CHAPTER 1

Business Analysis Defined

As the past Seattle Chapter President of International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), I often get questions about how someone can learn more about becoming a business analyst. Often, those asking have been doing business analysis work for some time; only they have not yet realized it.

I will start with the definition of business analysis. The quick response would be “to analyze business”. IIBA defines this as:

“Business analysis is the practice of enabling change in an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders. Business analysis enables an enterprise to articulate needs and the rationale for change, and to design and describe solutions that can deliver value.” (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge [BABOK®] Guide, Version 3.0)

The following two lists offer some more perspective to “tasks and techniques” by listing tools used and items developed and delivered by business analysts. There is not a one-for-one correlation between the lists; rather, it is intended to provide a general overview of the activities and deliverables of the business analyst.

When we compare our current project team roles with the activities and work produced, you may find that many roles analyze business and deliver business analyst results. Some common project roles that do business analysis include data analyst, project manager, technical writer, and developer. If the two foregoing lists sound like what you do, then you do “business analysis”.

In 2014 the Project Management Institute (PMI) also published a definition of business analysis:

PMI defines business analysis as the application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to determine problems and identify business needs; to identify and recommend viable solutions for meeting those needs; to elicit, document, and manage stakeholder requirements in order to meet business and project objectives; and to facilitate the project team with the successful implementation of the product, service or end result of the project or program.

They have identified tasks within the domains of Needs Assessment, Planning, Analysis, Traceability and Monitoring, and Evaluation.

So What Is a Business Analysis Professional?

The project manager, developer, and data analyst may use some tools and deliver some of the same results as the business analyst as it relates to their specific role. A business analysis professional works with all the business analysis tools and techniques to deliver work that supports defining, managing, and evaluating the solution or resulting product (“to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals”). The project manager, data analyst, technical writer, or developer rely on the work of the business analyst to provide clarity on the solution and allow project work to focus on steps needed to most efficiently deliver the desired result. The business analyst is responsible for defining what will bring value to the business, ensuring the requirements are fully vetted and understood, and that the solution meets these expectations. This allows the project manager to focus on the project process, progress, team, risks, and all those other aspects that make project management a full-time job.

What Does a Business Analyst Do?

Thank you Microsoft Word for making my job of writing that much easier. A quick pick of the word “analyze” resulted in these synonyms. Each of these words conveys an activity that takes time. Business analysts do not take things at face value. The toolkit of the business analyst is to aid them in analyzing the business and to document findings and conclusions. Using the results of our synonym search for “analyze”, we can further explore what business analysis really is. This is not a sequential list of actions; rather, any of these can happen at any time within the project.

Examine

      •     What is the problem?

      •     What are the opportunities to the business?

      •     What is the impact of the current situation?

      •     What will happen if the problem is not addressed?

Often projects are initiated to solve a business problem, but will the project solve the right problem? Perhaps the project will result in simply a Band-Aid that will alleviate some of the pain but doesn’t get at the root of the problem. Addressing a symptom, rather than the root, will result in a partial and perhaps temporary fix. Business analysis will help identify the root cause so that the project can bring the greatest results to the organization.

Study

      •     What are the current processes?

      •     What are the rules that drive the processes?

Projects result in change. In order to understand the impact of the change, we have to understand how things are today. The business analyst will help document the current process and any business rule that affects the project. This means that the solution being implemented can support the processes, make the processes more efficient and cost effective, and ensure the result of the project will not break the overall process and need.

Investigate

      •     What do similar organizations do?

      •     What new tools and technologies are available?

Often, when we have a problem to solve or an opportunity to pursue, we gravitate to what we know. This isn’t enough to stay ahead of the game in our competitive world in this time of great innovation and advancement. Business analysis means investigating the opportunities. This includes proactively finding out what the competition or other comparable organizations do and researching emerging technologies and solutions.

Scrutinize

      •     Do requests represent business needs or stakeholder desires?

      •     Are the current processes necessary as is?

      •     Do the processes add value to the business?

Business analysts will hear many requests and requirements. Each person who makes the request is stating an apparent need. The truth is that not every requirement is a true need. The business analyst must scrutinize each one of these to ensure that it is truly needed to meet the objectives of the project. The business analyst will help identify whether there is any benefit to the project of inclusion or whether there is any detriment to the project and business if not included.

Evaluate

      •     What is the potential financial benefit to the organization?

      •     What will changes mean to the end user?

Every idea or recommendation needs to be evaluated to determine the potential impact on the system, the users, and the organization. There will be impacts; the goal here is to gain as much information as possible so that we can better predict what those impacts will be.

Consider

      •     Are there new approaches available?

      •     Have we considered all angles?

      •     Has anything been missed?

Business analysts do not jump to, or accept recommendations, without considering all aspects of the idea. They will consider the idea from many different perspectives to make sure that it is an all-around great recommendation. Often this consideration will lead to refinement of the recommendation to give it even more strength, but the consideration may also lead to understanding that the idea or recommendation is not as sound as originally believed.

Question

      •     What are the risks?

      •     Who are we missing?

      •     What can go wrong?

      •     What does it look like it if goes right?

The first rule of business analysis is to question. If we are not questioning, we are not analyzing. A common, easy-to-remember tool for a business analysis is “5-Why’s”, where for every idea we ask “why” up to five times or as long as it takes to get to the underlying reason or need. You will find an example of how this helped me bring value to a project I was managing in Chapter 2. The bottom line is that we cannot understand until we first question and strive to find answers.

Explore

Each of us does analysis on a daily basis in both our personal and professional lives. The power of business analysis is looking at every decision that affects the solution with the analysis mindset. The result is a solution that will bring the greatest benefit possible to the business.

Think about this in-depth analysis of the word “analyze”. Do your business analysts “analyze” the business or are they simply taking orders? Are there others in your organization that do business analysis? Do those that analyze have access to and knowledge of business analysis best practices? Part 2—What your business analyst should be doing for you will go into great detail on how to conduct analysis before, throughout, and after each project in order to bring the greatest value.