Bibliography

Gartner Research (2005). Research Paper: Business Analysis Placement, Competencies and Effectiveness. Paper ID G00126718.

Mulcahy, Rita (2003). Risk Management: Tricks of the Trade for Project Managers. RMC Publications.

Robertson, Suzanne and James Robertson (1999). Mastering the Requirements Process. Addison-Wesley.

Wiegers, Karl (2003). Software Requirements: Practical Techniques for Gathering and Managing Requirements throughout the Product Development Cycle. Second Edition. Microsoft Press.

Chapter 4: Know Your Business Environment overview

The title business analyst (BA) is so named to emphasize the importance of the business in analytical work. Understanding the business of an organization requires that the business analysis professional understand the products and services offered by the organization. Why does your corporation exist? To perform detailed analysis, you need an overall understanding of the business and the context within which you are working. You must understand how all of your project work ties back to the high-level corporate goals.

From the moment that you start work at a new company, take every opportunity to learn about the organization from the top down. Use time between projects to brush up on new products and services. Encourage your BA community of practice to highlight different organizational divisions and share information about various business areas. A BA is never without work; if you find yourself with spare time, use it to learn something new.

To learn about your business, start with the company vision and mission statements.

A vision statement is an enduring reason for being and energizes stakeholders to pursue common goals. A mission statement describes the operational, ethical, and financial guidelines of the organization. Most organizations with revenues over $1 million have a vision and/or mission statement. These statements have been developed by company owners or key shareholder representatives and tell an enormous amount about the business as a whole. In a well-run organization, every project should tie back to the corporate vision; otherwise the organization would not fund the project. Understanding the vision and mission is foundational for excellent business analysis. Everyone in the organization should always be working toward the organizational vision and mission, making sure that all work is in line with those goals (see the section on strategic planning in Chapter 3).

Case in Point

Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful” (www.google.com). Chevron: “At the heart of The Chevron Way is our Vision to be the global energy company most admired for its people, partnership and performance” (www.chevron.com). Starbucks: “Establish Starbucks as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world while maintaining our uncompromising principles as we grow” (www.starbucks.com). These statements clearly set the tone and direction of each organization.

The BA should also understand the industry in which his or her business is operating. Your understanding of the competition, competitive pressures, and market forces will put you in a better position to make recommendations for long-term solutions to business problems. You should know where the industry is headed, what technologies are being used by other organizations in the industry, and what vendor packages are available that support your industry and business.

Part of knowing your business environment is being aware of the job roles of the stakeholders working in the business area. Do these workers have specialized training or certification to do their work? Have they been trained by the current organization or did they learn their skills in another organization? Understanding the background and experience of the business stakeholders improves your communication.

Finally, you must be aware of each business unit’s importance to the organization as a whole. Is a department a mission critical area or is it a support area? Is it a profit center or overhead? Understanding the priority that the enterprise places on each particular business unit involved with a project helps you to choose how to spend your time and drives what types of recommendations to make. Review the corporate organizational chart and learn the reporting structures of the organization.