|
On software development projects people have to estimate the effort involved. In doing so, one of the things analysts are asked to consider is the complexity of a process, but it surprises me how often analysts confuse complexity with difficulty. The two concepts are mutually exclusive. A process can be simple, […] I am recognised by Pegasystems as a Certified Business Architect. But what does that mean? As you may know, Pega has Direct Capture of Objectives (DCO), a useful set of tools which can be used by experienced requirements analysts during the Inception and Elaboration phases of a Pega development to directly […] On so many projects, I have seen software developers thrown into meetings with the business SMEs with the task of understanding the “requirements”. On some occasions I have been delighted to see developers with the ability and techniques that truly enable them to think in terms of business needs. Mostly, however, […] Many analysts have a grounding in grounding in one main area of business analysis, such as process modelling. However, a company’s business architecture cannot stand on a single leg. In fact, three legs are required: Process model Data model Decision model I have seen many software development projects where […] If you are a business process analyst, you need to print out the image above and stick it somewhere visibile whenever you are building process models. Process analysts often forget that business processes (certainly in the context of software development) work by moving data around an organisation. If the business […] Scott Sehlhorst (@sehlhorst) has written an excellent article titled Requirements vs Design – Which is Which and Why? Some of my own thoughts are in this post, but read Scott’s article first to get the context. Scott seems to gather the problems a business sees with its current model (e.g., […] Over the years I have been asked to participate in interviews where the candidate claimed to have analysis experience. Sometimes the candidates were being interviewed for analysis roles, but often they were programming roles, but the candidate claimed to have significant analysis skills. My job was to test the validity of […] Someone recently asked the following questions on the IIBA discussion forum on LinkedIn: What recruitment procedure is to be followed to identify real BA competencies? Are 15 minutes presentation and 15 minutes group interview enough? Is there any best practice BA selection procedure? For your consideration, here is the […] Is “Business Analyst” a Job Role Facing Extinction? I keep seeing this question popping up on discussion forums and it is getting tiresome. I find the question naïve and the following was my answer to a thread on LinkedIn today: Business analysis is an essential skill in any change […] Use Cases are a key concept Pega Business Architects should understand if they are planning to use PRPC’s Application Profile Wizard. If you are familiar with UML, Pega’s notion of a Use Case might confuse you at first. It is important to distinguish between a “Use Case Rule” (which is a […] |