0%

Book Description

Business analysis (BA) is an important business operation, and with some coordinated effort, it can become an efficient and valuable business service. This book takes you through the creation and management of a BA service, from setting strategy to recruiting business analysts, to continuous improvement, through to useful supporting tools and technology. Top tips, case studies and worked examples are included throughout. This book complements the bestselling BCS books 'Business Analysis' and 'Business Analysis Techniques.' --- 'This book is a much-needed book for the BA world! It provides everything and more to be able to understand (and where needed) to implement a BA Service. It combines both theories with practical applications, tools and techniques, which provide the reader with so much more than just theory. A must have book for those wanting to expand their knowledge of BA services and the profession.' - Joanna Soleki , Head of Strategic Portfolio & Business Change, Sheffield Hallam University, & IIBA UK North Vice-Chair ---- 'Essential reading for BA managers and leaders whether they are wanting to set up or run a BA Service or to develop a team of BAs. This book takes the next step in developing Business Analysis as a profession and will enable managers to build a BA service that adds significant value to their customers and the wider organisation.' - Dr Katharine Smith , Senior Business Analyst ---- 'A comprehensive, well-crafted and carefully researched guide for BA managers, packed with practical advice and examples. This is a valuable resource for BA Leaders to frequently return to for helpful nudges whilst navigating changing tasks, environments and practice maturity.' - Michael Greenhalgh , Head of Business Analysis, British Council

Table of Contents

  1. Front Cover
  2. Half-Title Page
  3. BCS, THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE FOR IT
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Contents
  7. List of figures and tables
  8. Authors
  9. Foreword
  10. Acknowledgements
  11. Abbreviations
  12. Glossary
  13. Preface
  14. 1. INTRODUCING THE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. Business analysis as a service
    3. The Community of Practice concept
    4. Situating the BA Service
    5. The role of the business analyst
    6. The 3rd Wave model for business analysis
    7. Challenges facing the BA Service
    8. Conclusion
  15. 2. INTRODUCING THE BA SERVICE FRAMEWORK
    1. Introduction
    2. The nature of service
    3. The nature of value
    4. Applying the BASF
    5. The BASF and the portfolio business analyst
    6. The business case for the BA Service
    7. Conclusion
  16. 3. RECRUITING AND RETAINING BUSINESS ANALYSTS
    1. Introduction
    2. Recruitment strategy
    3. Recruitment planning
    4. Search
    5. Selection approach
    6. Induction
    7. Retention
    8. Succession planning
    9. Conclusion
    10. Case study 1: Recruiting in a competitive market
  17. 4. DEVELOPING THE BUSINESS ANALYSTS
    1. Introduction
    2. The T-shaped professional business analyst
    3. Skills development frameworks
    4. Service view of skills development
    5. The BA Service as a learning organisation
    6. Conclusion
    7. Case study 2: Green-field BA Service
  18. 5. ENABLING A HIGH-PERFORMANCE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. Appraisal and performance management
    3. Approaches to facilitate performance management
    4. Understanding personal motivation
    5. Providing feedback
    6. Removal
    7. Conclusion
    8. Case study 3: Managing performance with empathy and understanding
  19. 6. STANDARDISING THE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. The role of standards and templates
    3. Selecting the standards
    4. Modelling standards
    5. Creation and maintenance of templates
    6. Adoption of standards
    7. Conclusion
    8. Case Study 4: Providing consistent business analysis
  20. 7. APPLYING SOFTWARE TOOLS TO SUPPORT THE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. Support tool categories
    3. Support tool maturity assessment
    4. Selecting business analysis support tools
    5. Reasons tools can fail
    6. Conclusion
    7. Case study 5: Realising benefits from investment in support tools
  21. 8. LEADING THE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. What is a leader?
    3. Role of the BA leader
    4. Effective leadership
    5. Leadership frameworks and styles
    6. Challenges facing BA leaders
    7. Conclusion
    8. Case study 6: Leading a BA Service transformation
  22. 9. OPERATING THE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. Gap analysis of the management processes
    3. Business analysis consultancy management
    4. Business analysis demand management
    5. Business analysis planning
    6. Business analysis process management
    7. Conclusion
    8. Case study 7: Operating a large-scale BA Service
  23. 10. DELIVERING A CUSTOMER-ORIENTED BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. Identifying the ‘customer’
    3. Categories of customer
    4. Working with customers
    5. Analysing customers
    6. Conclusion
  24. 11. FOSTERING A BA SERVICE CULTURE
    1. Introduction
    2. The essence of culture
    3. Cultural frameworks
    4. The BA Service culture
    5. Conclusion
  25. 12. IMPROVING BA SERVICE QUALITY
    1. Introduction
    2. Quality and improvement culture
    3. Continual service improvement (CSI)
    4. Quality management
    5. Quality management techniques
    6. Conclusion
    7. Case study 8: Instilling a quality focus to enable business analysts to succeed and thrive
  26. 13. MEASURING THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BA SERVICE
    1. Introduction
    2. The Importance of metrics and measurement
    3. Types of measures
    4. Financial metrics
    5. Customer metrics
    6. Learning and growth metrics
    7. Internal process metrics
    8. Conclusion
  27. Afterword
  28. APPENDICES
  29. References
  30. Index
  31. Back Cover