Practical Analyst - Latest Comments

Re: Business Analyst Career Talk on Jobshadow.com

Tony — Thu, 23 May 2013 09:51:40 -0000

Can someone please help me on how to get experiences in
Business Analyst, I really want to enter BA role, maybe as junior or whatever, I
have good customer skills as well as writing, listening, communication and
facilitating skills, I do not mind doing volunteer work, just want to gain experiences
and start from somewhere really. Any tips or ideal are much appreciated. Email address
“woleosho1@gmail.com”

Re: Business Analysts: A Resume is a Work Sample

Ngneer — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 23:58:46 -0000

While I truly appreciate your view of the resume, the fact is that the resume will probably never make it past the screener program if it does not have enough of the "buzz words" and you will not see it. It is a shame but job seekers can spend four hours tailoring their resume to the job posting only to be reject by the screener in Taleo or another application as it mysteriously processes 500+ applicants down to a group of 10. it is almost like developing a scientific algorithm for choosing a winning lottery ticket.

Re: Business Analyst Job Description

guy — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 12:28:10 -0000

cool story bro

Re: Use Cases or User Stories? Read Up!

hfh hawatmeh — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 10:57:52 -0000

can you help me ....how to represent a story to a use case

Re: Business Analysts, Be Kind to your Stakeholders!

Duane Banks — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 10:56:41 -0000

Jonathan, I wholeheartedly agree.

One question though:

At my current assignment, the BA captures business and functional requirements, and SA defines the software requirements (SRS). Should the business be responsible for reviewing/approving the SRS as well?

Re: We’re Business People First

Duane Banks — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 10:41:06 -0000

The way I see it, the role of a BA is essentially a matter of understanding and facilitating resolutions to problems. So, perhaps business analysis is neither a business nor an IT role, but a problem-solving role.

How so? Well, not all resolutions to business problems involve technology; and not all resolutions require acumen of the particular business (in my opinion). The common denominator for all resolutions is problem-solving.

I believe Business Analysts ought to serve as partners to both the business and the solutions team.

Re: Business Analyst Job Description

FU JB — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:23:11 -0000

yo JB you talk like a fugen Fagit

Re: The Value of Small Wins (or, How to Eat an Elephant)

Yaaqub Mohamed(Yamo) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 21:08:40 -0000

Another great post Jonathan! Its something about the small effort that makes your feel good when you complete it successfully. You might have heard of "Well begun is half done".. I have a twist to this in the context of this post "Consistent small beginnings have great endings" :)

I am a big fan of the "Fifth Discipline"... it was the first book I was told to read right after the college and its a new book each time you read it. :)
I liked the socio-psychological reasons for why the small wins work. It is in my view the basis for how everyone gets huge projects done. From an analyst's perspective it makes a lot sense to be able to relate to smaller, simpler components that build up to form a larger context or problem.

Congratulations again on your promotion and I wish you luck with eating the next elephant! :)

Cheers!
Yamo

Re: Business Analyst Career Talk on Jobshadow.com

saket kumar — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 16:00:03 -0000

hello Sir,
i will be joining in a business analysis firm in 2013. i m a fresher with a Bachelor degree in engineering. i m very excited about it but a little bit confuse too because of lack of knowledge of this field. Can you provide me with some basic fundamentals one need to know about it.If possible also refer some good books on this .

Re: Open Source Data Modeling Tools – Worth a Look!

jbabcock — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 15:24:11 -0000

Thanks, Michael. Should be fixed now.

Re: Business Analyst Job Description

Wael Said — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 06:49:50 -0000

Thank you JB, I always find answers to my questions in practical analyst .. :)

Re: Open Source Data Modeling Tools – Worth a Look!

Michael Phoenix — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 17:42:36 -0000

The link to Dia is blank

Re: Open Source Data Modeling Tools – Worth a Look!

guest — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 13:28:51 -0000

good post
Muchas gracias

Re: Free Desktop Tools a Business Analyst Should Know About

Addie — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 08:39:58 -0000

how do i become a business anlyst... currently i am working software developer...i just dont know how to get going....could you help

Re: Business Analysts: A Resume is a Work Sample

Pramod — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 06:16:28 -0000

good article overall....

Re: We’re Business People First

Jonathan Babcock — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:13:13 -0000

Thanks for the comment and the reference, Gretchen. I was not familiar with that book. I'll be sure to check it out!

Re: We’re Business People First

Gretchen Hansen — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 17:25:13 -0000

I just started reading Love Works by Joel Manby. Joel provides an approach and real life examples of how to implement a "people first" culture in any business environment. I highly recommend this book.

Re: Business Analysis Can Kill a Project (In a Good Way)

Jonathan Babcock — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 12:54:35 -0000

Thanks for the comment and additional insight, David! You're right - it's not necessarily about requirements being met 100%, but about heading off ill-fated projects and requests that will not provide the business value needed to justify completion.

After another read, I also think I might have chosen better wording when asking if readers have ever "killed a project", in that it is never something single-handedly done by the analyst.

The analyst's tasks is to provide the facts, data and recommendations needed to put business stakeholders in a position to make informed, decisions, which may include abandoning the iffy project request.

Again, thanks!

Re: Business Analysis Can Kill a Project (In a Good Way)

David J C Morris — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:56:46 -0000

The issue is not whether the BA should recommend pulling the plug if user requirements are not 100% met, it's more that the BA has a responsibility to the project's business owner and sponsor, that if the benefits promised in the business case will not be realised, the the business case should be re-evaluated on that basis, then it's the sponsor / executive decision to terminate, put on hold, or continue with a new case as appropriate

Re: Visual Modeling: A Critical Skill for Business Analysts

Jonathan Babcock — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:54:36 -0000

Thanks for the comment, Jeremy. I agree with you on sticking primarily with the "tried and true", I do like to leave the door open for innovation, though, and am typically fine with whatever models or hybrids a team agrees best suits the need.

We've seen benefit in some cases by actually specifying requirements primarily in visuals with supporting text instead of the opposite as was previous habit.

It's all about providing the information in the format that's easiest to understand and discuss, and with context that makes it meaningful to the user/reviewer.

BTW - I am a longtime fan of the Seilevel site and message boards, and really looking forward to Joy Beatty and Anthony Chen's upcoming book on visual modeling!

Re: We’re Business People First

Jonathan Babcock — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 22:47:35 -0000

Thanks, Yamo! I appreciate the comment.

Even when a BA typically works on IT/software projects, it's important to look at outcomes in terms of business value instead of just, "did we give the customer what they asked for?" That's the easy way out. A good BA doesn't just rely on the business stakeholder to know the business (you know, because we're "IT"), but helps stakeholders through the process of discovery and analysis - providing insight and business expertise - to ensure the best business outcomes.

One of the complications that comes with the BA with the IT blinders on is that every solution is approached in terms of what we must do with our software and systems instead of also considering people and process as well. This can result in over-engineered systems and sub-optimal solutions across the board. Anyway....

BTW - love the turn of phrase - "For a business analyst the first order of business is business."

Re: We’re Business People First

Yaaqub Mohamed(Yamo) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 17:51:11 -0000

Great article, Jonathan. I completely agree with your point-of-view; we really need to dispel the myth about a BA being closely associated (or only associated) with IT projects. There is no better time to do this now, while the role of a BA getting more recognized and clarified. For a business analyst the first order of business is business. :)

Re: Visual Modeling: A Critical Skill for Business Analysts

Jeremy Gorr — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 12:08:23 -0000

I could not agree more. In fact, I would go further and say that visual models are not optional, but required for every project. There is no way that the full picture can be seen without visual help. Typically on an IT project, multiple visual models are needed because any single model will only show things from a limited perspective.

I would even be more rigorous about "what does a visual model look like". Rather than have the BA start from scratch and find their own format, there have been years (even decades) of work on models like Process Flows, ensuring that the model is complete and consistent. Whenever I set out to do a new Process Flow, Business Data Diagram, Ecosystem Map, or Data Flow Diagram, I grab the latest template because I know that practitioners have included all their lessons learned in these models as they were developed.

Great article, I encourage you to continue preaching this message to whoever will listen!

Jeremy Gorr
Senior Product Manger
Seilevel

Re: Tools: Risk Matrix

Jonathan Babcock — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:24:34 -0000

Thanks, Dougie! By all means, borrow away!

Re: Thought, Problems, and Business Analysts

Ales — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:33:19 -0000

Great post and great questions are below too. Don't missed them.