Category: Business Analysis
- 📄 Documenting Projects: The Essentials ()
When it comes to managing projects effectively, having the right documentation is crucial. In my opinion the documents that are important on almost any project are: 1. Document Router Create a single point of access for all project artifacts. This could be a Confluence page, shared Folder, a Notion space, or a simple Google Doc. […]
- Fishbone Diagram: Technique for Root-Cause Analysis ()
Fishbone diagrams, also known as Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagrams, are powerful tools used in root-cause analysis to visually decompose problems into their components. This technique helps teams identify, analyze, and represent the underlying causes of a problem, making it easier to find effective solutions. The head of the fish represents the problem being addressed. The […]
- MOST Analysis. Strategy Analysis Technique for Analysing Internal Capability of the Organization ()
Analyzing the internal capability of an organization provides insights into its areas of strength and inherent weaknesses. This understanding is crucial for identifying relevant courses of action and ensuring that any changes made have a good chance of success. Business commentators often recommend ‘sticking to the knitting’ when considering business changes, emphasizing the importance of […]
- Ansoff’s matrix as a tool for Strategy Definition ()
Ansoff’s Matrix, also known as the Product/Market Expansion Grid or Ansoff’s Box, is a strategic planning tool that provides a set of strategic alternatives that organisations may consider when defining their business strategy. Developed by Igor Ansoff and first published in the Harvard Business Review in 1957, the matrix provides a framework for executives, senior […]
- Requirements Testing as a Business Analyst ()
“The charm as well as the challenge of requirements engineering is that it straddles geek and non-geek territory. Requirements describe how a software project and the system it produces interact with their physical and business environment (non-geek), but must do so with enough rigor and precision to serve as a blueprint for development, verification and […]
- Role of Business Analyst in Application and Data Security ()
Per BABOK Guide 3rd edition, security is one of the categories of Non-Functional Requirements that, per definition, “augment the functional requirements of a solution, identify constraints on those requirements, or describe quality attributes a solution must exhibit when based on those requirements.” As such, security requirements describe “aspects of a solution that protect solution content […]
- Presenting Alternative Solutions to Management as an IT Business Analyst ()
As an IT business analyst, one of the core responsibilities is to bridge the gap between business needs and technological solutions. When faced with a problem or an opportunity for improvement, it’s crucial to present alternative solutions to management clearly and compellingly, highlighting the one you see best. A well-structured framework can make this communication […]
- Agile criteria for good requirements – INVEST ()
In Agile development, the quality of user stories is paramount to the success of a project. Requirements size also plays a key role: to consider requirements ready for development they should be small enough to be implemented by the team within a single iteration. The INVEST criteria provide a comprehensive framework to ensure that user […]
- The HADI Cycle for Hypothesis Testing ()
The HADI cycle is a framework used in business and problem-solving to generate and test hypotheses. The acronym HADI stands for Hypothesis, Action, Data, and Insight. This cycle helps organizations organize their test results and gain insights about their business activity. In this article, you’ll learn the steps of HADI cycle, its benefits and considerations […]
- Force Field Analysis and its Applications ()
A Force Field Analysis is a decision-making tool used to assess the importance, impact, and influence of various factors on proposed changes in business processes. It helps identify and evaluate the driving forces and restraining forces associated with a solution. Force Field Analysis allows BAs to make structured recommendations on how to strengthen the forces […]
- 📕 Business Activity Models (BAM) in Business Analysis ()
A Business Activity Model (BAM) is a conceptual model that depicts the activities and logical dependencies within an organization from a stakeholder’s perspective. It provides a high-level view of what the organization does and captures the world view of a particular stakeholder. BAMs are used to explore, understand, and develop business requirements. Initially, there will […]
- What is a Relative Market Share (RMS) ()
Relative market share is a metric that helps companies identify their position in the market compared to their leading competitor. Relative market share is calculated by dividing the market share of the company under consideration by the market share of its strongest competitor. Relative market share can also be calculated by comparing a company’s sales […]
- 💡 How to structure big processes in BPMN ()
The approach to dealing with complexity has been “Divide et Impera” since the Roman Empire, which means breaking down a complex problem into smaller, more manageable pieces. In BP modelling, if your end-to-end process is too big to deal with, it probably means that you are modelling at a too detailed level. The solution is […]
- ⛓ Porter’s five forces model ()
Much of the business analyst’s work is to assess the costs and benefits of delivering a project to the organization. To do that, business analyst has to know a fair bit of strategy analysis. Strategy analysis covers a range of techniques that can be used to understand the business direction and the strengths and weaknesses […]
- Requirement Types ()
Have you ever started writing a Requirements document for your next Software project that has turned into a mess as you’ve been pouring more and more information there? I certainly did. Hopefully, there’s are clear solutions to this problem. First one, I’d say is having a clear document structure. But that’s clearly not enough if […]
- Common Misconceptions About Requirements Engineering ()
Conflation of Requirement Types Business analysts often confuse different requirement levels and types. One challenge is understanding the classification of requirements, while another is grasping the fundamental types. Business analysts often mistakenly use terms like “system requirements” and “user requirements” interchangeably, when in fact they refer to elements at different levels of abstraction. System Requirements […]
- 🔧 Requirements Engineering and its applications for Business Analysis ()
Requirement engineering is a systematic and disciplined approach to the specification and management of requirements with the following goals: Knowing the relevant requirements, achieving a consensus among the stakeholders about these requirements, documenting them according to given standards and managing them systematically. Understanding and documenting the stakeholders’ desire and needs, they specifying and managing requirements […]
- 📚 Rewired. The McKinsey guide to outcompeting in the age of digital and AI ()
On June 20, McKinsey has released a new book. It was written by Eric Lamarr, Kate Smayer and Rodney W. Semmel. Annotation: Most companies have started a digital and AI transformation, but very few have done the fundamental organizational rewiring needed to build the capabilities to drive continuous innovation across the enterprise. After analyzing the […]
- The Use of Data Dictionaries for Business Analysis ()
What Is a Data Dictionary? Data Dictionary – a collection of names, definitions, and attributes about data elements that are being used or captured in a database, information system, or part of a research project. A data dictionary is used to catalog and communicate the structure and content of data and provides meaningful descriptions for […]
- What is Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) ()
Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is the cost-effective and time-efficient process that development teams use to design and build high-quality software. The SDLC aims to produce software that meets or exceeds customer expectations, reaches completion within times and cost estimates, and poses minimal risk. ISO/IEC 12207 is an international standard for software life-cycle processes. It […]