an enterprise-level entity. This would serve to define and drive the implementation and continuous improvement of best practices in change management and financial management.

You might notice that I have not included in the top three the selection of a tool to underpin enterprise-wide change, requirements, and financial management. Tools are easy. The real challenge is driving the enterprise culture to the point where an understanding of one’s job in terms of requirements management, change management, and financial management is second nature.

Terry Longo has more than 25 years of IT experience, including software development, system and network administration, and instructing, as well as being responsible for the requirements, project management, and delivery aspects of complex training solutions. He currently holds the IT Service Manager ITIL and is responsible for HP Education’s ITIL, Project Management and Business Analysis curriculums in the US. Terry can be reached through http://www.hp.com/education/sections/pm_bus_analy.html or at [email protected]

Alignment, Requirements, CBAP and MORE!!

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles.

globe_Mar17_150x135.pngGreat line-up of articles and blogs for this issue! From proper language of alignment to CBAP Soup to Nuts and everything in between, including a Letter from the IIBA President in the IIBA Insight section. I know that you’ll really enjoy this issue’s content.

I want to personally thank not only YOU, our subscriber, but all of our content contributors. We truly appreciate your insight, thoughts and overall contribution. Now – I’ve got one request to YOU – let’s here your feedback.

We have had a few suggestions to our new suggestion box, which we have quickly acted upon. Please utilize this new opportunity for you to offer ways to improve the site, suggest content, or offer new discussions forums you think we should add. We can not continue to improve without hearing from you so keep the suggestions flying!

Stay tuned for our 1 year anniversary celebration! Happy reading!

Best Regards,

Adam R. Kahn

The Language of Alignment

Written by Terry Longo on . Posted in Articles.

Business benefit, growth, and profitability. Cost and risk. Value add. Forecast confidence. Customer satisfaction and loyalty. These are the measures of senior management. And if the goal of a commercial enterprise is to make money now and in the future, everyone in the enterprise needs to be behind that goal.

You manage a business unit and are looking at a red/amber/green dashboard report of your current programs, and you see that one is red. With your browser, you drill down the trail of red, each click bringing you to a lower level dashboard with more detail about a specific aspect of the at-risk program. Here is what you find:

  • The business’s success with a new product line is at risk because
  • The sales teams might not be prepared to sell the new product line because
  • Sales training for the new product line may be delayed because
  • Implementation of the Learning Management System (LMS) may be delayed because
  • The LMS module used for the management of training records may be delayed because
  • Development of the core code library for that module may be delayed because
  • The lead developer may need to leave the project due to an important and urgent personal matter

While the above may seem dreamy, it’s where we’re headed. Everybody in a value supply chain, from the lead developer to the LMS implementation project lead, to the sales team manager, to the business unit manager should, at any point in time, be able to express the status of his or her responsibilities in terms of Cost, Risk and Business Benefit.

The costs, risks, and benefits of what, you may ask? Simply put, for each person or team in the value supply chain, the costs, risks, and benefits of meeting their requirements.

Previously I have argued that the requirements management activities of planning, eliciting, etc. are necessary regardless of the domain in which one is working (instructional design, business strategy, database design, etc.). It is not only possible, but necessary, that requirements managers in those domains be able to express their status in terms of cost, risk, and business benefit. Rolling up requirements status to a senior level necessitates a common language, and that language is defined by the top-level requirement(s) of the enterprise.

We have much to do. In my next post, we will elaborate on the above and identify the top three challenges in achieving the dream.

Do you have any thoughts or questions about this post and earlier posts? Please don’t be shy! Let us know what you’re thinking by adding a comment below.

Terry Longo has more than 25 years of IT experience, including software development, system and network administration, and instructing, as well as being responsible for the requirements, project management, and delivery aspects of complex training solutions. He currently holds the IT Service Manager ITIL and is responsible for HP Education’s ITIL, Project Management and Business Analysis curriculums in the US. Terry can be reached through http://www.hp.com/education/sections/pm_bus_analy.html

or at [email protected]

Never Let a Good Editor Go

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Never Let a Good Editor Go

When documenting systems, quality assurance requires quality support people, especially final content editors. They are worth their weight in gold-edged certificates. If you are part of a large project that has a very large documentation aspect, learn to nurture, develop, and retain a good editorial staff, and do not forget to keep everyone’s skills current on the tools you are using! The current crop of word processor and presentation software packages are constantly adding features to make your life easier.

In our ever more technical world, documentation is still one of the most important aspects. Everyone likes to “feel the weight” of what they accomplished, and documentation is commonly a major part of closure in a project.

The Second Eye
If you have ever had to write a program or a document that was 2000 pages or longer, you will probably get to the point of forgetting what you wrote days, weeks, or months ago. I know I do. That is where a good editor can save the day. Make it a habit of passing along the content in reasonably sized pieces to another soul who dutifully reads every line, checks every drawing for accuracy, and checks syntax and examples. This is a truly wonderful thing.

 A second set of eyes will see things that you cannot. Spelling, grammar, syntax, run on sentences, redundancy, too much or too little detail, irrelevant details, your own quirky tidbits that might not be as clear to them as to you, the list is endless … and the work is absolutely crucial!

Praise Your Editor
Thank them for finding those errors that you were unable to see after looking at the same page for hours. Most modern word processors can handle spelling errors but not if they are technical jargon or corporate jargon.

I like to break my content into smaller, specific pieces if possible, but this does depend on the client requirements. If the programs are small, then the sections can be small and succinct. In some cases, the sections require previous sections to be completed and functioning. Only someone who was totally familiar with the whole picture, the end product, and the inter-relationships of the pieces can provide you with a good set of eyes to review your content with.

Send them praises: Excellent work finding “the the”, “good idea to add that as well”, “you are once again correct, that part is unnecessary”. “good eye, I forgot that topic entirely”…

Editing is an Art
Being an editor requires a great depth and breadth of knowledge on the subject. I would not pass this document on to my teenage daughter; it would be gibberish. She once asked me to “fix” her paragraphs about the Crusades. I expounded on them and thought I was keeping it simple. Alas, I was way too technical. I added about 10 extra words for every two of hers. Then there are many times when I edit her words to be, shall we say, more accurate.

On some recent technical documents, I was doing the developing and passing it on to three evil editors. The first two were masochistic, butchering the youngling without regard for effect, it seemed. They passed it to the third editor, a very technical person, who must have thought I was completely incompetent when he got the butchered remains of my work. It was an interesting few months of trying to figure out their system. And, interestingly enough, that last technical editor was actually very competent. He never missed a detail, was very thorough and fortunately knew his stuff. The other two butchers were trying to fit the content into a web page design rather than have the web page provide the content.

Editing Adds Time
It is highly likely that your editor is not doing this full time for you. Hence, you need to allow for their scheduling requirements within your schedule. Having lots of lag time is always nice. Giving them clearly stated times and dates for delivery of their edits are other important aspects. Everything takes time, and time gets consumed faster the closer the project deadline is.

When I line up an editor, I make it clear there is some flexibility in their timelines at the beginning especially and I try to ensure that deadlines do not force me, or them, to cut corners. Deadlines really are annoying at times! I also make it very clear what the deadlines are and how they can help me meet them, along with general ideas of what I want them to look for, and how they should send change requests or make adjustments.

Give Them Source or Don’t Give Them Source?
This can be a tricky issue. Should you give your editor the source and let them make changes directly to the document? Yes and no.

If you can have tracking of changes, this is always an excellent idea. What if they change your source document without tracking the changes? If you are working with a competent editor to whom you have given this option and in whose inputs you trust, then this is one way to get it done faster. You should, of course, edit their changes for them!

In some cases, as the editor, you may not get the source code, or as the owner of the document, you may not want to give them the source. In some of my recent projects, I would get a PDF of the document. This was fine for simple grammar and syntax errors but became onerous when major changes were required. I was forced to send in “sticky notes” of changes. This is probably the least efficient method for the editor, but it does maintain total control by the owner of the document. There are probably a lot of good and bad reasons for using this method, I just cannot think of any good ones.

Being an editor is important and can be rewarding. Having a bad system for rendering changes will ruin the relationship. A good project management truism is to retain your best support people, and especially a good editor. They make your project that much easier to complete on time.

Copyright © Global Knowledge Training LLC. All rights reserved.

David Egan, RHCE, PMP,

is an instructor with Global Knowledge Training LLC. This article was originally published in Global Knowledge’s Management in Motion e-newsletter, named Business Brief. Global Knowledge (www.globalknowledge.com) delivers comprehensive hands-on project management, business analysis, ITIL, and professional skills training. Visit our online Knowledge Center for free white papers, webinars, and more.

CBAP Certification: From What is It? to I Did It!

Written by Cynthia Low on . Posted in Articles.

The business analyst (BA) role has become essential in today’s workplace as a vital component of a successful project. The business analysis field has been accelerating at a rapid pace, and this acceleration has caused some understandable growing pains. Among the challenges are a lack of standardization, inconsistent terminology across organizations, and difficulty in assessing knowledge and skills of BAs.

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) was founded as a non-profit organization to promote the growth and professionalism of business analysis. Part of IIBA’s mission is to document and maintain standards for business analysis, and to recognize and certify practitioners. The CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) certification program was put in place in 2006 to screen, test, and certify qualified and knowledgeable BAs.

This article briefly summarizes the CBAP program, and why business analysts should become certified. The majority of the article covers the steps and several tips to help you become certified.

IIBA and Certification

The IIBA was formed in 2003 as a non-profit organization devoted to creating awareness and recognition of the importance of business analysis. Part of IIBA’s vision is to build its image and become identified as the professional organization for BA professionals. It is also focused on identifying BA skills and competencies, and certifying practitioners based on them.

In fact, the IIBA’s mission is to “Develop and maintain standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of its practitioners.” One of the main creations of the IIBA has been its Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (called the BABOK for short or sometimes just the BOK). The BABOK is a guide to the generally accepted knowledge and practices in the BA profession. The other significant creation has been the CBAP certification: Certified Business Analysis Professional. The authors are proud to be among the world’s first CBAPs.

The CBAP certification process came from a BA task analysis study done back in 2006. From that, a committee of experts developed examination questions to test the business analysis knowledge and its application by BAs. Along with a rigorous application process, the examination is used for assessing and certifying experienced and knowledgeable BA practitioners.

In the spirit of the CBAP exam, and to start preparing to pass it, we’ve assembled a few basic multiple choice questions. These questions are typical of those on the exam—they are not from the exam. The answers are revealed at the end of the article.

Here’s the first of the questions; go ahead and see how you do!

1) The BABOK defines Business Analysis as:
A) Analyzing business problems and determining which projects will best solve those problems.
B) Identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems.
C) Verifying business requirements by ensuring the solution meets business needs.

Certification Requirements: How do You Stack up?

  • Five years (7,500 hours) of business analysis work in the last 10 years 
  • Demonstrated experience and knowledge in 4 out of 6 BABOK™ Knowledge Areas 
  • 21 hours BA professional development in last 4 years
  • Minimum high school education
  • Two work references

Application Process

The IIBA made the CBAP application process a rigorous one, to screen out under-qualified and less-experienced BAs. Check out the basic qualifications in the sidebar to the right. IIBA’s website has a comprehensive Frequently Asked Questions document about the CBAP process. Visit www.TheIIBA.org for more information.

Tip: The CBAP application can be tedious to complete. Use the thetemplate that IIBA provides to document your work experience and project hours.

To take the CBAP exam, your application must be pre-approved. The professional development hours must also be complete before applying. This requirement has prevented more than a few otherwise-qualified applicants from being allowed to sit for the exam. Make sure you can document your education hours with a certificate or other written proof.

Benefits of CBAP Certification

Given the strict requirements and rigorous application process, one would assume the certification is worthwhile, right? Well, as a matter of fact it is. There are a number of benefits that IIBA has identified to organizations to certify their BAs through the CBAP designation:

  • Employee development and recognition is enhanced.
  • CBAPs have signed a Code of Conduct, which increases the professionalism of its adherents. 
  • CBAPs are identified as individuals with an advanced level of knowledge and qualifications, and follow established standards, making them a good choice for critical projects
  • CBAPs produce reliable, quality results with increased efficiency and consistency
  • Employers have a reduced risk in hiring and promoting people with the CBAP credential.

IIBA has also identified several benefits for you to become CBAP certified:

  • Demonstrates dedication and commitment to the business analysis profession
  • Ability to enhance the profession and have a voice among other professionals
  • Expedited professional advancement because the CBAP sets individuals apart
  • Demonstrates knowledge and skills necessary to be an effective business analyst
  • Advanced career potential – without having to become a Project Manager!
  • Opportunity to earn more income
  • Be recognized by the organization and peers as experts in their field.

The CBAP Exam

Hopefully, you can see there are many benefits for you or others at your organization from BA certification. To help you get started, here is some valuable information about the exam and tips for passing it.

As of the date of this article, the CBAP exam is a collection of 150 multiple-choice questions. Some are simple and straightforward, some are downright difficult, and most are challenging. The exam will be“going electronic in mid-2008, but for now it is paper-and-pencil based. It is also held in a few select cities. The IIBA web site contains current and future exam dates.

The exam duration is three hours, and you may find that you need most or all of that time. Because of the length, some people find it useful to start the exam by noting a few key mnemonics and definitions. If nothing else, this “brain dump” helps alleviate a little test anxiety that many people feel in a high-stakes exam like the CBAP. We’ve recommended this same technique for years to people preparing for the PMP exam.

Tip: do a “brain dump” of key concepts at the start of the exam to help clear your brain, reduce test anxiety, and to serve as a reference as you take the exam.

OK, ready for another exam question?

2) The BABOK defines a Business Analyst as someone who:
A) Translates business needs into a design that can be implemented by the development team.
B) Responds to client requests and provides solutions that best meet those needs within time and cost restraints
C) Elicits, analyzes, communicates, and validates requirements for changes to business processes, policies, and information systems.

BABOK Overview

The CBAP exam is heavily based on the BABOK guide. There are some exam questions not strictly found in it, but thoroughly knowing the information in the guide is the surest way to pass the exam. The BOK has over 300 pages of often-detailed tasks, inputs, outputs, and techniques. It is helpful to have a plan and tools for breaking the BABOK down into logical pieces for memorization and study.

To start you off breaking down the BABOK, here are highlights of it and some key areas to study.

Tip: Start by memorizing all the Knowledge Areas (KAs for short). Then work on memorizing tasks with each KA. Some have too many, so start with KAs having only a few, like Enterprise Analysis and Elicitation, and work up from there.

Enterprise Analysis

This KA focuses on identifying business opportunities through feasibility studies, creating business cases, cost/benefit analysis, etc. It covers looking at the big picture through building a Business Architecture framework, in order to later integrate requirements into it. Plus, it can provide a context or foundation for evaluating future projects, issues, and changes. There are only six tasks in this KA, so you are advised to memorize them and their order.

Goal: Facilitating the optimum project investment path for the enterprise.

Requirements Planning and Management

The next KA deals with resources and tasks for planning and managing requirements activities throughout the “requirements process.” It identifies a myriad of activities and deliverables, and we advise you not to try and memorize them all. Instead, organize the tasks into logical groups, such as Team Roles, Risk Approach, Manage Requirements Scope, etc. The chapter also covers planning for how changes are controlled and managed, and begins the process of prioritizing requirements.

Goal: Organize the requirements effort, including resources, monitoring, project coordination, and changes.

Tip: Study the most on Enterprise Analysis and Requirements Planning and Management, because they comprise the highest proportion of exam questions, according to the IIBA.

By now you may be ready for another exam question!

3) The BABOK defines a Requirement as:
A) A condition or capability of a product or solution that documents a problem or objective of the business.
B) A need or necessary feature of a system that could be sensed from a position anywhere within the system.

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements must be elicited from stakeholders in order to be analyzed and documented. This KA covers the process, tasks, and techniques for doing just that. There are ten techniques to be familiar with, such as brainstorming, interviewing, requirements workshops, etc. Make sure you know all ten of the techniques, including the strengths and weaknesses of each and how to perform them. Prioritize your time by concentrating on the most important techniques like interviewing.

Goal: Use appropriate techniques to elicit complete and accurate requirements.

Requirements Analysis and Documentation

Considered by many to be the “core” of what a BA does, Requirements Analysis and Documentation deals with how stakeholder needs are analyzed, structured, and documented. The understanding is that the ultimate goal of business analysis is for later use in designing and implementing a solution.

To represent commonly accepted practices, this BABOK KA covers 20+ analysis and documentation techniques. While you may not have used every one, you are expected to be able to answer questions about them. There is an emphasis on modeling techniques, so make sure you know them, like data modeling, use case modeling, etc. Learning about new techniques is one of the many ways that the CBAP certification process helps us improve as BAs.

Goal: Have a clear enough understanding of the requirements to enable building a solution to meet business needs.

Tip: When preparing for the exam, the terms used in the BABOK won’t always be the terms you’re used to on the job. Make sure you know and memorize the BABOK’s terms if you want to pass the exam, even if they are “wrong.”

Requirements Communication

For requirements to be valid and approved, they must be communicated. This can and should happen throughout the life cycle of eliciting, analyzing, and documenting them. The Knowledge Area on requirements communication focuses on expressing the output of requirements analysis and documentation. It covers the need for presenting requirements in formats suitable for your intended audience.

Goal: Achieve a shared understanding of and agreement to the product requirements.

Solution Assessment and Validation

Once requirements have been approved, they need to be implemented to be of value. To do this, BAs work to ensure the best solution is chosen (i.e., requirements are fulfilled by a technical design). The BABOK also mentions, but does not elaborate on the QA process, and that BAs contribute to test plans and testing process. Also covered in this KA is the role played by BAs to facilitate the implementation and help resolve any post-production issues.

Goal: Ensure the final solution meets business needs and can be implemented.

Tip: The BABOK is a long document, so make sure you leave plenty of time to read, study, and memorize key parts of it. Get plenty of rest before the exam; sleep will help you more than cramming!

Breaks are essential to learning and memorizing complex material, and to break down the important parts of the BABOK.

To give you a break right now, it’s time for another question:

4) When developing alternative solutions, how do BAs record the process of flowing from requirements to design:
A) Map the Requirements to the Design.
B) Determine Number of Design Phases.
C) Map Requirements to Design Phases.
D) Update Requirements Traceability Matrix.

Underlying Fundamentals

The knowledge and skills described in the BABOK don’t happen on their own. BAs need many other underlying skills in order to perform the tasks identified in the BOK. There is no explanatory information to study, so you must rely on general knowledge of business, communication, management, leadership, and problem solving.

Goal: Improve effectiveness in doing our jobs.

In summary, the authors believe that CBAP certification will be the next “in demand” certification for people doing project-related work. This will be primarily Business Analysts, but Project Managers, Systems Analysts, QA Analysts, and even Application Developers will want to explore the CBAP. The future of business and technical careers will belong to people who are adept at communicating, analyzing, solving business problems, and producing enduring results. Those who “earn” the CBAP designation will also be the ones to “earn” more financially, as well.

Tips: To prepare for the CBAP exam, here are some final thoughts to help you pass it:

  • Read the BABOK completely 
  • Take a prep class to help focus on key areas 
  • Join a study group to concentrate on one KA at a time 
  • Take practice exams 
  • If time, re-read portions of the BABOK you had trouble with in practice exams

Here are the answers to the sample exam questions: 1 b), 2 c), 3 a), 4 d)

IIBA, CBAP, and BABOK are registered trademarks of the International Institute of Business Analysis.

Elizabeth Larson, CBAP, PMP and Richard Larson, CBAP, PMP are Principals, Watermark Learning, Inc. Watermark Learning helps improve project success with outstanding project management and business analysis training and mentoring. We foster results through our unique blend of industry best practices, a practical approach, and an engaging delivery. We convey retainable real-world skills, to motivate and enhance staff performance, adding up to enduring results. With our academic partner, Auburn University, Watermark Learning provides Masters Certificate Programs to help organizations be more productive, and assist individuals in their professional growth. Watermark is a PMI Global Registered Education Provider, and an IIBA Endorsed Education Provider. Our CBAP Certification Preparation class has helped several people already pass the CBAP exam. For more information, contact us at 800-646-9362, or visit us at www.WatermarkLearning.com.