October 1, 2007 – 9:00 am –
We are seeing a lot of success with agile projects when an experienced BA is on the team. We have completed two iterations of a project internally using an agile approach and our business users are very happy with the results. They are also happy with the fast turnaround time. Agile is really just about scoping [...]
August 20, 2007 – 9:00 am –
Many BAs have experienced analysis paralysis at least once in their career. This phrase describes the situation when you keep thinking/analyzing a problem, doing more research, documenting what you have learned, and then repeating the activities. Think, research, document. Think, research, document. It is the BA's equivalent of an infinite loop in programming. We get [...]
August 13, 2007 – 9:00 am –
Sometimes Business analysts tease Project Managers, we joke that we are more important than they are. In a meeting with a group of BAs last week I was reminded of how much we need PMs!!
Analysis paralysis! We joke about it but it is a real problem. Most BAs can get stuck in details whether they like to [...]
July 16, 2007 – 9:02 am –
I am really excited about the proposed upcoming changes to the IIBAs BABOK. Kevin Brennan, VP of the Body of Knowledge has posted a diagram on his blog http://www.bainsight.com/ and on the new online community Catalyze http://www.mycatalyze.com/ so take a look. Three of the knowledge areas will be renamed and some of the content will be moved. I [...]
June 25, 2007 – 9:00 am –
I attended the BusinessAnalystWorld Symposium in Atlanta last week. One of the speakers whom I enjoyed was Keith Barrett from ProcessExchange Inc. http://www.process-exchange.com/
Keith spoke about Reuse Based Requirements Development & Management (RBRDM). I was very glad to hear someone at the symposium talking about requirements reuse because it is an area that I think we should be [...]
June 18, 2007 – 9:00 am –
We tackled a complex analysis problem yesterday and I was reminded how great it is to have a developer available to help with brainstorming during requirements elicitation.
A manager at one of our clients has a very complex algorithm for optimizing revenue in a boutique division of their organization. This division has been so successful that the senior managers [...]
May 29, 2007 – 9:00 am –
Applying for the CBAP (IIBA BA certification) is a bit daunting. The application process requires that you show that you really do have more than 5 years business analysis experience. This is very important because we, as a profession, want the certification to be meaningful and strong. We know that simply memorizing a bunch of [...]
May 21, 2007 – 9:00 am –
We are often asked by managers if we have a list of suggested interview questions for BA candidates. We do have a few and are happy to share them. As I was thinking about effective ways of evaluating BA candidates I was reminded of an interview that I had many years ago. After the traditional “talk” [...]
May 14, 2007 – 9:00 am –
This month the Atlanta SPIN (software process improvement network) hosted Kevin Shaan from Borland Software. Kevin talked about requirements development and management. Kevin spent several years as an appraiser for CMM and SEI assessments. He shared his observations about major weaknesses in the organizations that he assessed. Not surprising, poor requirements management was common. He [...]
May 7, 2007 – 10:15 am –
In the next few years I think we are going to see more and more Business Analysts move into executive level positions in both business and IT organizations. Many individuals holding these positions currently have strong business analysis backgrounds (whether or not they ever had that job title). The progression of a Business Analyst into [...]
Barbara Carkenord, CBAP®, 