Schedule

When a solution rollout includes multiple business locations, a schedule for each location should be created. Different locations may request different times/dates for the change. The BA should help the business stakeholders think through the best timing possible. Obviously, don’t schedule a change to the general ledger system at month end or year end. Don’t schedule an upgrade to the Web site during its busiest hours of the day. These scheduling considerations must include both the business stakeholders and the solution team. The BA works to find the optimal time frame for the changes that will minimize business disruptions and maximize technical efficiency.

Metrics

The BA should identify metrics that can be used before and after the rollout to confirm data conversion and verify that the new system is operating within requirements. When data is being converted, counts of the number of customers or number of orders should be exactly the same after the conversion as before. Exceptions should be identified before the rollout date during conversion tests and data cleanup completed as early as possible.

Metrics that measure system performance and other non-functional requirements should be collected before and after implementation (e.g., how long it took to process an order in the old system vs. how long it takes in the new). All of these measures of success provide quantitative ways of evaluating progress and alert the team to possible problems.

Procedures/Organizational Changes

All necessary changes to procedures, policies, and job descriptions should be made prior to rollout. Employees must be informed of these changes and be given the expected date of implementation. The more significant the changes, the earlier they should be communicated. Preparing business people for a change allows the change to proceed more smoothly.

BAs work with human resources personnel and organizational change specialists when employee responsibilities are impacted. BAs can provide these employment professionals detailed descriptions of the changes being made and the reasons for them. Business area management is also involved, working with human resources if pay grades or employee work hours are impacted.

Summary of tips for learning your business

To get started knowing your business environment, take advantage of existing resources and experts in your organization.

1. Do you know your company’s mission statement? Your division or business unit’s mission? If not, find it and post it on your wall.

2. Read your company’s Web site as if you were an external customer. What message does it convey? Is it easy to understand and use?

3. Look at a few of your competitors’ Web sites. What differentiates your company from them?

4. If your company is publicly held, get the current financial report and look through it. Familiarize yourself with things like number of employees, total revenues, profit margin, and market share. Read the footnotes; they are often the most interesting part of the report.

5. If you haven’t already done so, read employee/system procedure manuals for the business area of your current project. Even if the procedures are old and rarely referred to, you may gain an insight into how the old system was intended to work.