Business Analyst Blog

If you have not read Part I and II of this blog series feel free to take a look.  At the end of Rocky II Rocky wins the title of heavyweight champion.  He is now very wealthy and defends his title 10 times.  In the beginning of Rocky III a real contender wants a piece of Rocky Balboa.  His name…Clubber Lang.

Stay Hungry

Rocky has been living the good life for some years now beating up on has-beens and raking in the cash.  When Clubber Lang comes along Rocky is not ready.  While Clubber was training to win, Rocky had his training sessions at a hotel taking pictures with fans, selling merchandise.  Doing everything, but training.  Rocky was not hungry.  He was the champ, what can stop him.  Well, Clubber Lang stopped him.  Rocky was not prepared and lost badly.

As BAs we always need to be prepared.  Every initiative we work on is different.  Just because we may have broad experience and a history of success we need to stay hungry.  Think of your next project as Clubber Lang.  Always remember to be prepared and have the eye of the tiger!

Don't be afraid of Change

After Rocky's loss to Clubber Lang, the great manager, Mickey Goldmill, died of a heart attack.  In a bizarre turn of events Rocky went to train with his old rival Apollo Creed to take another stab at Clubber. In the first bought Apollo noticed how slow Rocky was and that he needed some quickness to avoid the thundering blows from Clubber.  Apollo had Rocky focus on techniques that helped him move his feet.  Initially Rocky was clumsy and struggling through these techniques.  He was obviously frustrated.  To try and motivate Rocky, Apollo tells him "it takes a real man to change."  That was one piece that helped Rocky excel to another level and eventually defeat Clubber Lang.

My new saying now is "It takes a real BA to change."  I have said before we have to continuously learn and adapt to tackle the next project or situation.  Yes it will be frustrating at times, but the rewards are huge.  Don't be afraid to makes mistakes.  Those are the best learning opportunities.  And don't just talk with people that approach things like you do.  Find people at your local IIBA chapter or in your company that have a different style or take an alternative approach to situations. 

In the next installment we travel to Russia with Rocky.  Make sure you have your passport!

Gap analysis is a well established technique for business analysts working on COTS (Commercial off-the-shelf) package implementations. It is amazing that this simple technique can be helpful with so many analysis challenges. Most gap analysis is done in a matrix or table where the analyst can keep track of the business needs in one column and note the package support for each business need in another column. Consider a few of the common uses:

The most common gap analysis is a comparison of required business data elements to the data elements supplied by the package vendor. This analysis can be as simple as "Does the needed data element exist in the package? Yes or No" or can be very complex including do the characteristics of the data match (e.g. CHAR vs. INTEGER), do the lengths of the data elements match, and do the validation edits match the business needs?

Another useful gap analysis is between terminology. Your business area may call its customer organization COMPANY while the CRM package that you are installing calls them ACCOUNTs. A table cross referencing these terms along with notes about how the package definition differs from your organization's definition is very useful throughout the project and after implementation.

Business processes can be matrixed against package features to make sure that all critical processes are supported. Notes in this matrix can explain how package features will be used or modified to support the business activity along with which role in the organization will utilize each feature.

Expand your use of gap analysis for COTS, department mergers, and even internal software development projects. Whenever you have an AS IS and TO BE system, there is a risk of gaps.