End User Computing & Business Analysis Management of large Excel landscapes with Business-oriented Requirements Management Rainer Wendt, CBAP, PMP, June 2012 IIBA, the IIBA logo, BABOK and Business Analysis Body of Knowledge are registered trademarks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis. CBAP and the CBAP logo are registered certification marks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis. Certified Business Analysis Professional, EEP and the EEP logo o are trademarks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis. Certification of Competency in Business Analysis, CCBA and the CCBA logo are trademarks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis. Tel. +49 2404 91391 0 Fax +49 2404 91391 31 crm@masventa.de www.masventa.de
Agenda Brief company profile Introduction to End-User User-Computing The EUC Dilemma The EUC Management Approach Business Analysis for End User Computing Solutions and Tools in Action Conclusion End User Computing & Business Analysis 2
masventa Business GmbH Brief profile Established in 2007, located near Aachen, Germany 10 Employees plus Experts network Consultancy in Business and Technology. Projects in Banking, Energy, Telecom and Hi-Tech. Project Management Successful Management of Projects by applying Best Practices Business Analysis Business-driven Requirements Engineering and Communication Endorsed Education Provider TM Customer Relationship Management Sustainable Customer Orientation and Any Relationship Management (XRM) SoftASA Business Solutions Germany-based Cloud Services powered by Microsoft Standard Technology End User Computing & Business Analysis 3
End-User-Computing - Definition End User Computing (EUC) or User Developed Applications (UDA) refers to systems in which non-programmers can create working applications The majority of EUC is based on the Microsoft Office applications Excel and Access using VBA programming language. End User Computing & Business Analysis 4
Why is EUC a hot spot? End User Computing & Business Analysis 5
Who is using spreadsheets? Are there any concerns? Which reports depend on spreadsheets? What data is maintained in spreadsheets? Who controls our spreadsheets? What impact can spreadsheet errors have? Do I really know? End User Computing & Business Analysis 6
EUC Stakeholder Needs Source: ClusterSeven, Inc. Used with permission End User Computing & Business Analysis 7
The EUC Dilemma IT GRC End Users End User Computing & Business Analysis 8
The EUC Dilemma End Users IT End Users need quick solutions but they cannot wait for IT projects On the long-term, End Users are unable to cope with the complexity of spreadsheets if they are not fully dedicated to programming Typical situation: When an End-User-Programmer leaves the department, nobody is there to look after the application anymore. Risk! End User developed applications are mostly not compliant, audit findings are very likely and can cause a lot of additional work in Business IT does not consider End User applications real applications, but in fact they are used in all Business departments sometimes more than Core-IT IT Application support with its Core applications does not look closer on the Business processes which use spreadsheets it s-not-our-job-mentality Level 1 Support cannot help with VBA issues as they are not trained for that IT would like to get rid of the unsupported VBA applications but they cannot as Business is not willing to resign GRC Governance, Risk & Compliance needs to make sure that laws and policies are met, e.g. Sarbanes Oxley Act, Basel, Solvency II and many more. Without EUC inventories and compliancy processes neither GRC nor external auditors are able to assess the risks of End User Computing EUC without control is a hot spot for auditors and will for sure lead to findings If these audit findings are not handled properly, companies can be forced to (partly, temporarily, completely) stop their Business! End User Computing & Business Analysis 9
The EUC Management Approach Locate all EUC applications Create a company-wide Inventory Classify spreadsheets Continuously run this process Business Criticality Financial & Operational Risks SDLC Processes Compliancy Issues Clarify roles Establish approval processes Set standards Log all changes Separate data and code Consider redesign of large EUC solutions Run projects to decommission EUC apps Consolidate similar EUC applications End User Computing & Business Analysis 10
1. Discover Locate all EUC applications Create a company-wide Inventory Classify spreadsheets Continuously run this process End User Computing & Business Analysis 11
2. Assess Business Criticality Financial & Operational Risks SDLC Processes Compliancy Issues End User Computing & Business Analysis 12
3. Control Clarify roles Establish approval processes Set standards Log all changes Separate data and code End User Computing & Business Analysis 13
4. Replace Consider re-design of large EUC solutions Run projects to decommission EUC apps Consolidate similar EUC applications End User Computing & Business Analysis 14
The EUC Management Approach Locate all EUC applications Create a company-wide Inventory Classify spreadsheets Continuously run this process Business Criticality Financial & Operational Risks SDLC Processes Compliancy Issues Clarify roles Establish approval processes Set standards Log all changes Separate data and code Consider re- design of large EUC solutions Run projects to decommission EUC apps Consolidate similar EUC applications I. Establish a small team responsible for End User Computing support II. Run proof-of-concept pilot project with a limited amount of EUC applications, e.g. for one department III. Create a new service for End User Computing support End User Computing & Business Analysis 15
Business Analysis - Definition Business Analysis is a set of techniques and tasks used to work as a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals. BABOK Guide, v2.0, pg.15 End User Computing & Business Analysis 16
Business Analysis for EUC Why Business Analysis for EUC? As other solutions, EUCs start to exist because of a Business Need Typical EUC Business Need can often not be satisfied by IT since there is no Business Analysis at all for this kind of small apps With a tailored Business Analysis approach for EUC, Shadow-IT can be avoided effectively End User Computing & Business Analysis 17
EUC - with or without a BA? I want to have a green button here OK, no problem, here you are Ah, this is not what I expected. I have changed my mind. I want two red sliders now! Why didn t you tell before? Grrr Hi Mike, please let me know the effort for green buttons and red sliders I want to have a green button here Green? Button? Please explain your problem first! OK, I will do an estimation for both until tomorrow BA Later Ok, I trust that you have understood my real need now please let me know what concept we can agree on End User Computing & Business Analysis 18
Business Analysis for EUC Looking closer, we see that for most of the EUC Management process items, supporting BABOK tasks and techniques can be identified End User Computing & Business Analysis 19
Solutions and Tools in Action Source: ClusterSeven, Inc. Used with permission End User Computing & Business Analysis 20
Solutions and Tools in Action End User Computing & Business Analysis 21 Source: ClusterSeven, Inc. Used with permission
Conclusion End User Computing is there and will never disappear. Unknown EUC means unknown risks, unknown impact. The closer Business and IT collaborate, the lower the risks are. Business Analysis for EUC facilitates the partnership between Business and IT in order to have EUC under control. The EUC Business Analyst understands the real Business Need and conceptualizes or helps to build tailored, compliant EUC solutions with very low time-to-market. Managing EUC applications requires IT tool support, otherwise many EUC artifacts cannot be controlled and handled efficiently. For some spreadsheets, logging of changes for reliable audit trails is mandatorily needed to fulfill compliancy demands. End User Computing & Business Analysis 22
masventa Portfolio in short Business- & IT-Consulting and Services Project Management based on PMI, PMBOK Business Analysis based on IIBA, BABOK Customer Relationship Management, CRM, XRM Business Process Management and Optimization Business Intelligence & Data Warehousing Change Management and Integration Training, Certification-Prep. for CBAP and PMP End-User-Computing & Shadow-IT Management SoftASA Business Software powered by Microsoft Hosting-, Cloud- and Data Center Services in Germany End User Computing & Business Analysis 23
Your contacts masventa Business GmbH Fon +49 2404 91391-0 Fax +49 2404 91391-31 von-blanckart-str. 9 52477 Alsdorf Germany crm@masventa.de www.masventa.de Sabine Ostlender Back Office & Human Resources +49 (171) 812 7333 sabine.ostlender@masventa.de Rainer Wendt, PMP, CBAP Managing Director +49 (175) 26 13 148 rainer.wendt@masventa.de End User Computing & Business Analysis 24
Questions? End User Computing & Business Analysis 25
End Users need to Create temporary lists, import data from Core-ITsystems (e.g., SAP, CRM, Trading Systems) Perform quick ad-hoc calculations Create nice reports for Management Reconcile different source systems Manage and control projects, evaluate performance Manage Sales and Marketing processes but IT cannot change Core-IT-systems quickly often too slow for Business One-time-needs needs do not justify expensive changes in Core-IT and involvement of project personnel no business case, no pay-off, no Go! Projects cannot easily start they have to be budgeted, planned and assigned to available personnel resource and timing issues, no budget, no personnel IT does not understand Business Needs or is not listening appropriately End User Computing & Business Analysis 26
IT needs to Provide effective and efficient services offer the right IT-services at reasonable cost Manage the application lifecycle Maintain inventories of all supported applications Make sure that security is sufficient Make sure data is consistent and of good quality Support users in their day-to-day business but Business cannot wait for changes in IT-Core systems, they need quick solutions Business applications based on Excel and Access typically do not follow an application lifecycle and thus are not registered in any inventories Excel and Access data is typically not secure, not protected against manipulation Spreadsheets often contain outdated, wrong data as there are not updated IT cannot help as they do not know about EUC applications End User Computing & Business Analysis 27