Entries for September 2007

In the larger context of life, it is very clear that negotiation skills are very important and that those that have them are better off than those who don’t. What about in business analysis? Are negotiation skills important? The answer is an emphatic: YES! You bet they are! Business analysts negotiate or facilitate negotiations at...

If you are an IT professional in India, thinking of working abroad, you might want to consider a business/systems analyst position. Why? It’s a position in high demand with high earning potential and which can serve as a great foundation for moving up the corporate ladder into management or business operations. In Money Magazine’s Be...

So you have gotten your Cisco® or Microsoft® technical certifications to prove that you have mastered the technology; you've earned your Project Management Professional® to prove that you can plan and execute work effectively; what's next? For many of us it will be the Certified Business Analyst Professional (CBAP). This credential will...

Every project has requirements. It doesn't matter if it's building hardware solutions, developing software solutions, installing networks, protecting data, or training users. For the project to be a success, knowing what the requirements are is an absolute must. Requirements exist for virtually any components of a project or task. For example, a p...

 Software managers sometimes assume that every skilled programmer is also proficient at interviewing customers and writing requirements specifications, without any training, resources or coaching. This isn't a reasonable assumption. Like testing, estimation and project management, requirements engineering has its own skill set and body of know...

 Most books and articles on software requirements are written as though you’re gathering requirements for a brand-new product—what’s sometimes called a green-field project. In reality, few people have that opportunity on every project. Many developers work on maintenance projects. In such a project you’re usually adding...

In the July 07 newsletter of the International Legal Technology Association (ITLA) there is an article explaining the difference between the PM and BA role. It appears the ITLA is interested in improving clarity on the value of the BA.In recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the important roles business analysts (BA...

The software industry is exhibiting an increasing interest in requirements engineering — that is, understanding what you intend to build before you’re done building it. Despite the hype of "Internet time," companies across many business domains realize that time spent understanding the business problem is an excellent investme...