IN THIS ISSUE Featured articles showcased in this issue: > Brûlé’s Rules of Playing Telephone with Requirements > Requirements and the Beast of Complexity > Six Simple Steps for Accelerating and Perfecting Requirements > Agility Based on Business Rules Also in this issue: > Webinar: Stress-free SQL Queries for the Analyst > More Business Analyst Humor > Even more Resources for Business Analysts > New Interview Questions
FEATURED ARTICLES Brûlé’s Rules of Playing Telephone with Requirements by Glenn R. Brûlé, Executive Director, ESI International You remember the game of telephone, right? There is a tendency to interpret information in very individualized ways, but as business analysts (BAs), we don’t want to allow for that. Rather, BAs strive for clear, concise and coherent articulation of requirements because it influences the outcome of solutions. BAs know that “winning” the game of telephone happens when both the client and vendor make a concerted effort to articulate needs and capabilities, then proceed to mash them up and make sense of the output. Read more...
Requirements and the Beast of Complexity by Mark Norton, Product Director, Idiom Ltd. This article promotes a new approach to requirements management that reduces project complexity and improves communication between business and IT. This new approach can be used on its own, or as a supplement or precursor to existing approaches. Critical features of the approach are: detachment of business requirements from individual projects; and the production of testable requirements that can be shown to be complete, consistent, and correct prior to use within the SDLC. Read more...
Six Simple Steps for Accelerating and Perfecting Requirements by Barbara von Halle and Larry Goldberg of KPI, LLC We present a requirements framework and methodology that may be different from what you are doing. Its three prominent characteristics are a framework, a new model, and visualization. The framework ensures completeness of all requirements. The new model is the Decision Model, transforming important business thinking into a tangible and manageable business requirement. The visualization simulates user scenarios, alleviating the need for abstract specifications or models. Read more... Agility Based on Business Rules by Ronald G. Ross, Featured Speaker, AttainingEdge.com Today’s business systems aren’t agile – even when agile software methods are used to develop them. Companies need business agility, and in most cases we simply aren’t delivering it. Here’s an example from recent experience. I visited a very large health care organization and had conversations there with a variety of people. Read more... ANALYST DIARY Agile Practitioner & BA: Jayesh Jain Title: Senior Business Analyst Employer: Prism Software Ltd What have you found that makes your job easier? ‘Relationship before Task’ is my motto, I spend as much time as possible to built a working relation with every person I interact with (including customers) and have found that extremely helpful. As far as requirements are concerned I make sure they are very clear and unambiguous. Every time there is a change in business process / software I make sure I involve as many end users (actual users) as possible, I never forget that they are the ones which are affected the most. Read more... UPCOMING WEBINARS Stress-free SQL Queries for the Analyst Thursday, June 17, 2010 10:00 AM Pacific Register Now! MORE FROM ModernAnalyst.com More Relevant Articles > Manage the Complexities of Large Teams: The Good, the Bad and the Complex > Be Good Enough: How the Agile Process Refocuses Business Analysts on Imperfections
MAY 2010 Follow Us on Twitter http://twitter.com/ModernAnalyst
Got a Knack for Writing? We are always looking for quality content which is relevant or related to business analysis! Increase your exposure by submitting original articles to be published in the Modern Analyst eJournal. Send us an e-mail: [email protected] BA Webinars Increase your skills by attending one of our upcoming Web Seminars for business analysts. Your Thoughts? Your thoughts, opinions and comments to the editor are welcome and should be sent to: [email protected] Network with BAs Looking to network with like-minded professionals involved in Business Analysis? If yes, then join ModernAnalyst.com on LinkedIn and Facebook:
Business Analyst Humor Did You Know? Did you know that you can create your own profile at ModernAnalyst.com? Showcase your skills, knowledge, and experience. Link to Us If you want to link to ModernAnalyst.com just copy the HTML code from the Link to Us page.
SUBSCRIBE: Subscribe to the ModernAnalyst eJournal! It's FREE!
brought to you by enabling practitioners & organizations to achieve their goals using: