A 2016 survey of Australian business analysts across 30 organisations (government, big business, SMEs) found that while 14% used one or more of the popular languages (DFD, UML, BPMN) regularly, the vast majority 76% did not or only very occasionally.

This shows that a small number of business analysts have found benefit in the use of modelling language but the majority still use plain English to try to describe business processes and systems. This may be because the modelling languages can seem intimidating – or more likely the analyst just hasn’t been shown how beneficial modelling languages can be.

The BABOK Guide® specifies that:

“One of the key objectives of business analysis is to ensure that requirements are visible to and understood by all stakeholders.”

While all business analysts want to deliver their projects to the best of their ability, many projects are still over-time and over-budget. Most often this is a result of poorly communicated or mis-interpreted business needs. How often have two people read the same piece of text and come to different conclusions? If you’re not making the requirements as visible as possible to stakeholders then you’re not doing your job.

Using a modelling language is nearly always the clearest way to communicate your understanding of an as-is system and demonstrate your recommendations for the to-be one. The language will also allow you to use layers – high level views to summarise the overall system and detailed views to clearly describe functionality.

Pictures in the form of modelling languages help get all stakeholders on the same page easily – and demonstrate concepts clearly without room for misinterpretation.

If you’re in an organisation that’s already using modelling languages we’d love to know which one you favour – leave us a comment below. If not, come along to our 4-day Business Analysis training and learn how to start making use of this powerful business analysis technique. You’ll also learn that each modelling language has different strengths and the skilled analyst knows what to use and when.

Already down with modelling? We have 6 other business analyst courses.

The post BPMN vs UML vs DFD – which one is best? appeared first on IRM Training.

If you like spending time in the kitchen, test your skills by translating something you’re familiar with into a process model. You’ll need to be objective and not rely on inside knowledge – just follow the instructions even if you can see better ways of doing things. That comes later.

If you don’t cook then completing the exercise will  demonstrate that even without being a subject matter expert you can use a methodology to accurately document a process. Again, your first job is to accurately interpret the process description.

You’ll be using data flow diagrams (DFDs),  the simplest of all diagramming languages. If you’re unfamiliar with DFDs, check out How To Draw Data Flow Diagrams. For those of you already comfortable with this modelling notation, parts B and C of the exercise test your skills in showing/hiding complexity through levelling. We’ve included example answers for all 3 parts if you get stuck. Bon appetit!

Click here to go to the exercise.

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The post Process Modelling 101 appeared first on IRM Training.

In the fashion industry, models are used to communicate (to bring to life) a designer’s ideas and creations. But they also go one step further – helping us the consumer to imagine how the clothes might look like if we were wearing them.

Models in business analysis perform a similar role, they stimulate our imagination so that we can analyse problems, explore solutions. The case for modelling is neatly summed up in this quote from the book Business Analysis Techniques: 72 Essential Tools for Success:

Models reveal the inconsistencies, loops, delays and bottlenecks involved in a process. A systematic analysis of “as is” process models provides a business analyst with the opportunity to think analytically and creatively about what the organisation really needs to do to achieve a better “to be” solution.

Modelling is one of those timeless techniques that transcends business analysis and is used in virtually every discipline from Accounting to Zoology – in between there’s engineering, design, construction, research, etc. Incidentally, accountants use modelling techniques to analyse financial data, zoologists use modelling techniques to analyse, amongst other things, animal behaviour.

Just as accountants and engineers have specific modelling techniques which are used across their respective professions, so too business analysis. But this article is not about which technique should you use – there’s plenty to choose from – it’s more about what are you trying to achieve.

So what are we trying to achieve? It boils down to two things. First what’s the problem – what’s wrong with the “as is” system? To get to the bottom of this we need some dialogue with the stakeholder. If the problem is well documented and understood then great – but often as not the stakeholder will only see the problem from a particular perspective. It’s up to the analyst to dig below the surface and find out the real cause.

Here you’ve got two choices, write a step by step description of the process under investigation – or draw a process model. Which do you think is easier and more likely to draw out the inconsistencies, loops, delays and bottlenecks in the current process? And a (very important) by product of doing the latter is you get to work collaboratively with the stakeholder rather than them dictating and you taking notes. And you don’t have to be the artist – take every opportunity to hand the whiteboard marker to the stakeholder and say “can you draw that for me?”

The second of our objectives is to decide what the “to be” system will look like. Modelling again offers a rich choice of options. It might be as easy as modifying an existing “as is” diagram or as liberating as asking draw me a picture of what you’d really like to see happening. Very few people would say they can’t understand the following diagram:

A final world on models – they can also clarify the often confusing steps in the business analysis process. Whether your project is agile, iterative, waterfall or a mixture of all of these, they all have the same objective…

…to reach an end point and produce a deliverable.

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The post There’s More to Modelling than Runways and Catwalks appeared first on IRM Training.

This recent paper, Forward Thinking for Tomorrow’s Projects – Requirements for Business Analytics, by Joy Beatty and Karl Wiegers of Seilevel Inc. avoids most of the technology jargon and instead focuses on what’s important for the business analyst.

It’s an excellent paper resource, which we recommend you read in order to keep up with the changing landscape of the business analyst career.

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Learn more on our course:

Data Analytics & Business Intelligence

The post Requirements & Big Data Projects appeared first on IRM Training.

We need to work with stakeholders and business users to understand their systems and analyse their problems – why do you do it this way, why not that way? This is the real value-add that the analyst brings to the table. It means challenging the status quo, pushing the boundaries, looking for alternative or creative solutions.

To develop a solution – unless we’re very lucky – we first need to understand the problem that drives the need. There are three papers in this series:

Part 1 – Understand Problems: Creative Business Analyst 1

Part 2 – Generate Solution Ideas: Creative Business Analyst 2

Part 3 – Making Better Decisions: Creative Business Analyst 3

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The post The Creative Business Analyst appeared first on IRM Training.

Read full paper: UML Business Context

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The post UML – Business Context appeared first on IRM Training.

Part 1 of this paper looks at problem definition.

Part 2 introduces the reader to analytical techniques for determining the root cause of a problem.

Read the full paper here: Problem Analysis Techniques (PDF Download)

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