New Acronym Alert: BACOE! Why Create A Business Analyst Center of Excellence. Sherry Pate, PMP, EBAC

Transcription

1 New Acronym Alert: BACOE! Why Create A Business Analyst Center of Excellence Sherry Pate, PMP, EBAC

2 What Is A BACOE?

3 The definition of a BACOE A BACOE improves business analyst skills, increases the quality of requirements thru standardization, and leads ultimately to higher-quality solutions Simply put, a Center of Excellence enables business analysts to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively

4 The IIBA Has described best practices, tools and techniques for business analysis Has written a Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK ) Has established two levels of professional certification: Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP ) Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA )

5 The Definition of Business Analysis The tasks, techniques, skills and abilities required to clearly define a problem faced by the business and then to determine the scope of a solution to that problem Solutions may include: Process improvement Organizational change Technology components

6 Typical Role of the Business Analyst Key facilitator Liaison between business, organization, and solution developers Examine business needs Ensure needs are valid, understood and met Identify, validate, and document requirements Ensure solutions satisfy those needs Advocate for the business

7 BACOE vs. PMO Project Management Office (PMO) and the BACOE who does what?

8 BACOE vs. PMO (continued) PMO is responsible for the successful completion of projects BACOE is responsible for the successful completion of requirements

9 Business Analysis and Project Management Business Analysis Concerned with business needs and problems Concentrates on finding all requirements Determines the criteria the business solution must meet What it must do How it must behave Project Management Concerned with the tasks that comprise the project Concentrates on planning and managing the work Determines the work needed to produce the solution Coordinates and directs project resources

10 Why Is A BACOE Needed

11 Making the Case for a BACOE $80-$145 billion per year is spent on failed and cancelled projects (The Standish Group) 25%-40% of all spending on projects is wasted as a result of rework (Carnegie Mellon) 50% are rolled back out of production (Gartner) 40% of problems are found by end users (Gartner)

12 Making the Case for a BACOE (continued) It is estimated that 60%-80% of project failures can be attributed directly to poor requirements gathering, analysis, and management (Meta Group)

13 The Relative Cost of Defects Relative cost to repair a defect at different project lifecycle phases $1 Requirements $5 Design $10 Coding $20 Unit test $50 Acceptance test $200 Deployment Adapted from Managing Software Requirements, Dean Leffingwell and Don Widrig, Addison Wesley, 2003

14 What Are The Benefits Of A BACOE?

15 Benefits of the BACOE 1. Consistency in Requirements Engineering 2. Repeatable Processes 3. Improved Performance 4. Reduced Costs 5. Improved Quality

16 Benefits of the BACOE (continued) 6. Sells the Value of Business Analysis and Requirements Engineering 7. Positive impact to the organization 8. Better partnerships between the Business and IT

17 Who will benefit from a BACOE An effective Business Analyst Center of Excellence can provide many benefits to the: Business Analyst Project Manager Project Team Entire business if created and implemented effectively

18 Consistency in Requirements Engineering Easier transition between projects More trust from the business Improved efficiency It shouldn t feel like you re working with a different company on every project!

19 Repeatable Processes Efficient process Effective process Ongoing process improvement

20 Improved Performance Of the Business Analyst Of the Project Manager Of the Project Team Of the Business Of the Organization

21 Reduced Costs and Improved Quality More realistic cost estimates Higher level of quality Improved stakeholder satisfaction Improved morale

22 Sells the Value of Business Analysis and Requirements Engineering Why Requirements Engineering is critically important Why a GREAT Business Analyst could be businesses best friend Why a project should only progress when the critical requirements are clear

23 Positive Impacts to the Organization Higher quality workforce More projects completed annually Projects aligned with organizational mission, goals and strategies

24 Better Relationships between the Business & IT Business Relationship Management Building the partnership between Business and Information Technology Reputation Trust Respect Partnership Alignment

25 Better partnerships between the Business and IT (Continued) It s not My project It s not Your project It s OUR project! We re all in this together!

26 What Are The Elements Of A BACOE?

27 Elements of a BACOE 1. Establish Roles and Responsibilities 2. Create Common Processes 3. Create Common Templates 4. Create Checklists 5. Create Standards

28 Elements of a BACOE (continued) 6. Create a Communication Strategy 7. Create a Coaching / Mentoring Strategy 8. Create a Training Strategy 9. Create a Process Improvement Plan 10. Define Success Criteria

29 Define Success Criteria Determine measurement strategy for defined success What will be measured What will be reported Who will receive reports What will be done with the information Remember, criteria can be objective and subjective

30 Defining Success Some of the ways you can define the BACOE s success are as follows: Reduced re-work Project Cost Overruns Total Cost of Ownership Other Measures Might Be Team member moral Reduction in project staff turnover

31 Establishing the BACOE will require: Significant time commitment Skilled resources Management commitment And. A lot of patience!

32 Summary and Conclusions The BACOE is for companies who want to advance their Business Analysis Processes and Procedures. Does your company qualify? If it does contact ASPE for more assistance. Q & A

33 How To Claim Your PDU Go to aspe-sdlc.com/pdu/ for instructions on submitting your PDU. You can submit your PDU by mail or electronically. The Activity code for today s presentation is WS and ASPE s REP number is The seminars are Category A for one PDU

34 Establishing and Maintaining a Business Analyst Center of Excellence (BACOE) Next Class: May 29 31th Join Us!