Tathagata GhoshLead -Business Analysis & Quality Assurance| Argusoft India LtdKolkata, West Bengal, India
Recently, my organization has merged the Business Analysis and Quality Assurance teams and I'm leading that area. The ideas behind such step are i) Effective and Efficient utilization of resources ii) Reduce the time spent on KT session between BA and QA iii) Capturing Quality Expectation properly during Requirement Analysis and Specification phase, and iv) To bridge the gap between Business Analysis and Quality Assurance.
What are the best practices and guiding philosophy to make such a team a successful one? If any other company following such approach? If yes, I would like to know about their working style and activities. Saving Changes...
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David BiegBusiness Analysis & Requirements Program Manager (Consultant)| Project Management InstitutePittsford, Vt, United States
Tathagata, for Business Analysis practices I recommend you use PMI's standard "Business Analysis for Practitoners: A Practice Guide." I'm confident you can find a similar reference for QA. You'll need to integrate the two but that should not be too hard to do if you have experienced staff performing each discipline. They'll need to collaborate to come up with the "tailored" practices that will work for your team, industry and organization. Good question! Saving Changes...
Requirements mapping to test cases and use cases. Traceability Matrix. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
You will not find the right answers inside any standard yet. The IIBA´s Babok is closelly to answer your question but in implicit way. Which is the main reason to use business analysis? To assure that each stakeholder will get what she/he needs. And the key hear is the word "needs". You organization has a good reason and it woud be a good strategy to merge both buisnes unit if and only if the focus is to assure that each stakeholder will get what she/he needs. So, to do that, from the very begining (former "enterprise analysis" activity, now "needs assessment" or "strategy analysis" depending on IIBA or PMI) you have to perform quality assurance and quality control activities and when the process to create the solution you will continue working on determine if the solution is "what each stakeholder needs". Obviously the art in business analysis profession is to align stakeholder needs to organizational objectives talking about the solution. So, nothing new down the sun. But you have to do is to apply quality concept in a wider scope (the business analysis scope). And do not forget something critical: quality is a subjective matter concept that organizations must define in objective way and because of that is an strategic matter. And the business analyst is a key role to do that. Saving Changes...
Tathagata GhoshLead -Business Analysis & Quality Assurance| Argusoft India LtdKolkata, West Bengal, India
Thank you all. I've another few questions which I'm not unable to answer on my own after reading BABOKv2 / BA for Practitioners (PMI).
Should Business Analysis include Feasibility Study?
Should BA team have good Technical Skills so that they can suggest Customer the best Technical Solution first hand?
Should I have the Technical Architect in my team?
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1 reply by Anupam
Jun 13, 2016 7:04 AM
Anupam
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Tathagata, if you see posts under this practice area, you will find similar questions asked previously.
I had a situation, where I was unsure to either hire or take the role of BA?
Thank you all. I've another few questions which I'm not unable to answer on my own after reading BABOKv2 / BA for Practitioners (PMI).
Should Business Analysis include Feasibility Study?
Should BA team have good Technical Skills so that they can suggest Customer the best Technical Solution first hand?
Should I have the Technical Architect in my team?
Tathagata, if you see posts under this practice area, you will find similar questions asked previously.
I had a situation, where I was unsure to either hire or take the role of BA? Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Here my answers Tathagata:
1-formet enterprise analysis activity (now strategy analysis inside babok v3 and needs assessment inside PMI´s PGBA) is the place where feasibility study has to be created. The main deliverable for that activity is the business case so feasibility study has to be done first.
2-Not at all. BA must not have technical background. But BA must know about technical lexicon. That is because a critical task in Elicitation activity is "Prepare for Elicitation".
3-The business analyst is in charge to engage the people needed to create the solution. So, if a technical architect is needed, she/he must be part of the team.
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1 reply by Sungjoon Park
Jun 14, 2016 2:39 PM
Sungjoon Park
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Dear Sergio,
I was working in various civil construction projects as mainly contractors' manager or engineer and projects were initiated after awarding the projects from concerned authorities, mainly governmental bodies. In this regards, in the view of the contractor, is it necessary to conduct the business analysis to plan, execute and control the awarded project?
I am planning to see my eligibility to study and take the PMI-PBA exam. Please kindly advise me.
Here my answers Tathagata:
1-formet enterprise analysis activity (now strategy analysis inside babok v3 and needs assessment inside PMI´s PGBA) is the place where feasibility study has to be created. The main deliverable for that activity is the business case so feasibility study has to be done first.
2-Not at all. BA must not have technical background. But BA must know about technical lexicon. That is because a critical task in Elicitation activity is "Prepare for Elicitation".
3-The business analyst is in charge to engage the people needed to create the solution. So, if a technical architect is needed, she/he must be part of the team.
Dear Sergio,
I was working in various civil construction projects as mainly contractors' manager or engineer and projects were initiated after awarding the projects from concerned authorities, mainly governmental bodies. In this regards, in the view of the contractor, is it necessary to conduct the business analysis to plan, execute and control the awarded project?
I am planning to see my eligibility to study and take the PMI-PBA exam. Please kindly advise me.
Warm regards,
Park Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Sungjoon, thank you very much to trust me. Business analyst work starts before a project exists and continue after the project ends. The role is created to help organizations to create the needed solution to solve organizational problem that arrives when transformation needs emerges due to environment changes. So, if the solution has been defined and the only thing to do is to create the solution then I could say a business analyst is not needed. What is needed is a project manager.
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1 reply by Sungjoon Park
Jun 14, 2016 6:58 PM
Sungjoon Park
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Thank you Sergio. Your various comments on this website are very useful to me.
Sungjoon, thank you very much to trust me. Business analyst work starts before a project exists and continue after the project ends. The role is created to help organizations to create the needed solution to solve organizational problem that arrives when transformation needs emerges due to environment changes. So, if the solution has been defined and the only thing to do is to create the solution then I could say a business analyst is not needed. What is needed is a project manager.
Thank you Sergio. Your various comments on this website are very useful to me. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
