Organizational objectives disconnected from those responsible for execution
ARLINGTON, VA, USA– Dec. 19, 2011–ESI International, the world's leading project management training company, today announced the findings of a new global study conducted to examine the state of business analysis (BA), a core discipline for translating project objectives into actionable project requirements and deliverables. The study was conducted among both public and private organizations worldwide in September.
“The disconnect between those who ultimately sponsor projects and those who execute them was frankly a bit shocking” said Mark Bashrum, Vice President for Corporate Marketing and Strategic Intelligence at ESI. “We were surprised to see how seldom business analysts linked key project success criteria to broader organizational goals.”
When business analysts were asked what they thought were the organization’s key project success criteria only 22 percent listed “Organizational Profit Impact” in the top three most important and only 8 percent listed it as the most important criteria in determining project success. The top three responses, were “customer satisfaction”, “on-time completion” and “on-budget completion” (of the project), clearly indicating a focus on project execution over business impact.
“It’s understandable that business analysts are focused on the tactical execution of their projects, however, it’s a bit disappointing that they fail to take the next step and link their project outcomes to obvious organizational goals such as revenue growth or cost reduction,” said Bashrum.
These findings strongly indicate that people are missing the big picture in terms of what their overall BA objectives should be, and as a result, organizations are not realizing BA’s full potential in terms of improving efficiencies that increase productivity and profitability, especially important in the current challenging economy.
Additionally, key findings show that immaturity in BA organizations may represent an unrecognized deficiency in many of the surveyed organizations. The study, which tracked project outcomes against core BA activities, years of professional experience, BA certifications and a variety of other factors revealed that nearly half of BA practitioners had five or fewer years of experience in the field and that very few respondents possessed any type of BA certification.
“Business analysis is obviously recognized as a driver of project success, but organizations and business analysts themselves need to raise the bar in terms of their expectations in order to get the most out of the discipline,” said Glenn R. Brûlé, CBAP, Executive Director of Global Client Solutions, ESI. “This study indicates a relatively high level of satisfaction with BA performance and results, but business analysts have barely scratched the surface providing the enterprise level activities of which they’re capable, and from which organizations will benefit most.”
To download the full study, "Why Good Isn’t Good Enough: The Global State of Business Analysis", please visit: www.esi-intl.com/BAsurvey
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Survey Methodology
In September 2011, ESI International sent an email survey of 24 close-ended questions to organizational professionals from the executive to project level who are responsible for project activities in public and private organizations in the Americas, EMEA and Asia/Pacific regions.
1,632 respondents participated in the survey, but not all respondents answered every survey question. The survey was anonymous unless respondents wanted to receive the results, in which case they had to complete their details.
About ESI International
ESI, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE:INF), helps people around the world improve the way they manage projects, contracts, requirements and vendors through innovative learning. In addition to ESI’s more than 100 courses delivered in more than a dozen languages at hundreds of locations worldwide, ESI offers several certificate programs through our educational partner, The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1981, ESI’s worldwide headquarters are in Arlington, Va., USA. To date, ESI’s programs have benefited more than 1.35 million professionals worldwide. For more information visit www.esi-intl.com