IT Infrastructure Management

BA: Business Alignment

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

STAR BASE Consulting is conducting a new pulse survey this month asking the question “is there really a rivalry between IT and Business or is this all just sensationalized hype?” I am very interested in seeing the results of this survey, but I believe I can predict the results. In almost every organization I have ever worked in the “Us vs. Them” culture existed. The relationship between IT and Business was more segregated, even adversarial at times, than that of a partnership.

Kupe tackles this topic this week on BA Times, where he discusses creating an environment in which the business wants to work with IT to derive technology-driven solutions. Doug Goldberg does an in-depth analysis of the subject on his blog, in which he describes approaches that a business-side analyst and an IT-side analyst to take to create a collaborative environment.

This topic is nothing new, just as the relationship between IT and Business is nothing new.

It took decades to get it where it is today. I am sure you can find bright spots in which IT and Business work together to achieve their goals, but in more organizations than not, this is not the case. Just as business processes and technology advance year by year, the relationship between IT and Business can be made better. I believe the Business Analyst is in prime position to turn the relationship around to a positive, collaborative, trusting relationship in which the two work together to achieve the strategic goals and initiatives of the organization. Why the BA? The BA is one role that works on both sides of the fence. The BA works with business stakeholders to bring out requirements for business improvement or application development solutions. The BA also works with the IT Solution Delivery Team to develop the solution that meets the business requirements. As the BA works with both teams, they are in prime position to bridge the gap between the two. So how should the BA go about bridging the gap?

Build a Relationship of Trust

One of the often overlooked roles of the Business Analyst is that of liaison between IT and the Business. In order to fulfill this role the BA must have a relationship with both sides of the organization. That relationship has to be built on trust. The business must understand that the BA is there not only to gather requirements but to understand the needs of the business and represent those needs to the IT delivery team. The IT delivery team must feel that the BA will represent the capabilities and limitations of technology to the business.

Communicate

The greatest factor that creates the “Us vs. Them” relationship is a lack of understanding. The business wonders why it takes IT so long to make a seemingly easy change. The IT application development team feels that business can not communicate effectively and does not understand the process of making application enhancements. Last month I spoke about creating a shared vision in relation to requirements and IT solutions. The BA should also create a shared vision of the needs and limitations of one organization to the other. The BA can communicate not only the requirements for IT solutions, but the stakeholder concerns surrounding those requirements. This adds context and can improve the ultimate solution developed as it increases the IT delivery team’s understanding. The BA can communicate to the business that the process of making application enhancements is more involved then changing a little piece of code and there it is. Testing, Quality Assurance, moving changes to production, Sox regulations, post-install processes and support are all time consuming tasks and increase the amount of time it takes the IT application development team to make an application enhancement. The more the business understands about these processes and the value they add to the solution, the more considerate they will be to the needs of the IT delivery team.

Build the Bridge

Through effective communication of the needs and limitations of one side of the business to the other and representing the other team to each team the BA can build a bridge of understanding between the two groups. By making each side realize that we are all in this together and desire the same outcome, you can build a relationship of trust and get rid of the “Us vs. Them” scenario and replace it with a collaborative working relationship that brings about better IT solutions to business needs.

So take the liaison role of the BA seriously and work to replace the adversarial relationship with a collaborative, understanding relationship. In this way you can show the BA value to the organization.

Seven Deadly Sins of Consulting, Part 2.

Monday, July 26, 2010 by Jeff Welsh

See Part One here. These deadly sins are not limited to IT Consulting in Cincinnati, but everywhere. I wish that someone would have shared the list below with me earlier in my career. It might have saved me a few grey hairs and sleepless nights. I have to admit, I have been guilty of a couple of these in the past, but that’s why it’s called experience.

5. Blame it on Rio. And I am not talking about the movie, I am talking about pushing the mistake/error onto something else like, the Operating System, another consultant or worse, one of the client’s employees. While the problem could very well be any of those things, your job as a professional consultant is to find solutions and to set an example in leadership and even diplomacy. While you may see glaring errors or mistakes and perhaps your way would have been the better way to do something it is best to keep the criticism and commentary to yourself. (See #3 in Part One)

6. Bubble gum and baling wire. Many times consultants are brought in to fix something. The last thing you want to do is to take a shortcut that you aren't sure will last. Band-Aids are fine if you know you are coming back to make a more permanent fix. But eventually, those shortcuts will fail and will need further attention and the time to failure is an unknown. It could be the minute you drive away or months later. This is not the type of chance you want to take. It frustrates the client, and it makes you look bad. You also don’t want to make the client totally dependent on you. A client told me once that Peter (not the real name) is very talented; the problem is he is the only one that knows how it works and can manage it.

7. Showing up, Gotta Go. (AKA I gotta hangnail). Once you’re on a gig, most clients want to see you on some sort of regular basis and some might have a “core hours” expectation. It’s important for both the client and the consultant to know what each should expect. I once heard a client make a comment about another consultant that went something like this: “Larry(not the real name) runs out of here all the time and uses sickleave for a hang nail!”

Here is another list that has some similar ideas here. I’m sure there are others. So go forth and sin no more!

Seven Deadly Sins of Consulting, Part 1.

Friday, July 23, 2010 by Jeff Welsh

You have probably heard your parents or grand-parents talk about when they were younger and how they had to walk to school, up hill both ways. When they shared this story with you it was to prepare you for times when things weren’t so easy and to provide you with their knowledge and advice from their hard earned experience. I wish that someone would have shared the list below with me earlier in my career. It might have saved me a few grey hairs and sleepless nights. I have to admit, I have been guilty of a couple of these in the past, but that’s why it’s called experience.

1. Bill for time not worked. This will be the quickest way to end up out of a consulting gig. Make sure you bill the client only for the time you actually work. This can be tricky if your clients are friends. When you go to a job like this, you know there will be a period of time spent socializing, especially when you first arrive. Don't bill for this time. Start the billing period when you start working. Sometimes clients will have celebrations during the day. If you don’t want to appear anti-social, by not going, just don’t bill. If there are any questions, ask the account manager to find out. If you are the account manager, ask your client manager at one of your one to one meetings if it’s ok to bill. Some client’s have a culture where that is part of the expectation.

2. Negotiate rates and make deals with the client. If you work for a consulting firm, you know there are channels for clients to go though to make requests.. Most firms have some sort of account manager to handle those issues. Direct the client to the account manager. I had one consultant that actually went so far as to look in the client’s AP system to see how much we were getting paid and then wanted to negotiate a higher rate with the client. This particular action did not end well for the consultant and he has not been able to be considered for other assignments in this client even when his skill set was ideal. Never, ever work out a side deal or moonlight with a client this can comprise your integrity and jeopardize the trust between you, the consulting company and inevitably the client.

3. Act like a prima donna. Yes, you’re good, that’s why you have been hired. I actually heard a consultant tell the client that their employees were stupid. Hello? You are there to serve those employees. You don’t know what kind of constraints they have had to work with. Hind sight is always 20-20. Its always far better to politely make suggestions. You may find out your brilliant idea was considered previously and there was a very valid reason for it not being implemented. It’s much better to NOT have egg on your face or your foot in your mouth.

4. Miscommunicate or undercommunicate when engaged at a client I believe that the client should know what is going on with their project. Many times I have had to be the bearer of bad news. I also like weekly status reports to let the client know what I have worked on and what I’m planning on doing. If at all possible I like to let them know a percent complete. Years ago, I heard another consultant tell the client he was “unit testing”. The client assumed that meant he had all the functionality done and was testing. The reality was he had about 10% of the functionality done and was testing just that one small piece. When the truth came out, it was not pretty.

Tomorrow I will finish off the last 3 sins.
To be continued……

BA: Creating Shared Vision

Monday, July 19, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

I am often asked what is a Business Analyst, what is the role of the BA or what does a BA do? Of course, those questions can be answered in many different ways that usually begin with the old standby answer “It depends…”.

When answering those questions, as with most BAs, I will get into the role of the BA within the organizational structure, Enterprise Analysis vs. Requirements gathering on a project, tasks and techniques. I go beyond these limited explanations and try to answer what I believe the requester is really asking “What is the goal of a BA?” I believe the goal of all business analysis activities, whether it is Enterprise Analysis or Requirements Gathering, should be to create a shared vision among the stakeholders.

Create a Shared Vision

Creating a shared vision is much like painting a picture. You are painting a picture in everybody’s mind so clear that everybody can see and understand the picture. No, painting

is not one of the tasks of business analysis. You paint a picture with your words and documentation. Text documents, flow diagrams, use cases, storyboards, activity diagrams, business process models, wireframes and other mockups can all be used in paint a picture. These can be used in combination to paint an even more vivid picture for your audience. Sometimes, as in requirements elicitation, it may mean that you gain the vision of the stakeholder. If in a requirements workshop, focus group discussion or one-on-one interview, drawings on paper or a whiteboard can facilitate shared vision and understanding. Often, it may be that you paint the “as-is” picture for the business stakeholder(s), and then they paint the “to-be” picture for you. By painting a picture so vivid that all stakeholders share the same vision of it, this is how we build the bridge.

Target the Vision to the Audience

In order for your audience to gain a vision, they must not only see the picture, but understand it. The picture must be painted in a way that facilitates understanding; it must be presented in a way that the audience can comprehend. You may use flow diagrams, use cases, story boards and/or activity diagrams when painting the vision to a business audience. You may use text documents, flow diagrams and/or activity diagrams to paint the picture for a technical team. You may use very short summary text documents and/or flow diagrams to present to management. To create a shared vision the picture must be presented in a way that facilitates quick comprehension from the audience to whom you are now presenting.

Sell Your Vision

Not only in our business analysis tasks, but in work outside of business analysis, we must create that shared vision; then be ready to talk about the vision and ensure that all see the same vision. Adriana Beal writing for Bridging the Gap, talks about successfully selling your initiatives to management. As Adriana writes, understand your manager’s framework and persuade your audience not only to accept your point of view, but to act upon it. What she is describing is painting a picture so vivid for your manager that they gain a shared vision with you and that they will want to take immediate concrete action on your proposal.

Business Case vs. Project Charter; Do You Need Both?

Monday, July 12, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

A few months ago I wrote on the benefits of developing a Business Case and how it should be used during the IT Governance and SDLC (Waterfall) process. My main point was that the Business Case document needs to be revisited at different points in the SDLC by the IT Governance body to continue to give its blessing to the project. At any point, yes even after development, the IT Governance body can hold up the “halt” sign on the project when factors or the environment has changed to make the project solution of little to no value. However, this can not be done when the IT Governance body reviews the project and the Business Case only at project inception. Constant review of the business case also assists in initiating the risk mitigation plan when factors or the environment changes that makes such mitigation necessary.

Today I look at the Business Case from a different perspective, that of Project Management. I have been involved in organizations that did the Enterprise Analysis activities that identified a business need and built the business case for a solution. The business case was brought before, and received the blessing, of the IT Governance body and a new project was born. It was then turned over to a Project Services team whose first task was to create a Project Charter.

I found it amazing that the similarities, in format and content, between the Business Case document and the Project Charter document were far greater than the differences. Some sections were reordered and some content was moved from one section to another, but essentially it would be easy to swap the names on the documents and most people wouldn’t even notice. Other than the intended purpose and audiences of the documents, they were essentially the same document. This naturally leads to the question: Do You Need Both Documents, or is it a great waste of time?

Yes, the Project Charter defined a few details in greater detail than the Business Case, but also realize it was written at least a week later, when more factors were known. Also, such content as risks and mitigation plans were then transposed, and further defined, into the project’s design documents. So why can’t the Business Case be used as the Project Charter?

In most cases, I would submit that the Business Case should be used as the Project Charter. Remember the Business Case has received the blessings of the IT Governance body and should therefore direct the scope of the project. Going back to the IT Governance body for approval of a Project Charter mostly restating the contents of an already approved Business Case would definitely be overkill and put undo burden upon the IT Governance body.

One case where Project Charter(s) are necessary after the approval of a Business Case, is when that Business Case is to be split into multiple projects to bring about the Business Case solution. In this scenario you would want a Project Charter for each project to define what part of the Business Case scope that particular project was initiated to handle.

In rare, very complex, business problems with complex business solutions you may find need for both a Business Case document and Project Charter document(s). In most cases, even in large companies, using the Business Case to define the scope and reach of a project is sufficient to get the job done.

The Value of Communication

Monday, July 12, 2010 by Matt Warman

There are many skills needed as an application development person to be successful, but none more important than communication. In fact, that is point of our job, to be able to communicate to our peers, partners, and customers. I believe that most organizations make money in spite of the immense lack of communication. Most of the application development people I know complain more about the policies and procedures than about anything else (although it’s always something!). Aren’t policies and procedures communication? Certainly, but it’s the internal communication that enables and drives the external communication. Everything we do has an impact on our ability to communicate. Say the wrong thing to a journalist, and you will be removed. Miss that deadline, forget about the promotion. Governance is important for the security of communication, but when do these rules get reviewed? Ask any software development person or manager why, and the answer usually is “that’s how we do things here”. The real answer is that someone set that restriction to an event that happened long ago, and nobody is willing to change things. If communication is the life blood of an organization, why would we restrict the life blood arbitrarily? If this sounds like your organization, maybe you need to review how you are handling your communications. If you need help, STAR BASE Consulting has years of experience triaging your life blood, and making it flow easier, better, and stronger.

BA: Building Maturity one Building Block at a time!

Monday, June 28, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

What an exciting time to be a Business Analyst! Why do I say that? Because there is so much going on within and for the profession; within organizations worldwide as well as for the profession globally.

Those that follow the discussion forums on the Business Analysis groups (BA Forum, IIBA®, Modern Analyst) on LinkedIn, have seen me post and comment. I have seen conversations develop into two opposite points of view, usually between two individuals, and neither side is willing to change their view, nor consider the other view. When conversation degrade to name calling, you just know that if these two individuals were in the same room that they would be putting on the boxing gloves and it would be a knock-down, drag-out fight to the end. What I think these people are missing…or seem to forget…is history.

Whether you wish to admit it or not, the profession of Business Analysis is still very much in its infancy. It is growing dramatically all over the world. Look at the IIBA membership and chapter start-ups over the past few months. This leaves very widely spread opinions as to what the job of a Business Analyst is. Business Analysis or the IIBA does not enjoy the history and recognition that Project Management and the PMI® receive today. Someday it will, and the IIBA is growing maturity one building block at a time. Let’s take a look.

The PMI was incorporated in 1969, offers 5 certifications, has over 300,000 certified individuals and the PMBOK® is in its Fourth Edition. The IIBA was incorporated in 2006, offers one certification and is adding its second by end of the year, has less than 1,000 certified individuals and the BABOK® is in its Second Edition. Even ITIL® can be traced back to the British Government of the 1980’s. Six Sigma also got its beginnings in the 1980’s. So the IIBA and the Business Analysis profession does not get the recognition that these other professions, methodologies and/or approaches get at the C-level within organizations. It took some time for organizations to recognize these others, they want to see quantifiable results. Business Analysis is getting there; they are proving their value to organizations every day; and with time it too will get its due recognition.

So what is the International Institute of Business Analysis® (IIBA®) doing to help the cause? A few months ago they launch the Online Library, last month they release the second version of the BA Competency Model, and recently have announced their second certification level. Promised in coming months is the Agile extension to the BABOK. Make no mistake about it, the IIBA stands behind and for the Business Analysis profession. They are building maturity one building block at a time. As with all previous professions, methodologies and/or approaches organizations will be slow, but will eventually, adapt and recognize the value. BA Center of Competency and Center of Excellence are beginning to get recognized for the value they bring to the organization.

So why is it an exciting time to be a BA? Because we current practitioners are in on the ground floor. How often do you get an opportunity to define a profession for the world? Just as the framers of the PMI and PMBOK did 40 years ago, we forge a new area for the world to follow. Wouldn’t you grab the bull by the horns?

Roaming the UK

Monday, June 21, 2010 by Matt Warman

In my recent post, I talked about my new phone for my upcoming trip to London. I am excited about my new phone, but not the cost. My carrier charges .35$ per outgoing SMS, .20$ per incoming SMS, and 15$ per MB for data. Since my phone is always “listening” on the Internet, it would cost a lot to actually use my phone in London. I can put my phone in “airplane” mode and use the camera, games, and music capabilities, but why have smartphone and not use its features? Fortunately, the solution is relatively simple. I can unlock my phone and use a pre-paid SIM card while in the UK. For my application development friends who are not phone savvy, let me explain. US phones are “locked” for US usage only. All carriers also make some phone features unavailable to the customer. In some cases, you are charged an additional fee for a feature your phone could perform for free! In this case however, I am unlocking my phone so I can use it on other networks. You may have heard of the term “Jail Breaked”. This refers to a phone that has been hacked to allow all features on your phone to be used. Some phone manufacturers and carriers don’t like this, and can make your phone unusable, or “Brick” your phone. Unlocking through your carrier is perfectly fine though. Once your phone is unlocked, the second part is to get a SIM card in the country you are traveling to.The SIM card is how the network recognizes you. If you opened your phone and swapped your SIM card with a friend, you would get all of his calls, and he would get yours! You can pick up a prepaid SIM card with a data plan for about 10 pounds (approx. 15$) a week. That’s a hefty monthly bill for a local customer, but it is much cheaper than the roaming plan. Remember, your phone number is different with a different SIM card! I can use my phone features to post messages and images on Facebook, for example, like I was at home. I can communicate with people at home without paying hundreds! I will let you know how this works out when I return.

Business Analyst: The Most Important IT Role

Friday, June 11, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

Now didn’t I say that Business Analysis has far reaching impact on the organization? A new Forrester research report supports my claim as it ranks Business Analyst #1 of the 13 Most Important IT Roles.

The age of IT specialization has been replaced by an emphasis on skills that can translate across the enterprise. According to Forrester, this shift can be traced to a number of emerging trends:

* Maturing technologies such as software-as-a-service and business intelligence are changing IT skills requirements;

* The growing array of outsourcing options have altered in-house staffing priorities, with more specialized skills increasingly likely to be outsourced; and

* The continued search for cost-reduction opportunities has changed how IT decisions are made.

With those trends in mind, here is Forrester’s list of the 13 Most Important IT Roles, based on the percentage of IT executives who believe each role is growing in importance.

#1 – Business Analyst – 70%

Talk about holding all the cards: Not only do these IT pros know the business, they also have their fingers on all the insight. As the saying goes, knowledge is power.

#2 and #3 – Architecture and IT Strategy/Planning – 66%

As IT has evolved into an increasingly important part of business, both of these roles have become critical in ensuring that every department has the infrastructure and tools that it needs.

#4 – Project Management – 65%

What business doesn’t need people who can mange multiple personalities, master numerous business processes, understand different aspects of the business and make sure things get done?

#5 – Security – 62%

With the onslaught of breaches and identity theft that constantly filters through the headlines, not to mention the growing mandates for better access controls, is there really an explanation needed here?

#6 – Service Management – 60%

The whole thing about the customer applies here to, as managing IT from the customer’s perspective has become de rigueur.

#7 – Client Relationship Management – 56%

We’re in the age of customer service, and anyone who’s mastered the art of managing CRM environments is worth their weight in gold.

#8 and #9 – Business Continuity and IT Financial Management – 55%

With companies paranoid about their systems surviving natural and man-made disasters, and cost-effective IT spending more important that ever, it’s no wonder these roles are on the rise.

#10 – Portfolio Management – 50%

This is a growing area driven by the desire to demystify the measurement of the impact of IT investments.

#11 – Asset Management – 34%

Like other spin-offs from more general business roles, this is another specialized function better outsourced.

#12 – IT Research – 30%

Research? That’s what consultants are for.

#13 – Human Resources (within IT) – 20%

HR for IT is an increasingly unnecessary luxury in an increasingly self-service environment.

Take a closer look at that list and you will notice Business Analysis has been ranked #1, #2, #3 and #10.

Youtube Versus Viacom

Wednesday, June 2, 2010 by Matt Warman

For those of you not following geek things, there is a lawsuit going on between Youtube (owned by Google), and Viacom (CBS, Daily Show, Colbert Report). Viacom is angry that some of their content was posted on Youtube. Apparently, there was 63,000 separate items on Youtube that were copyrighted by Viacom. Viacom has been supported with a “Friend of the Court” brief by NBC, BMI, and ASCAP (Basically the RIAA). Google has similar briefs by EBay, Facebook, Amazon, and Yahoo. How does this court case affect me as an application development person? Well, it could determine your web application development. There are many interesting issues here: fair use, piracy, site owner responsibility. The key issue here is for the very soul of the Internet. As you probably know, the Internet was created to share information amongst researchers around the globe. This communications device allows us to share voice, text, audio, and video. This makes it easy to share ideas, even if those ideas weren’t ours. A part of that communication is the same kind “water cooler” talk that everybody has done for years. “Did you see what that talk show guy said last night”? The only difference is now you can post it. This song expresses how I feel, and I have added some pictures to show how it has affected my life.
The media outlets want the site owners to control the content on their site. They claim that Youtube is a content provider, and thus are “stealing” their content for gain. This would be analogous to suing the U.S. mail for getting a threatening letter. We have fair use, so any signal sent through the airwaves is free for anyone take and use. This meant that anyone who broadcasted, the content could be consumed by anyone. The content providers made money by placing advertisements in the content. Since that time, content providers have been using congress to side step these boundaries by changing the length of copyright, putting "digital" rights on formerly analog content, and pushing for laws that allow content to be controlled by the provider. The large media companies ignored the Internet because there wasn’t any correlation to their business. When companies like Google started to compete for the same advertising dollars, the large media outlets saw the Internet as a threat to their business model, and are now looking to destroy it.
No one is trying to deny content providers money. It was agreed long ago that your work was yours, but eventually it would be owned by the public. That changed when media companies are entirely built upon their own content (just look Mickey Mouse at Disney). Do people take content that doesn’t belong to them? Yes. Are people just posting items broadcasted to make their point, or to inform? Yes. We have to decide as a society whether the Internet is place to allow copyrighted material as a form of communication. NBC found it distasteful that their shows were on Youtube. That’s why they created Hulu.

What do you want the Internet to be, a free (as in liberty) communication device, or a pay-per-view broadcast medium?

Know Your Role

Thursday, May 20, 2010 by Matt Warman

I am finding out things at my current client that everyone, including application development people knows; having a process is only half the battle. I have been to organizations where business workflow processes were not in place, and the productivity gains were huge when implemented. But over time, those processes stop getting followed. There are many reasons for this; the IT culture rejects the change, the processes don’t get reviewed in a timely basis and become a burden, and the players forget their role.
My client has a decent development workflow in place. Analyst get requirements from the business units, architects turn the business requirements into technical requirements, and application development people execute the requirements. Managers should manage the process, making sure that the resources are available when needed. I always wondered why top technical guys get passed over for management in favor of PHB (Pointy Haired Bosses), and now I know. It’s that PHBs know their role. Managers are managing the PROCESS, not the solution. Often, technically savvy managers want to work the issue. Software development is a very fluid process, and what works now, may not work three years from now. If you are manager for more than six months, you probably don’t know the correct solution. Regardless, your role is to make sure application development staff are available for the solution designed by the architects. Managers have a right to review the design during the design phase, but once finalized, let the architects and application development people do their jobs.
The same is true for consultants. Yes, they are using older technology, and yes it’s a pain to use, and yes it needs to be updated. Your job is to help resolve those issues within the framework of their organization. Unless you are brought in as a CIO consultant, the choice is probably not yours to make. It may be that the business has urgent needs that supersede modernization. They may not have the technical people to maintain the new code. The organization could be planning to replace the system with a prepackaged application like SAP. Or it could be that the technical staff knows their role, and is waiting patiently for their opportunity to upgrade.

IT Governance Needs to Change to Gain a Competitive Advantage

Friday, May 7, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

Futurists have been fore-telling the look of the business enterprise and the IT Department for years. The latest version from the Corporate Executive Board state that we are in for rapid, radical change. It fore-tells that the IT Department in 5 years will bear little resemblance to the IT Department of today. As business users become more tech savvy, the business units will absorb a lot of today’s IT functions. Along with continued IT outsourcing, they predict that only 25% of today's IT professionals will still be in IT in 5 years.

The CTO blog does not forecast such a dismal future for the IT professional, but it also acknowledges the need for better alignment with business strategic goals and faster IT solutions delivery.

Whereas, I will not completely buy in to the idea that 75% of today’s IT professionals will not be working in IT in 5 years or that change will be so rapid or radical. It is increasingly apparent that change in IT solution delivery is necessary, and that is where I suggest that business organizations start; in particular IT Governance.

I hope to see today’s IT Governance Committee, which approve and prioritize IT business solutions projects, replaced with a Business Improvement Project Review Board who approve and prioritize all business improvement projects. This new Governance Body will consider all business improvement projects; those with business solutions and those with IT solutions. As I mentioned a few weeks ago this new board needs to better track all projects and continue to give its support to all projects at every stage of the project. Once the cost of the project outweigh the benefits, or other external forces make continuance of the project unwise, the project can be stopped and decrease the expense to the organization.

Along with that we will see the idea of a Project Management Office (PMO) replaced with a Business Improvement Office (BIO). The BIO will be staffed with people with business backgrounds and those with IT backgrounds; however, cross-training and best practices will require all members of the BIO to look for the best solution, considering both business and IT solutions, to meet the needs of the business. The BIO will take over the project management, business analysis and quality assurance aspects of a project.

Continued competitive pressures will force the BIO to change its practices in order to achieve faster solution delivery. Some will embrace the Agile methodology; others will develop some hybrid methodology taking parts from both the Agile and Waterfall methodologies. However they achieve it, continued pressures for competitive advantage will require continual improvement in the methodology to push for faster and faster delivery while not sacrificing quality.

Many references now forecast a change to IT Departments and IT staffing as we know it today. It will be interesting to see the changes as they come about and see which forecast was most correct.

Death by A Thousand Cuts

Wednesday, May 5, 2010 by Matt Warman

My client has great code promotion rules. All code that changes gets system tested or it doesn’t get promoted. Code doesn’t change unless it has a bug tracking ticket. You say Matt, that’s great! Why is this a problem? The problem resides in the fact that everyone in IT is stretched to the limit, and deadlines are tight. Application development people are getting the code working with little refactoring, architects struggling to get the analysis piece out and little time for code review, and not enough testers. This situation makes it difficult for performance. As part of the performance team, I can review all of the code, and make some changes, but the problem is that if the code is not a part of the release, it will be impossible to get promoted due to time/resource constraints.
For example, a process was taking a long time to complete because of improper error handling, but the call is not necessary. The proper fix is to remove the call, but the fix going in only resolves the exception. Why? The low priority of the code, coupled with the testing constraints and lack of testers makes these changes common. Some application development people may say, "Well, the code is fixed". True the performance issue is resolved, but there is an unneeded call. If the attitude from application development people is "I would fix it, but it’s too much trouble to test", unneeded code can add up quickly. Extra code is in all projects, but if changes like this or, removing a variable passed to a method, or even changing code to remove unused variables don’t get fixed, the "extras" add up. Not one of these changes significantly affects performance, but all of them will. The solution is to work with management and your application development people to limit "extra" code. This can be done by reviewing and fixing code in your maintenance or enhancement project. Have a "refactoring time" built in to the project plan. The time put in up front will bring great dividends both in performance and future coding effort.

IT Skills in Demand for 2010

Wednesday, April 7, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

The Job Search website Dice.com recently released the top 20 IT Skills in demand in Today’s Market. They also show the percentage increase in demand for that skill over March of 2009. The list consists of:

1. Informatica (database) 71%
2. Virtualization 70%
3. ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) 57%
4. Python (web programming) 57%
5. Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) 55%
6. Sybase (database) 52%
7. WebLogic (application server) 50%
8. SOAP (web programming) 48%
9. Data Warehouse 47%
10. SharePoint 41%
11. MySQL (database) 40%
12. E-commerce 39%
13. JavaScript (web programming) 36%
14. VMWare (virtualization) 36%
15. CSS (web design) 36%
16. Business Analysis 35%
17. ITIL 34%
18. Ajax 34%
19. Perl (web programming) 33%
20. Business Intelligence 33%

As you can see from the list Database, Virtualization and Web programming are still IT staffing skills very much in demand, as they have been these past few years. The one IT staffing skill that I noticed that no longer makes the list is IT Infrastructure (Network Administrators, Network Engineer).

Building the Business Case for New Tools

Friday, March 26, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the need to develop a Business Case document. Soon thereafter I find this one-page Business Case document. The first question that comes to mind is “how can you put all that needs to be in the Business Case document in one page?” Believe it or not, they did it. Of course, a lot of things were abbreviated. You have to question the usefulness of such a document.

Of course, a one-page document is not what we experience in our IT Business Solutions projects today. Instead, we have what Chris Gurney wrote for BA Times as the “Big Freakin’ Requirements Document”. Chris outlines the various reasons that our requirements document has to be so freakin’ long:

To Communicate to all audiences
To Validate that Needs are Met
To Ensure Everything’s within in Scope
To Manage Changes to Requirements
To Meet Regulatory and Corporate Obligations
To Define Requirements Collaboratively

It has become common place in over the years to try to accommodate everyone with one document. So language is included for executive staff. Then we translate the requirements to a more detailed level for developers and testers. We turn on “Track Changes” feature to retain the history of changes to the document; which then leads to descendent versions of the document.

What Chris is trying to point out in the article is that a Word document is no longer sufficient for collaborative development of requirements for our IT business solutions projects. What you can expect to see is many vendors rush to provide software solutions to these shortcoming

s. Currently, there are some solutions out there to address these issues. I will not promote any current software solutions here, but you can expect to see more solutions from new vendors in this area. You will also see great improvements in features in the solutions that are already on the market. When business organizations migrate in groves to these solutions and away from Microsoft Word as the standard for “document” development then you will see this market grow rapidly. Large organizations with large IT staffs and geographically dispersed enterprise application development teams should be first to make the move. I think you will see Business Analysts within those organizations leading the charge, but with all “organizational shift” changes, convincing those that hold the purse strings of the value and need for new tools will be their greatest challenge.

Building the Business Case for the Business Case

Thursday, March 11, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

In a BATimes article John Moore visits the need and proper use of a Business Case document to increase the success of IT business solution projects. He demonstrates a failed project due to a competitor who released a competitive product in the market before our organization’s project completed. The business manager showing the project failed because it did not deliver the projected ROI. The IT project team noted that they delivered the project on-schedule, on-time and on-budget. Was that risk that a competitor could beat us to the marketplace identified at project initiation or during the life of the project? Were the proper stakeholders identified and included in the project communication plan?

John makes note how the Business Case document should be revisited several times during the project life cycle. Doing so may have caught the changing environment and allowed the organization to mitigate the risk from the competitor.

John makes very valid points that I believe show an improper IT solution Project Delivery System. Laura Brandenburg notes in her blog that the Business Case document is often created under another name, or as I have noticed in many organizations the Business Case document is created, then it is used to develop the Project Charter and Project Design documents. These documents should not only be created but needs to visited by an IT Governance body during multiple steps in the IT solution Project Life Cycle; not just at project initiation. At each point it makes a “go/no go” decision as to whether to continue the project. This is where many organizations fail to follow through.

Take the simplified high-level Project Life Cycle that includes 5 phases: Initiation, Analysis, Design, Development and Implementation/Closure. Most organizations will make the “go/no go” decision on an IT business solution project either prior to the Initiation phase that kicks off the project or at the end of the phase, depending on how the organization defines its Project Delivery System. In most organizations that is the only time that the IT Governance body will rule on the value of the project.

If the IT business solution project had to go before the IT Governance body at the end of the Analysis, Design and Development phases as well as the Initiation phase then the organization has greatly increased its ability to mitigate risk in the project, especially from external forces.

As the project goes through each phase of the Project Life Cycle, the benefits, costs, requirements and risks are further defined. In John’s example, if our competitor launched their product while we were still in Design then our IT solution project went before the IT Governance body for its next “go/no go” decision. The IT Governance Body, being aware of the competitor’s product launch, can now say that the project benefits are no longer valid. The risk mitigation plan can be executed, which may include dropping the project all together. This reduces the cost to the organization as those resources can now move on to a more valid IT solution project.

So not only is it important to make sure that you build a Business Case document, by whatever name you may call it, but be sure it is visited several times during the project life cycle, by others outside of the project team, to ensure that the assumptions (benefits, costs, risks) therein contained remain valid. This along with making sure the proper stakeholders are involved greatly increases ensuring that the IT solution project maintains its value to the organization.

What makes a good BA?

Friday, February 26, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

I have spent a lot of time talking about the duties of the Business Analyst (BA); now let’s talk about the characteristics that make up a good BA. I find it interesting that Kupe wrote on this very subject this week, I guess great minds do think alike. As Kupe notes, the IIBA call these underlying competencies and define these as “the skills, knowledge and personal characteristics that support the effective performance of business analysis”.

The BA performs an important role in the application development process and is tasked with the duty of ensuring that the IT business solution meets the needs of the business. The BA develops and maintains the business and functional requirements that the IT business solution must contain in order to be deemed successful.

So we know the role and duties of the BA during a business application development project, so what “skills, knowledge and personal characteristics” does a person need to have to perform these duties. As the duties of the BA entail eliciting requirements from stakeholders and working with an application development team, you can imagine that communication is at the heart of the competencies of a BA. Good written and oral communication is necessary in order to be able to perform these duties. Good communication is not only departing information, but taking in information, or listening. This is often the skill that is over looked when we talk about skills or create a competency model.

Notice that when discussing competencies, that we not only are talking about “skills”, like Decision Making, Creative Thinking, Learning and Problem Solving; but we are also considering “knowledge” and “personal characteristics”. As the BA has to work with both the business and information technology staff, they need knowledge of the organization, industry and technology. What kind of personal characteristics would you want in a person that serves such an important role? I am sure ethics and trustworthiness would make the top that list.

So if you’re a BA looking to advance your career, there are some competencies to work on. If you’re an organization or manager looking to hire a BA, look not only at their skills and past performance, but develop some probing questions that will give you a look into their “underlying competencies”.

Where Does the BA Fit into My Small Organization?

Monday, February 22, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

In my previous two-part posts I discussed where the BA fits into the organizational structure. Even Jeff Welsh notes how application software development has changed over the years and requires a team approach for successful implementation of IT business solutions.

But you are sitting there saying we are a small to medium size business (SMB), my entire IT staff is 10 or less, I do not have a Business Process Orgranization (BPO) or Project Management Office (PMO); where should the BA fit into my organization?

SMBs need to utilize the BA role within their project delivery methodology. If the role is not being fulfilled then there is higher risk of failure of the project in that it does not meet the needs of the business. I have worked on many small-to-medium IT staffs and can attest to the fact that when resources are few that people wear many hats. There were projects where I served as the project manager, business analyst, developer and trainer. On smaller staffs, where only one or two of the people will be doing the duties of the BA, it is even more important to make sure that those people are easily accessible by the business units that they support. Have them sit in the vicinity of those business units instead of in the IT Department. I still feel that the BA is an IT function and should report to IT management as opposed to business management, but making the BA readily available and accessible to the business adds value to their role and gains buy-in from the business people to assist the BA with their duties.

So when making the organizational chart keep the BA in the IT Department; but when divvying up office space, make room for the BA near the business unit(s) that they are to support.

Testquerade Part Two.

Monday, February 22, 2010 by Jeff Welsh

In Part one, I introduced the idea of Test Data Management or TDM. TDM is not something unique to IT Applications in Cincinnati, Dayton or to Ohio. It’s something that will need to be addressed nationwide. With more and more government regulations and data privacy concerns, it will be more and more important to not only manage production data, but also test data used for quality assurance as well.

One of the aspects of good TDM is for the obfuscation (sometimes referred to as de-identification or masking) of data values from a production database in order to make the test instances “safe”. One of the challenges is preserving data distributions and referential integrity–even across distributed database systems. This is particularly important in the healthcare and financial industries where PHI (Personal Health Information), social security numbers or banking information could get exposed.

Another aspect is the challenge of maintaining security around the test databases themselves. Many companies have tight security around production data, but next to none around test and developer data. Often this data is just a copy of production data that is not masked in any way. According to a Ponemon Institute study, data breach incidents cost U.S. companies $202 per compromised customer record in 2008, that is compared to $197 in 2007. With the cases studied a range of 4,200 to 113,000 records that were affected.

Do any of you reading this have a little twinge in your stomach? Can’t anything be easy anymore? Maybe some RX is in order. That was EASY!!!!

Where Does the BA Fit into Your Organization? Part two

Friday, February 19, 2010 by Aaron Whittenberger

In my last post, I joined the discussion of “where does the BA fit into the organization?” I concentrated on the first line BA that should develop the enterprise architecture and help cultivate the business requirements for business process improvements. This BA would be part of a combined Business and IT staffed Business Process Organization (BPO). The purpose of the BPO is to analyze business issues and make the business case as to which IT business solutions projects should be undertaken.

Once a project is approved by the governance body it is turned over to the Project Management Office (PMO) to guide the project to completion. The PMO will be staffed with project managers (PMs) and business analysts (BAs) that will guide the project the rest of the way through the project life cycle. You may be asking why you would need BAs as part of the PMO, or project leadership team; after all the PM is responsible to see the project is completed on-time, on-budget and on-schedule. Yes, but the BA would be responsible to see that the project is completed and the IT business solution meets the business requirements. A business application development project will need functional and technical specifications that the BA should help develop.

The third role of the BA, I alluded to in my first post on this subject, is that of the Test or Quality Assurance Analyst. One role of the BA is to support the system, quality assurance and/or user acceptance testing phase of the project life cycle.

So the answer to the question ‘where does the BA fit …?” is in many positions within the organization. It depends on which BA role you wish to discuss, and whether the organization is large enough to have a BPO and/or PMO.

Any thoughts on the subject?