240 likes | 373 Views
The Future of BAs … Why are BAs valuable, … Changing value delivered, and … Predictions on the future of the role. Keith Ellis Vice President Marketing IAG Consulting. © IAG Consulting 2009. Tough Question. "Why are we doing this requirements stuff?!". What are we going to talk about?.
E N D
The Future of BAs… Why are BAs valuable, … Changing value delivered, and … Predictions on the future of the role Keith EllisVice President MarketingIAG Consulting © IAG Consulting 2009
Tough Question "Why are we doing this requirements stuff?!"
What are we going to talk about? • Some FACTS About VALUE from The Business Analysis Benchmark – 2009 • Dispel some Myths that get in the way of making improvement • Look at the future of BAs and make some predictions © IAG Consulting 2009
Are you a great BA? Does your BA FUNCTION deliver Great Value? What is the difference between these? A candid discussion on Value
MYTHBUSTING: CIOs Can’t Just Hire Good People and Expect the Problem of Poor Requirements to go Away Lower skilled people in higher maturity companies OUTPERFORMHigher skilled people in lower maturity companies N=437 Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009 © IAG Consulting 2009
Define ‘Requirements Maturity’? What elements would you look at to determine if an organization was Mature in Requirements Definition and Management?
Requirements: Are NOT a Document Process Who does what, when Documentation What is produced Staff Knowledge, skilland ability of workforce Techniques How are the steps done? Company Needs Technology Tools to enable analyst productivity or management Organization Develop services, resources,framework © IAG Consulting 2009
What is Requirements Maturity? • Planning and Management • Gathering (or Elicitation) • Analysis and Documentation • Communication • Implementation Levels of Maturity: Level 1 – Performed (Ad-hoc) Level 2 – Defined (Individual-centric) Level 3 – Implemented (Consistent) Level 4 – Institutionalized (Part of culture) Level 5 – Continuously optimizing (Adaptive) © IAG Consulting 2009
Most Organizations are Level 1 or 2 © IAG Consulting 2009 Almost 75% of organizations have not implemented consistent requirements discovery & management practices, let alone institutionalized these practices across the enterprise.
Maturing Requirements is Valuable Every Measure of Effectiveness Improves as Maturity Improves A B C In % of all projects C D D B A N=437 Source: IAG Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009 Requirements Discovery & Management Maturity of Organization © IAG Consulting 2009
Poor Requirements Affect Both Development and Maintenance Budgets Average Cost of a $250,000 Project by Maturity Level $356K $343K Difference between these two numbers is Requirements Maturity waste… About $1 in $3 spent. $309K $274K $261K $257K Maturity Level N=437 Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009 © IAG Consulting 2009
What Happens on Large Projects? % of Development Budget Consumed by Poor Requirements Practices 62% 37% Maturity Level N=437 Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009 © IAG Consulting 2009
MYTH BUSTING #2: Requirements Are Still CRITICAL Regardless of your Development Approach Comparison of Project Success Rates: Maturity Level of Organization in Requirements Discovery & Management VERSUS Method of Development Utilized Per Cent of Projects that are Successful Requirements Discovery & Management Maturity N=437 Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009 © IAG Consulting 2009
Have I answered the Question? So – What’s the value of BA’s
Where does RM Improvement Impact? Efficiency in Achieving Business Objectives Business Domain Major Change Efficiency Business Analyst Productivity Technology Domain IT Development Efficiency © IAG Consulting 2009
What Impact Does Requirements Maturity Have on Business Stakeholder Groups? Going from Here to Here Project SuccessRate: 49% to 89% 81.6% Projects that Hit BusinessObjectives of Development: 54% to 83% 53.7% • The Level 1 organization pays the following Premium: • 35% more Time required to get to Equivalent Functionality on the AVERAGE project • 56% more Time to get to Equivalent Functionality on Strategic (larger) projects** ** From IAG Business Analysis Benchmark - 2008 Study © IAG Consulting 2009
Illustration… Difference in Revenue © IAG Consulting 2009 Two F500 organizations… One Level 4, one is Level 1 1,200 people Each person gets 1 objective/year Each objective gets the company $25,000 per year ($2000 ish per month) in incremental revenue once achieved Each $500K in new revenue means the organization can add 1 person. BY HOW MUCH DOES THE L4 OUTPERFORM THE L1 after 10 years
Average Difference Between ROA of Respondent and ROA of Respondent’s Industry Peer Group – by Maturity Level High Maturity Companies Outperform… N=141 Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009 Source: Reuters (comparative industry data) © IAG Consulting 2009
On Which Does the BA have the Bigger Impact? Business Domain Technology Domain or
Predictions… Let’s Talk About the Futureof the Business Analyst
Some Thoughts on the Future of BAs • The BA role will always struggle: • People understand the need for great requirements but tend not to take effective action • The role has responsibility without authority • The role is impacted by BOTH business optimization methodology trends AND Dev methodology trends • There are certain activities that are very high value – and certain activities that are very low value • As industry maturity rises… so to does the role become more demanding
My Predictions… • Lots more Level 4/Level 5 organizations and the emergence of ultra-high RM success stories • Emergence of 'professional' BA creates barriers to entry • We'll see a fracturing of the value chain: • Low value tasks: decentralized, outsource, offshore, automate • High value tasks: centralized, broader role, ‘essential services’ • FarFAR FAR faster requirements elicitation • Tool explosion… then shakeout to fewer, more holistic, tools • Emergence of mass collaboration expertise • Rise in team-centric accountability organizational models • A swing back to data flow analysis – which seems to be getting lost in the shuffle
Closing Thoughts © IAG Consulting 2009 Great requirements are not a document Assess your current level of requirements definition & management maturity – be systematic about improvement Focus: Understand the services your requirements organization offers. Value? Quality?
When you do answer the tough question… • Impact on Timeliness • Impact on Budget • Impact on achieving Objectives • Impact on achieving Project Success • Impact on reducing Risk • Impact on Legislative Compliance • Impact on IP Protection • Impact on Organizational Competitiveness • Catalyze your benefits "Why are we doing this requirements stuff?!"