Planning Requirements: Getting Started on a New Project June 2015 Betsy Stockdale, PMI-PBA
AGENDA TOPIC Importance of Planning Components of a Business Analysis Plan Example Plans
YOU HAVE A NEW PROJECT DRAFT A BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLAN A decision has been made to search for new software to replace an aging software package. The current software is for expense reporting, and used by all areas of the company, and has been in use for 17 years. There is an administrative team who manages the expense reporting process, as well as 15 other departments and 536 users. Over the years, a lot of integrations to the software have been built, including to the ERP system, finance system, the bank and many others.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO PLAN? Understand what needs to be done Negotiation on scope and tasks Estimate amount of work Set expectations
BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING WHERE TO BEGIN? Get oriented Determine primary stakeholders What SDLC will be used? Understand project history
BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING BUSINESS PROBLEMS & OBJECTIVES HELP UNDERSTAND THE SCOPE BUSINESS PROBLEM BUSINESS OBJECTIVE Business Problem SeiSounds subscription revenue has dropped by 10% in the last quarter Business Objective Increase quarterly subscription revenue from $72,000 to $80,000 within two quarters (from development start)
BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING CREATING A BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLAN High-level Activities Prep time Heads down time Creating Requirement Models Writing requirements Reviewing deliverables Consider Schedules
BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING WHAT DELIVERABLES ARE REQUIRED? Scope Statement Visual Requirement Models Backlog with user stories Requirements Specification Requirements Management Plan Acceptance Criteria
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH FORMALITY & LEVEL OF DETAIL OF BUSINESS ANALYSIS DEVIVERABLES Solution Definition Level of Formality Activities Timing Predictive Defined before implementation to maximize control and minimize risk Formal Information is captured in standardized templates Activities required to complete deliverables are identified first and then divided into tasks Tasks are performed in specific phases Approach Adaptive Defined in iterations to arrive at best solution or improve existing solution Informal Information is gathered through team and feedback Activities are divided into iterations with deliverables first and then the associated tasks are identified Tasks are performed iteratively
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH TECHNIQUES
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH PLAN CONSIDERATIONS Requirements Workshop needed? Interview small groups before workshop? 1x1 Interviews? Document analysis? Multiple meetings on a single topic?
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH PERFORM STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS Senior Chen CEO Lenny Legal General Counsel Jake Sear VP Marketing Sanjay Chai VP IT Blanch Biller VP Supply Chain Sally Winterton VP Product Management Kell Allen Marketing Dev Manager Shrim Panter Director of Analytics Kelly Herplan Director of Development Will Spooner Director of QA Will Knife Sr. Supply Chain Analyst Elizabeth Grant Sr. Product Manager Betty Anderson Sr. Business Analyst Andrea Grover Marketing Analyst Amber Weaver Dev Manager Michael Fischer Requirements Analyst
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH STAKEHOLDER CONSIDERATIONS Roles Attitudes Decision Making Authority Level of Power or Influence
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH STAKEHOLDER IDENTIFICATION TECHNIQUES
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH STAKEHOLDER COMMUNICATION NEEDS
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH GOVERNANCE Decision Making Process Reviews Governance Change Control Approvals Prioritization
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH POSSIBLE METRICS Effectiveness Accuracy and Completeness Strategic Significance Timeliness Knowledge Organizational Support
BUSINESS ANALYSIS APPROACH WHAT DO REAL PLANS LOOK LIKE?
EXAMPLE BA PLAN TABLE IN MS WORD
EXAMPLE BA PLAN - BURNDOWN
EXAMPLES OTHER BA PLAN TEMPLATES IIBA Austin Templates BA Times Template Watermark Learning Templates
LET S TRY AGAIN DRAFT A BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLAN A decision has been made to search for new software to replace an aging software package. The current software is for expense reporting, and used by all areas of the company, and has been in use for 17 years. There is an administrative team who manages the expense reporting process, as well as 15 other departments and 536 users. Over the years, a lot of integrations to the software have been built, including to the ERP system, finance system, the bank and many others.
BUSINESS ANALYSIS PLANNING & MONITORING COMPARE BABOK VERSIONS BABOK v2 1 Plan Business Analysis Approach 2 Conduct Stakeholder Analysis 3 Plan Business Analysis Activities 4 Plan Business Analysis Communication 5 Plan Requirement Management Process 6 Manage Business Analysis Performance BABOK v3 1 Plan Business Analysis Approach 2 Plan Stakeholder Engagement 3 Plan Business Analysis Governance 4 Plan Business Analysis Information Management 5 Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvements
Questions
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONSIDER THESE RESOURCES Visual Models for Software Requirements (Beatty and Chen 2012) Software Requirements, 3 rd Edition (Wiegers and Beatty 2013) A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (IIBA 1015)
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Betsy Stockdale betsy.stockdale@seilevel.com S www.seilevel.com search: Betsy Stockdale, Seilevel @Seilevel www.facebook.com/seilevel