Business Analysis For Dummies E-Book

Kupe Kupersmith

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 580

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Your go-to guide on business analysis Business analysis refers to the set of tasks and activities that help companies determine their objectives for meeting certain opportunities or addressing challenges and then help them define solutions to meet those objectives. Those engaged in business analysis are charged with identifying the activities that enable the company to define the business problem or opportunity, define what the solutions looks like, and define how it should behave in the end. As a BA, you lay out the plans for the process ahead. Business Analysis For Dummies is the go to reference on how to make the complex topic of business analysis easy to understand. Whether you are new or have experience with business analysis, this book gives you the tools, techniques, tips and tricks to set your project's expectations and on the path to success. * Offers guidance on how to make an impact in your organization by performing business analysis * Shows you the tools and techniques to be an effective business analysis professional * Provides a number of examples on how to perform business analysis regardless of your role If you're interested in learning about the tools and techniques used by successful business analysis professionals, Business Analysis For Dummies has you covered.

Leseprobe

Business Analysis For Dummies®

Published by:John Wiley & Sons, Inc.111 River Street Hoboken NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2013937659

ISBN 978-1-118-51058-2 (pbk); ISBN 978-1-118-51061-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51063-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-51064-3 (ebk)

Manufactured in the United States of America

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Business Analysis For Dummies®

Table of Contents

Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/businessanalysis to view this book's cheat sheet.

Introduction

About This Book

Foolish Assumptions

Icons Used in This Book

Beyond the Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I: Getting Started with Business Analysis

Chapter 1: Business Analysis in a Nutshell

Defining Business Analysis

Knowing Your Role in the Basic Business Analysis Lifecycle

Looking at the Value of Business Analysis

Considering the Skills of a Successful BA

Outstanding communication

Detailed research, analysis, and recording

Time management and information organization

The ability to see the big picture

Customer-focused and value-driven perspective

A large BA toolkit

Flexibility

Getting to Know the IIBA BABOK

Pursuing Business Analysis Certification

Chapter 2: Breaking Down the Different Levels of Business Analysis

Checking out an Overview of the Levels

Going to the Top: The Enterprise Level

Doing business analysis activities at the enterprise level

Overcoming challenges at the enterprise level

Moving to the Organizational Level

Fulfilling duties at the organizational level

Dealing with organizational-level obstacles

Drilling Down to the Operational Level

Knowing your tasks at the operational level

Taking on operational-level challenges

Getting a Handle on the Project Level

Tackling activities at the project level

Rising above project-level hurdles

Chapter 3: Identifying and Working with Stakeholders

Reviewing a Who’s Who of Potential Project Participants

Starting at the top with management

Seeking subject matter experts

Adding project support personnel

Turning to technical personnel

Identifying the Stakeholders in Your Project

Find your stakeholders

Using the RACI matrix

Playing (and Communicating) Well with Others

Targeting your communication to the various stakeholders

Using active listening to your advantage

Overcoming common barriers to effective communications

Understanding and responding to verbal and nonverbal messages

Fostering Strong Relationships

Building trust and respect

Generating consensus/gaining buy-in

Part II: The BA Toolkit: Tools, Terms, and Techniques

Chapter 4: Talking about Tools of the Trade

Examining Communication Tools for Every Situation

Talking about your options

Choosing the right communication tool

Trying Collaboration Tools

Physical places

Electronic places

Investigating Innovation and Idea Capture Tools

Looking at the technology spectrum

Considering specific features

Discovering Definition Tools

Textual definition tools

Modeling and diagramming tools

Prototyping and simulation tools

Reviewing Requirements Management Tools

Low- and mid-tech options

High-tech options

Picking the Right Tools for the Situation

Inventorying the situation you have now

Determining what situation you need later

Avoiding unnecessary tools and features

Money, money, money: Facing budget challenges

Preparing Team Members for Change

Chapter 5: Understanding What Requirements Truly Entail

Defining Needs

Business needs

Stakeholder needs

Defining Requirements

Business requirements

Stakeholder requirements

Solution requirements

Transition requirements

Technology requirements

Making Your Requirements Excellent

Complete

Correct

Unambiguous

Verifiable

Necessary

Feasible

Prioritized

Focusing on the Four Core Components

Data

Process (use cases)

External agents and actors

Business rules

Chapter 6: Hunting for the Right Information, Part 1: The Process

Elicit, Don’t Gather: Developing the Right Questions

Identifying the type of question you want to ask

Identifying appropriate sources of information

Choosing an Approach

Using Clear, Consistent Language

Choosing terms consistently

Using language that’s consistent with the company’s language

Framing questions that clearly reveal core needs

Planning Your Elicitation Sessions

Chapter 7: Hunting for the Right Information, Part 2: The Techniques

Starting with Document Analysis

Understanding the benefits of document analysis

Perusing examples of documents you can review

Looking Out for Observation

Knowing when to use observation

Choosing your observation method and completing the process

Conducting Interviews

Preparing for the interview

Interviewing the stakeholder

Documenting the interview

Distributing Surveys

Dressing for the occasion: Types of surveys

Maximizing the chances of getting a response

Compiling and using the data

Getting to Know Requirements Workshops

Identifying participants

Scheduling a workshop

Managing the session

Brainstorming

Considering Focus Groups

Doing Interface Analysis

Prototyping

Throwaway prototypes

Evolutionary prototype

Simulation prototype

Reverse Engineering

Choosing Competitive Analysis

Chapter 8: Uncovering and Analyzing Needs

Investigating the Needs

Discovering a company’s specific business needs

Searching out stakeholder needs

Uncovering the Root Cause

Evaluating the Problem

Choosing a good problem to solve

Figuring out whether the problem matters

Determining the impact of the problem

Establishing the costs and benefits

Creating the Problem Statement

Creating the Solution Position Statement

Knowing When You Have the Right Solution

Validating the value of the solution

Taking your audience into consideration

Setting Your Solution Up For Success: Getting Clear Objectives

Eliciting and articulating clear objectives

Getting clear with SMART objectives

Part III: Selling the Plan and Keeping It on Track

Chapter 9: Making the (Business) Case

Before You Dive In: Breaking Down Business Case Basics

Looking at the benefits of writing a business case

Playing to the crowd: Knowing your audience

Following basic business case structure

Defining and Presenting the Opportunity

Executive summary

Mission statement

Description of the approach used

Justifying the Recommendation

Identifying and prioritizing alternative solutions

Including a cost/benefit analysis

The Devil Is in the Details: Providing Supporting Materials

Addressing supporting documentation

Noting your assumptions

Documenting risk

Presenting the Business Case

Chapter 10: Creating and Maintaining Scope

Making Sure You’re Scoping the Right Solution

Recognizing Relevant Stakeholders

Uncovering stakeholders by asking project-specific questions

Discovering key stakeholders in different parts of the organization

Ensuring That the Scope Aligns with Key Business Drivers

Identifying Interfaces That Are Part of the Project

User interfaces

System interfaces

Hardware interfaces

Defining Scope with a Data Flow Diagram

Identifying parties and systems that will be impacted by the project

Identifying information (data) flows among the parties or systems

Gaining consensus on the scope for the project

Giving the project a descriptive name

Finalizing the scope diagram

Using Project Initiation Documentation to Clarify Scope

Stating the purpose of the project

Describing the project approach or methodology

Listing project objectives

Articulating problems and opportunities

Outlining risks

Specifying project assumptions and constraints

Documenting high-level processes

Identifying who’s responsible for each deliverable

Indicating What Isn’t Covered: Items Not in Scope

Getting Agreement on the Scope

Avoiding Scope Creep

Spotting scope creep

Formulating a change control process

Chapter 11: Creating Your Work Plan

Hashing Out Work Plan Basics

Considering the key components of a business analysis work plan

Using a framework to create your plan

Perusing the Project Characteristics

Identifying project type

Project size

Other things

Taking It to the People: The Stakeholder Communication Plan

Identifying the people

Getting to know the stakeholders

Getting stakeholders involved

Putting together the stakeholder communication plan

The Process: Figuring Out How Things Are Done

Waterfall

Agile development methodologies

Spiral model/Rational Unified Process (RUP)

RAD/prototyping

Compiling Your Work Plan

Part IV: Achieving Goals with Business Analysis

Chapter 12: Defining Solutions, Part 1: Taking a Closer Look at Your Requirements

Categorizing Your Requirements

Getting the process started

Choosing the right category

Documenting Your Requirements

Documenting business and stakeholder requirements

Documenting solution requirements, both functional and nonfunctional

Documenting transition requirements

Documenting technical requirements

Ensuring Your Requirements Have Traceability

Chapter 13: Defining Solutions, Part 2: Choosing the Right Analysis Technique

Dealing with Data Flow Diagrams and External Interaction Textual Templates

Getting a handle on data flow diagrams

Examining the external interaction textual template

ERD Is the Word: Using Entity Relationship Diagrams

Getting familiar with the ERD

Presenting the data with entity relationship text templates

Rounding out the data: Entity text templates

Drilling Down a Process Decomposition Diagram

Step 1: Creating the process decomposition diagram

Step 2: Documenting the processes

Deciding on Decision Tables

Working with Workflow Diagrams

Decoding diagram symbols

Creating a workflow diagram

Seeing a diagram in action: An example

Making a Use Case Model

The graphic: Use case diagram

The text: Use case description

Prototyping

Familiarizing yourself with mockup basics

Creating mockups

Keeping It Brief with User Stories

Creating user stories

Confirming user stories

Chapter 14: Verifying and Validating Solutions

Getting a Handle on Testing Basics

Differentiating between verification and validation

Making testing an ongoing activity

Verification Testing: Confirming You Built the System Right

Smoke test

Unit test

Integration test

System test

Validation Testing: Making Sure You Built the Right System

Utilizing a usability test

Getting users involved with a user acceptance test

Receiving feedback with a post-implementation user assessment

Preparing for the Test

Creating test cases

Putting together the verification and validation plan

Conducting a Requirements Review

Conducting a step-by-step review of the artifact

Recruiting participants

Chapter 15: Transition: Moving from Planning to Implementing

Preparing for the Transition

Transition requirements: The basics

Reviewing the requirement components

Assessing organization readiness

Fostering stakeholders’ motivation and competence

Rolling Out Your Strategy with the Right Approach

Trying parallel processing

Picking piloting

Selecting single cutover

Examining the Components of Your Rollout Plan

Turning Your Solution Over to Operations

Part V: The Part of Tens

Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Keep Your Business Analysis Skills Sharp

Participate in Social Media

Network with Peers

Get/Be a Mentor

Leverage Peer Reviews

Attend Formal Training

Present on Business Analysis Topics

Read Books (Like This One!)

Have Lunch with Business Partners

Rotate to Multiple Business Domains or Applications

Use Business Analysis Techniques at Home

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Prepare Yourself for a New Project

Hit the Ground Running and Get Up to Speed

Clear Your Calendar and Your To-Do List

Take a Vacation!

Get Organized

Identify What’s Been Done So Far

Color in the Solution

Define Everyone’s Roles, Responsibilities, and Deadlines

Get to Know the Core Team

Extend a Hand to the Extended Team

Collaborate

Chapter 18: Ten Experts Chime In

The Three Pains Approach to Better Elicitation (Hans Eckman)

Context Diagram (Ali Ibarguen)

Affinity Diagram (Jonathan Babcock)

Process One Pager (Robin Grace)

Data Modeling (David Morris)

Facilitated Session (Shelley Ruth)

Root Cause Analysis (Kathy Claycomb)

Requirements Traceability (Russ Pena)

Functional Decomposition Diagram (Greg Busby)

It’s All About the Communication! (Kupe Kupersmith)

About the Author's

Author’s Acknowledgments

Cheat Sheet

Introduction

Okay, so you bought this book looking for hints about performing business analysis. Or maybe you’re still in the bookstore thinking about whether this book is going to be of any value to you as a business analyst. (Hint: It is.) You may be working as a business analyst now or wondering whether it’s the right job for you.

As a career path, business analysis is a good option. Companies today need business analysis performed so they can solve problems, take advantage of opportunities, make sure they’re chasing the most cost-effective solutions, and streamline efficiency. The good news is that the skills needed to address these concerns are learnable. With even basic knowledge, you can immediately help a company reach its goals. You can make a difference today in the success of your (or someone else’s) business.

However, one of the challenges you face as a business analyst (BA) is that it isn’t black and white; the standard BA answer to almost any question is, “It depends.” Business analysis deals with a lot of variables and changing conditions, which means you have to practice a lot to get good at it. The more you experience, the better you get. Business Analysis For Dummies brings together a lot of experience in one place to help you get a head start and jump in right away.

About This Book

Part of business analysis is about setting general expectations for the project results and being educated in various techniques and principles, and this book is right in line with that philosophy. No book about business analysis can possibly explain every situation and every approach you may find yourself in. You have to do a certain amount of figuring it out as you go along.

What this book does give you are tools and techniques you can use to set your expectations. We provide tips and starting points for communication with stakeholders and even explain what business analysis terms like stakeholder mean. This book is a reference tool you can turn to in order to understand what particular aspect of business analysis you’re looking for. The beauty of it is that you don’t have to read through the entire book cover to cover to get the information you want out of it. You can simply open to the table of contents, find what you’re looking for, and head directly to that section without passing Go or collecting $200.

Here’s a taste of the useful reference material you can expect to find in Business Analysis For Dummies:

How to determine whether someone is giving you a solution disguised as a requirement and how to find the root cause of the problem (Chapter 6)

Why you have to understand what is driving the business to undertake the project and know whether proceeding is a good decision (Chapter 8)

How to create multiple solutions for a problem (or take an advantage of an opportunity) and recommend which one the business should undertake (Chapter 9)

How to find and maintain the boundaries of a project so you know exactly what you are (and aren’t) working on (Chapter 10)

The great thing about this book is that we let you know exactly what information is vital and what’s nonessential. We’ve packed the main body with all the stuff we think you really need to know, but you can skip items like sidebars (shaded boxes) and Technical Stuff paragraphs. These bits are interesting, but you won’t miss out on vital information if you choose to pass them by.

All web addresses appear in monofont. As you read, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you're reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it's noted in the text, pretending that the line break doesn't exist. If you're reading this as an e-book, you've got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

And one business analysis-specific note: We use BA,business analyst, and business analysis professional interchangeably to describe the person doing this type of work — just as these terms are used in real life. Know, though, that “business analyst” is a general descriptor rather than a professional title. Business analysis is performed at all levels of a company. Even mom-and-pop shops need to perform business analysis, but they don’t necessarily hire an outside business analyst; someone on their staff performs the business analysis work. In this book, that person is as much a BA as someone who has “business analyst” printed on her business card.

Foolish Assumptions

Business analysis is full of assumptions (though BAs have their own definition of assumption). Seeing as how we’re so accustomed to assumptions, we make a few about you as our readers:

You need to perform business analysis to do your job, whether you have the title “business analyst” or not.

You know how to read documents and search for information (the fact that you’re reading this book to gain information confirms that assumption).

You can (or need to learn how to) ask tough questions, communicate with people both electronically and face to face, and get up in front of a group to present an idea.

You’re constantly willing to increase your business analysis skills and to look at different ways to accomplish things.

Icons Used in This Book

Look for these familiar For Dummies icons to offer visual clues about the kinds of material you’re about to read:

This icon points out good advice relating to the subject matter you’re reading about. Skimming these paragraphs gives you some seriously good suggestions that can help you utilize resources efficiently and make your work just a little easier!

The decisions you make and information you present can have a profound impact on the business. For that reason, we highlight important business analysis concepts and principles with this icon. Consider these bits the extra-important paragraphs you’ll want to come back to.

Read these paragraphs to avoid BA pitfalls that may result in poor customer satisfaction and solutions that just don’t hit the mark.

This icon appears beside information that’s interesting but that won’t impair your understanding of business analysis if you skip it.

The Anecdote icon calls out our attempts to show you how a particular BA technique has been applied in the real world. We have had more than 50 years of experience among us, so we want to share our success (and horror) stories with you so you can benefit from (or just chuckle at) them.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some goodies you can access on the web. No matter how diligently you prepare, execute, and follow the business analysis guidelines we offer in this book, you’ll probably come across a few situations that stump you.

Check out the free Cheat Sheet at www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/businessanalysis for an overview of a project's lifecycle; 15 indicators that can point you to areas that are ripe for process improvement; and a checklist that helps you perform a business impact analysis, which lets you target the project worthy of your efforts and the business's resources.

Head to www.dummies.com/extras/businessanalysis to find pointers on conducting a requirements review, a process that gets you to the heart of an issue by asking one simple question, and advice for developing a good relationship with your project manager.

Where to Go from Here

The book is about as modular as you can get with business analysis, meaning you don’t have to read one chapter to understand what happens in the next. If you’re looking for a specific keyword you heard a manager use or a new technique you saw another BA use in a meeting, you can use the index or table of contents as your guide and skip right to the appropriate chapter to read about it.

We’ve organized this book so that you can jump in wherever you want, so if you want to skip to the end and read the short chapters in Part V first, go right ahead. You find lots of good information presented in easy-to-digest nuggets there, and who knows — these pearls of wisdom may inspire you to go back to find the more detailed, how-to info in the main chapters themselves.

If you’re totally new to business analysis, start at Part I. Chapter 3 is a good landing point if you want to brush up on the people side of the business. Want to find out about making a business case? Head to Chapter 9. For help figuring out what the problems are to begin with, your starting point is Chapter 6. If you need to cut right to the chase and implement solutions effectively, try Chapters 12 and 13.

The easiest way, though, to use the book is to just start turning pages and read the content! And because the true value is in how you apply it to real life, don’t be shy about making notes in the chapters, highlighting information, and putting flags on the pages. Whether you’re using sticky notes or your e-reader’s highlighter function, this book is one of the first tools in your BA toolkit; refer to it often!

Part I

Getting Started with BusinessAnalysis

Visit www.dummies.com for great Dummies content online.

In this part . . .

Discover the value of business analysis and the impact it has on your organization.

Pick up the key skills you need to be a business analysis professional.

Get familiar with the different levels on which you perform business analysis and recognize the challenges associated with each.

Meet the people you work with and understand how to best interact and communicate with them.

Chapter 1

Business Analysis in a Nutshell

In This Chapter

Grasping what business analysis is and why it’s valuable

Tracking a business analyst’s role and skills

Introducing industry guidelines and certification options

In today’s competitive world, companies must always be at their best, maintain an edge, and capitalize on opportunities for growth. Business analysis is a deliberate attempt to review operations to ensure that business is moving along as well as it can and that the company is taking advantage of opportunities.

Basically, business analysis is a set of tasks and activities that help companies determine their objectives for meeting certain opportunities or addressing challenges and then help them define solutions to meet those objectives. Sometimes, companies hire outside, independent business analysts (BAs) to come in and perform the analysis. Other times, they may call upon an employee to perform BA tasks internally regardless of whether he has a business analyst title. No matter which category you fit into, this book lays it all out for you.

In this chapter, we give you a very broad overview of what business analysis is, introduce you to the business analysis lifecycle, and explain what the job entails.

Defining Business Analysis

According to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) version 2, business analysis is the “set of tasks and techniques used to work as a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals.”