The Community Blog for Business Analysts

I have spent the last year and a half working on an enterprise software solution development effort where we do not use a Requirements Management tool like Caliber or Visual Studio TFS. Our requirements are created in Word using standardized templates and distributed to Development and Test teams for consumption. Test cases are written in Excel an...

I've been blogging lately about a couple of topics pertaining to 'agile' methods. Along those lines, I wanted to consider one suggested practice that I think is worth reflecting on, that is; the treatment of NFRs (non-functional requirements) as stories. Let's draw back for a moment. Regardless of process approach, be it traditional or agile, po...

  Business Analysts often delve into business requirements, gathering, understanding and documenting business processes and functions. An analytical mind and detailed information gathering are considered to be essential; one wonders though, if industry experience is a must for good business analysis skills. After all, if you knew well the ins...

A Promise to have a Conversation I’ve been writing user stories for a couple of years now, and the best way I’ve heard how to describe them is that they are a promise to have a conversation.  Enough information should be written down to give the reader an idea of what the gist of the story is (and to be able to roughly estimate a story point ...

Capacity review   Why should Business Analysts be concerned about IT Asset Capacity planning / review - because business analysts, in my opinion, are all about optimizing business processes - in many cases, closely linked to IT. With that said, here is some food for thought:   IT Asset management - One of the core principles for Infor...

EMV process is used in the Decision Tree analysis, which visually maps out activity decision paths. As an example, if a deliverable for a project has two suppliers, and it is known that any delay in the crucial deliverable will result in additional resource idling/alternative costs of $1,000 per day, and that supplier "A" price is $20,000...

You have achieved your short term BA goals. You want to expand your horizons and see what else is out there and how you can progress in your career and gain knowledge and keep your career up-to-date as well. What are some of the possibilities out there that won't force you to re-learn something new from scratch? Some possibilities for career and kn...

You know, it’s the coolest nickname I’ve ever received - but it almost sounds negative. I mean am I going in and assassinating your application? No, I go in and make the changes you request and re-deploy your application. So why give me that nickname? Pretty easy I guess, when I’m operating strictly as the implementer of a solution, I am able to...

One of the more controversial techniques fostered by some in the agile community is ‘Pair Programming’. It is a practice that originates from Extreme Programming, a specific Agile process pioneered by Kent Beck. It is controversial, particularly for larger corporates because it seeks to adjust human behaviour patterns. In Pair Programming, develop...

I know you are going to call me crazy, but I just have to let everyone know.  Machines are controlling us.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  You don’t believe me?  Okay, I’ll explain. People come and go in organizations.  Systems tend to stay much longer.  Simple enough right?  Here is the kicker.  When that sy...