Here is a link to a li'l animated short I created to help our customers understand how to think about automating their business process. No tools are mentioned; this is just a very very high level "getting started" thingy.
Getting Started: Automating Your Business Process
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Accidental Analyst
The job title "Business Analyst" (BA) has been around for a while, though recently its usage seems to have surged in popularity. It's a common and useful enough job that you can even get certification and join the International Institute of Business Analysts. But from what I've seen, folks don't start their careers thinking they want to be a BA, they kind of happen upon it accidentally.
Nearly every Business Mashups Designer or TeamTrack administrator I've ever met (including myself) did not consider themselves a BA, yet if you ask them what their day to day activities are, more often than not they will correspond to those of a BA. These "Accidental Analysts" are often IT types in the right place at the right time, and just happen to be next in line when they are tasked with administering a new installation of Business Mashups or TeamTrack. Most soon discover that this tool can do more than what it was originally intended for, which was usually automating their Issue/Defect Tracking process.
Automating processes in these tools is quick and easy, so these Accidental Analysts often seek out new business processes to automate, including those outside the traditional ALM and IT spaces. As they work with different departments on these various processes, Accidental Analysts continued to hone their BA skills, which include interpersonal communication, requirements gathering, and general problem solving. Before long, any of these Accidental Analysts can market themselves as full-fledged card-carrying BAs. Because the tools are so easy to use (can you say "drag and drop"?), power business users outside of IT are often recruited to solve and automate their own business problems, adding even more Accidental Analysts to the pool.
Forrester has seen the same pattern of spontaneous emergence of BAs. In the 2008 report "The New Business Analyst" Forrester states that BAs often receive no formalized training but rather "Most business analysts learn instead by doing, getting on-the-job training from their peers, managers, and mentors." They also advise that one should "Look for potential business analysts in all walks of life" and what makes a good BA successful "is their ability to communicate, facilitate, and analyze". BAs appear to be born rather than made. Of course, a little formalized training never hurt anyone, and while about half of BAs eventually get BA-specific training, it usually occurs well after they've been engaged in BA activities.
So TeamTrack and Business Mashups administrators and all you other Accidental Analysts, I hereby dub thee "Business Analyst". Live long and prosper.
Nearly every Business Mashups Designer or TeamTrack administrator I've ever met (including myself) did not consider themselves a BA, yet if you ask them what their day to day activities are, more often than not they will correspond to those of a BA. These "Accidental Analysts" are often IT types in the right place at the right time, and just happen to be next in line when they are tasked with administering a new installation of Business Mashups or TeamTrack. Most soon discover that this tool can do more than what it was originally intended for, which was usually automating their Issue/Defect Tracking process.
Automating processes in these tools is quick and easy, so these Accidental Analysts often seek out new business processes to automate, including those outside the traditional ALM and IT spaces. As they work with different departments on these various processes, Accidental Analysts continued to hone their BA skills, which include interpersonal communication, requirements gathering, and general problem solving. Before long, any of these Accidental Analysts can market themselves as full-fledged card-carrying BAs. Because the tools are so easy to use (can you say "drag and drop"?), power business users outside of IT are often recruited to solve and automate their own business problems, adding even more Accidental Analysts to the pool.
Forrester has seen the same pattern of spontaneous emergence of BAs. In the 2008 report "The New Business Analyst" Forrester states that BAs often receive no formalized training but rather "Most business analysts learn instead by doing, getting on-the-job training from their peers, managers, and mentors." They also advise that one should "Look for potential business analysts in all walks of life" and what makes a good BA successful "is their ability to communicate, facilitate, and analyze". BAs appear to be born rather than made. Of course, a little formalized training never hurt anyone, and while about half of BAs eventually get BA-specific training, it usually occurs well after they've been engaged in BA activities.
So TeamTrack and Business Mashups administrators and all you other Accidental Analysts, I hereby dub thee "Business Analyst". Live long and prosper.
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