https://modernanalyst.com RSS feeds for Business Analyst Community & Resources | Modern Analyst 60 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7126/10-Trends-BAs-Cant-Ignore-in-2026-and-the-Skills-to-Master-Now.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=7126 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=7126&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7126/10-Trends-BAs-Cant-Ignore-in-2026-and-the-Skills-to-Master-Now.aspx Discover the 10 technology and delivery trends Business Analysts can’t ignore in 2026—plus the practical BA skills and templates to apply them in real projects (AI agents, governance, security, provenance, and outcome measurement). adrian Sun, 11 Jan 2026 05:38:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:7126 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7125/2025-Was-a-Wake-Up-Call-for-BAs--My-Year-End-Scorecard.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=7125 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=7125&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7125/2025-Was-a-Wake-Up-Call-for-BAs--My-Year-End-Scorecard.aspx 2025 didn’t just bring new tools—it exposed weak habits. In this year-end recap, the author of Modern Analyst’s 2025 trends article reflects on what really happened and why Business Analysts became the “AI Ops” layer: clarifying outcomes, setting guardrails, improving data trust, and embedding security. Includes a copy/paste BA Year-End Scorecard to assess maturity and set smart priorities for 2026. adrian Mon, 29 Dec 2025 18:49:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:7125 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7042/From-Least-Privilege-to-Adaptive-Privilege-BAs-Role-in-Dynamic-Access-Control.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=7042 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=7042&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7042/From-Least-Privilege-to-Adaptive-Privilege-BAs-Role-in-Dynamic-Access-Control.aspx Emerging opportunities and responsibilities are presented to business analysts (BAs), offering a chance to bridge the business needs, influence technical design, and provide governance requirements. This further enables the BAs to define, validate, and guide in the process of changing to the adaptive access control. adrian Sun, 28 Sep 2025 04:27:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:7042 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7041/Applying-Agile-Hybrid-Frameworks-in-Large-Projects.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=7041 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=7041&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/7041/Applying-Agile-Hybrid-Frameworks-in-Large-Projects.aspx This article explores practical techniques that BAs can apply in large projects: how to prioritize backlogs when competing domains fight for attention, how to bridge Agile with Waterfall governance, how to contribute meaningfully in scaled frameworks, and how to use story mapping to ensure incremental delivery of real business value. adrian Sun, 21 Sep 2025 04:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:7041 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/2558/Understanding-Architecture.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=2558 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2558&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/2558/Understanding-Architecture.aspx For computer and applications, "architecture" is a very common and often ambiguous word. It seems certainly to be referred to complex systems, and appears often to be confused with such as structure or frameworks, planning or blueprint, approach or methodology, and so on. It can be seen that, however, there are certain reasons to using this term. Sun, 15 Dec 2024 07:32:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2558 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6609/Crafting-Valuable-Requirements-Using-Business-Architecture-and-Artificial-Intelligence.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6609 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6609&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6609/Crafting-Valuable-Requirements-Using-Business-Architecture-and-Artificial-Intelligence.aspx Planning, managing, and delivering business requirements are daunting undertakings in any organization. It requires a lot of human resources and despite great efforts, the success rate of digital transformation project delivery is usually very low in most organizations, according to Boston Consulting Group and the Harvard Business Review. In this article, we’ll touch base on two methodologies that address today’s challenges of managing and crafting valuable business requirements, one of which is based on generative artificial intelligence. Requirement Management in TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Requirement Management is at the center of enterprise architecture as shown in Figure 1 below. In The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF), a requirement is defined as a statement of need that must be met by the architecture. It typically represents a high-level capability that must be met by the system or enterprise architecture to satisfy a contract, standard, specification, or other formally imposed document. Requirements in TOGAF serve as the basis for planning, defining, designing, and realizing architectural solutions at the business, application, data, and technology levels. They play a crucial role in guiding the development of the architecture to be delivered, ensuring that the final outcome aligns with the strategic goals, stakeholder needs, and operational demands of the organization. Transform VA Sun, 06 Oct 2024 05:03:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6609 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6588/Business-Ecosystem-Modeling-BEM-and-Enterprise-Analysis.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6588 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6588&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6588/Business-Ecosystem-Modeling-BEM-and-Enterprise-Analysis.aspx Business Ecosystem Modeling (BEM) is one such approach that enables organizations to map, understand, and leverage the intricate web of relationships within their ecosystem to drive value. In the context of Enterprise Analysis as outlined in the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK Guide), BEM becomes an essential tool for business analysts to guide strategic decision-making, ensure alignment with organizational goals, and navigate the challenges of the modern business landscape. adrian Sun, 25 Aug 2024 21:06:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6588 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6517/Leveraging-Choice-Architecture-in-Requirements-Analysis-and-Design-Definition.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6517 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6517&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6517/Leveraging-Choice-Architecture-in-Requirements-Analysis-and-Design-Definition.aspx Integrating choice architecture into the requirements analysis and design definition knowledge area can provide significant advantages for business analysts. By carefully designing how choices are presented, business analysts can enhance stakeholder engagement, streamline decision-making, and improve project outcomes. As you refine your approach to requirements analysis and design definition, consider how the principles of choice architecture, grounded in the influential work of Thaler and Sunstein, can be employed to create more effective and impactful business solutions. Transform VA Sun, 02 Jun 2024 16:52:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6517 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6497/The-7-Levels-of-Strategy-Mapping.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6497 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6497&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6497/The-7-Levels-of-Strategy-Mapping.aspx Well-crafted strategic plans are mapped in detail from business design to agile solution delivery and execution to enable the necessary changes within an organization in response to customer needs, competition, and innovation. To achieve its strategies and goals, a firm needs to map and disseminate them cohesively throughout its organization using its entire planning ecosystems from executives, mid-level managers, strategists, business architects, enterprise architects, change managers, process experts, business analysts, and agile experts using the 7 levels of strategy mapping. Transform VA Sun, 12 May 2024 21:50:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6497 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6466/From-Business-Analyst-to-Application-Architect-A-Guide-to-Making-the-Leap.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6466 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6466&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6466/From-Business-Analyst-to-Application-Architect-A-Guide-to-Making-the-Leap.aspx As a seasoned application architect who once walked in the shoes of a business analyst, I understand the desire to embark on a career transition journey. Making the leap from analyzing business processes to designing intricate software systems may seem daunting, but I'm here to tell you that it's not only possible but also incredibly rewarding. Drawing from my own personal experience, I want to offer some advice and encouragement to fellow business analysts who aspire to become application architects. adrian Sun, 24 Mar 2024 04:39:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6466 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6429/Stuck-Going-in-Circles-Use-a-Circular-Flow-Diagram-CFD.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6429 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6429&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6429/Stuck-Going-in-Circles-Use-a-Circular-Flow-Diagram-CFD.aspx In the intricate world of business analysis, understanding the complex interactions between various economic agents is crucial for making informed decisions. One tool that plays a pivotal role in comprehending these interactions is the Circular Flow Diagram or CFD. Originating from the field of economics, this visual representation has found its way into the toolkit of business analysts, offering a holistic view of how money, goods, and services circulate within a vertical industry or within an organization. In this article, we delve into the essence of the Circular Flow Diagram and explore its applications in the realm of business and systems analysis. adrian Sun, 21 Jan 2024 23:12:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6429 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6260/How-to-Build-a-Grounded-Capability-Model.aspx#Comments 1 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6260 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6260&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6260/How-to-Build-a-Grounded-Capability-Model.aspx Business Capabilities are at the heart of an organization’s planning ecosystem. Capability mapping serves many purposes, two of which are critical. First, business capabilities are instrumental in setting priorities more quickly focusing on the most profitable initiatives first. Second, well crafted detailed capability-based roadmap allows agile project planning that is more accurate, less risky, and takes less time. Transform VA Sun, 30 Apr 2023 21:25:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6260 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6111/How-to-remember-50-BABOK-Techniques.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6111 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6111&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6111/How-to-remember-50-BABOK-Techniques.aspx BABoK v3 techniques are a lot. There are not just 10, 20, or 30 techniques but 50 techniques, to be precise and that's not a small number! The human mind can remember 5 to 7 elements at a time and anything more than that is hard to remember. Then, how can one remember 50 techniques? "Is it really possible to have a BABoK Techniques Mindmap?" Many of you may wonder. So, here's the Ultimate BABoK techniques mindmap which could save you 40 hours of your International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) exam preparation! Transform VA Sun, 19 Mar 2023 22:12:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6111 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6150/Evaluating-Candidate-COTS-Packages.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6150 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6150&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6150/Evaluating-Candidate-COTS-Packages.aspx Whether you’re purchasing a package (also called commercial off-the-shelf, or COTS, products) as part or all of the solution for a new project or implementing a solution in the cloud, you still need requirements. Requirements let you evaluate solution candidates so that you can select the most appropriate package, and then they let you adapt the package to meet your needs. adrian Sun, 23 Oct 2022 23:58:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6150 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6082/How-Does-the-Product-Life-Cycle-Management-PLM-Impact-Fulfillment.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6082 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6082&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6082/How-Does-the-Product-Life-Cycle-Management-PLM-Impact-Fulfillment.aspx Taking a product from an abstract idea to an item that’s widely available in the marketplace demands a hands-on approach to prevent things from falling through the cracks. A technique that goes back nearly a century, product lifecycle management (PLM) has for decades been used to improve the efficiency of product development and design. In recent years, however, a growing number of organizations are realizing the capability of cloud-based PLM software to drive fulfillment benefits. There is a recognition that you can strengthen your supply chain management by deploying PLM from product conception to multi-faceted fulfillment. As your product approaches maturity, it necessitates changes to workflow, supply chain, and fulfillment processes as a means of attaining sales objectives and driving overall business strategy. But before we get into that and how PLM affects fulfillment, first a definition of PLM. Transform VA Sun, 17 Jul 2022 20:00:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6082 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6048/4-Diagrams-every-Analyst-should-Master.aspx#Comments 1 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=6048 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=6048&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/6048/4-Diagrams-every-Analyst-should-Master.aspx A picture is worth a thousand words. Charts offer visualization and help to understand and comprehend things that would be more painful and time consuming to understand by reading free text. Diagrams help us design systems and processes, organize our screens, while facilitating a common understanding of the big picture. They help us make visible the invisible. Αs a BA you can exploit a big variety of diagrams to help you communicate better and more accurate information concerning the requirements and the solution. Diagrams leverages the effective use of visuals and modeling techniques in helping organizations and individuals work from the 30,000 foot view down to the level of detail that is needed by those who are actually going to perform the process activities. Moreover a diagram can serve as a single point of truth navigating what should be done and saving time from questions deriving from ambiguous point may found in a text. Transform VA Sun, 05 Jun 2022 04:32:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:6048 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5996/An-Overview-of-the-Underlying-Competency-of-Business-Knowledge.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5996 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5996&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5996/An-Overview-of-the-Underlying-Competency-of-Business-Knowledge.aspx Business knowledge is simply knowing your business—its facets, strengths, weaknesses, competition, challenges, positioning within the market, and readily available solutions to its daily problems. Strong business knowledge should inform everything you do.  So, what you learn and hear in discovery should be filtered through your business knowledge. What you define in your requirements should also be informed by your business knowledge. As one business analysis writer puts it, “I’ve always been of the opinion that I’d like to know as much as I can about whatever I can because you never know when something you learned may come in handy.”[2] The following four areas are the ones, specifically, according to BABOK, that you’ll want to apply yourself to. Transform VA Sun, 30 Jan 2022 20:04:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5996 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5926/Doing-Business-Analysis-in-a-Hybrid-World.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5926 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5926&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5926/Doing-Business-Analysis-in-a-Hybrid-World.aspx One of the biggest challenges now facing business analysts is this: how do we successfully engage with stakeholders, elicit requirements, and have productive workshops and meetings, without actually meeting in person? The tried-and-tested methods of getting together in a collaborative space, using sticky notes and whiteboards, and bribing attendees with baked goods, are no longer quite so straightforward in a world where some or all of the stakeholders are on the far end of an internet connection. There are several factors to consider when moving out of the purely physical realm as a business analyst. Transform VA Sun, 10 Oct 2021 05:04:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5926 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5776/Employee-surveillance-the-latest-command-and-control-disease.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5776 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5776&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5776/Employee-surveillance-the-latest-command-and-control-disease.aspx With the massive shift to working from home we now see a plethora of tech companies flogging new employee surveillance tools. You can readily see their appeal to command-and-control thinkers. If you think, as they do, that managing employee activity is crucial, then to know who’s doing things and who’s taking the mickey is grist to their mill. But these tools will undermine performance and morale. Think about it from the employee’s point of view. Your boss can see your emails, any documents you read or create, your appointments, who you talk to, and when; can listen to or read transcriptions of your calls. Your boss can see your computer screen, can monitor your internet use, the sites you visit and for how long. Your boss can even turn on your camera and watch you at work. Transform VA Sun, 18 Jul 2021 04:35:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5776 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5769/Tasks-Mapped-To-Artifacts.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5769 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5769&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5769/Tasks-Mapped-To-Artifacts.aspx The intention of this article is to identify and specify the artifacts listed in the BABOK. These artifacts are listed within the Outputs section of the BABOK tasks. Outputs are described by a paragraph of text within each task. In this article I attempted to expand on these descriptions by adding detail to their content. It is assumed that each activity produces a tangible output[2] which is consistent with the layout of the BABOK. Those outputs are classed as artifacts with attributes. Each artifact’s attribute description is taken from the element description of the tasks that output that artifact. The BABOK element descriptions provide guidelines for activity that produces the attribute, without necessarily defining the information contained in the attribute.That information has been derived from the element description. Artifacts are derived from the BABOK Output sections. Artifact attributes are derived from the BABOK Element sections. A useful addition to the BABOK might be examples or templates of the outputs. Transform VA Sun, 07 Feb 2021 21:20:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5769 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5754/An-Object-Oriented-Analysis-Of-The-BABOK.aspx#Comments 1 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5754 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5754&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5754/An-Object-Oriented-Analysis-Of-The-BABOK.aspx Consider the situation where you are the business analyst who is planning project work according to the BABOK guidelines. The project manager wants to plan their time spent on business analysis activities. You produce a report of the BABOK that shows tasks that the project manager is expected to contribute to. This article describes an analysis I performed of the Business Analysis Body Of Knowledge v3 (BABOK). The result of this analysis is a model contained in the Visual Paradigm modeling tool. This model captures 461 pages of the BABOK, from the Business Analysis Key Concepts chapter through to the end of the Techniques To Tasks Mapping chapter. adrian Mon, 11 Jan 2021 04:37:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5754 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5590/Strategy-to-Pass-the-IIBA-AAC-Exam.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5590 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5590&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5590/Strategy-to-Pass-the-IIBA-AAC-Exam.aspx While the IIBA-AAC exam is not the most challenging exam that I've ever taken, it does require you to have a very specific type of understanding of the Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide. Though it's not a requirement, I recommend taking an exam prep course to increase your chances of passing the exam. Those who did not initially pass the exam reported that they underestimated the exam and figured that they would be able to rely on their agile experience to pass the exam. WRONG!! In fact, the exam doesn't focus much on the details of agile ceremonies or daily activities, but more so on the general principles of agile business analysis. adrian Mon, 04 May 2020 02:44:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5590 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5580/Detailed-Requirements-for-Fully-Automating-a-Business-Activity.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5580 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5580&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5580/Detailed-Requirements-for-Fully-Automating-a-Business-Activity.aspx This final article in the Requirements in Context series discusses detailed requirements for a fully automated business activity. ‘Fully automated’ means that the business information system (BIS) is expected to perform the activity from start to finish without user involvement. A simple example is the system automatically posting a monthly fee against customer accounts. A more complex example is the system utilizing customer-specific pricing details to determine the amount charged for a purchase made by a customer. Transform VA Tue, 14 Apr 2020 00:08:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5580 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5438/Why-Modeling-Is-an-Essential-Business-Analysis-Technique.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5438 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5438&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5438/Why-Modeling-Is-an-Essential-Business-Analysis-Technique.aspx Visual analysis models provide a powerful set of tools that let business analysts depict system information at various levels of abstraction. These models serve as an aid to understanding, as well as an aid to communicating. Alas, I fear that modeling is somewhat of a neglected practice. I believe modeling is an essential skill every BA should master. Here’s why. Transform VA Sun, 22 Mar 2020 14:27:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5438 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5560/Make-Something-That-Matters.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5560 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5560&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5560/Make-Something-That-Matters.aspx Has society become so unimaginative in the products, services, organisations and societies that we choose to create? Have we started giving up on ‘inspiration’ and ‘excitement’ as values with the way in which we create schools, workplaces and organizational cultures? My personal belief is that Business Analysts are ideally and uniquely positioned by make an incredible and positive difference in the world. Transform VA Mon, 02 Mar 2020 00:05:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5560 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5430/Human-Face-to-Enterprise-Architecture.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5430 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5430&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5430/Human-Face-to-Enterprise-Architecture.aspx If we look at the previously proposed process end to end, it starts with the customer journey. The journey is mapped to the internal business processes, systems, and data sources. For both the customer facing and internal parts of the journey user stories are created to document the gaps between the as-is and to-be states - effectively form the backlog for the change. For each story, acceptance criteria are prepared in a way that enforces the expected behaviour in the system. Ideally, those should be the scenarios that are likely to appear on the real life journeys and not the hypothetical future scenarios. These scenarios when implemented and tested feed back to the journey and underlying layers changing them as the new functionality is introduced. Transform VA Sun, 17 Nov 2019 09:08:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5430 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5248/Capability-Based-Planning-with-ArchiMate.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5248 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5248&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5248/Capability-Based-Planning-with-ArchiMate.aspx Capability-based planning is a growing practice in the field of enterprise architecture. Its success is due to the fact that it provides actual value to practitioners and the organizations that employs them. Indeed, capability-based planning helps in a number of ways, from providing a clear understanding of existing capabilities to promoting effective Business-IT alignment. Considering these benefits, we thought it useful to address this practice and bring some clarity to the subject for the benefit of all who might not yet have a good handle on the topic. Transform VA Sun, 28 Apr 2019 23:40:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5248 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5277/Strategic-Enterprise-Analysis-A-Revised-Article.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5277 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5277&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5277/Strategic-Enterprise-Analysis-A-Revised-Article.aspx This article describes the process of the strategic enterprise analysis utilizing text and tables. In the past 5 years, things have changed, and I have gained new insight and most important learned new aspects. As a result, this article expands previous material to include... Transform VA Sun, 10 Mar 2019 05:01:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5277 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5249/How-to-Improve-Cyber-Security-with-Enterprise-Architecture.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5249 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5249&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5249/How-to-Improve-Cyber-Security-with-Enterprise-Architecture.aspx Personally, I believe the best approach to enterprise risk and security management (ERSM) is to rely on several open standards, most notably the ArchiMate standard for enterprise architecture modeling, as well as the Open FAIR standard for information risk management. More details are described in The Open Group’s white paper on modeling enterprise risk management and security. Transform VA Sun, 24 Feb 2019 07:14:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5249 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5246/6-Ways-to-Organize-Your-Architecture-Models.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5246 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5246&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5246/6-Ways-to-Organize-Your-Architecture-Models.aspx If you have some experience in modeling real-life, full-size architectures for large-scale organizations – preferably in the ArchiMate language, of course – you have likely come across the challenge of organizing your models in logical and manageable ways. In the following pages, we’re going to share our top 6 ways to organize your architecture models. These methods should help you keep your models neat and tidy, while also supporting better outcomes for your strategic initiatives. Let’s see what they are. Transform VA Sun, 27 Jan 2019 21:15:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5246 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5247/7-Powerful-Analysis-Techniques-to-Boost-Value-from-Your-Models.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5247 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5247&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5247/7-Powerful-Analysis-Techniques-to-Boost-Value-from-Your-Models.aspx Strategists, architects, process experts, software developers, data managers and other professionals involved in changing the enterprise often put substantial effort in creating all kinds of useful models of their designs. In many cases, such business models, enterprise architecture models, business process models, software models, or data models are only used to specify some design, i.e. to describe what should be built.  But there is much more value to be had from these models, by using powerful analysis techniques to elicit new insights. In the following pages I will cover 7 of these analyses, discussing the business outcomes you can achieve with their help. Transform VA Sun, 13 Jan 2019 19:30:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5247 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5155/Demystifying-Strategic-Thinking-in-Business-Analysis.aspx#Comments 3 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5155 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5155&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5155/Demystifying-Strategic-Thinking-in-Business-Analysis.aspx One of my former business analysts on the team asked me this question recently; ‘I am really over being a BA. How do I move into strategy?’ I got to the realization that she was associating ‘strategy’ with a job title which consists of certain tasks.  In my view, it appears as if for some business analysts, before becoming strategic, they have to be given a title ‘Strategic Business Analyst’. This I believe is the mystery that surrounds ‘strategy’ and ‘strategic thinking’, making it appear as a destination to reach, at some point. Transform VA Mon, 12 Nov 2018 15:26:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5155 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5144/Managing-Requirements-is-an-Art-Mastered-by-a-Business-Analyst.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5144 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5144&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5144/Managing-Requirements-is-an-Art-Mastered-by-a-Business-Analyst.aspx In a classic business analyst universe, requirements are the soul of all the work a business analyst does. If a business analyst fails to identify and translate the right requirements, they’re out of a job. This is the reason why a successful business analyst is always good at requirements handling/management process. What makes requirements an essential part of a BA’s job? For a business analyst, requirements are defined as the logical and essential steps which needs to be fulfilled in order to achieve a successful end-state or a solution to a stakeholder’s business problem. These requirements drive the solution and are the key elements of any successful solution implementation. Business analysts are the ones who not only ensures the expected solution is delivered, but they’re also the owner of the requirements handling/management process. Business analysts identify the right requirements and help them convert into a form consumable by delivery teams to deliver the expected outcome in a timely manner. The requirements management/handling process consists of 4 basic steps: Discovery, Analyze, Draft and Implement. 1.     Discovery Requirements discovery is a phase in which we identify, gather and scope the requirements. This phase builds the basic requirements framework for delivery. To identify and gather requirements, a business analyst uses various requirements elicitation techniques like observation, shadowing, protocol analysis, apprenticeship, prototyping, focus groups, scenario’s, background research and many others. These techniques are aimed towards gathering information related to a business problem and/or a solution that business stakeholders are trying to achieve. Requirements identification is a highly interactive activity, which relies on the involvement of the right stakeholders. Elicitation activities continue while a business analyst traverse through other stages/steps of requirements gathering. It is very important for a business analyst to not only identify but to scope the requirement. Requirements are driven by information collected by various elicitation methods; however, the relevancy of the requirement needs to be determined. The simplest way to do so is to perform some of the elicitation techniques repetitively. Look for facts via secondary support of documents or information from another source just to verify. Chart your scope based on the overall direction of the information flow and the end-state which stakeholders are trying to achieve. Scoping cannot be definitive in the business analyst’s landscape. It’s a loose boundary which needs to be flexible enough to account for other business or priority changes. Loose boundaries do help the business analyst in defining a playground where they need to operate for a successful outcome. 2.     Analyze The most important activity of the requirements handling process is to analyze a requirement. Analyzing a requirement will provide us with a definite outcome along with the complete information on achieving that outcome. There can be various types of analysis like strategic analysis, functional and technical analysis. Strategic analysis is performed by understanding the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats provided by implementing this requirement. It helps a business analyst to understand the priority and criticality of the requirement which also determines how essential it is for a business to implement those requirements. Functional analysis provides an ability to understand the requirement from the end user perspective.  It is performed by interacting with people who’re impacted by the implementation of requirements. This provides unique opportunity for a business analyst to shape the solution in a way that accommodates the minimal, easy to adapt change to the end users or the impacted. Technical analysis is performed by further breaking down functional requirements into a series of small implementation steps which a delivery person can understand. It is the delivery person/team who needs to deliver the technical solution. It is important to not miss any aspect of functional requirement to be translated into technical requirements which is a supporting pillar for successful solution implementation. Depending upon the type of analysis, we determine the type of requirement. Upon successfully analyzing and understanding the type of requirement we start drafting requirements into various artifacts. 3.     Draft Once a business analyst has understood the type of requirements and its expected outcome, business analyst can draft those requirements in their respective artifacts. There’re various artifacts such as business requirements document and/or specification requirements document and user stories which are authored and owned by a business analyst while there’re some other like project charter, technical design document or anything alike to which a business analyst contributes actively. Drafting of requirements take the utmost time as the translation needs clarifications and numerous back and forth interactions. Once a requirement drafting is complete, it’s time to walk them through with the entire team. 4.     Implement The first step of requirements implementation is to arrange for a walk-through of freshly drafted requirements where the audience includes all stakeholders including delivery team. This walk-through session helps with course correction of requirements if there’s a miss while drafting them. Also, requirements walkthrough is a common platform where in the stakeholders and other team members have the opportunity to ensure alignment of the requirements to the desired end state. Once the requirements are defined and finalized, business analysts have to ensure continuous requirement refinement for successful delivery. This is the final step of requirements management process. Once the requirement has been identified, scoped, analyzed, drafted and confirmed, business analysts have to keep their eye out for on-going business changes, these changes may affect any of the existing requirements and their desired outcomes. As business changes are constant, the impacts on the already drafted requirements is constant. There is a small deviation of requirements which can still be managed by refining the requirement and updating them, but then if the deviation requires additional effort for which the cost involved is high, then changes are to be considered for enhancement. This decision must be evaluated by a business analyst before taking appropriate actions accordingly. At this stage, all the requirements are the guiding principle for the delivery team to deliver the solution. Requirements Handling/Management Process is the one, a business analyst has to master to be considered as successful. Author: Nimil Parikh, Business Analyst Nimil Parikh is a new generation business analyst who transforms business processes by leveraging IT tools and applications. He has over 7 years of experience modeling, analyzing, measuring, improving, optimizing and automating business processes. He adds value by his ability to context switch while providing cross-functional business solution and ensuring timely delivery by managing and streamlining business processes and driving strategic leadership. He is known to introduce IT business transformation and ensure successful implementation. Nimil possess MBA from San Jose State university, MBA Marketing and Information technology engineering from India. Nimil lives in Campbell, California. He enjoys challenges and believes in making things right. Reach him via email – parikhnimil@yahoo.co.in   Nimil Parikh Sun, 21 Oct 2018 21:22:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5144 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5127/The-Case-of-the-Missing-Algorithm--And-what-has-Haecceity-got-to-do-with-it.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5127 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5127&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5127/The-Case-of-the-Missing-Algorithm--And-what-has-Haecceity-got-to-do-with-it.aspx There are a small number of core concepts that can be said to embody the essence of an enterprise. This article asserts that one such concept is the business algorithm, the unique combination of business logic, algebra, and rules that is used by the enterprise to convert real world data and events into useful outcomes that benefit all stakeholders – giving rise to happy customers, prosperous proprietors, and fulfilled staff! ... The business algorithm is a unique and fundamentally important concept that no enterprise can function without. There are other aspects of the enterprise like brand or culture that may also claim to be ‘of the essence’, but the business algorithm is the only such concept that has a formal existence inside computer systems. The business algorithm is like the soul of the enterprise, uniquely defining the enterprise and giving it life via its systems. As such it has a unique claim to relevance as a first-order systems requirements artifact. Transform VA Mon, 24 Sep 2018 01:00:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5127 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5083/Lets-explore-Business-Analysts-Toolbox.aspx#Comments 2 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5083 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5083&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5083/Lets-explore-Business-Analysts-Toolbox.aspx Chaos! Stress! Everyday mess! Isn’t this an everyday situation for a business analyst? If not, either you’ve job satisfaction or you’re not being introduced to the real world of business analysis. A person might possess great skills, however, (s)he might not be able to utilize skills without the right mix of tools and environment. A toolbox enables a person to implement the skills in the most efficient way. Possessing necessary tools is just the one part of it. Another is the knowledge to utilize the right tools at the right time to cater the solution and ensure timely committed delivery. What are these tools? How do we map the usage of tools to the given circumstance? How can we efficiently utilize the tool? Does it depend on the solution or the approach? Nimil Parikh Sun, 08 Jul 2018 12:00:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5083 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5067/Who-is-a-Business-Analyst.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5067 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5067&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5067/Who-is-a-Business-Analyst.aspx In a large firm, a business analyst (BA) organization makes an effort to identify, analyze and provide a solution to the above questions. A BA organization is a prime pillar in optimizing resources to provide maximum value out of it to the business. A BA organization consists of business analysts in various roles like Product Manager, Program Manager, Project Manager, Business Analyst, Business Systems Analyst, Business Systems Consultant, Business Process Analyst etc.  The prime objective is to analyze business to maximize value addition. To understand more about the BA organization, it is important to understand what is business analysis Nimil Parikh Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:20:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5067 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5001/Does-it-make-sense-to-talk-about-enterprise-analysis-or-strategy-analysis-in-the-context-of-business-analysis.aspx#Comments 3 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=5001 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=5001&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/5001/Does-it-make-sense-to-talk-about-enterprise-analysis-or-strategy-analysis-in-the-context-of-business-analysis.aspx A benefit that I see of moving away from terms like enterprise analysis and strategy analysis is that removing this division between “flavors” of business analysis helps us see more clearly how BA activities can add value at all levels of the organization. Whether we’re making project portfolio recommendations or specifying a tiny software feature, the purpose is the same: help stakeholders clarify the real business need and determine the best solution to address it. Transform VA Mon, 11 Jun 2018 00:14:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:5001 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3820/Validating-a-Strategic-Project-at-the-Enterprise-Level.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3820 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3820&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3820/Validating-a-Strategic-Project-at-the-Enterprise-Level.aspx Prior to proceeding with a strategic project, project leadership needs to ensure that the project still: aligns with the direction of the business entity, and fits the needs of the targeted customer segment, as it did when the project was an initiative. This brief article starts at the inception of an initiative during Enterprise Analysis to the validation of a strategic project prior to kickoff. Note in this article, I include both the private and public sectors when I use the terms such as “business entity” and “customer segments.” Transform VA Sun, 01 Oct 2017 22:08:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3820 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3745/Business-Analysis--Leading-with-Influence.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3745 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3745&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3745/Business-Analysis--Leading-with-Influence.aspx What is Leading with Influence?... It is about the ability to affect the actions, decisions, and thinking of others to accomplish key goals or tasks that you consider to be important. Simply put, leading with influence is about getting people to willingly follow the direction that you provide when you lack organizational authority. It is about leading when you are not in charge. As a Business Analyst, I want delivery partners on a project to follow the guidance I provide without having to demand their compliance. michael_r_roy01 Mon, 26 Jun 2017 12:25:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3745 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3762/But-I-Already-Know-What-I-Want-Helping-Our-Stakeholders-Think-Beyond-One-Solution.aspx#Comments 2 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3762 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3762&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3762/But-I-Already-Know-What-I-Want-Helping-Our-Stakeholders-Think-Beyond-One-Solution.aspx I bet everyone has, at least once in their career, heard the expression: “We don’t need any up-front analysis: I already know what I want!” Often these words are followed by a description of a specific type of solution, often an IT system, and often a specific vendor name. Perhaps our executive stakeholder has decided they need to migrate onto the newest platform, the organization needs a new ‘mobile app’, or we need to ‘move all of our data into the cloud’. I can imagine some people will be holding their heads in their hands as they read this paragraph… Transform VA Sun, 21 May 2017 21:43:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3762 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3682/Alice-in-Wonderland-The-Challenges-of-Delivering-in-the-Midst-of-Chaos-Episode-5.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3682 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3682&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3682/Alice-in-Wonderland-The-Challenges-of-Delivering-in-the-Midst-of-Chaos-Episode-5.aspx Every organization has some degree of “chaotic” culture. Some of them breed chaos and unconsciously operate in chaos. Project management is designed to operate with structure. However, reality has always contained a dose of “Wonderland” as well. Projects find themselves at odds with the environment that they operate within when the underlying organizational culture tends to be chaotic and less disciplinary and operates randomly. Project management methodologies and execution processes’ logic and convention are contradicted by the chaotic, shape-shifting setting of “Wonderland.” This conflict threatens a successful outcome for a project. The uncertainty that projects are confronted with throughout the execution process can be fatal. Chaos, by its very nature, is impossible to control completely, and so projects struggle to deliver as they fail to manage the conflict they find themselves in with the organization’s way of life. Transform VA Sun, 08 Jan 2017 07:18:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3682 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3677/Bridging-Business-Model-Canvas-and-Business-Architecture.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3677 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3677&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3677/Bridging-Business-Model-Canvas-and-Business-Architecture.aspx The Business Model Canvas is a common method to build a business plan in very large and small companies because it is both structured and very simple to understand. The Business Model Canvas is also very Customer-Driven. Yet, there has not been in the past an easy way to plan a detailed Business Architecture model starting from a Business Model Canvas to enable marketing and operation planning. In this article, we will demonstrate how to easily bridge a Business Model Canvas to a Business Architecture model to optimize with agility your marketing and operating modeling. Transform VA Sun, 27 Nov 2016 23:02:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3677 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3432/ArchiMate-for-Business-Architect.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3432 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3432&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3432/ArchiMate-for-Business-Architect.aspx Usage of one enterprise architecture language capable of expressing concerns from technology layers to business needs and drivers gives tremendous benefits to the organization. It streamlines the communication and enables easy collaboration between Enterprise and Business Architects...  ArchiMate was deliberately aligned to be compliant with the TOGAF 9 framework. It is also very useful for people practicing (high-level) Business Analysis, according to the BABOK Guide.  pzubkiewicz Thu, 28 Jan 2016 11:28:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3432 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3367/Customer-Journey-Mapping-for-Business-Analysts.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3367 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3367&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3367/Customer-Journey-Mapping-for-Business-Analysts.aspx Customer journey mapping is a great way to understand your customer intimately to provide insights into providing targeted customer experience that empower the customer positively to drive better business outcomes.  This technique places the customer first with a deep emotional understanding, then looks backwards toward the experiences provided by the operating model, thus enabling good aspects to be reinforced and negative ones to be managed. It provides a complete 360 end to end experience of the customer to be realized driving customer insights, allowing more blue sky approaches to offsetting emotional deficits... pomifritz Sun, 29 Nov 2015 21:52:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3367 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3324/Strategy-Mapping-for-Business-Analysts.aspx#Comments 2 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3324 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3324&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3324/Strategy-Mapping-for-Business-Analysts.aspx This article explores strategy mapping as discussed within Business Architecture Guild BIZBOK, and attempts to extend the discussion by defining a set of information and graphical principles that allows strategy to be represented graphically. Mon, 28 Sep 2015 04:59:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3324 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3326/Traceability-Join-the-dots.aspx#Comments 1 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3326 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3326&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3326/Traceability-Join-the-dots.aspx This article provides an in depth study on the concept of traceability, together with its implications and applications within a business context. Traceability is a term used in the IIBA BABOK, among other professional practices, in the context of requirements where requirements are said to be traced that provides alignment of requirements to each other. This implies that there are different classes or abstractions of requirements such as stakeholder, business and functional requirements. Traceability allows the alignment between all types or abstractions of requirements, telling a kind of story to how they all interrelate.  Mon, 24 Aug 2015 02:30:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3326 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3287/How-not-to-get-lost-in-data-jungle.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3287 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3287&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3287/How-not-to-get-lost-in-data-jungle.aspx Data migration is typically the most forgotten or underestimated component of an IT project which is the process of making a copy of data and moving it from one system to another, preferably without disrupting or disabling active business processes. On some occasions, it is not easy to understand that a data migration is needed in the project and most of the times data migration is not seen as an item that its requirements needs to be captured during analysis phase. That’s why migration related problems begin during development or testing phase when data need is identified or when the data from the old system refuses to fit properly into your new user interfaces or business rules despite the transportation of the old data. For a successful project, the need of a data migration and its requirements must to be identified early beginning of analysis phase and further actions should be reflected to project plan accordingly. But how? Data migration strategies are a whole different detailed topic and they will not be mentioned here but capturing the essentials of data nature is a life-saver activity which is the targeted idea of this work. 1. Will you need a data migration? Identify it during elicitation phase if possible. If not, analysis phase is also ok but be careful and just identify the need as earlier as possible. Ask data related simple questions. Do your requirements mention from the systems need to be shut down? If yes, does this system keeps any data? Is your project a replacement project for an old system? If yes, does this system keeps any data? Do your requirements mention from entities that are already used in your company’s systems? In order to use that data do your new system’s data model needs to keep them as well. Watch out, it may mean also a nasty synchronization! If one of answers is yes, you will need a potential data migration. Just continue to get more details. 2. How to capture requirements and define business rules? If you determine that you need a data migration, be careful and specify at least following details in your analysis.   2.1 Identify if your company have multiple data sources for that entities. If yes, determine the master and the fate of other systems’ data. You will see how many systems you are dealing with. It is important to know how and where data is stored, backed up, and if it is archived. 2.2 Data profiling: Data profiling is a “must have” activity to understand what are specs of the material you will be working on. Conduct profiling activities and classify the data, such as data with missing unique ID’s or missing first name and last name or false data such as numeric values as first name and other useful information like length, type, candidate for primary key, etc. Results of the profiling will guide you to design user interfaces and capture business rules. 2.3 Do you need data cleansing? According the data profiling, you will see if you need cleansing activities and what will be the final structure of the data you will be working on. Also you will be able to clarify cleansing related activities on the project timeline which will provide a cleaner vision for the project timeline. If your answer is no, definitely check the section 2.6. 2.4 Data structures must be well understood if your project requires design of user interfaces or data forms. Consider data structures while determining dynamic user interfaces or form context. For example, old system may store the phone number and its extension in one field by separating data by “–“. This means two numbers are stored in one field and you should consider such constraints while you are designing a new interface with multiple fields on section 2.8 or determine ways to separate phone number and its extension effectively while moving the data as mentioned on section 2.7. 2.5 Fate of the historical data:  Take into account if historical data will be migrated or not. It may affect your user interfaces or business processes. 2.6 Fate of the missing or dirty data: After profiling, most probably you will see that some of your data is not clean or adequate to use in further actions. For example, you are working on sensible customer data and national identity number is mandatory but some records do not have identity numbers. It will cause you problems to pinpoint the customer or you will face further problems if this information is mandatory to display customer on the screen.  Even worse, if you have validations based on the identity number such as debt control or billing, the system will not be able to conduct such validations. Always check whether data ownership belongs to a specific business unit. If yes, let them decide to the fate of data. Decide whether the data is just enough to use or will it cause problems to conduct business processes. Will you migrate such data? If yes, sections 2.8 and 2.10 will be highly important for you. Is it possible to clean or enhance problematic data somehow? If yes, how? Determine the way and related requirements. If you decide not to move such data, always consult with your business unit for possible further actions. They may need to find the customer and inform him/her legally according his/her account status or they may need another manual/automation processes.  2.7 Data mapping is basically the activity of creating a map of the existing data model by matching each entity&field with the future data model. Each entity should be mapped correctly and in details to be able to move data successfully. The map is an essential item of data migration strategy which is a whole another topic and not be mentioned here in details. Based on the mapping, you can see the gap between your legacies and your future and you can use the information on section 2.8 2.8 Screen validations and rules: Results of sections 2.2-2.7 will give you clear information about user interface validations and potential need of new business processes. 2.8.1 Screen validations? Define entity specs such as type and length based on the profiling results, the information will guide you to design potential data forms. Define the rules for the gap. If entities are not matching neatly, define UI standards and validation rules accordingly. Such as, will be these entities optional or if two different data are kept in one field, will you continue to collect and display them together? 2.8.2 New processes is needed? If you decided to transport problematic data; You may need to create new processes to correct such data. For example if the identity number is mandatory and your customer update process originally does not allow to update the number, in order to enable the correction of the customer information, you may need the define rules such as displaying identity number field editable. You may create new processes to alert the system or trigger different actions. 2.9 Define security & security measures such as encryption. If data needs to be migrated encrypted, general rules shall be set during analysis phase. 2.10 Define migration acceptance criteria such as data quality, migration duration etc. if it will cause termination on your services 2.11 Define the fate of the legacy data: Will you continue to keep the data on the legacy systems? If yes, determine whether a synchronization is needed with the new system or not? How long the data should be kept on legacy system? What are maintenance rules?   3.    What is next? Of course, plan the future! All answers will guide you for further activities which need to be added to the project plan in details. Identifying these steps at the beginning will prevent you from future unexpected surprises and definitely will help to close the project on time. 3.1 Rehearsals A clean migration needs rehearsals where you can have a look at your situation. 3.2 Testing scenarios Requirements need to be tested and since migration activity creates its own requirements, testing scenarios should cover these requirements as well. Author: Aylin Şen, Senior Business Analyst aylinsen Thu, 28 May 2015 16:49:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3287 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/2934/Making-the-Elephant-Dance-Strategic-Enterprise-Analysis.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=2934 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=2934&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/2934/Making-the-Elephant-Dance-Strategic-Enterprise-Analysis.aspx Strategic Enterprise Analysis is the study, modeling, and maintenance of the strategic direction of a company. This article is about conducting SEA. Moreover, it is about how a senior business analyst facilitates this executive board effort. Transform VA Mon, 06 Oct 2014 09:43:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:2934 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3078/Management-Consulting-A-New-Opportunity-for-Business-Analysts-but-is-it-for-me.aspx#Comments 1 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3078 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3078&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3078/Management-Consulting-A-New-Opportunity-for-Business-Analysts-but-is-it-for-me.aspx Are you a Senior BA who is looking for a new challenge? The Management Consulting BA role may be for you. This role is particularly interesting for BA’s who have adapted best practices to their strengths and are looking for a greater degree of independence and responsibility. adrian Mon, 15 Sep 2014 11:42:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3078 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3015/IMAGINE-the-Assemble-to-Order-Enterprise.aspx#Comments 0 https://modernanalyst.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/RssComments.aspx?TabID=115&ModuleID=572&ArticleID=3015 https://modernanalyst.com:443/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Tracking/Trackback.aspx?ArticleID=3015&PortalID=0&TabID=115 https://modernanalyst.com/Resources/Articles/tabid/115/ID/3015/IMAGINE-the-Assemble-to-Order-Enterprise.aspx Can the design of the enterprise’s business processes evolve to a state where the Business Analysts can customize the business processes specifically to the requirements of the owner using inventoried primitive elements; similar to using the metaphorical inventoried components/parts for a laptop? And can these primitive elements get assembled into new/enhanced business processes within a short period of time? Transform VA Mon, 21 Jul 2014 04:02:00 GMT f1397696-738c-4295-afcd-943feb885714:3015