April 14, 2009 – 3:10 pm –
As I hear more and more BAs talking about user stories I feel the need to begin a dialogue on our blog. User stories have been promoted by the iterative and agile software development approaches as a quick way to elicit and document user requirements. Some BAs are being told that user stories are the [...]
April 2, 2009 – 4:23 pm –
The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK®) is the collection of knowledge within the profession of Business Analysis and reflects current generally accepted practices. As with other professions, the body of knowledge is defined and enhanced by the Business Analysis professionals who apply it in their daily work role. The BABOK® Guide describes Business Analysis areas of [...]
March 9, 2009 – 8:32 am –
You have been given a user request to add a new field to a screen. You notice that the request is 6 months old. When you call the user to introduce yourself and let her know that you are going to be working on the request she tells you to cancel it! She found a way [...]
February 17, 2009 – 2:16 pm –
Many analysts skip the identification of business processes and move right to the Use Cases. Some call these “Business Use Cases” and view them as logical, business requirements. I recommend that both business processes and system Use Cases are important components. They are two different requirement constructs representing two different perspectives with two different purposes.
Business [...]
December 8, 2008 – 10:16 am –
The 2008 World Congress for Business Analysts conference in Orlando, Florida was informative and enjoyable. The keynote speaker, Pat Williams, was very motivating and clearly defined the characteristics of a successful team. Google’s Sunil Chandra shared some interesting thoughts on the changes in the way that workers communicate and interact.
At a lunch and learn titled “How do [...]
November 17, 2008 – 9:24 am –
Most BAs don't have access to sophisticated requirements management tools. We are keeping our requirements in MS office documents. I am interested in where you are storing all of these documents. Sharepoint? Documentum? How are these repositories working? At the World Congress for Business Analysis conference this week in Orlando I will moderating a discussion [...]
October 7, 2008 – 9:06 am –
Greetings from Moscow! Even though we don't yet have an IIBA chapter here, business analysis is strong. I am teaching a class here and the students are facing the same issues and challenges as business analysts everywhere. I am teaching my class in English (my only language) which is the second or third language of [...]
August 20, 2008 – 9:54 am –
As the business analysis profession evolves we will get more consistency around our terminology. One of the phrases that is still used inconsistently is requirements management. Most experienced BAs use the phrase "requirements management" to mean the activity of "managing" the requirements. This includes tasks like deciding where requirements will be stored, how they will [...]
July 14, 2008 – 9:00 am –
Managing Business Analysts can be challenging and frustrating. There are several logical reasons for this difficulty. First, business analysis work is complex and the role is not well understood. Review a few BA communities and blogs and you will read varying opinions on what the job is and who best fills it. Most people who [...]
July 7, 2008 – 9:00 am –
I am reading an interesting book on certifications: Performance-Based Cerfication by Judith Hale. The first chapter has a great discussion about Why Organizations Certify and it is one that I think managers of BAs should consider.
Many professions and roles within the IT industry have developed certification programs and getting "certified" has become a hiring criteria [...]
Barbara Carkenord, CBAP, 