Contents at a Glance

Introduction ................................................................ 1

AL

Part I: Getting Started with Business Analysis .............. 5

TE

RI

Chapter 1: Business Analysis in a Nutshell .................................................................... 7

Chapter 2: Breaking Down the Different Levels of Business Analysis ...................... 19
Chapter 3: Identifying and Working with Stakeholders .............................................. 31

Part II: The BA Toolkit: Tools, Terms, and Techniques ... 51

MA

Chapter 4: Talking about Tools of the Trade ............................................................... 53

Chapter 5: Understanding What Requirements Truly Entail...................................... 73
Chapter 6: Hunting for the Right Information, Part 1: The Process .......................... 97
Chapter 7: Hunting for the Right Information, Part 2: The Techniques ................. 113
Chapter 8: Uncovering and Analyzing Needs ............................................................. 139

TE

Part III: Selling the Plan and Keeping It on Track ...... 161

GH

Chapter 9: Making the (Business) Case ...................................................................... 163

Chapter 10: Creating and Maintaining Scope ............................................................. 185
Chapter 11: Creating Your Work Plan ......................................................................... 209

RI

Part IV: Achieving Goals with Business Analysis ........ 235

CO

PY

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

at Your Requirements ................................................................................................. 237
Chapter 13: Defining Solutions, Part 2: Choosing the Right Analysis Technique ..... 251
Chapter 14: Verifying and Validating Solutions ......................................................... 283
Chapter 15: Transition: Moving from Planning to Implementing ............................ 307

Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 319

Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Keep Your Business Analysis Skills Sharp ...................... 321
Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Prepare Yourself for a New Project ................................. 329
Chapter 18: Ten Experts Chime In ............................................................................... 337

Index ...................................................................... 347

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................. 1
About This Book .............................................................................................. 1
Foolish Assumptions ....................................................................................... 2
Icons Used in This Book ................................................................................. 3
Beyond the Book ............................................................................................. 3
Where to Go from Here ................................................................................... 4

Part I: Getting Started with Business Analysis ............... 5

Chapter 1: Business Analysis in a Nutshell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Defining Business Analysis ............................................................................. 7
Knowing Your Role in the Basic Business Analysis Lifecycle.................... 8
Looking at the Value of Business Analysis ................................................. 11
Considering the Skills of a Successful BA ................................................... 13
Outstanding communication .............................................................. 13
Detailed research, analysis, and recording ...................................... 13
Time management and information organization ........................... 14
The ability to see the big picture ....................................................... 14
Customer-focused and value-driven perspective ............................ 15
A large BA toolkit ................................................................................. 15
Flexibility............................................................................................... 15
Getting to Know the IIBA BABOK ................................................................ 16
Pursuing Business Analysis Certification ................................................... 17

Chapter 2: Breaking Down the Different Levels

of Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Checking out an Overview of the Levels .................................................... 20
Going to the Top: The Enterprise Level...................................................... 21
Doing business analysis activities at the enterprise level .............. 22
Overcoming challenges at the enterprise level ............................... 23
Moving to the Organizational Level ............................................................ 23
Fulfilling duties at the organizational level....................................... 24
Dealing with organizational-level obstacles ..................................... 25
Drilling Down to the Operational Level ...................................................... 26
Knowing your tasks at the operational level .................................... 26
Taking on operational-level challenges............................................. 27
Getting a Handle on the Project Level ........................................................ 28
Tackling activities at the project level .............................................. 28
Rising above project-level hurdles .................................................... 29

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Chapter 3: Identifying and Working with Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Reviewing a Whos Who of Potential Project Participants....................... 32
Starting at the top with management ................................................ 32
Seeking subject matter experts .......................................................... 34
Adding project support personnel .................................................... 36
Turning to technical personnel.......................................................... 37
Identifying the Stakeholders in Your Project ............................................. 39
Find your stakeholders ....................................................................... 39
Using the RACI matrix ......................................................................... 41
Playing (and Communicating) Well with Others ....................................... 42
Targeting your communication to the various stakeholders ........ 42
Using active listening to your advantage .......................................... 45
Overcoming common barriers to effective communications ........ 45
Understanding and responding to verbal
and nonverbal messages ................................................................. 46
Fostering Strong Relationships .................................................................... 48
Building trust and respect .................................................................. 48
Generating consensus/gaining buy-in ............................................... 49

Part II: The BA Toolkit: Tools, Terms, and Techniques .... 51

Chapter 4: Talking about Tools of the Trade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Examining Communication Tools for Every Situation .............................. 54
Talking about your options ................................................................ 54
Choosing the right communication tool ........................................... 56
Trying Collaboration Tools .......................................................................... 57
Physical places ..................................................................................... 58
Electronic places.................................................................................. 58
Investigating Innovation and Idea Capture Tools ..................................... 59
Looking at the technology spectrum ................................................ 60
Considering specific features ............................................................. 61
Discovering Definition Tools ........................................................................ 62
Textual definition tools ....................................................................... 62
Modeling and diagramming tools ...................................................... 62
Prototyping and simulation tools ...................................................... 64
Reviewing Requirements Management Tools ............................................ 64
Low- and mid-tech options ................................................................. 65
High-tech options................................................................................. 66
Picking the Right Tools for the Situation.................................................... 66
Inventorying the situation you have now ......................................... 67
Determining what situation you need later ...................................... 67
Avoiding unnecessary tools and features......................................... 69
Money, money, money: Facing budget challenges .......................... 69
Preparing Team Members for Change ........................................................ 70

Table of Contents
Chapter 5: Understanding What Requirements Truly Entail. . . . . . . . .73
Defining Needs ............................................................................................... 73
Business needs ..................................................................................... 74
Stakeholder needs ............................................................................... 76
Defining Requirements.................................................................................. 77
Business requirements........................................................................ 80
Stakeholder requirements .................................................................. 80
Solution requirements......................................................................... 82
Transition requirements ..................................................................... 84
Technology requirements .................................................................. 85
Making Your Requirements Excellent ......................................................... 86
Complete ............................................................................................... 87
Correct .................................................................................................. 87
Unambiguous........................................................................................ 87
Verifiable ............................................................................................... 88
Necessary.............................................................................................. 88
Feasible ................................................................................................. 88
Prioritized ............................................................................................. 89
Focusing on the Four Core Components .................................................... 89
Data ........................................................................................................ 90
Process (use cases) ............................................................................. 92
External agents and actors ................................................................. 93
Business rules ...................................................................................... 94

Chapter 6: Hunting for the Right Information, Part 1: The Process . . .97
Elicit, Dont Gather: Developing the Right Questions ............................... 98
Identifying the type of question you want to ask ............................ 98
Identifying appropriate sources of information............................. 103
Choosing an Approach ............................................................................... 105
Using Clear, Consistent Language ............................................................. 107
Choosing terms consistently ............................................................ 108
Using language thats consistent with the companys language.... 108
Framing questions that clearly reveal core needs ........................ 109
Planning Your Elicitation Sessions ............................................................ 110

Chapter 7: Hunting for the Right Information,

Part 2: The Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Starting with Document Analysis .............................................................. 113
Understanding the benefits of document analysis ........................ 114
Perusing examples of documents you can review ........................ 115
Looking Out for Observation ..................................................................... 118
Knowing when to use observation .................................................. 118
Choosing your observation method
and completing the process ......................................................... 119

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Conducting Interviews ................................................................................ 121
Preparing for the interview .............................................................. 121
Interviewing the stakeholder............................................................ 122
Documenting the interview .............................................................. 122
Distributing Surveys .................................................................................... 123
Dressing for the occasion: Types of surveys ................................. 123
Maximizing the chances of getting a response .............................. 124
Compiling and using the data........................................................... 125
Getting to Know Requirements Workshops ............................................. 125
Identifying participants ..................................................................... 126
Scheduling a workshop ..................................................................... 126
Managing the session ........................................................................ 127
Brainstorming .............................................................................................. 129
Considering Focus Groups ......................................................................... 130
Doing Interface Analysis ............................................................................. 131
Prototyping................................................................................................... 132
Throwaway prototypes ..................................................................... 133
Evolutionary prototype ..................................................................... 135
Simulation prototype......................................................................... 135
Reverse Engineering .................................................................................... 135
Choosing Competitive Analysis ................................................................. 136

Chapter 8: Uncovering and Analyzing Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

Investigating the Needs .............................................................................. 139
Discovering a companys specific business needs ........................ 140
Searching out stakeholder needs .................................................... 143
Uncovering the Root Cause ........................................................................ 145
Evaluating the Problem............................................................................... 146
Choosing a good problem to solve .................................................. 147
Figuring out whether the problem matters .................................... 148
Determining the impact of the problem ......................................... 149
Establishing the costs and benefits ................................................. 150
Creating the Problem Statement ............................................................... 151
Creating the Solution Position Statement ................................................ 153
Knowing When You Have the Right Solution ........................................... 154
Validating the value of the solution................................................. 155
Taking your audience into consideration ....................................... 156
Setting Your Solution Up For Success: Getting Clear Objectives .......... 157
Eliciting and articulating clear objectives ...................................... 157
Getting clear with SMART objectives .............................................. 159

Table of Contents

Part III: Selling the Plan and Keeping It on Track ....... 161
Chapter 9: Making the (Business) Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .163
Before You Dive In: Breaking Down Business Case Basics .................... 163
Looking at the benefits of writing a business case ........................ 164
Playing to the crowd: Knowing your audience .............................. 165
Following basic business case structure ........................................ 166
Defining and Presenting the Opportunity ................................................ 167
Executive summary ........................................................................... 168
Mission statement.............................................................................. 169
Description of the approach used ................................................... 171
Justifying the Recommendation ................................................................ 172
Identifying and prioritizing alternative solutions .......................... 172
Including a cost/benefit analysis ..................................................... 174
The Devil Is in the Details: Providing Supporting Materials .................. 180
Addressing supporting documentation .......................................... 181
Noting your assumptions.................................................................. 182
Documenting risk ............................................................................... 183
Presenting the Business Case .................................................................... 183

Chapter 10: Creating and Maintaining Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185

Making Sure Youre Scoping the Right Solution ...................................... 186
Recognizing Relevant Stakeholders .......................................................... 186
Uncovering stakeholders by asking project-specific questions..... 187
Discovering key stakeholders in different parts
of the organization ......................................................................... 188
Ensuring That the Scope Aligns with Key Business Drivers .................. 188
Identifying Interfaces That Are Part of the Project ................................. 191
User interfaces ................................................................................... 192
System interfaces ............................................................................... 192
Hardware interfaces .......................................................................... 193
Defining Scope with a Data Flow Diagram ................................................ 193
Identifying parties and systems that will be
impacted by the project ................................................................ 195
Identifying information (data) flows
among the parties or systems ...................................................... 195
Gaining consensus on the scope for the project ........................... 196
Giving the project a descriptive name ............................................ 197
Finalizing the scope diagram ............................................................ 197
Using Project Initiation Documentation to Clarify Scope ....................... 198
Stating the purpose of the project ................................................... 198
Describing the project approach or methodology ........................ 199

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Listing project objectives ................................................................. 200
Articulating problems and opportunities ....................................... 200
Outlining risks .................................................................................... 200
Specifying project assumptions and constraints .......................... 202
Documenting high-level processes .................................................. 203
Identifying whos responsible for each deliverable ..................... 203
Indicating What Isnt Covered: Items Not in Scope ................................. 204
Getting Agreement on the Scope ............................................................... 205
Avoiding Scope Creep ................................................................................. 205
Spotting scope creep ......................................................................... 206
Formulating a change control process ........................................... 207

Chapter 11: Creating Your Work Plan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209

Hashing Out Work Plan Basics................................................................... 209
Considering the key components of a
business analysis work plan ......................................................... 210
Using a framework to create your plan ........................................... 211
Perusing the Project Characteristics ........................................................ 213
Identifying project type ..................................................................... 213
Project size ......................................................................................... 219
Other things ........................................................................................ 221
Taking It to the People: The Stakeholder Communication Plan ............ 222
Identifying the people ....................................................................... 222
Getting to know the stakeholders .................................................... 223
Getting stakeholders involved ......................................................... 225
Putting together the stakeholder communication plan ................ 226
The Process: Figuring Out How Things Are Done ................................... 227
Waterfall ............................................................................................. 228
Agile development methodologies .................................................. 229
Spiral model/Rational Unified Process (RUP) ................................ 230
RAD/prototyping ................................................................................ 231
Compiling Your Work Plan ......................................................................... 231

Part IV: Achieving Goals with Business Analysis......... 235

Chapter 12: Defining Solutions, Part 1: Taking a
Closer Look at Your Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .237
Categorizing Your Requirements .............................................................. 238
Getting the process started .............................................................. 238
Choosing the right category ............................................................. 239
Documenting Your Requirements ............................................................. 240
Documenting business and stakeholder requirements ................ 241
Documenting solution requirements, both
functional and nonfunctional........................................................ 242

Table of Contents
Documenting transition requirements ............................................ 247
Documenting technical requirements ............................................. 247
Ensuring Your Requirements Have Traceability ..................................... 248

Chapter 13: Defining Solutions, Part 2: Choosing the

Right Analysis Technique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .251
Dealing with Data Flow Diagrams and External
Interaction Textual Templates ............................................................... 252
Getting a handle on data flow diagrams ......................................... 252
Examining the external interaction textual template .................... 254
ERD Is the Word: Using Entity Relationship Diagrams ........................... 255
Getting familiar with the ERD ........................................................... 255
Presenting the data with entity relationship text templates........ 257
Rounding out the data: Entity text templates ................................ 257
Drilling Down a Process Decomposition Diagram................................... 258
Step 1: Creating the process decomposition diagram .................. 260
Step 2: Documenting the processes ................................................ 261
Deciding on Decision Tables ...................................................................... 262
Working with Workflow Diagrams ............................................................. 264
Decoding diagram symbols .............................................................. 265
Creating a workflow diagram............................................................ 266
Seeing a diagram in action: An example ......................................... 267
Making a Use Case Model ........................................................................... 268
The graphic: Use case diagram ........................................................ 269
The text: Use case description ......................................................... 271
Prototyping................................................................................................... 274
Familiarizing yourself with mockup basics .................................... 276
Creating mockups .............................................................................. 278
Keeping It Brief with User Stories.............................................................. 280
Creating user stories ......................................................................... 281
Confirming user stories ..................................................................... 281

Chapter 14: Verifying and Validating Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

Getting a Handle on Testing Basics ........................................................... 283
Differentiating between verification and validation ...................... 284
Making testing an ongoing activity .................................................. 284
Verification Testing: Confirming You Built the System Right ................ 286
Smoke test........................................................................................... 286
Unit test ............................................................................................... 286
Integration test ................................................................................... 287
System test ......................................................................................... 288
Validation Testing: Making Sure You Built the Right System ................ 290
Utilizing a usability test..................................................................... 291
Getting users involved with a user acceptance test ..................... 293
Receiving feedback with a post-implementation
user assessment ............................................................................. 294

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Preparing for the Test ................................................................................. 295
Creating test cases............................................................................. 296
Putting together the verification and validation plan ................... 297
Conducting a Requirements Review ......................................................... 302
Conducting a step-by-step review of the artifact ........................... 303
Recruiting participants ..................................................................... 304

Chapter 15: Transition: Moving from Planning to Implementing. . . .307

Preparing for the Transition ...................................................................... 307
Transition requirements: The basics .............................................. 308
Reviewing the requirement components........................................ 308
Assessing organization readiness.................................................... 309
Fostering stakeholders motivation and competence ................... 310
Rolling Out Your Strategy with the Right Approach ............................... 312
Trying parallel processing ................................................................ 313
Picking piloting................................................................................... 313
Selecting single cutover .................................................................... 314
Examining the Components of Your Rollout Plan ................................... 315
Turning Your Solution Over to Operations .............................................. 317

Part V: The Part of Tens ............................................ 319

Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Keep Your
Business Analysis Skills Sharp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .321
Participate in Social Media ......................................................................... 321
Network with Peers ..................................................................................... 322
Get/Be a Mentor ........................................................................................... 323
Leverage Peer Reviews ............................................................................... 323
Attend Formal Training............................................................................... 324
Present on Business Analysis Topics ....................................................... 324
Read Books (Like This One!) ...................................................................... 325
Have Lunch with Business Partners ......................................................... 325
Rotate to Multiple Business Domains or Applications ........................... 326
Use Business Analysis Techniques at Home............................................ 327

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Prepare Yourself for a New Project. . . . . .329
Hit the Ground Running and Get Up to Speed ......................................... 329
Clear Your Calendar and Your To-Do List ................................................ 330
Take a Vacation!........................................................................................... 330
Get Organized .............................................................................................. 331
Identify Whats Been Done So Far ............................................................. 332
Color in the Solution ................................................................................... 332
Define Everyones Roles, Responsibilities, and Deadlines ..................... 333

Table of Contents
Get to Know the Core Team ....................................................................... 334
Extend a Hand to the Extended Team ...................................................... 334
Collaborate ................................................................................................... 335

Chapter 18: Ten Experts Chime In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .337

The Three Pains Approach to Better Elicitation (Hans Eckman).......... 337
Context Diagram (Ali Ibarguen) ................................................................. 338
Affinity Diagram (Jonathan Babcock) ....................................................... 338
Process One Pager (Robin Grace) ............................................................. 340
Data Modeling (David Morris) ................................................................... 341
Facilitated Session (Shelley Ruth) ............................................................. 342
Root Cause Analysis (Kathy Claycomb) ................................................... 342
Requirements Traceability (Russ Pena) ................................................... 343
Functional Decomposition Diagram (Greg Busby).................................. 344
Its All About the Communication! (Kupe Kupersmith).......................... 345

Index ....................................................................... 347

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