The Strategic Role of Business Analysts

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The Strategic Role of Business Analysts

• By Dirk le Roux
• CIO Media24
• Cape Town
• 29 May 2008

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Background

• Managed through 5 main divisions
• 6 Dailies
• 4 Sundays
• 2 Weeklies
• 45 Community newspapers

• Managed through 14 divisions or subsidiaries
• 61 magazine titles

• 14 websites

• Managed through 2 divisions
• 12 Publishers/agents
• 2 Retail

• 5 main sites

• Managed through 6 divisions

Media24 has a turn-over in excess of R6bn per
annum
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The role of the Business Analyst is well
understood and appreciated in most organisations
Do you agree with this statement?
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Issues
Are Business Analysts in search of identify and
recognition? OR Are they on the verge of assuming
a broader and more strategic role in the (IT)
organisation?
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The business analyst position varies depending
on the organization (Source Forrester, 2008)
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"Everyone agrees on the importance of the
business analyst role but few know exactly what
it is that business analysts do." (Source
Forrester, 2008)
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The role of BA most commonly associated with
business requirements for IT projects 1 of 2
The BA delivers a project scope which defines
the boundaries of what is going to be analyzed as
part of the project including high-level
processes and a more detailed analysis of the
root cause of the problem being addressed.
The BA is responsible for fully understanding
the business problem and providing complete
analysis to ensure that the solution best meets
the needs of the business.
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The role of BA most commonly associated with
business requirements for IT projects 2 of 2
In the current scenario, BAs are involved in
understanding business needs, problems and
opportunities and providing recommendations and
solutions to meet the business objectives, most
of the times within the context of Information
Technology.
key role of this analyst is to analyze the
business processes, procedures, organization
structure, etc. in order to identify problems and
determine solutions.
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Business Analysis is being done under many banners
Functional Analyst
Business Analyst
Business Technology Analyst
Analyst Programmer
Business Systems Analyst
Product Manager
Systems Analyst
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"Business analysts don't get the glamour, and
they don't get the glory" (CIO.com)
My view is that organisations must appreciate the
crucial role of the Business Analyst and
something like the BA BOK is important in this
respect
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BA BOK definition of the Business Analysts role

• Business Analyst works as a liaison among
  stakeholders to
• elicit, analyse, communicate and validate
  requirements
• for changes to business processes, policies and
  information systems
• Business Analyst understands business problems
  and opportunities in context of requirements
• and recommends solutions that enable an
  organisation to achieve its goals

Source BA BOK v1.6
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Business Analysts typically performs these
activities (BA BOK)

• Requirements planning and management
• Requirements elicitation
• Requirements communication
• Requirements analysis and documentation
• Solution assessment and validation a.w.a.
• (business case development)
• (benefit harvesting)

Source BA BOK v1.6
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The changing role of the CIO has a direct impact
on business analysts
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Business Is Evolving So Must IT
Experiment and Reinvent
Play by the Rules
Keep it Simple
Present ???
1990s Present
1960s 1980s
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Different Business Models Dictate Different IT
Organizational Roles
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Enterprises Want to Use IT for Differentiation
2008 Business Expectations
To what extent will each of the following be a
top priority for you in 2008?
2008
2007
2006
Improving business processes
Attracting and retaining new customers 3
3 Creating new products or services
(innovation) Expanding into new markets or
geographies Reducing enterprise
costs 5 2 2 Improving enterprise workforce
effectiveness 6 4 Expanding current
customer relationships 7 Increasing the
use of information/analytics 8 7 6 Targeting
customers and markets more effectively 9
Acquiring new companies and capabilities (MA,
etc.) 10
1
1
1
2
3
4
New question for 2008 New question for
2007
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Creating distinctive solutions extends the CIOs
focus both IN and ON the business
ON
Critical
Distinctive Solutions
The Business
Strategic Value Frontier
Importance to strategy
IN
Generic Operations
Enablement
Transformation
Operation
Degree of Change
Working IN and ON the business
To create Distinctive Solutions from
Generic Operations
Adapted from The E-Myth by M. Gerber
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What does this mean for (Business)
Analysts? Media24 as a Case Study
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At Media24 IT we have provided for three
(business) analyst roles
CIO
Not a completed structure
Strategic Change
IT Operations
IT Governance
Office of CIO
Architecture
Development
Strategic Planner Sr Financial Analyst HR Manager
Business Account Managers
Strategic Business Analyst
Functional Business Analysts
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At Media24 IT we have provided for three
(business) analyst roles Business Account
Managers
CIO
The 21st century business analyst is a liaison,
bridge and diplomat who balances the oftentimes
incongruous supply of IT resources and demands of
the business. Forrester's research found that
those business analysts who were most successful
were the ones who could "communicate, facilitate
and analyze." (CIO.com)
Strategic Change
IT Operations
IT Governance
Office of CIO
Architecture
Development
Strategic Planner Sr Financial Analyst HR Manager
Business Account Managers
Strategic Business Analyst
Functional Business Analysts
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At Media24 IT we have provided for three
(business) analyst roles Functional Business
Analysts
CIO
Anyone who has ever worked on an application
development project knows that the involvement of
a business analyst can mean the difference
between success and failure. (CIO.com)
Strategic Change
IT Operations
IT Governance
Office of CIO
Architecture
Development
Strategic Planner Sr Financial Analyst HR Manager
Business Account Managers
Strategic Business Analyst
Functional Business Analysts
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At Media24 IT we have provided for three
(business) analyst roles Strategic Business
Analyst
CIO
because business's IT needs (such as ERP
systems consolidation or enterprisewide data
warehouse rollouts) span not only different
departments but across entire companies. In
addition, newer technology methodologies, such as
services-oriented architecture (SOA), require a
deep understanding of both business and IT as
well as close attention to changing business
conditions. (CIO.com)
Strategic Change
IT Operations
IT Governance
Office of CIO
Architecture
Development
Strategic Planner Sr Financial Analyst HR Manager
Business Account Managers
Strategic Business Analyst
Functional Business Analysts
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Going forward at Media24

• Business Analysis Career Paths
• Business Analysis Training
• Business Analysis Certification
• Enterprise Analyst?
• Business Analysis Centre of Excellence
  unlikely?! BA Forum Yes!

Business Analysis is such an important
competency for Media24. We must do whats
necessary to ensure that we continue to
professionalise and grow it
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Discussion