Download - What's in your Business Analysis Toolkit - Reboot 2013, BA World Conference, Ottawa Nov 2013
What’s in Your BA Toolkit?What s in Your BA Toolkit?(Reboot 2013)( )
Marie HalseyNovember 2013
Marie Halsey Consulting Inc.
Learning Objectives
Why consider upgrading your BA toolkit?
What do today’s BA tools have to offer?
How do you choose your BA Toolkit?y y
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Background
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One day …
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BA Role: Liaison Among Stakeholders …
Business Sponsors Clients
ProjectManagers
SolutionDelivery Team
Customer Reps
Business Analyst
Delivery Team
EndUsers
- Solution Architect- Developer- DBA
U bilit S i li t
Suppliers
- Usability Specialist- Tester- Trainer- Change Manager
Operational Support
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Regulators
Types of Communication Tools…Low-tech Software-based
Collaboration
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MS Office-Type Tools are Great!When you have …Static content or simple sequential iterationsStatic content or simple, sequential iterationsBaselines are against entire documentMi i l t bilitMinimal traceabilityMinimal meta-data; none with diagram
elementselementsNo need to duplicate content
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But?
Traceability Model Impact Analysis Integration
Variable Meta-data RM
ReuseIt’s HARD!
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It s HARD!
Issue: WYSIWYG!No ‘packaging’ for different stakeholders
Stakeholders NotFully Engaged
OverwhelmingTime-consumingTime-consuming
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And the Cost?
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BAs Need a Purpose-Built Toolkit!PMs MS Project MS Project
Developers Highly sophisticated Highly-sophisticated
Testers Fully automated Fully-automated
test generation, execution, tracking
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Past BA Tool Challenges
Baselining, versioning, release managementCComparing versions
Integration of requirements elementsPackaging / reporting, esp. non-text and
associated elementsSupport for re-use
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BA Tools in 2013?Significantly improved features and usability:
AuthoringAuthoring
Managing
Validating
M it iMonitoring
Communicatingg
Integration
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Key Advantage: Central Repository Single data source No duplication
Out-of-the-box standard Requirement types Att ib t Attributes Models
Customizable Customizable Requirement types Attributes
Fully integrated Diagram elements
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Usability
At-a-Glance NavigationIntuitive, consistent
interface
Wizards, Tutorials
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Usability‘Drag and drop’
diagram elements and objects
Customizable icons
Fast data capture & diagramming
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p g g
UsabilitySpell checkingGlossariesGlossariesBulk data selectionRange (SHIFT Click) non contiguous (CTRL click)Range (SHIFT-Click), non-contiguous (CTRL-click)
Bulk processingParent child re parent traceabilityParent-child, re-parent, traceabilityUpdate attribute values
Model and diagram searching filtering sortingModel and diagram searching, filtering, sortingUndo/Redo
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Requirements Authoring
Elicit and capture:Textual requirements
Generic Diagrams
Models
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Authoring – Textual Requirements
Rich text editor
Parent-childhierarchy
Embedded objects and hyperlinks
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Authoring – Generic Diagram Editor
System Context
Diagram elements fully attributed, traceable
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Authoring – Use Cases
ActorStructuredUse CasesUse Cases
GlossaryGlossary, Data
Entity, Attribute
links
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Authoring – Activity DiagramsAuto-generated/integrated
Activity Diagram
Auto-numberingAuto numbering
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Authoring – Domain Models
I d D iIntegrated Domain Model and Data
Dictionary
Customizable and configurable
data attributes
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Authoring – UI Prototyping Low/high fidelity Branding BrandingWidgets, controls UI Snapshots User comments Integrated with data
model elementsmodel elements
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Authoring – Storyboards
Use mockups or snapshots of existing UIsnapshots of existing UI
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Requirements ManagementOrganizeStructure CategorizationStructure, Categorization
TraceabilityVersion ManagementVersion ManagementBaselines, Release managementVersioning / Revision history DifferencingVersioning / Revision history, Differencing
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Manage - OrganizeStructure: Projects, Requirement Types,Parent-child relationshipsParent child relationships
Categorize: Attributes help Prioritize, Track, Filter
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Manage - Traceability Trees
Manage ‘suspect' relationships
At-a-glance impact analysis
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Manage - Traceability Matrix
Directional / PPeer-to-peer
Visually assess coverage; missing traceability
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missing traceability
Manage – Reuse
C j t t bilitCross-project traceability
P j t t tiProject segmentation
Requirement sharingRequirement sharing
Solution branchingg
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Manage - Baselines
Select all requirements or just a subset
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Manage – Revision History
Revision history
dRevision details
Versions are automatically maintained for every requirements artifact
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Manage - Differencing
Easy to see what changed/revision marks
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Requirements Validation
Generate review content
Conduct reviews
Obtain feedback
Obt i lObtain approval
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Validate – Generate Content
Select artifacts to be reviewed
Check review progress
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Validate – Conduct ReviewElectronicApproval!
Feedback
Screen mockup
TraceabilityActivity Diagram
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Requirements Monitoring
Track requirement lifecycle
Requirement completion
ReviewReview
Approval Dashboards!!!
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Monitor – Review ProgressBy artifact type
By reviewer
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Monitor – Requirement Completion
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Monitor – Requirement Activity
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Requirements Communication
Package requirements
Collaborate
Comments and discussions
#hashtags, @mentions
Email notification
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Communicate – Packaging
Template-driven Corporate branding Standards
Customized content
Word, Excel,HTML, XML
Customized content Textual requirements Attributes / Meta-data Images, links Diagrams, Mockups T bilit Traceability
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Tool Integration
Internal
ExternalExternal
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Integrate - Internal
Associate requirements artifacts with referenceartifacts with reference materialDocuments images andDocuments, images and
diagrams, URLs, etc.Associate diagram elementsAssociate diagram elements
with meta-data
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Integrate - Internal
RequirementsBusiness Process
DiagramR i tBusiness Requirement
Stakeholder Requirement
Traces to Business Process
Diagram
Use Case Diagram
Activity Diagram
Requirement Attributes
Logs U I t f
Data Model(ERD, Class Diagram)Defects
Solution Requirement(Functional &
Non-functional)
Traces to Use CaseLogs(e.g., Decisions, Issues, Risks)
Business Rule
User Interface Mockup
Data Attribute
Data Entity
Data Dictionary
Contains
P t
Discussionsata tt bute
ReferencesDocuments Tables Diagrams
Peer-to-peerAssociation
Association
Lifecycle Management Tools(e g quality assurance
Integration/Interoperability
Documents, Tables. Diagrams, URLs, Images, Other Artifacts
(e.g., quality assurance, development tools)
Integration is critical!
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Integrate - External
Import/export from Word, Excel, Visio
Open API
Test generation/ integrationTest generation/ integration
ALM/SDLC Integration managers connect best-of-breed point solutions
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How to Choose?It depends … Project size and complexityProject size and complexity Local or virtual team MethodologyWaterfall, iterative, agile
Project type Custom software COTS Custom software, COTS,
infrastructure/hardware-only Artifacts produced Maturity of BA organization
Note: MS Office-type tools may be enough!
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Follow the process!
Assess Current
Processes, P bl
Conduct Product Current
StateProblems Assessmen
tDetailed Toolkit Req’ts
Define BA Toolkit
Req’ts
Identify BA Toolkit
NeedsToolkit Needs
Select Product(s)
Identify T lki
Implement Toolkit GapsToolkit
Gaps
pBA Toolkit
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Prepare for Product Assessment
Weight / prioritize requirementsfPrepare list of candidate vendors
Check the internet, web reviewsTalk to peers, professional associationsGartner reports, Forrester surveysC id ftConsider open source software
Conduct survey based on high-level i t t h t li t 3 5 drequirements, to short-list 3-5 vendors,
Arrange for demos, training & support
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Caveat emptor !
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What’s Available?
Tool spectrum:Specialized, such as:PrototypingBPM, UMLMind maps
Broad-spectrum best-of-breedALM
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Some Broad-Spectrum Candidates …
Also Visual Use Case
Caliber
Also DOORS and Requirements Composer
Formerly MKS Integrity
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References Marie Halsey Consulting Inc.
“What’s in Your BA Toolkit (2010)” on SlideShare http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariehalseyIncludes toolkit requirements & selection processIIBA V d Sh bi IIBA Vendor Showcase webinars
Forrester reports D E d A i t Doreen Evans and Associates INCOSE Requirements Management Tools Survey Seilevel Evaluate and Select a Requirements Seilevel - Evaluate and Select a Requirements
Management Tool
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One Final Thought …
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What You Learned …
Why upgrade your BA toolkit?
What do today’s BA tools have to offer?
How do you choose your BA Toolkit?y y
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Thank you!
Questions?
Marie HalseyMarie Halsey Consulting Inc.http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariehalsey
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