Business analysis is not some mystery that companies know little about. It has clear goals, strategies, best practices, techniques, and, of course, benefits. Nevertheless, we see that many businesses remain uncertain about its significance in their technological pursuits. To elaborate more on this seemingly plain topic, we’ve organized a webinar. It covers the role of strategic business analysis in IT projects and explains why it is absolutely required if you want to ensure predictable results. - We share tips and tricks to help align project and business needs - Go over the most popular practices, techniques, and tools - Discuss how it will empower you to achieve consistent and foreseeable outcomes - Shed more light on the business analysis process - And cover the soft skills a Business Analyst should possess All this and more is available in our on-demand webinar: https://www.velvetech.com/events/strategic-ba/

1. Strategic Business Analysis:
Ensuring Predictable Results
in IT Projects

2. • PART 1: UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS ANALYSIS
• PART 2: THE ROLE OF A BUSINESS ANALYST AND
THE RESULTS THEY DELIVER
• PART 3: TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
• PART 5: SOFT SKILLS OF A BUSINESS ANALYST
• PART 6: BEST PRACTICES IN BUSINESS ANALYSIS
• PART 7: IIBA MEMBERSHIP
Today’s Agenda

3. Part 1:
Understanding
Business Analysis

4. § Business Analysis Body of Knowledge
§ IIBA (Canada, founded in 2003)
§ The practice of enabling change in an enterprise
by defining needs and recommending solutions
that deliver value to stakeholders
What is Business Analysis

5. BUSINESS ANALYSIS CORE CONCEPT MODEL
§ Change
§ Need
§ Solution
§ Stakeholder
§ Value
§ Context
What is Business Analysis

6. CURRENT STATE DESIRED FUTURE STATE
NEEDS VALUE
Solution A
Solution B
Solution C
CONTEXT
STAKEHOLDERS
Strategic Business Analysis

7. § Need: Automate payments processing and provide
transparency into the payments processes
§ Change: Instead of processing payments manually
introduce a module for payments automation
§ Value: Decrease mistakes, save time, increase
efficiency of the accounting team
§ Solution: Off-the-shelf? Build from scratch?
§ Stakeholders: Company management, accounting
department, dev team, vendors, clients, etc.
§ Context: Location, market, competitors, legislation,
compliance, company structure, mentality, etc.
A company ABC provides educational and consulting
services to its clients. The payments process is manual.
Business Analysis Core Concept Model Example

8. Part 2:
The Role of a
Business Analyst

9. § Any person who performs business analysis tasks
described in the BABOK® Guide, no matter their
job title or organizational role
§ Widespread stereotype:
• A person who is responsible for
requirements engineering
Who Is a Business Analyst?

10. HOMEROOM TEACHER
§ Assigns homework to students
§ Provides academic support to their students
§ Responsible for maintaining order and discipline
§ Serves as a primary point of contact between the
school and students' families
§ Maintains records of attendance and punctuality
§ Responsible for the overall well-being of students
§ Serves as mentors, offering guidance, support, and
advice on personal and academic matters
§ Plans and organizes various activities, such as field
trips, class projects, and extracurricular events
§ Often works closely with other subject-specific
teachers to ensure that students are receiving a
well-rounded education, etc.
Analysing Beyond the Surface

11. § Plan business analysis work,
individual activities, tasks and deliverables
§ Plan stakeholder engagement
§ Plan business analysis governance
§ Plan business analysis information
management
§ Identify business analysis performance
improvements
The Role of a Business Analyst
BUSINESS ANALYSIS
PLANNING & MONITORING
1

12. § Prepare for elicitation
§ Conduct elicitation
§ Confirm elicitation results
§ Communicate business analysis information
§ Manage stakeholder collaboration
The Role of a Business Analyst
ELICITATION AND COLLABORATION
2

13. § Trace requirements
§ Maintain requirements
§ Prioritize requirements
§ Assess requirements changes
§ Approve requirement
The Role of a Business Analyst
REQUIREMENTS
LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT
3

14. § Analyze current state
§ Define future state
§ Assess risks
§ Define change strategy
The Role of a Business Analyst
STRATEGY ANALYSIS
4

15. § Specify and model requirements
§ Verify requirements
§ Validate requirements
§ Define requirements architecture
§ Define solution options
§ Analyze potential value and recommend solution
The Role of a Business Analyst
REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS AND
DESIGN DEFINITION
5

16. § Measure solution performance
§ Analyze performance measures
§ Assess solution limitations
§ Assess enterprise limitations
§ Recommend actions to increase solution value
The Role of a Business Analyst
6
SOLUTION EVALUATION

17. § Defined scope of work for
each functionality
§ Agreed by key stakeholders &
approved documentation
§ Transparent business analysis
information management
§ Transparency in timeline and
ETAs management
§ Regular reporting on the
progress
§ Regular demos of the
produced results
§ Defined stakeholder
engagement approach
§ Defined collaboration
approach
§ Transparency in the
assignment of work items
WHAT
IS BEING DELIVERED?
WHEN IS IT PLANNED
TO BE DELIVERED?
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR
DELIVERING THESE RESULTS?
Predictable Project Results

18. Part 3:
Tools and
Techniques

19. TOOLS
§ Communication Tools
§ Microsoft Teams
§ Slack
§ Zoom
§ GoTo Meeting
§ etc.
§ Collaboration Tools
§ Documentation repositories (e.g. wikis)
§ Task tracking systems (e.g. JIRA, Trello)
§ Business Analysis Tools
§ Data modelling tools
§ Data analysis tools
§ Prototyping and wireframing tools
Tools and Techniques Business Analysts Use

20. § Acceptance and Evaluation
Criteria
§ Backlog Management
§ Brainstorming
§ Business Case
§ Business Rules Analysis
§ Concept Modelling
§ Data Dictionary
§ Non-Functional
Requirements
§ Decision Modelling
§ Functional Decomposition
§ Mind Mapping
§ Prototyping
§ Process Modelling
§ Organizational Modelling
§ Data Flow Diagrams
§ User Stories
§ Vendor Assessment
§ Survey or Questionnaire
§ SWOT Analysis
§ Scope Modelling
§ Prioritization
§ …
Tools and Techniques Business Analysts Use
MORE THAN 50 TECHNIQUES

21. Key Traits for Business Analysts

22. Part 4:
Soft Skills of a
Business Analyst

23. BEHAVIOURAL CHARACTERISTICS COMMUNICATION SKILLS INTERACTION SKILLS
§ Ethics
§ Personal Accountability
§ Trustworthiness
§ Organization & Time Management
§ Adaptability
§ Verbal Communication
§ Non-verbal Communication
§ Written Communication
§ Listening
§ Facilitation
§ Leadership and Influencing
§ Teamwork
§ Negotiation & Conflict Resolution
§ Teaching
The Soft Skills of a Business Analyst

24. Part 5:
Business Analysis
Best Practices

25. PREDICTABILITY TRANSPARENCY TRUSTWORTHINESS
Business Analysis Best Practices

26. #1 CONFIRMATIONS AND APPROVALS
§ Elicit requirements
§ Document elicitation results in a centralized
knowledge base
§ Confirm elicitation results
§ Elaborate specification
§ Present the specification to all relevant stakeholders
§ Receive the approval of the key stakeholders
§ Start the development process
Business Analysis Best Practices

27. #2 ETAs MANAGEMENT
§ Acknowledge the receipt of a new task or request on
the same day
§ Always provide a clear ETA for each work item
§ Extend this practice beyond just your clients and
management
§ Maintain regular progress reporting
NEVER:
§ Miss the ETA and act as if nothing occurred
§ Wait for stakeholders to initiate inquiries on failed ETAs
§ Disregard a missed ETA without providing an updated
timeline and valid reasoning
Business Analysis Best Practices

28. #3 BUSINESS ANALYSIS INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
§ Document all business analysis information in a
centralized knowledge base:
§ Meeting agendas
§ Meeting notes
§ Discovery questions and the client’s answers
§ Any materials provided by the client or
produced by the development team
§ All approvals and confirmations
§ Etc.
§ All relevant stakeholders should have access to the
centralized knowledge base
§ Never keep the information in emails or messages
or on a personal computer only
Business Analysis Best Practices

29. Part 6:
IIBA
Membership

30. VELVTECH — IIBA EEP
§ Velvetech has the status of Endorsed Education
Provider of the International Institute of Business
Analysis
§ Developed IIBA certified business analysis course
§ Continuous learning and development activities
for Velvetech Business Analysts
§ Support in obtaining IIBA certifications
§ More than 40% of Velvetech Business Analysts
hold IIBA certifications
IIBA Partnership

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32. Thank You!
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