Enterprise Analysis The Final Frontier

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Enterprise Analysis- The Final Frontier?

• Rebecca Burgess
• June 2007

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Sources of information

• BA BOK v1.6
• Personal experience
• Wikipedia.org

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Definition of Enterprise Analysis

• Pre-project or early project activities
• Provide business context for
• Requirements and functional design effort, or
• Long term planning
• During enterprise analysis, senior BAs are
  called on to provide information for strategy
  planning and execution and to help plan and
  conduct strategic planning and goal setting
  sessions. (paraphrased from BA BOK sect 2.1.5, pg
  21 - 22)
• Enterprise analysis focuses on understanding the
  needs of the business as a whole, its strategic
  direction, and identifying initiatives that will
  allow a business to meet those strategic goals.
  (Wikipedia business analysis sub-disciplines)

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Enterprise Analysis activities

• Creating and maintaining Business Architecture
• Identifying new business opportunities
• Conducting feasibility studies to determine
  optimum business solution
• Scope projects for new business opportunities
• Prepare business case
• Conduct initial risk assessment
• Prepare Decision Package
• Project value management and benefit tracking

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Identifying new business opportunities

• Implied in BOK, but not called out explicitly in
  Enterprise Analysis chapter
• Use strategic plans business architecture to
  find
• Existing problems
• Gaps between current (as-is) and future (to-be)
  state
• New opportunities/products
• Methods and skills are embedded in Feasibility
  Study subsection of Enterprise Analysis (BA BOK
  section 2.3)

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Conducting feasibility studies to determine
optimum business solution

• BOK combines different reasons for feasibility
  studies
• Determining whether proposed problem or
  opportunity is valid and solvable
• Identifying potential business solutions
• Feasibility encompasses several dimensions
• Economic financial
• Operational and/or Organizational (BOK states
  both)
• Technical fit into IT infrastructure which
  supports the business
• Proposed feasibility study results
• Create business case
• Recommended solution option

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When are feasibility studies performed?

• When executives are developing strategic goals
  and themes to drive toward strategy execution
• During Enterprise Analysis to help the portfolio
  management team determine the best investment
  path to solve business problems and seize new
  business opportunities and,
• During the requirements and design phases to
  help conduct trade-off analysis among solution
  alternatives.

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Feasibility studies during Enterprise Analysis

• BOK combines different reasons for feasibility
  studies
• Determining whether proposed problem or
  opportunity is valid and solvable
• Identifying potential business solutions
• Feasibility encompasses several dimensions
• Economic financial
• Operational and/or Organizational - fit to goals
  and policies
• Technical fit into IT infrastructure or current
  product portfolio
• Proposed feasibility study results
• Create business case
• Recommended solution option

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Skills

• Research and information analysis
• Ability to plan and conduct the study and
  document the results
• Technical writing
• Leadership and organizational
• Change management
• Communication skills for facilitation,
  interviewing and collaborative communication
• Ability to work independently or in a team
• BA BOK says the BA must either have these skills
  or enlist team members who do.
• Are any of these skills really optional for the
  BA?

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Process

• Determine requirements
• BA BOK defines this as the business
  problem/opportunity statement
• Determine objectives, scope and approach plan
  effort
• Objectives include success/benefit criteria
• Define deliverables
• Conduct current state assessment
• Includes assessment of competitive arena and
  current technological environment
• Identify potential solutions as many as
  possible
• Determine feasibility of each possible solution
• Document and communicate results, obtain approval
  to develop Business Case for recommended solution

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Process ? Project Charter?

• Determine
• Business problem/opportunity statement
• Objectives, including goals and success/benefit
  criteria
• Scope
• Deliverables
• Approach and effort
• Conduct current state assessment
• Processes
• Competitive arena
• Current technological environment
• Identify potential solutions as many as
  possible
• Determine feasibility of each possible solution
• Document and communicate results, obtain approval
  to develop Business Case for recommended solution
  initiate project

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Feasibility Studies of solutions

• Requirements
• Business requirements (existing capabilities and
  wish list)
• Best practices
• Competitive or technological directions
• Potential solutions
• Complete description of solution option
• Risks
• Costs
• Issues
• Ranking of solutions with respect to requirements

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Questions and Discussion

• Why should BAs care about Enterprise Analysis?
• What are your experiences with Enterprise
  Analysis?
• What pieces of the BA BOK Enterprise Analysis
  chapter do you agree/disagree with?
• Is Enterprise Analysis supported/performed in
  your company? If so, are BAs involved?
• Others?

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Thank you

• Enterprise Analysis- The Final Frontier?
• Rebecca Burgess
• June 2007