Business Analysis - Progression Towards A Strategic Asset Ashish Mehta VP, Global Practice Head – Business Analysis NTT Data Inc. Director – Executive Leadership Council Regional Director – India IIBA

Learning Why is it strategically important to have a well defined Business Analysis Organization that is beyond just IT? What should be its charter and organizational positioning? What are the key considerations for a successful Global Business Analysis Organization?

Business Context Business Needs Market Forces Business Strategies Enterprise Market Forces Business Strategies Business Goals Business Objectives Regulatory Changes Customer Needs Functional / Process New Products and Services Process Changes Org Changes & so on…. IT Changes is the IT layer to enable the business

Business Analysis Maturity How to realize the opportunity? Business Analysis Maturity Enterprise Business Analysis Ensure alignment of IT initiatives with business goals Ensure synergies across initiatives Participate in enterprise project governance Greater Domain, Business Understanding Increased Maturity, Competency Functional Business Analysis Analyze and improve business processes Assist in leading system change s that are in line with business needs Facilitate optimization of project portfolio IT Business Analysis Define business requirements and translating them in software specifications

IT CAREERS: 13 Most Important IT Roles Opportunity In today’s complex business environment, organizations need to maximize the value of business analysis function to get the following benefits: Efficient organizational IT landscape aligned to the Business Consistent high project success ratio Optimized business processes Increased throughput of enterprise project portfolio IT CAREERS: 13 Most Important IT Roles 1 Business Analysis 70% 2 & 3 Architecture and IT Strategy/Planning (tie) 66% 4 Project Management 65% 5 Security 62% 6 Service management 60% 7 Client Relationship Management 56% 8 & 9 Business Continuity and IT Financial Management (tie) 55% 10 Portfolio Management 50% 11 Asset Management 34% 12 IT Research 30% 13 Human Resources (within IT) 20% The age of IT specialization is dead, replaced by an emphasis on skills that can translate across the enterprise. That’s one of the chief findings of a recent Forrester Research survey in which 128 IT decision makers were asked about their changing staffing needs

BA Role Definition Where are we today? Most Prevalent Definitions… Business Analyst is a bridge between Business & IT Business Analyst is a requirements gatherer One can move resources across organization to play Business Analyst role What do we mostly FORGET… Business Analyst is also a Problem Solver Business Analyst is a “Solution-er” Business Analysts need a specific skill set to be successful The business analyst is a Thought Leader who understands business problems and opportunities in the context of the requirements and recommends solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals…..

Challenges What does the real world looks like? Business Analysts across an organization have varying level of maturity Lack of Organizational Context for them to collaborate leading to Business Analysts working in silos Lack of consistent and integrated collaboration among the BAs at all maturity levels Lack of proportional distribution of BAs across the maturity levels Business Analysts across all maturity levels not directed by common goals leading them in multiple directions Inconsistency in approach, definition and output Lack of predictability due to inefficient business analysis skills and processes Lack of collaboration and knowledge sharing

How do we get to the End State?

How do we get to the End State?

The Enabler How do we get to the end state? Enterprise Business Analysis Functional Business Analysis IT Business Analysis

The Enabler How do we get to the end state? Enterprise Business Analysis Functional Business Analysis IT Business Analysis KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT COLLABORATION PROCESS & APPROACH GOVERNANCE TOOLKIT

The Enabler How do we get to the end state? Enterprise Business Analysis Functional Business Analysis IT Business Analysis KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT COLLABORATION PROCESS & APPROACH GOVERNANCE TOOLKIT

Process and Approach Foundation One of the most critical and important foundations for a successful business analysis organization is a Consistent business analysis process and approach that leads to a Predictable output. Bad approach & process means higher costs, rework, schedule and project failure risks. PROCESS & APPROACH An approach that deliberately brings in the focus on “Big Picture First” mindset An approach that follows industry standards laid out specifically for effective business analysis e.g. UML, BPMN, EPC, RUP, AGILE, Visual Modeling… An approach that follows a repeatable “Step-by-Step” process to uncover the details - “Peal the onion, don’t cut it”. It reduces surprises in the end An approach that has enough room for innovation and modification - “Each situation is different – your approach towards business analysis may require Tailoring”

Foundation Collaboration While Approach provides the ‘Theoretical Knowledge’ for Business Analysis, ‘learning from experience – one’s own and of others’ helps ‘Application’ of this Knowledge. The key, therefore, is effective Collaboration… COLLABORATION Vertical and Horizontal Collaboration among the business analysis community across the organization adds a great impetus to achieving business goals Consistent mentorship is the best form of growing business analysis organization leading to predictable results Management commitment and encouragement is most critical to bring synergy among the business analysis community Underlying infrastructure and processes make collaboration very effective

Foundation Knowledge Management Current Knowledge and its Timely Availability can enhance the likelihood of the project success. Effective Training model can go a long way in increasing the maturity level of the business analysis organization KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT A well organized knowledge management is extremely valuable to the business analysis community for them to be more effective and efficient Consistent business analysis approach and process should enable production of knowledge artifacts Its just not about only gaining knowledge, producing, disseminating and organizing knowledge IP is equally important and business analysts should diligently follow it Knowledge management processes and governing infrastructure can enable a business analysis organization to have a strategic impact on business goals e.g. updating relevant knowledge assets as a part of project closure

Governance Foundation Governance is the Glue that shapes and sustain the business analysis organization. Effective governance is the extremely essential yet most ignored overarching arm that decides the strategic nature of this critical function. GOVERNANCE Executive Sponsorship and Commitment for a formal Business Analysis Governance is critical to the success of this important function A committed Business Analysis Review Forum is essential to enable continuous improvements in business analysis function to attain strategic status Dashboards and Metrics culture at all the levels of business analysis maturity can go a long way Effective resource management including allocation, appraisals and a well defined growth path is necessary to push business analysis organization along the maturity levels

Foundation Toolkit An Integrated toolkit containing standards, guidelines, templates, tools and checklists is essential to a consistent BA output and enhanced productivity TOOLKIT Toolkit should be comprehensive enough to address the needs of all the stakeholders - both upstream and downstream Toolkit should be flexible enough to suit different nature of projects yet ensuring consistency Usage of industry best practices and standards in the toolkit have a very positive impact on business analysis output – it ensures consistent interpretation Toolkit should be integrated across all the three levels of business analysis maturity – IT, Functional and Strategic

Enterprise Business Analysis Functional Business Analysis Business Analysis Competencies Soft Skills Technology Analytical Processes Domain Knowledge Enterprise Business Analysis Highest Business Processes Breadth Depth Functional Business Analysis Very High Functional Processes Breadth Depth IT Business Analysis High System Processes Breadth Depth

Typical BA Positioning … Corresponding Impact… Organizational Positioning Typical BA Positioning … Part of the project team reporting into Project Management and/or Delivery Belongs to PMO mostly from the resource allocation point of view Business BAs (SMEs) belong to the business side of the organization collaborating with IT BAs in Delivery Corresponding Impact… Deliver projects within the reporting unit, minimal collaboration across different business lines Centralized allocation of BAs to various projects, mostly resource focused than enterprise focused Creates a divide between enterprise focused vs. the delivery focused BAs The true potential of a Business Analysis organization is harnessed when all the BAs across the organization have a Sense of Belongingness to a Single Entity that: provides great visibility into Business-IT alignment leverages the potential of business analysis standards and best practices provides a platform for organization-wide collaboration provides great opportunities for career growth and finally, lay the foundation for a strategic asset…

Challenges | Critical Success Factors Management Commitment Highly Critical and Must Have Criteria Management’s confidence that the Structured Business Analysis “Will” Help! Clear and Realistic Vision Define the “To-Be” State of the Business Analysis Capability “Step by Step” and “Realistic” Roadmap Stakeholder Buy-in Business Analysis affects Processes, Operations, SDLC, Infra etc… Integrate Business Analysis “Framework” with others… Experience and Expertise Most needed for such critical “Transformation” that “Impacts” the organization Leverage the learning of “Others” – They would have seen many such Changes! Ready to CHANGE! No one can bring this change “Alone”! Everyone needs to be “Geared Up” for this Change! – Ultimately It’s Business!

Progression Towards A Strategic Asset Enterprise Business Analysis Build an Enterprise Architecture that is aligned to the business goals Make sure that the IT is aligned to the business by providing strategic guidance to the Functional Business Analysts Greater Domain, Business Understanding Increased Maturity, Competency Functional Business Analysis Make sure that all the projects within a function are tied together and are able to optimize business processes across the function Make sure that the projects/processes across the function are in line with the enterprise architecture IT Business Analysis Have IT Business Analysts LOOK beyond their projects – its not just a “Requirements Gathering” job The progression towards the end state needs adjustments in mindset and activities at an organization level as well as at an individual level….

Learning Why is it strategically important to have a well defined Business Analysis Organization that is beyond just IT? What should be its charter and organizational positioning? What are the key considerations for a successful Global Business Analysis Organization?

Q & A

ashish.mehta@iiba.org ashish.mehta@nttdata.com +91 987 138 7775