THE BUSINESS ANALYST’S HANDBOOK Howard Podeswa Course Technology PTR A part of Cengage Learning Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, United Kingdom, United States The Business Analyst’s Handbook © 2009 Course Technology, a part of Cengage Learning. Howard Podeswa ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright Publisher and General Manager, Course herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored, or used in any form or by Technology PTR: any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited Stacy L. Hiquet to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribu- Associate Director of Marketing: tion, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, Sarah Panella except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the publisher. 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For your lifelong learning solutions, visit courseptr.com. Library of Congress Control Number: 2008902400 Visit our corporate Web site at cengage.com ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-565-2 ISBN-10: 1-59863-565-4 eISBN-10: 1-59863-715-0 Printed in Canada 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 11 10 09 This book is dedicated to Joy Walker, my partner in both life and business. It has been my greatest for- tune to find someone who enriches every area of my life—and who does it with such style, beauty, and grace. Joy had a particularly important role with respect to this book, as it was she who saw the need for it and encouraged me to write it. For that, and much more, I am most grateful. Acknowledgments A special thank you goes to: ■ My editor, Mitzi Koontz. I can’t imagine a better, more effective, tougher (when she needs to be), and, at the same time, more supportive editor. Any author is lucky to have her in his or her corner. ■ Kim Benbow, copy editor, for doing a great job on one of her more “challenging” assignments—and, in particular, for putting up with my penchant for multiple and last-minute revisions. In the midst of it all, she kept an eye on the ball, indulging me when it served the book and keeping me in line when it didn’t—and did it all with warmth and humour. ■ Rick Guyatt for his invaluable insight into ITIL and its implementation in the pub- lic sector. ■ Chris Reynolds for the benefit of his rich experience in BA best practices within the private sector. ■ Ken Clyne of Number Six for the deep perspective he provided on many issues and, in particular, those related to the agile approach, the UML, RUP, and iterative development. ■ Keith Sarre, a fellow reviewer of the BABOK®, for his valuable input regarding the BABOK® and best BA practices. ■ John Welch for drawing my attention to the existing gap between ITIL and the BA role. John is the visionary who, early on, saw the importance of making the ITIL- BA link and who worked tirelessly to ensure it was addressed. ■ Beth Brook (OPSI) for her help in expediting the applications to license the ITIL material in this book. ■ Mike Bonamassa of Number Six. ■ My kids, Yasha Podeswa and Samantha Stillar. ■ My parents, Yidel and Ruth Podeswa, for giving me the confidence to do anything I put my mind to. iv In Memory nd finally, a note in memory of Brian Lyons, a founder of Number Six. I met Brian years ago in Toronto, while we were both working with a telecommunications Aclient. Brian was one of the most brilliant and unconventional people I had ever met in this business. We had kept in touch since then and, when my previous book was about to come out, he consented to act as technical editor. As this book was nearing com- pletion, I was looking forward to another round, when I learned that he had died in a tragic motorcycle accident. He has been an inspiration to me and many others. v About the Author oward Podeswa is the co-founder of Noble Inc., a business analysis training and consulting company. He has 29 years of experience in many aspects of the soft- Hware industry, beginning as a developer for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and continuing as systems analyst, business analyst, consultant, and author of courseware and books for business analysts, including UML for the IT Business Analyst. Directly, and through his company, he has provided training and consulting services to a diverse client base covering a broad range of industry sectors, including health care, defense, energy, gov- ernment, and banking and financial institutions. Podeswa has developed BA training pro- grams for numerous colleges, universities, and corporate education centres. He has been a subject matter expert in Business Analysis for NITAS—a BA apprenticeship program for CompTIA—and a contributing reviewer for the IIBA’s Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®). For more information on the Noble Business Analysis curriculum, please visit www.nobleinc.ca or e-mail [email protected]. Table of Contents Introduction . .xv Chapter 1 Overview of BA Activities Throughout the Life Cycle . .1 Adapting the Noble Path . .3 How to Use the Tables . .4 Initiation Phase . .6 Discovery Phase . .6 Construction Phase . .29 Final V & V Phase . .29 Closeout Phase . .35 Placing the IT Project Life Cycle in Perspective: The Spectrum Diagram . .40 Chapter 2 Meeting Guide . .43 Planning for the Meeting . .43 Checklist: Who to Invite to Requirements Workshops . .43 Contribution to Meeting by Role and Stakeholder Type . .44 Types of Meetings That a BA May Be Asked to Participate In . .45 Facilitated Meeting Work Plan . .45 Meeting Readiness Checklist . .49 Standard Meeting Agenda . .49 Facilitated Meeting Rules and Guidelines . .50 Facilitated Meeting Expectations . .50 Approvals Process Expectations . .51 vii viii Table of Contents Review Meeting (Structured Walkthrough and Gate Review) . .51 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .51 Who to Invite . .51 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .52 Structured Walkthrough Guidelines . .55 Meeting Objective: (Kick-Off Meeting) Identify Opportunities and Challenges . .55 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .55 Input Documents . .55 Deliverables . .55 Who to Invite . .56 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .56 Meeting Objective: Identify Stakeholders and Interests . .56 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .56 Input Documents . .56 Deliverables . .57 Who to Invite . .58 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .58 Meeting Objective: Analyze Impact on Business Services and Processes . .60 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .60 Input Documents . .60 Deliverables . .61 Who to Invite . .61 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .62 Meeting Objective: Analyze Risk . .63 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .63 Input Documents . .64 Deliverables . .64 Who to Invite . .64 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .64 Meeting Objective: Requirements Management—Setup and Planning . .66 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .66 Input Documents . .66 Deliverables . .66 Who to Invite . .66 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .66 Table of Contents ix Meeting Objective: Define Internal Workflow for End-to-End Business Processes . .68 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .68 Input Documents . .68 Deliverables . .68 Who to Invite . .69 Checklist: Questions for the Interview . .69 Meeting Objective: Describe Users . .69 Prerequisites, Timing Considerations . .69 Input Documents . .69 Deliverables . .71 Who to Invite . ..