IT Career Coach » business analysts http://www.it-career-coach.net How To Put your Career in Overdrive Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:25:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Writing Better Requirements: Why Projects Fail http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/08/29/writing-better-requirements-why-projects-fail/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/08/29/writing-better-requirements-why-projects-fail/#comments Sun, 29 Aug 2010 20:42:12 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2989

Write Better Requirements

Write Better Requirements


Why Do We Need Better Requirements?

The following article is a frank, open and surprising discourse on why we need better requirements.

According to Standish or Gartner reports and other case studies, nearly “two-thirds of all IT projects fail” because of poor requirements and other causes.

Why Do Projects Fail?

Consider that a project fails when it overruns the budgeted allocation of resources, time or money or fails to deliver the intended business requirements or value.

Some teams are so deep into this, that throwing more money, people or extending the shipping date is their default solution to scope creep, budget overruns or project failure!

But project failure doesn’t have to become the norm for you.

With this in mind, the following post on “Why We Need Better Requirements” is designed to help business analysts, project managers, web managers or technical leads make a case for preventing project failure by gathering better business requirements.

  1. The True Cost of Fixing Bad Mistakes

    Gathering better requirements helps avoid fixing issues further down in the project when mistakes are guaranteed to be more expensive.

    Consider a product feature that is not developed to the customer’s specifications because of incomplete requirements documentation.

    The incomplete requirement is left to an open or wide interpretation from each member of the development team.

    Depending on when the improperly coded requirements are discovered; (development, software testing or production), the cost of fixing these defects is guaranteed to be much higher than the cost of gathering, validating or documenting the complete or correct requirements at the project’s inception!

  2. The Opportunity Cost of Missing Requirements

    Discovering requirements late results in delays to the project or in shipping products that don’t meet or fall below the customer’s expectations!

    This results in missed market opportunities, unhappy customers or an improper allocation of resources, time or money.

    Why because, it costs more money to retool your product at later stages of the product development cycle than at inception.

    And regardless of what you do, you will be late to market or reduce your customers positive experiences of your product.

  3. The Cost of Working Incorrect Requirements

    Perhaps, you’ve worked on a project where requirements are dispensed as favors because the Requirements Analyst lacks the authority or training to validate requirements properly.

    This is the practice where requirements are imposed on the project team without meeting the business case or scope.

    The cost of such a practice is that the project resources (people, money, time, infrastructure) are high-jacked to satisfy a few egos to the detriment of the organization’s strategic objectives, goals, missions or success!

Making The Case For Good Business Requirements

Note that when it comes to executing projects successfully you will always have the constraints of time, money or resources (people).

And regardless of who you work for, your project cannot be handled as if your organization has an infinite supply of these inputs.

So gathering incorrect, poor or wrong requirements will result in the improper allocation of resources and at the same time increase the risk of project failure.

Armed with this, don’t be a doormat, make a proper case to your management, stakeholders or project advisory team on the need or strategic importance of gathering better business requirements.

Action Plan: How To Gather Better Requirements

I’ve shown you why gathering better requirements matters and explained how you can make a case for sound requirement management practices at your organization.

Here is how you can help your organization adopt a better requirements management practice.

  • Empower your Requirements Analyst

    Hire a capable requirements analyst for your project and then empower the resource to do their job.

    Adding a Requirements or Business Analyst to your team without empowering the resource is a practice in self-deception at best.

    So don’t start down that part, if your organization is not ready to rally behind their Requirements Lead.

  • Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way!

    Your Requirements or Business Analyst is there to help your project or organization succeed, so don’t make that resource into the enemy!

    Educate your stakeholders, management team or customers on the benefits of following a sound, documented requirements management plan.

    Find a champion who can lead that effort … then follow your chosen leader or get out of the way!

    The Requirements analyst’s job is not to dispense requirements as favors but to be a custodian of the organization or customer’s strategic vision, aspirations or expectations.

By understanding, communicating, leading or championing better requirements practices, you reduce the risk of project failure and help your organization achieve a better Return On Investment (ROI).

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/08/29/writing-better-requirements-why-projects-fail/feed/ 0 Career Tip for Senior Business Analysts: Become The Lead Business Analyst! http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/10/career-tip-for-senior-business-analysts-become-the-lead-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/10/career-tip-for-senior-business-analysts-become-the-lead-business-analyst/#comments Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:49:48 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2929

Career Tip For Senior BAs: Become The Lead BA

Career Tip For Senior BAs: Become The Lead BA

This post answers questions received from senior business analysts asking about how to carve out an upwardly mobile career path in their company or organization.

The answers in this post are presented as tips, solutions or ideas for business analysts looking towards a better career path.

If you have a question about your business analyst career, be sure to post it as a comment on this post and I will be glad to answer it for you.

Here are the tips for business analysts looking for a better career path:

Should Business Analysts Test Software Applications?

In my department, analysts are mainly used for testing applications.

I know that there is more to this than testing applications.

What skills sets would you suggest I gain in order to become a top notch analyst?"

Should Business Analysts Test Software Applications?

    • While business analyst are not full-fledged software testers, some organizations do require business analysts to test their software applications, oversee the testing process or collaborate closely with the QA / Software Testing Team.
    • When business analysts test software applications, they usually perform a form of testing known as Usability Testing, Functional or Acceptance Testing.
    • Business Analysts are sometimes asked to test software applications because they are the custodians of the customer, project or software requirements and so as such, need to confirm that the product or solution meets documented requirements.
    • However business analysts are sometimes asked to test solutions (and not just software components) because their company is short on QA staff and are merging both the QA / Software Testers duties into that of the business analysts!
    • Note: there is a lot more to the art of software testing than usability, functional or acceptance testing. These other other forms of testing may require scripting or automated tools and are not usually required of business analysts.

What Is The Future For Senior Business Analysts?

The toughest challenge facing me is the transition from Senior Business Analyst to Lead Analyst.

The Future / Career Path for Senior Business Analysts:

There is a real career path for senior business analysts. This career path comes with new titles, additional duties / roles or recognition (formal / informal) depending on the organization.

To start with, there is no common way of showing the seniority or lead position of a lead business analyst

In some organizations, the lead business analyst is the most senior or experienced person on the team and not necessarily the most educated.

The position of the lead business analyst is sometimes given informally when a manager refers other business analysts to the lead and / or identifies the BA as such.

  1. If you are intent on being the lead business analyst, strive to distinguish yourself over a period of time by the quality of your work, the depth of your knowledge and expertise and your commitment to delivering excellent business results.
  2. Study the lead business analyst and start learning whatever it is they bring to the table that you presently don’t.
  3. In many organizations, the title of lead business analyst is earned over time because the lead business analyst has to have a strong understanding the business / organization. My advice is this: Be patient and hunker down for the long haul.

Remember the Kaizen principle, which is used to achieve an outstanding result by delivering smaller but consistent, qualitative improvements over a longer period of time.

  • Start identifying the issues that your users have. Demonstrate to your manager that you have the analysis skills to take on the lead business analyst role.
  • Increase your output when it comes to problem-solving on the project. Make yourself available and visible to users instead of shying away from contact with them.
  • Get as much additional training as you can afford and channel all your efforts to becoming a better business analyst by learning everything that you can about business analysis.

If you gain new skills or demonstrate additional abilities on the job, you will position yourself for more responsibility … even that of the lead business analyst.

Finally, becoming a lead business analyst has a lot to do with demonstrating outstanding leadership skills.

It is not just what you know (knowledge alone is not enough for this role) but how well you can step out of your box to help your fellow business analysts, team or company.

Learn how to demonstrate exceptional leadership, communication. coaching and mentoring skills in addition to your traditional business analysis skills and you will stand out from other senior business analysts or your peers!

What Is The Career Path for IT Business Analysts?

I need help. My company is considering creating specialist areas for the Business Analyst in IT.

Is there a model or any existing categorization of Business Analyst role in IT?

I am only aware of roles like Senior/Junior Business Analyst.

The Roles / Models for IT Business Analysts:

There are several possible career paths for IT Business Analysts depending on the size of the organization or the diversity of tasks performed by your business analysts.

Assuming that your company has a legitimate need to start putting business analysts into silos, here are some options, categories or specialized roles:

  1. Usability / UI / User Experience Business Analyst

  2. Web Business Analyst

  3. E-Commerce Business Analyst

  4. Marketing Business Analyst

  5. Business Process Analyst / Process Engineer

  6. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Business Analyst

Use this list to elicit more careers centering on specialized functions performed by the business analysts on you team.

This post presents tips, strategies or solutions for advancing your business analysis career. If you enjoy reading this post, be sure to … Share It with Friends

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/06/10/career-tip-for-senior-business-analysts-become-the-lead-business-analyst/feed/ 6 Why Is Requirements Management A Top In-Demand Skill? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/27/why-requirements-management-for-business-analysts/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/27/why-requirements-management-for-business-analysts/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 07:34:00 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2920

Requirements Management Skills In Demand

Requirements Management Skills In Demand

Is Requirements Management Helpful?

If you work in an office where requirements management is a low priority, an afterthought or a process imposed by senior management, you may begin to lose sight of the value that requirements management offers.

In between chasing down your stakeholders for interviews, wrestling with your use cases or managing conflict and corporate politics, you may decide to abort what sometimes seems like meaningless meetings or endless paperwork.

What you may not know is that the reason you’re chasing down stakeholders or having so much trouble gathering requirements is that you don’t have an effective Requirements Management framework in place.

Because Requirements Management is really not an afterthought and unless you step out of your busy schedule to learn what works and what doesn’t work in requirements management … the cycle of difficulty, ineffectiveness or project failure is guaranteed to continue!

Why Requirements Management Is A High Priority For Business Analysts

If your project lacks an effective Requirements Management plan, you can do your team or manager a favor by learning how to implement one.

This is important because an effective requirements management plan will help you deliver the right product, technology or business solution and stand you in good stead at the performance review.

The risk of Information Technology (IT) project failure is so high that taking the time to understand, model or validate what needs to be built is a high priority for any professional business analyst.

If your requirements management plan is weak, you risk not understanding the business problem or turning out a poor solution.

So, whether you’re gathering or analyzing requirements, it is just as important to focus on the process that you are using to develop your requirements as it is to focus on the requirements themselves.

The good news is that a lot of thought has been put into the process of gathering and creating good requirements.

The Requirements Management Plan

These thoughts have been gathered and structured into a discipline known as Requirements Engineering or Management.

Requirements Management encompasses the activities of defining a solution’s requirements, Eliciting, Analyzing, Specifying and Validating business requirements.

Requirements Management encompasses activities and deliverables for establishing Requirements Baselines, Change Control and Tracing Requirements.

Having an effective requirements management plan will also help you define:

  1. Which members of your team are performing what requirements activities

  2. When requirements activities will take place

  3. What the details and steps of each requirement activity are

Having all of this formally defined will help your team deliver the right product or solution.

Having a good requirements management plan will also improve your teams ability to build or deliver the correct requirements on time and within budget.

The ROI for Effective Requirements Management

An effective Requirements Management plan will also help your team be more productive or produce excellent correct, complete, clear, concise, consistent, relevant, feasible and verifiable requirements.

Keep in mind that your Requirements Management plan may need to be customized to your projects, organizational constraints or corporate culture.

Remember that effective Requirements Management results in better business solutions … which is a hallmark of successful business analysts.

Requirements Management is one of several business analysis courses offered at the Business Analyst Boot Camp Training.

A complete end-to-end Business Analysis training is traditionally expensive because you pay for multiple business analysis courses on UML, Use Cases, Requirements Management, etc.

In addition, these courses are sometimes split into beginner, intermediate or advanced classes which you have to pay for individually.

What if you could get your “Use Case Training”, “UML Training”, “Requirements Management Training” and more by attending just one class?

What if you could get all these Business Analyst courses for a fraction of the traditional cost? … Here is how to to do just that.

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/27/why-requirements-management-for-business-analysts/feed/ 3 What Does It Take To Learn Business Analysis? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/21/what-does-it-take-to-learn-business-analysis/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/21/what-does-it-take-to-learn-business-analysis/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 12:55:42 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2918

Highly Paid Business Analyst

Highly Paid Business Analyst

You are reading this post because you are interested in learning or mastering business analysis for a number of reasons like

  • You may have read the US Bureau of Statistics report which predicts that the business analyst role will be one of the fastest growing occupations through 2012

  • You are a computer programmer or software tester who is getting burned out on the monotony of coding or testing

  • You may be interested in learning business analyst because you will gain more visibility by interacting more with users and managers

  • You feel that gathering requirements for software projects would be a better fit for you than your current IT position

What Does It Take To Become A Successful Business Analyst?

You may also have read a few business analyst job descriptions or observed successful business analysts at work and because of that, you feel that you can easily succeed at business analysis.

However, you are not alone in assuming that knowledge of software development or a college degree like an MBA, qualifies one to become a business analyst.

However, the reality is:

  • There is more to business analysis than just gathering requirements

  • Making the leap from your current IT job to a business analyst role is not always as easy as it looks

Business Analysis is really not like computer programming and it is not equivalent to projecty management or having an MBA.

Business Analysis is a specialized profession just like Law, Medicine or Engineering. Here is more information on what it takes to become a successful business analyst:

So, What Does A Business Analyst Do?

Computer programming and business analysis while being related, are still worlds apart.

Programming is a wholly technical discipline while business analysis focuses on the business side of managing software or project requirements.

The business analyst does more than just ask users what they want from a software system, type up the requirements in a pretty document and hand it off to the developers.

The business analyst liaises between stakeholders to understand business problems and the requirements for a successful solution using strategic thinking and excellent communication skills.

The business analyst also has to follow best practices for planning, gathering/eliciting, managing, modeling and validating user requirements.

So, you need to thoroughly understand the business analysis profession if you want to make the leap from programming (or any other career) to business analysis.

Business Analysts Don’t Just Gather Requirements!

Even though you do not need an MBA to be a successful business analyst, you still need to learn and master the core business analysis skills.

To start with, you will need technical skills, business skills, industry knowledge / domain skills and analysis skills.

In addition to the following: Requirements Elicitation, UML, Use Cases, Requirements Modeling and Facilitation skills.

Demonstrate your Business Analysis Skills

There is no such thing as a new IT career without new IT skills. In the same way, you can’t become a successful business analyst without learning business analysis skills through training and hands-on experience.

If you have been applying to business analyst jobs without any response from potential employers, here is the reason: Your resume does not show that you have real-world business analysis skills.

Many project managers or business managers have been in the situations where they hired just because the candidate was persuasive only to regret the lack of understanding of the role or the lack of skills needed to get the job done

.

  • The bad news is that too many managers have been burned, so the chances of getting hired without real business analysis skills are lower.

  • The good news is that as we head out of the recession, there is a demand for professionals who have the business analysis skills required to successfully take an IT project to completion.

So, the first and most important step towards a successful business analyst career … is making sure that you have the right skillsets

.

Yes, there is a real shortage of good business analysts. If you will simply take the time to get trained and get hands-on experience, you can go places in your career!.

How to Gain Business Analysis Skills

The traditional way to gain skills in other careers is to get a college degree. But does having a business degree qualify you for a business analyst career?

What if you have a family and can’t take the time off work to go through another two to four years of college?

The problem with traditional college degrees is that they keep you on the theoretical path of learning, where you may spend two to four years in college and still lack the skills, experience or insight needed for a successful business analyst career.

In addition, traditional college degrees are extremely costly. If you’ve worked in the IT industry for any length of time, you would have met successful business analysts or computer programmers who couldn’t afford to go to college and yet succeeded at their professional carees.

What Are The Options For Learning Business Analysis?

There are several alternatives to traditional business colleges. For example, many training companies squeeze the business analyst training program into a few (three to five) days.

You fly or drive in to the location, sit for a few days and then get back to work the next day!

The problem with these three to five day training programs is that you simply will not retain or understand new technical information that is crammed in a short period because real life professional skills are not learned in a hurry!

If you’ve ever crammed for an examination, you know that once the exam is over, most of the information is gone from you because you only studied to pass the examination!

The challenge with short term business analyst training is that you will not retain, understand or apply the information effectively on your job.

You need to learn business analysis concepts in a way that helps you retain it or use it to advance your career.

Learn Business Analysis – The Effective Way

This is how you learn business analysis at the Business Analyst Boot Camp

  1. Mentoring / Coaching: The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed more like a mentoring / coaching program.

    You get case studies that allow you to practice the real-world business analysis skills before using them on the job.

  2. Skill Building / Career Focused: The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed like a series of examinations.

    You are quizzed or examined on concepts, skills or ideas so that you are able to think creatively / of the box.

  3. Natural Learning Pace: The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed to walk you through beginner to advanced business analysis topics in a series of steps.

    You are not expected to learn or master business analysis in three days but over weeks, so that you have time to internalize, understand, appreciate or learn business analysis material in a paced, natural or productive way

Summary

The Business Analyst Boot Camp is designed to provide practical training or real-world skills for the IT Business Analyst role and it can be accessed through our online Learning Management System (LMS) from any location and at any time by registered business analysts!

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/05/21/what-does-it-take-to-learn-business-analysis/feed/ 12 Is a Project Manager or a Business Analyst Career, a Better Fit for You? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/12/is-a-project-manager-or-business-analyst-career-a-better-fit-for-you/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/12/is-a-project-manager-or-business-analyst-career-a-better-fit-for-you/#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:25:22 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2893

How To Choose the Right Career?

How To Choose the Right Career?

The following question was submitted by a reader who needs help with choosing between a business analyst and a project management career.

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to submit your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

If you enjoy reading this post, please be sure to … Share this Post with Friends

Here is the Reader’s Question: Should I Change Careers To Business Analysis Or Project Management?

Hello,

I am interested in making a career change from working currently in customer service in a bank to becoming a business analyst or a project manager.

My educational background is a degree in Banking and Finance and I have over 8 years experience working in the Treasury department of a bank.

Can you advise which would be my best choice?

Here is the Answer: How To Decide Between a Business Analysis and a Project Management Career

Hello,

I can certainly help you understand the differences between a project management and business analyst career.

You will be able to decide on your ideal career, after weighing all the pros and cons that I will list in the rest of this article.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Project Manager

The Project Manager is often considered to be the first point of contact for the project and is solely responsible for the project’s success or failure.

Please note that this is an important distinction between the project manager and business analyst’s duties, roles or responsibilities.

This distinction means that you have to be wired a certain way or learn to take full responsibility for the outcome of your projects without making any excuses!

  • This also means that as the project manager, you will be responsible for overseeing all the phases of a software development or information technology project unlike a business analyst who is tasked with gathering requirements at the inception or beginning phases of a project.

  • Another important distinction is that, as the project manager you will also be responsible for establishing time-lines or ensuring that your projects are completed on time and under budget.

  • Finally, the Project Manager allocates resources to a project, monitors significant milestones as the project progresses and manages risks and costs to ensure that there are no budget overruns.

To achieve these goals, the Project Manager works with a correct or comprehensive set of customer requirements provided by the business analyst.

This last statement means that the Project Manager has to collaborate or depend on the Business Analyst’s requirements elicitation and management skills.

If this collaboration works out well, then the correct and complete set of project requirements are provided to the software development or information technology project team … if not, then the project is doomed from inception!

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Business Analyst

  1. Like the Project Manager, the Business Analyst also spends most of the time working with end users, stakeholders or management.

  2. Unlike the Project Manager, whose attention is all over the phases and tasks of the Project, the business analyst focuses mainly on the requirements for the project.

  3. Because the business analyst is tasked with gathering requirements, he or she ends up focusing on the minute details of what the end user wants, documenting requirements with very detailed reports that measure goals and outcomes, validating requirements or communicating requirements in precise ways to developers using tools like User stories, Use Cases and UML

In essence, the Business Analyst ends up bridging the technical or business communication gap between the software development or project implementation teams and the management, executive or business teams.

What are the similarities and differences between a Project Manager and a Business Analyst’s Job?

There is a good deal of speculation and confusion on the 2 roles leading to the assumption in some circles that project managers can gather requirements or that business analysts can manage resources!

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Each of these is a rigorous, methodical discipline that may share some body of knowledge with the other, but are functionally, completely different.

  1. Project Managers manage all the resources assigned to project and they carry the final authority on who does what. They usually have the ability to hire or fire resources and for delegating tasks or responsibilities.

  2. Business analysts on the other hand, manage the business, end-user, customers or stakeholder requirements and in reality, they report to the project manager, just like the software developers, testers or any other resource assigned to the project.

  3. Both business analysts and project managers understand the software development life cycle, both of them serve as points of contact for the project and both of them communicate with management or stakeholders.

  4. Both of these are also responsible for accurately defining the scope of the project.

However, even here, there is still a qualitative difference … while the business analyst is concerned with the minutiae of the requirements, the project manager is focused on the big picture, and on delivering a project that fulfills the requirements under schedule and on budget.

On this last point, I would like to stress that in an ideal world, there would be no adversarial relationship between a project manager and his/her business analysts because like any successful leader knows, “war is worn by wise counsel” and the business analyst is the project manager’s wise counsel.

Another key difference between these 2 roles is that at the onset of a project, the business analyst implements feasibility and cost/benefit analysis studies before the project manager is even hired!

Finally, I would also like to add that, while the business analyst is concerned with the quality of the finished product … the Project Manager is concerned with managing the process of producing the product.

Is a Project Manager or a Business Analyst Career, a Better Fit for You?

So how do you decide which of these two (project management or business analysis) is the better fit?

If your personality type is such that you have a singular focus on completing projects with a “big picture” view of the process from beginning to end, then the Project Management career may be the better fit for you.

If on the other hand, you enjoy working on details with business users, customers or management, analyzing problems or defining solutions, documenting or communicating problems and solutions, then a Business Analyst career may be the better fit for you.

This post was written in answer to a question submitted by a reader on how to decide between becoming a project manager or a business analyst.

If you have a question, be sure to post it here as a comment or submit it to: [Ask IT Career Coach].

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/04/12/is-a-project-manager-or-business-analyst-career-a-better-fit-for-you/feed/ 15 The Business Analysts Role In Facilitating Data Warehouse Projects http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/03/10/the-business-analyst-role-in-facilitating-data-warehouse-projects/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/03/10/the-business-analyst-role-in-facilitating-data-warehouse-projects/#comments Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:29:39 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2868

Business Analyst Role In Data Warehouse Projects

Business Analyst Role In Data Warehouse Projects

The Business Analysts Role In Bringing Data Warehousing To Your Office

Today’s business executives spend a ton of cash on data warehouse projects because that is a big, key, strategic business initiative; the success of which weighs heavily on their minds.

Data warehousing is important because it saves or aggregates information in a manner that allows executives, management or office users to make strategic business decisions faster, better and more easily!

No More Silos In The Workplace

Data warehousing is critical to business success because it presents a way for executives or management to view or manage their corporation as a whole unit instead of in silos.

What data warehousing offers decision makers is the ability to break out of departmental information silos and see the big picture.

One of the key objectives facilitated by business analysts in data warehousing roles is that of bridging the gap between enterprise databases (marketing, finance, inventory, customer relationship management, etc.) so that decision makers or office users can ask questions or get a comprehensive, 360 degree insight across corporate / departmental databases with one query or question!

Introducing OLAP, Business Intelligence (BI) Or Data Warehousing To Business Analysts

Business Analysts assigned to data warehouse projects may be surprised to know that traditional, day-to-day relational (online transaction processing (OLTP)) databases are not optimized for querying or reporting of data for business or decision making purposes.

Databases that are actually optimized for data analysis, reporting and business intelligence are known as Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) databases.

So, another key benefit of data warehousing is that it provides decision makers with real-time business intelligence at optimal speeds through the used of OLTP systems.

Finally, Data Warehousing is important from the standpoint of facilitating forecasting trends or getting performance metrics for the entire organization.

Data warehousing provides senior management with intelligence required to see the company’s performance from a 30,000 foot level instead of being buried under a mountain of data at sea level.

Will The Real Enterprise Business Analyst Stand Up Please?

Organizations implementing business intelligence or data-warehousing projects are looking for a significant boost in their business intelligence or decision making capabilities.

Savvy business analysts pulled into data-warehousing / BI projects would fare well to keep this at the back of their mind from the git-go!

So, here are some key roles for business analysts in data warehouse projects

  • The Data Warehouse Business Analysts role includes helping the business team identify key opportunities for boosting revenue, increasing sales, decreasing operational costs or achieving some other important organizatioinal or business objective.

  • The Business Analyst bridges the gap between the business or executive management office and the data warehousing / BI Implementation Team.

  • The Business Analyst identifies the business intelligence needs of the organization. This includes eliciting BI requirements from executives, managers or office users and then working with the data warehouse project team to identify, define or implement these business requirements.

The Enterprise Business Analyst Role In Data Warehousing Projects

Data warehousing projects are all about building, integrating, analyzing or reporting on large, complex, corporate databases.

So, Business Analysts working in such domains will be well-advised to fortify their database skills as that is the real-world domain or context of data warehousing.

Because of the strategic importance or the scope of data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) projects, the business analyst typically functions as a key member of a larger data warehouse project team.

The data warehouse project team may include the Project Manager, Data Modeler, Data Architect, Data Analyst , Tester, Report Writer, Database Developer and last but not least … the data warehousing / business intelligence (BI) business analyst.

With that in mind, here are the business analyst’s roles in the context of an enterprise data-warehousing project implementation team.

  • Management Role: working with executives, management or the business team, the business analyst identifies the gaps in corporate intelligence / reporting capabilities.

  • Data Analyst Role: working with data analysts, the business analyst identifies, understands and documents the sources of data discrepancies or gaps in business intelligence.

    The actual work of identifying data sources may be assigned to the data analysts or Extraction, Transform Load (ETL) developers while that of documenting or modeling the data transformations assigned to a business analyst comfortable with creating data models.

  • Data Modeler / Data Architect / Database Developer Role: The business analyst works with the data modeler, data architect or database developer to create the logical or conceptual data model.

    The business analyst also validates that the data model meets business requirements before it is implemented.

The Data Warehouse Business Analyst Skill Sets

The enterprise data warehouse business analyst is not your traditional business analyst. so, here are some of the skill-set requirements for business analysts in a data warehouse project.

  • The business analyst needs a thorough understanding of Extraction, Transform and Load (ETL) processes.

  • The business analyst also needs a strong understanding of the logical database design process, data modeling, data-mart design and a good understanding of OLAP compared to OLTP systems.

  • The business analyst needs to be comfortable with the business intelligence tools used in delivering corporate intelligence to decision makers which may be as simple as a Microsoft Excel-based Business Intelligence (tool).

  • The business analyst also needs a good understanding of data warehousing terminology as well as the corporate data being analyzed by the business.

    In other words, familiarity with the data is important whether one’s eliciting requirements from the business team or validating data models and ETL processes with the Data Warehouse implementation team.

Bringing Business Intelligence (BI) To The Office

An increasing number of organizations are either planning or implementing BI projects with the objective of improving the quality of corporate intelligence available to decision makers.

As a business analyst, it’s your duty to assist your organization with their BI / Data Warehouse endeavors.

You can achieve this by learning as much as you can about databases, data warehousing, business intelligence, data analysis and decision making processes.

The data warehouse business analyst job description includes a cross-functional suite of skills in Relational Database Development, SQL Query Writing, Data Analysis and Business Analysis.

You can get more information on this from both the Data Analyst Boot Camp and the Business Analyst Boot Camp.

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/03/10/the-business-analyst-role-in-facilitating-data-warehouse-projects/feed/ 0 The Agile Business Analyst, A Customer Advocate? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/22/the-agile-business-analyst-a-customer-advocate/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/22/the-agile-business-analyst-a-customer-advocate/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:13:22 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2846

The Agile Business Analyst

The Agile Business Analyst

The Agile Business Analyst plays a key role in facilitating conversations between stakeholders, quality assurance / testing teams, customers, subject matter experts (SMEs) and software developers in an incremental, iterative fast-paced product development environment.

So, who is the Agile Business Analyst and why should business analysts who are already comfortable with the process of eliciting requirements in a traditional product development environment be concerned about becoming more agile?

Introducing The Agile Business Analyst Role

The Agile Business Analyst’s role includes facilitating communication, reducing the reliance on extensive documentation and reducing the length of the feedback loop in product development projects.

  1. Collaborative - The Agile Business Analyst works closely with software developers, stakeholders, project managers and software testers and relies less on comprehensive requirements documentation at the inception of the project.

  2. Flexible and Adaptable - Unlike a more traditional software development project, an agile business analyst expects and welcomes changes in requirements. Being Agile means that changing requirements is not made difficult because of extensive documentation, communication cycles or change management processes.

  3. Just In Time Requirements – An Agile Business Analyst knows what is the right amount of requirements documentation to gather for a development cycle or iteration.

  4. More Face to Face Meetings – Because the Agile Business Analyst focuses on less documentation and more face to face meetings or interviews with stakeholders, software developers or testers, Agile Business Analysts make use of more User Stories and less Use Cases for documenting requirements.

  5. Iterative Development – And unlike requirements management practiced in a traditional waterfall software development life cycle, the agile business analyst only focuses on gathering, analyzing or validating the requirements needed in each iteration.

Between The Agile Business Analyst and Traditional BA

So, the Agile Business Analyst focuses on the deliverables for each iteration to o facilitate a faster development process.

Another key difference with agile business analysts is that they work with software testers or quality assurance professionals to elicit Test Cases directly from User Stories instead of from Use Cases.

Because Agile Business Analysts rely on face to face meetings and in-person communication, they work better in teams where the developers, stakeholders, project managers and testers are located in the same place and are committed to being involved on a continuous basis through the life time of the project.

The Agile Business Analyst gathers just-in-time (JIT) requirements through intense collaboration with customers, customer advocates, software architects, stakeholders and software testers.

Why Are We Not More Agile?

Traditionally, a business analyst is expected to gather all the requirements for a project at the beginning. These requirements are then shared with the Project Manager and Stakeholders as a static, fixed or immutable set of requirements.

This type of requirements gathering is common in product or software development project that make any or all of the following assumptions:

  1. Business Analyst – The business analyst can gather, analyze, validate and specify all the requirements at the beginning of the project and before a single line of code is written.

  2. Project Manager – The project manager needs to have a complete set of requirements to facilitate accurate project planning.

  3. Software Tester / QA – The software tester needs to have a complete set of requirements before creating a test plan and user acceptance or QA tests.

  4. Software Architect – The software architect needs to design the entire software system at the beginning of the project befor e a line of code is written.

  5. Computer Programmers – That computer programmers need to receive an extensive and complete set of requirements preferably in Use Cases format before they start coding.

    Traditional software or product development projects also assume that for developers to create a working product, they need to be told in detail, every basic, alternate path and exception flow through the system.

  6. Customers – That customers have a mind, wants, needs and desires that can be completely known at the beginning of the project through extensive requirements gathering and documentation.

    This also means that once the customer’s requirements is gathered or documented, it will not change during the life cycle of the product or software development cycle … at least not without extensive negotiation, documentation and signing-off.

The Role of The Customer Advocate

But is this true? Can the customer’s mind, needs, wants or desires be known and documented completely at the beginning of the project?

Does setting the customer’s requirements in stone assure a better product, a more satisfied customer and increase the chances of project success?

  1. The needs of today’s customers are not set in stone. Far from it, the very process of gathering customers requirements can change what the customer wants.

  2. The marketplace is always changing and product features become less important or even irrelevant in short periods of time.

  3. The practice of planning projects or designing entire software systems completely, at the inception of a project is fraught with risks, estimates and guesses.

    This practice often leads to more software features that are out of touch with the customer’s needs and more project failures.

    Considering that so many projects planned this way fail, Business Analysts need to consider utilizing more agile communication skills to supply requirements when they are needed.

Unlike the traditional business analyst who works from the assumption that requirements once signed off on are fixed in stone or immutable, the agile business analyst plays the role of a customer advocate by assuming that requirements can and will change during the life cycle of the product development effort.

The agile business analyst welcomes changes in the customer’s requirements because they reflect what the customer really wants and not what was documented.

In doing this, the agile business analyst elevates the customer’s needs above the needs for more documentation.

The agile business analyst understands that there is always some uncertainty in the marketplace, so the planned features of a product or software application cannot be set in stone!

The agile business analyst understand that software developers do not need to have 100% of a product or project’s requirements extensively documented using Use Cases before they begin coding.

So the Agile Business Analyst relies more on communication, presentation and facilitation skills than written documentation in communicating with software / product developers.

Today’s constantly changing marketplace requires the Agile Business Analyst A customer advocate who elevates the customer’s needs above that of extensive requirements documentation!

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/22/the-agile-business-analyst-a-customer-advocate/feed/ 6 The Six Sigma Business Analyst http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/12/the-six-sigma-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/12/the-six-sigma-business-analyst/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:09:54 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2817

Six Sigma Business Analyst

Six Sigma Business Analyst

The Six Sigma career path intersects or shares a number of tools, processes, goals and techniques with the business analyst career path.

So, in this post I would like to introduce you to the … Six Sigma Business Analyst.

Ask IT Career Coach

This post answers the question submitted by a business analyst who is enrolled at the business analyst boot camp.

If you have a question or challenge, be sure to send it using: Ask IT Career Coach and we will answer it for you, just as we are answering the question below!

Here is the question submitted by the Business Analyst Boot Camp Participant …

Hi Kingsley,

I had applied to a BA position and … and the response was they were looking for people …. who had Six Sigma certifications.

Is the 6 Sigma now the new minimal benchmark for getting a BA job?

If so, I’d better get cracking on it.

What’s involved?

cheers

What Is Six Sigma To Start With?

Six Sigma is a business management discipline that seeks to improve quality by removing the causes of defects, errors or variation in manufacturing and business processes.

Six Sigma uses quality management, statistical and business analysis methods to empower six sigma professionals designated in martial arts like terms as black belt, green belt and yellow belt.

Each Six Sigma project uses a sequence of steps to achieve quantified goal (cost reduction or profit increase) critical to a customer of the business process under consideration (cycle time, safety, delivery, etc.).

Six Sigma was originally designed to eliminate defects in manufacturing processes, but it is now widely applied to other business processes as a tool for improving the quality of a business process.

How Is The Business Analyst Involved In Six Sigma?

I have given you a pretty good picture of what a six sigma business analyst does. Now, I will answer the question of whether Siz Sigma is the new minimal standard for getting a business analyst job.

  • Who Is The Six Sigma Domain Business Analyst?

    Six Sigma is one of the business analyst domain career paths.

    You are not required to become a domain business analyst or to become a six sigma business analyst.

    However, if you decide not to specialize in a business analyst domain, you have to master the skills required to become an IT Business Analyst.

    However, before you decide to become a six sigma business analyst, you need to get a good understanding of your skill sets, internal and external business environment.

  • Do You Have A Statistical / Quality Management Background?

    You can decide if a six sigma business analyst career path is good for you by taking a look at your educational background, training, work experience or skill sets.

    If you already have some statistical and quality management background (I gained mine as a management trainee in Procter & Gamble), you may find that becoming a six sigma business analyst is a logical decision for you.

    If you do not have this backgound, then you have to factor in the cost of learning statistical and quality improvement from scratch.

  • Can You Meet Internal Customer Expectations Using Cross Functional Business Analysis Skills?

    I don’t recommend that you evaluate becoming a six sigma business analyst solely from the point of view of … “what’s in it for me!“

    Because the Six Sigma Methodology emphasizes the very opposite … that you focus on meeting your customer’s needs, wants or requirements.

    So, you may start by asking yourself this question: will my customer’s needs be better met if I become a six sigma business analyst?.

    Sometime ago, I functioned as the IT Director for an Electronics Manufacturing Firm in the Midwest. One of my customers was the Quality Assurance Director who I assisted with improving the quality of the plant’s electronic components.

    In this role, it would have made sense for me to become a six sigma business analyst, considering that one of my major internal customers was the Quality Assurance director.

  • Can You Meet External Business Requirements With Six Sigma BA Skills?

    Finally, you may also approach becoming a six sigma business analyst by reviewing the business analyst hiring trend in your city.

    This makes sense especially in a situation where you are out of work and you have no internal customers to satisfy.

    However, you also need to make sure that six sigma business analyst skills is in higher demand than IT business Analyis skills or some other BA domain!

    This matters because mis-interpreting the demands of employers or hiring managers can have a serious consequence on your career. So, don’t make conclusions for a couple of interviews. Apply for more jobs, analyze every business analyst job in your city and make then make an informed decision.

The technique that I used in answering this question is taken from a business analysis tools known as SWOT Analysis.

SWOT Analysis teaches you among other things to match your strengths and weaknesses against opportunities and threats in your internal and external environment.

I will be bringing out more information on using SWOT Analysis in Decision Making in a Soon Coming Post :-)

This post answers a question submitted by a business analyst looking at transitioning into the six sigma business analyst role. Be sure to leave your comments or questions at the end of this post and I will answer it for you.

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/12/the-six-sigma-business-analyst/feed/ 0 Can a Developer Make a Good Business Analyst? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/02/can-developers-make-good-business-analysts/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/02/can-developers-make-good-business-analysts/#comments Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:59:37 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2774

Computer Programmers Learning Business Analysis

Computer Programmers Learning Business Analysis

I have been talking to a number of software developers, interested in changing roles to business analysis. If you are one of those software developers, then this post is written to show you how to switch careers from software development :-)

There seems to be some bias against switching roles to business analysis from software development. It’s a subtle form of discrimination from folks who stereotype all software developers as nerds with poor presentation and communication skills!

But is that really true? Are you poorly suited for a business analysis role just because you’re a software developer?

On the contrary, software developers can make good business analysts and I will dedicate the rest of this post to debunking this myth … just as I have done with several urban legends on this blog :-)

There are several reasons why a software developer like you would be interested in changing careers to business analysis and some of these could be:

  1. The Junior Programmer: you are new to computer programming and you are not enjoying it. Hence you wonder if you will be better suited for business analysis

  2. The Experienced Software Developer: you have learned all you can about software development and would like to start a new, challenging career in business analysis.

  3. The Accidental Business Analyst: you take on the roles of a business analyst at your company and you want to get formal recognition as a business analyst for your efforts.

  4. The Soft Skilled Developer: based on your communication, presentation or analysis skills, you feel that you will make a good business analyst.

  5. The Competent Developer: you are seen as being highly competent or responsible by your manager and because of that, you have been tasked with additional business analysis responsibilities..

Whatever the reasons for changing roles to business analysis, you are in for some good news … you are wanted by the job market!

Contrary to what you may think, having a formal software development background can actually prove to be a bonus or an advantage and here are some of the reasons why:

  • Right Background: IT business analysts are required to have a good understanding of the software development life cycle.

    Your background in software development can be used to fulfill that requirement easily.

  • Better Fit: IT managers need business analysts who can understand developers and talk with them at the system level.

    That means having enough technical knowledge to create UML diagrams or entity relationship models or even help translate business requirements into technical specifications.

  • Reduce Risk: IT shops need business analysts with a technical or systems background so that they won’t be at a lost in a challenging or complex software development project.

    When managers undertake a complex software development process, they want to reduce risk by hiring business analysts who can bridge the gap between the software development team and business because of their software developer background.

So, having a software development background puts you at an advantage in such situations.

Can you Market Yourself: The good news is that your software developer background does not have to count against you at the job interview and that is where this article becomes quite helpful!

First, you have to be sure of the value you will bring to your job if you are hired as a business analyst. Next, you have to convey that value clearly to the hiring manager!

So, using this article as reference, elicit all the reasons why hiring you will be helpful and then work on how to convey that to your hiring manager.

Now you’ve learnt how to switch from a traditional software developer role to a business analyst role … it is time to take action!

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2010/02/02/can-developers-make-good-business-analysts/feed/ 0 8 Tips for Business Analysts: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Job Market http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/10/26/8-tips-for-business-analysts-how-to-stand-out-in-a-crowded-job-market/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/10/26/8-tips-for-business-analysts-how-to-stand-out-in-a-crowded-job-market/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 02:03:30 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2639

stand out in a business analyst job market

This question was submitted by Merry who wants to know “how to become the best business analyst in a competitive business analyst job market.”

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering Merry’s questions below!

Here is Merry’s Question on Becoming The Best Business Analyst

Hi

I recently graduated from university with a BSc degree in Computer Science. I am now doing a Business Analyst Internship at an IT company in RSA. My contract with the company is expiring in the next four months.

My greatest concern now is how do I go about finding the perfect position that meets my qualifications,skills and experience. The other challenge is that hiring managers or companies themselves are looking for people who are highly experienced and I only have one year experience.

As I was reading some of the articles published here, I learned that you say people should not aim at getting Junior Business Analyst positions as employers are not really looking for Junior Business Analysts.

Now my questions are with the little experience that I have and still need more exposure in this field(IT Business Analysis) what kind of positions should I apply for? and which steps must I take in order to become the best business analyst and for me to be considered for Business Analyst positions?

Thank you for your time. Looking forward to your response

Regards

How to Stand Out in a Crowded Business Analyst Job Market

    In a competitive business analyst job market, only the best business analyst candidates will succeed.

    So, here are a few things that you may do to become a stronger or better business analyst:

  1. Learn more about business analysis – become the best business analyst by getting a well-rounded in-depth understanding of core BA subjects.

  2. Improve your presentation or communication skills – employers hire business analysts with strong verbal communication skills.

    Click here to join your local Toastmasters club for one of the best communication skills training programs … it costs next to nothing!

  3. Become a better business writer – one of the senior business analysts I interviewed and recommended, got the job on the basis of her strong documentation or writing skills.

    Click here to join a training program like the business analysts boot camp which incorporates a lot of hands-on business analyst documentation or writing projects.

  4. Make your resume stand out – your resume or cover letter is the first point of contact with potential employers.

    There are two simple but effective things that can improve your business analyst resume immediately:

    • Incorporate your personal brand into your resume and do not present a chronological but boring list of previous business analyst jobs.

    • Use an appropriate layout and format your resume to make it attractive.

    • Use the correct verb tenses and tailor your resume for each job description.

    • A poorly written or formatted resume signals weak business writing skills, so learn how to write your resume properly or hire someone to do it for you.

    • Resume writers charge as much as $600 and if you have to re-write your resume for each business analyst job, the cost quickly adds up.

      Click here to use the limited-time discount code: resumeONEX for up to two (2) resume rewrites.

  5. Get a lot of hands on experience – employers are not comfortable hiring business analysts without strong hands-on experience regardless of their certification or academic qualifications.

    The demand for hands-on experience is so strong that college graduates are now paying for internship services!

    Click here to read how college graduates are paying for internship opportunities.

    So, do whatever it takes to get hands-on business analysis experience through training, volunteer, internship or personal leadership projects.

    Unlike some training programs, the business analyst boot camp incorporates hands-on projects, assignments and activities at no extra cost.

    So, for a limited-time, you may click here to register at the current low price.

  6. Become a Leader In Your Industry – don’t depend only on your resume for a job.

    Employers now research potential candidates on social networking sites. So, if you don’t have a well-crafted personal brand, you’re letting employers make up their mind before you have a chance to tell your story.

    Learn how to establish your personal brand or tell your story by reading this now;

  7. Prepare in advance for your business analyst job interview – start preparing for your business analyst job interviews several months ahead.

    Use business analyst practice tests to memorize, understand and recite the correct answers to potential interview questions.

    Click here; to read how scientific studies prove that using practice tests or quizzes boost retention, memory and recall.

    Note that the business analyst boot camp incorporates quizzes or practice tests as part of the process.

  8. Don’t be so narrow minded, get some technical skils - employers are hiring for broader skill sets in a bid to cut down costs.

    What that means is that business analysts are increasing being asked to demonstrate technical or programming skills.

    Broaden your skill sets by learning SQL, relational databases and HTML. If you’re brave enough, learn some computer programming.

    If your objective is to get a business analyst job, then give employers what they want and don’t be insisting that technical skills are for programmers only!

    Currently there is a 2 for 1 promotional discount which allows you to register for any technical training program at no additional costs … don’t miss it!

The reality is, “you have to work hard at standing out in a competitive job market“!

I have made this easier by explaining what employers are looking for, so, the rest is up to you.

Remember that the market doesn’t lie. Don’t invest time on how to circumvent business analyst job descriptions. Save time and effort by giving employers what they want.

This post answers a question on how to become the best business analyst in a crowded job market.

If you have a question or a challenge about your career, post it as a comment and I will answer it for you!

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/10/26/8-tips-for-business-analysts-how-to-stand-out-in-a-crowded-job-market/feed/ 2 How To Become A CRM Business Analyst Consultant http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/29/how-to-become-a-crm-business-analyst-consultant/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/29/how-to-become-a-crm-business-analyst-consultant/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:58:56 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2600

customer relationship management business analyst

customer relationship management business analyst

This question was posted by Sri who needs advice on “how to transition careers to customer relationship management (CRM) business analysis.”

If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering Sri’s questions below!

Please, send this post to your friends “Using this Link” .

Here is Sri’s Question on Becoming A Domain Business Analyst

Hi Kingsley,

The reason I wanted to move into CRM is that it being an evergreen field, thats what I feel from my understanding that for any business to be successful it must be customer centric.

And how else can a business be successful without serving its customers better through their processes which revolve around customer and thus automating those processes in order to manage their relationships with customers in an efficient manner.

Also since recession has hit an all time high thus companies have a better role to play in order to retain their existing customers by integrating Customer Relationship Management tools in their organization and realizing the benefits of it.

I wanted to do a SAP-CRM but dont know how to go about it since SAP industry doesnt take in freshers for such domains without a life cycle implementation experience.

So I would like you to advise how I can go ahead with my CRM career with or without SAP or what others tools knowlege is better in order to get into BA-CRM role.

Thanks and Regards,

Sri

How To Become A CRM Business Analyst

Recent reports suggest that the world-wide CRM market will double in a short time driven by CRM projects in every industry including Healthcare and Life sciences.

For example, the consulting firm KensingtonHouse estimates that the percentage of companies deploying, upgrading, or actively considering a CRM purchase stands at 38 percent.

Against this background, Gartner recently predicted that “25 percent of CRM projects will be postponed or canceled because of the CRM skill shortage in consultants and systems integrators.”

So, you are right in saying that there are good opportunities in the CRM Industry for business analysts.

I would like to offer you a surprise, free coaching session on “How You Can Transition To A CRM Business Analyst Career”.

Here is what your customized coaching plan will cover:

  1. Hands-On Domain Experience: how to get CRM business analysis hands-on domain experience without first getting a full-time job

  2. Resume Makeover: how to customize your resume with the relevant CRM experience

  3. CRM Skills: how to figure out which CRM tools or CRM processes you should learn based on a SWOT analysis

  4. Career Marketing: how to market your customized CRM resume or skills directly to hiring managers or clients!

I will be contacting or corresponding with you directly on the details of your “CRM Businesss Analysis Coaching plan“.

Here is some additional information for you to consider before we start your customized CRM career coaching session

What Is The State of The CRM Job Market?

The CRM Job market is divided into a demand for business analysts and system integrators who work on improving or implementing CRM packages and CRM Developers who work on customizing CRM existing packages or creating CRM software solutions from scratch.

Which CRM Tools Should I Learn?

You need to evaluate both the popularity of a CRM tool in as well as the cost of learning the tool.

Because some CRM software packages require extensive investments of time and money to learn. Other are much more affordable for the client who’s adopting it and for the Business Analyst who’s learning it.

Regardless of the CRM package you choose to learn, you need to get a clear understanding of specific CRM processes like Sales Force Automation (SFA) which can be implemented in any tool.

After learning one or more CRM Software Packages, apply for CRM business analyst jobs by emphasizing your knowledge of CRM processes over the tools except when you have strong first hand knowledge of the CRM tool mentioned in the Job opening.

Here are a few CRM business analyst career paths for you to consider:

  1. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Business Analyst

  2. Salesforce.com CRM Business Analyst

  3. Oracle (PeopleSoft CRM / Siebel CRM) Business Analyst

  4. Sugar CRM Business Analyst Business Analyst

How To Become A CRM Domain Business Analyst

Have you considered going beyond the traditional CRM business analyst career path by consulting or freelancing on CRM issues. .. this is an example of a question you need to evaluate for our custom business analysis coaching session!

You also have to ignore using a traditional job search! Prepare a marketing plan that defines who your target market is amongst other things and how you would market your resume (advertising, networking, cold calling, speaking, etc.) to them.

If you want to consider a non-traditional CRM business analyst consulting path, you should prepare a business plan that addresses questions like:

  1. Are you going to provide CRM consulting services by yourself or

  2. Hire employees, consultants or contractors to provide CRM services to clients through your business

Finally, consider using the power of the web, internet and social media to market your services.

This post answers a question on how to transition careers to CRM business analysis.

If you have a question or a challenge about your career, post it as a comment and I will answer it for you!

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/29/how-to-become-a-crm-business-analyst-consultant/feed/ 5 How To Answer Business Analyst Job Interview Questions http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/28/how-to-answer-business-analyst-job-interview-questions/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/28/how-to-answer-business-analyst-job-interview-questions/#comments Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:50:12 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2565

How To Answer Business Analyst Job Interview Questions

How To Answer Business Analyst Job Interview Questions

I’ve taken dozens of IT job interviews with various IT departments ranging from small IT shops to Fortune 500 IT departments to non-profits to consulting firms to staffing or recruitment agencies!

I’ve been interviewed and hired for both management and non-management IT positions. I’ve personally interviewed, hired and also coached IT Professionals who’ve gone on to wow their interviewers or ace the IT positions they wanted.

I’ve been in several situations where to get the next consulting assignment, I interviewed with several firms and also received multiple, competing job offers!

I’ve been in situations where firms competed for my services by trying to hire me away or by going out of their way to impress me with pretty good offers.

I’ve been hired for high visibility IT jobs in large organizations with just one single phone interview … and without going through a face to face interview.

I’ve taken more IT interviews than I care to count … closing and getting job offers 9 times out of ten.

I’ve even taken and aced phone interviews while driving and while on vacation.

I’ve been interviewed by a team of not one single person but a team of professionals several times during my career and sometimes without any warning and still wowed the team of interviewers without any additional notice or preparation!

As far as IT job interviews are concerned, I’ve been there and I have been there and I’ve done it.

I Have Something To Say

I have a lot to say about job interviews and I’m asking you to learn from me, so that you can truly be the master of your own fortune.

Are you are ready to be all you can be, break out of your personal limitations and experience the success you want?

Begin by learning how to your business analyst job interviews”.

Are you teachable and open to learning? If you are, read the rest of this article on How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews.

Boost your Business Analyst Job Interviews Using The Scientific Method

If you are looking for a scientific way to boost your Business analysis skills or ace your Business Analyst job interviews, start using practice tests.

Research has shown that practice tests or quizzes improve retention, recall or understanding.

Research has also proven that workers who study and take quizzes have better long-term recall than their colleagues who study without taking quizzes.

Don’t use practice tests only in preparation for certification exams because they are useful for much more than that!

Practice tests or quizzes are effective for improving Business Analyst skills, retention or recall which helps you ace your Business Analyst job interviews!

Let’s go ahead and review how you may used practice tests to improve your skills or advance your Business Analyst Career or get a Business Analyst job.

Use Quizzes to Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

Quizzes or practice tests are effective because they mimic the question and answer format of Business Analyst job interviews.

In Practice Tests, the Quiz software usually presents random questions to you, rates your answers as correct or incorrect and then displays correct answers for your benefit!

Practice Tests simulate Business Analyst job interviews by presenting the different types of questions interviewers ask including Single Choice, Multiple Choice or Open-ended interview questions.

In a Business Analyst job interview, the potential employer will ask a question and then review your answers for correctness, promptness of reply and comprehensiveness.

Lack of correctness (wrong answers), promptness (slow responses) and comprehensiveness (not enough details) may cause you to lose your Business Analyst job interview or give you a bad rating!

So, how would you prepare for your next job interview using this new information?

Start by using practice tests which can;

  • Present potential Business Analyst job interview questions in random order

  • Rate answers to single-choice, multiple-choice and open-ended interview questions … so you get used to answering them in interviews

  • Present the correct Business Analyst job interview answer with additional explanations so you familiarize yourself with the correct answers

Use Quizzes to Sharpen Your Business Analyst Job Interviewing Skills

Practice tests actually improve your ability to remember or recall correct answers in your interviews.

Use them extensively to prepare for your interviews weeks or months before you need a job!

Practice tests are effective because you answer a set of questions multiple times until they sink in and become second nature!

How Sharp Are Your Business Analyst Skills?

During your Business Analyst interviews, you are evaluated based on the correctness, promptness of reply and comprehensiveness of your answers.

Correctness:

Your answers are evaluated based on how precise or correct they are. Even when the Business Analyst interview questions are open ended, your answers are still evaluated as correct or incorrect.

You impress your interviewer when you can answer most or all of the questions you’re asked correctly. Not getting your facts straight or not knowing your material will certainly cost you the interview!

Promptness:

You are evaluated based on how quickly you respond to Business Analyst interview questions.

The quicker you are in responding to Business Analyst interview questions, the sharper your skills are perceived to be.

So, you lose points when you take too long to answer a Business Analyst question and you gain points or credibility, when your answers are quick or instinctive.

Comprehensiveness:

Your interviewer evaluates your Business analysis level of knowledge when you answer a Business Analyst question.

So, a comprehensive, detailed or factual answer will score more points than a sketchy, skimpy answer.

When you are asked a Business Analyst question, you really need to wow your interviewer by demonstrating that you have more than a superficial understanding of the topic.

You need to do this by giving the correct answer promptly and comprehensively (with as much detail as the time you are given permits).

How To Answer Business Analyst Interview Questions Correctly

Business Analyst Testing Software programs present a list of Business Analyst interview questions and then evaluates your answer to each question as either true of false … which helps you identify the correct answers.

You need to study each answer’s explanation, understand why it is correct and why the other answers are not correct.

You also need to attempt the same question several times until your answers are consistently correct.

Practicing with Business Analyst Testing Software will help you respond back promptly, correctly, comprehensively in a live Business Analyst interview.

How to Answer Business Analyst Interview Questions Promptly

Because practice questions are presented in a quiz software, you have a reliable way of recording, tracking or monitoring your training sessions and improvement.

Your ability to answer Business Analyst interview questions promptly is a function of your familiarity with the question or topic.

As your level of familiarity with Business Analyst questions increases, your promptness in answering also increases. So, practice taking Business analyst interviews using Business Analysis Testing software

In this article, we discussed how to boost your skills and ace your Business job interview using a proven scientific technique.

Sign-up for our Business Analysts Newsletter to get more information Like This

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]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/09/28/how-to-answer-business-analyst-job-interview-questions/feed/ 0 Do Business Analysts Need Computer Programmer Skills? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/19/do-business-analysts-need-computer-programmer-skills/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/19/do-business-analysts-need-computer-programmer-skills/#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 18:43:55 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2268

Business Analysts Learn Computer Programming

Business Analysts Learn Computer Programming

Are database development, computer programming, data analysis or web development required skills for Business Analysts?

Perhaps you’ve seen, heard about or applied for jobs asking for a broad or seemingly impossible range of skill sets?

Like those job descriptions for business analysts requiring computer programming skills or those for PMP Certified Project Managers with 5 years of software development experience!

This post addresses “how to bridge the gap between business analyst skills and unfair job descriptions written-up by Information Technology (IT) departments”

Bridging The Gap Between Business And Information Technology (IT) Careers

I would like to know if Business analysts are expected to know more about programming.

I attended a job interview last week and the interviewer was hesitant to consider me for the post of business analyst (BA) as i have no coding experience.

Do i need to know about database design, structure etc for me to be a good BA?

All along in my previous projects the database design, architecture and technology were decided by the technical team and DBA’s and i come into the picture as BA only after everything has been finalized.

But i was a Junior (jr.) BA and now im applying for the position of senior BA and people point out my lack of coding experience.

“Here is the answer to the challenges created by business analyst job descriptions which are worded to include programming and database skills”!

  1. Looking from the business analysts (job seekers) perspective, you may be tempted to say NO. You may also argue that computer programming tasks should be left ONLY to software developer job descriptions.

  2. Looking from the perspective of employers, recruiters and hiring managers, you may say YES because business analyst job descriptions are just a means to an end!

    For employers or hiring managers, the end is always the same (the job that needs to be done) … and job descriptions are just a means to achieving that!

So, which of these two perspectives (the employers or the job seekers) is the right one?

  1. The employer who only cares about getting work done and will use anyone or any job description to achieve that end or …

  2. The business analyst who feels overwhelmed by requirements for computer programming skills on business analyst job descriptions?

To this question correctly, we need to understand the roots of the conflict! So, let’s take a look at the source of gaps between IT Job Descriptions and Business Analyst Careers.

Introducing The IT Business Analyst

  • The IT Business Analyst Role is slowly coming to maturity. As the roles of the computer programmer, database developer and systems analyst become matured, the “IT Business Analyst” role evolves to fill analysis and requirements tasks left out of software development roles.

  • Who Is The Accidental Business Analyst? As software development teams improve their requirements management or software development processes, some computer programmers begin picking up the requirements gathering and analysis tasks left undone by their team members.

    These Accidental Business Analysts are usually computer programmers or systems analysts with strong people, communication, business and requirements management skills who transition into or assume the role of the IT Business Analyst.

Some employers have not achieved a separation between “IT Business Analyst Roles” and “Computer Programmer Roles” in their minds.

For these employers, the distinctions between IT Business Analysts and Computer Programmers are a superficial play on words … hence the business analyst job description written-up to include computer programming languages!

So, back again to the question; “should a business analyst learn computer programming languages or acquire database development skills”?

  • Are You Looking For A Business Analyst Job?

    1. If you’re not looking for a business analyst job then you don’t need to learn computer programming (except if your employer mandates it).

      If you’re really that secure in your current business analyst job and know for a fact that you won’t be looking anytime soon … then you may argue that programming is not for business analysts :-)

    2. If you’re looking for a business analyst job and you want to go the extra mile for prospective employers, then go-ahead and learn some computer programming!

      It’s really the attitude that matters. Job descriptions are not intended to be perfect and in the employer’s eyes, they’re just a means to an end.

      Put Yourself In The Employers Shoes for a moment and you will begin to see that it’s not personal. The employer only wants what’s best for the company and if they’re so inclined, you may help them by learning some computer programming!

    Give Employers What They’re Asking For

    I strongly believe that you should give employers what they want instead of wondering about the fairness or correctness of business analyst job descriptions!

    1. Perhaps, you feel overwhelmed by the requirements for computer programming or database skills in business analyst job descriptions.

    2. Or you feel that it’s unfair to expect business analysts to perform programming tasks

    Get a clue, if you’re not the one hiring, then your feelings are irrelevant!

    In today’s competitive job market, you will fare better by addressing the employers concerns because if you don’t, someone else … who is more hungry or desperate than you will!

    Another business analyst who wants to provide the required programing services will get the job you need!

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    ]]> http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/19/do-business-analysts-need-computer-programmer-skills/feed/ 21 How To Become A Marketing and Sales Business Analyst http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/12/how-to-become-a-marketing-sales-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/12/how-to-become-a-marketing-sales-business-analyst/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:04:49 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2224

    marketing and sales business analyst

    marketing and sales business analyst

    Granted, changing careers is challenging but you must learn how to believe in yourself before expecting employers to believe in and hire you!

    Eleanor Roosevelt words; “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” rings true for career changers.

    Begin your career transition by first discovering yourself. Look for the gold in your career, put yourself in an employers shoes and transition from a position of strength. Finally, get your foot in the door at any cost :-)

    This post addresses the challenges facing marketing and sales professionals “changing careers or transitioning to the business analyst profession”!

    How Do I Change My Career From Marketing And Sales To Business Analysis?

    I am transitioning from a career dominated by sales/marketing in insurance industry to IT Business Analysis.

    I don’t know where to start. I think with the change in Business Analysis being so dynamic, I should be able to learn the newest technology/demand and grow from there.

    Any advise as to where to start?

    Transitioning From Marketing and Sales To A Business Analyst Career

    Yes, you can change careers and become a business analyst coming from a Marketing and Sales background.

    Begin by learning how the business analyst job market works and then discover what business analyst employers are hiring for!

    1. Can You Become A Specialist (Domain Business Analyst)?

      Employers are hiring specialized business analysts with strong domain knowledge, expertise and background gained by working in an industry.

      Industries that employ domain business analysts include Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales, Marketing, Pharma, Telco, Healthcare, Finance, Banking, Insurance, Logistics, Procurement, Supply Chain Management and more.

      The job market for domain business analysts is driven by employers who need practical business skills or solutions based on a working knowledge of how specific industries operate.

      The Accidental Business Analyst: Some employees with a deep business knowledge and a basic understanding of requirements elicitation or modeling are sometimes promoted into the domain business analyst role.

    2. Can You Become A Generalist (IT Business Analyst)?

      Employers are also hiring for Information Technology (IT) business analysts with skills or background in “gathering and analyzing requirements for information systems and software development projects“.

      Employers looking to hire IT business analysts plan to utilize their analysis and requirements modeling skills in a wide number of generic business or technology functions such as marketing, sales, customer relationship management (CRM) finance, information technology (IT), software development, etc.

      The Accidental Business Analyst: Some system analysts or software developers with good communication skills, inter-personal skills and hands-on business knowledge are promoted to the IT Business Analyst role.

    3. Put Yourself in The Employers Shoes

      Employers are hiring for business analysts with backgrounds in information systems and software development or working business knowledge of a specific domains and industries.

      The question for you is; “what types of business analyst jobs are you more likely to get hired for, based on your marketing and sales background?“

      Don’t be looking at your career transition from the perspective of “what’s in it for you” or “what’s hot” or “what pays the most” because you won’t stand out or distinguish yourself that way!

      Put yourself in the employers shoes and approach your career transition from the point of view of “what’s in it for the employer”!

      Employers hire workers who prove that they’re capable of solving the problems or challenges facing them.

    4. Get Your Foot In The Door First!

      My first career transition as a college graduate was from Chemical Engineering career to Information Technology (IT) Consulting.

      However, my first challenge and yours, if you’re changing careers was; “how to get my foot in the door”.

      I got my foot in the door by first working in IT Sales and then transitioning to IT Consulting after I gained enough exposure and experience!

      The lesson to be learned is that patience and planning are need for career transitions. Don’t give up on your goals because of a lack of skills and experience. First get your foot in the door (at any reasonable cost) and then get the job you want!

    5. Transition From A Position Of Strength!

      Don’t be obsessing on your weaknesses and don’t lose focus of your strengths because everyone has something to offer and so do you!

      An appreciation of what makes you unique, what distinguishes you or what you excel at will help you stand out, get noticed and get hired!

      That’s what SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis uncovers (your competitive strengths) and personal branding improves (what makes you unique)!

      Ask yourself this question; “why would anyone believe in me … if I neglect to believe in myself”?

      So, don’t forget to build your own brand because employers hire those who believe in themselves!

    6. Look For The Gold In Your Career

      There is gold in your background, all you need to do is dig it up by using your current marketing and sales domain knowledge to your advantage!

      Since you already have a practical working knowledge of marketing and sales, what stops you from using that to your advantage?

      If you change careers or transition to a marketing, sales or crm business analyst job, you’ll be able to transfer, use or get credit for your background and experience.

      On the other hand, if you’re competing for IT Business Analyst Jobs or Telco, Healthcare, Pharma, Automotive, Insurance, Finance Domain Jobs you’ll get no credit for the years you’ve worked!

      So, though you may be looking to get away from your current profession, use it to get your foot in the door first, before leaving it completely!

    Based on your 5 years in marketing and sales, I would say that you’re a stronger candidate for marketing and sales business analyst jobs than IT business analyst (ba) jobs or ba jobs in other domains like finance, telco, pharma, etc.

    Begin by first discovering yourself, look for the gold in your career, put yourself in the employers shoes, transition from a position of strength and get your foot in the door as a first step towards changing your career.

    What Did Eleanor Roosevelt Say?

    Finally, I”ll leave you with the words of Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady and wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt – 32nd US president); “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams“

    This post answers the question of how to change careers and become a business analyst, coming from a business analyst background.

    If you have questions about your business analyst career, be sure to post it as a comment on this page and it will be answered.

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/08/12/how-to-become-a-marketing-sales-business-analyst/feed/ 8     How Important Is Domain Knowledge For A Business Analyst? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/19/how-important-is-domain-knowledge-for-a-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/19/how-important-is-domain-knowledge-for-a-business-analyst/#comments Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:38:38 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=2089

    The Domain Business Analyst Career Path

    The Domain Business Analyst Career Path

    Is a business analyst with domain knowledge more valuable than a business analyst without domain knowledge?

    By looking at how business analyst job descriptions are written, you may be tempted to say yes!

    Business Analyst job descriptions are written as if there is a distinction between IT oriented business analysts with skills in UML, Use Cases, Requirements Elicitation, Requirements Modeling and domain oriented business analysts with knowledge in specific domains like sales, marketing, customer relationship management, insurance, finance!

    For some reasons, hiring managers, staffing agencies and employers behave as if there is a difference between domain oriented business analyst job descriptions and IT business analyst job descriptions.

    So, the question is How important is domain knowledge for a Business Analyst? and Is a Domain Oriented Business Analyst worth more than an IT Business Analyst?

    A Question About The Value Of Business Analyst Domain Knowledge

    I am a bored corporate research professional working at a big services company and wish to move to a different domain.

    The ones I have identified are pre-sales, business analysis or marketing communications …

    I think BA could be a good step forward from where I stand. But doesn’t a BA require domain specific knowledge?

    Most of the job ads I see prefer a BA in (say) the finance domain to be from that background …

    How important is domain knowledge for a BA? Can it be built on-the-job or is it an absolute pre-requisite?

    Why Do Business Analyst Job Ads Specify Domain Knowledge?

    In the rest of this article, I will discuss why hiring managers, staffing agencies and employers specify domain specific knowledge in business analyst job descriptions.

    I will answer this question by looking at “who is better positioned to increase productivity when hired”.

    1. Who Costs More To Train? Companies that hire business analysts without domain knowledge resort to training the new BA hires by enlisting the help of senior business analysts, subject matter experts or training vendors.

      Even when employers use internal resources for training new BA hires, they incur costs of lost revenue, reduced productivity and increased administrative expenses .

    2. Who Is Positioned To Help The Business Now? Business Analysts lacking industry insight or domain knowledge needs more time on the job to learn and understand their domains before tackling any business problems.

      This may be unacceptable to stakeholders or business managers who can’t wait to get results now!

      A business analyst with domain experience who can start troubleshooting business problems is seen as being worth more than another business analyst (lacking domain expertise) who may only observe, learn or ask questions!

    3. Who Can Lead The Business? Senior Managers, IT Directors, Business Owners and other high level executives place more value on business analysts who can be trusted to lead the business.

      Business analysts unlike their counterparts in computer programming are expected to provide leadership for business-line units and organizations for which they are hired!

      Because of how business is done , managers, directors or business executives place less value on the judgment of business analysts without domain knowledge or industry experience!

      The perception which may be unfounded is that; a business analyst with domain knowledge has more potential to lead than another who lacks domain experience!

    So hiring managers or employers tend to write business analyst job descriptions as if there are two business analyst career paths:

    • The business analyst with IT business analyst training and specialized domain knowledge. This is the Specialist Business Analyst.

    • The business analyst with IT business analyst training only! This is the Generalist Business Analyst.

    Are You A Specialist Or Generalist Business Analyst?

    So, are specialist business analysts worth more than generalist business analysts?

    The answer doesn’t depend on “how you feel about the fairness of business analyst job postings” but on plain common sense which is always hiding in plain sight :-)

    If you’re applying only to IT Business Analyst Jobs, then don’t worry about your lack of domain knowledge.

    If you’re applying to domain specific business analyst job postings like those for healthcare, finance, insurance, marketing, sales, customer relationship management (CRM) domains, then you had better do something about your lack of domain knowledge!

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/19/how-important-is-domain-knowledge-for-a-business-analyst/feed/ 0     Alternate Career Paths for Business Analysts http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/03/alternate-career-paths-for-business-analysts/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/03/alternate-career-paths-for-business-analysts/#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:07:36 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1845

    Ask IT Career Coach

    Ask IT Career Coach

    The fundamentals of earning an income is rooted in the exchange of goods, services or skills and having an 8 to 5 job is just one way of doing that!

    This post answers the question of what to do when you can’t get a job! posted by a reader (Kintu Vicent) who is inquiring about “how to earn an income as a business analyst without regular employment!“

    If you need help with a Question or Challenge, be sure to ask it as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering this reader’s question below!

    Please, send this post to your friends using the “Tell a Friend” Button button below. You earn points or cash each time you refer an article to your friends using the Tell a Friend Button.

    Here is the Question:

    dear sir/madam,

    i am an african youth living in Uganda (east african country).

    i would like to be a good entreprenuer (small scale business owner) but also having a profession both beneficial to my own businesses like procurement and logistics and side by employment inorder to accumulate more capital to invest in my projects.

    i have the following to ask you.

    can you give some sophisticated business ideas a business analyst does?

    rather than being a consultant or contract personel ,how better can a business analyst creat his own employment to face the global challenge of un-employment.

    best regards,

    looking forward to hearing from you.

    High Un-employment Rate

    The un-employment rate in the United States is at a 26 year high! and other countries are also experiencing dramatic spikes in un-employment. So, business analysts and other IT professionals need to consider alternative or non-traditional career paths for earning a living“.

    First, Prepare a Strategic Plan Using SWOT Analysis

    You create your own employment by using SWOT ANALYSIS to elicit alternative career paths or prepare competitive services for the business analysis marketplace.

    You have to consider your strengths relative to the business analyst market place because you only get paid for what you can do well compared to others and you have to consider business analyst career paths strategically because you may be thinking in a box.

    By thinking outside of the box, you begin to see opportunities that were hidden because of self-imposed mental constraints or limiting beliefs!

    Alternative Career Paths for Business Analysts

    Let me introduce three career paths for business analysts who don’t want to work a regular 8 to 5 contract or full-time business analyst job.

    1. Business Analyst Blogger Career Path: You may become a blogger for the business analyst blogosphere!

      To become a business analyst blogger, you need a computer, a word processor and an internet connection.

      You can live anywhere in the world as a business analyst blogger because your clients are easily discoverable on the internet.

      There are several ways of monetizing your blogging income streams and you need to choose a profit model that best suits your blogging goals.

    2. Freelance IT Business Analyst Consultant Career Path: You may become a freelance IT business analyst consultant!

      As a freelance IT business analyst consultant, you may specialize in requirements analysis, requirements modeling and documentation, Use Cases, UML or Data Modeling for Software Development Projects.

      As a freelance IT business analyst consultant you may also setup shop virtually and work remotely for clients that need your services.

      You will need a more sophisticated marketing plan so you can discover or engage the types of clients that will be needing your out-sourced business analysis services.

    3. Freelance Web Business Analyst Consultant Career Path: You may capitalize on the opportunities created by the strong demand for web skills by becoming a freelance web business analyst!

      As a freelance web business analyst, your services may include helping companies align their web investments with their business goals using your superior business analysis skills.

      As a freelance web business analyst, You may also decide to help companies analyze how customers use or interact with their websites or help elicit business requirements for web analytics projects.

      If you have developed strong quantitative or analytical skills, you may also help business leaders take advantage of hidden opportunities in their clickstream, search, survey or web usability data.

    The alternative career paths listed above are just a tip of the iceberg … there are more!

    If you need help with eliciting alternative career paths or preparing a competitive service for the market place, feel fee to contact us.

    Career Paths for Business Analysts

    Kintu, it is possible to create your own employment as a business analyst without working a traditional 8 to 5 job.

    Begin by using SWOT Analysis to discover what you are good at and then create a competitive offering for the business analyst marketplace!

    This post answers a question posted by a reader on “how to become a freelance business analyst!!

    If you have any Question about your career, Post IT as a comment on this page and I will be sure to answer it for you!

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/07/03/alternate-career-paths-for-business-analysts/feed/ 3     How Do You Get Business Analyst Domain Experience? http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/06/24/how-do-you-get-business-analyst-domain-experience/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/06/24/how-do-you-get-business-analyst-domain-experience/#comments Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:09:23 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1717

    Become a Leader

    Become a Leader

    One of the toughest challenges facing business analysts today is building the domain experience required for business analyst jobs.

    Acquiring business analyst domain experience from scratch is hard because you need to get a job before you can build domain expertise … yet no-one will give you a job without the required domain experience!

    This article discusses how to get around the business analyst domain experience required for most business analysis jobs.

    What is Business Analyst Domain Experience?

    Business analyst domain experience is the hands-on business skills or domain knowledge acquired by working in a specialized industry such as automotive, banking, insurance, telecom, utilities or in a specialized business operation such as customer relationship management, finance, sales and marketing.

    Business analyst domain experience is gained by solving business problems for a specific industry or business unit.

    Business analyst domain experience can not be gained by passing exams or obtaining certifications or by having good business analysis skills like Use Case or Requirements Modeling skills

    Business analyst domain experience can only be gained by working as a business analyst in an industry or by solving real-world business problems for a specific business function.

    Don’t Confuse Your Business Analyst Skills With Domain Knowledge!

    There is a difference between your business analyst skills and your business analyst domain experience.

    Your business analyst skills (like requirement elicitation or use cases) are the techniques or tools you use in solving business problems.

    Your BA skills are the means to an end … the end being the business problems in your domain or business.

    A business analyst transitioning to a new domain starts with a little or no domain knowledge and then builds up over time.

    Business analysts transitioning to new domains without several years of industry experience have to prove themselves as if they were starting all over … even though their business analysis skills are still portable!

    When is Business Analyst Domain Experience Needed?

    Transitioning From One Busines Analyst Domain to Another: Business analysts transitioning from a domain like the automotive or auto-finance industry to another domain like healthcare or telecomms have to build their business analyst domain experience completely from scratch.

    Transitioning From One Country to Another: Business analysts transitioning from one country to another may have to re-establish their domain experience.

    New domain knowledge is needed because businesses operate under different laws, regulations, customs and economic climates across national or regional boundaries

    So, potential employer want to be sure that re-locating business analysts are intimate with the customs or ways of doing business locally.

    How Do You Build Business Analyst Domain Experience From Scratch?

    The IT Leadership program helps you acquire business analyst domain experience in a select number of industries or domains. Here is how it works:

    • Become a Domain Specialist: In the The IT Leadership program, you are encouraged to specialize in a few business analyst domains so you can achieve a reasonable level of mastery or competency within those domains.

      You don’t specialize in only one domain because that will be like putting all your eggs in one basket. You also don’t specialize on all domains because you won’t achieve mastery that way.

      This is what you do … you select a few business analyst domains to specialize in using the power of SWOT Analysis.

    • Become a Leader: The IT Leadership program gets you networked with businesses in a specific domain.

      You are exposed to the business problems in a domain and you solve them using skills acquired at the Business Analysts Boot Camp.

      Finally, you gain recognition or become a business analyst domain expert by sharing your findings or solutions with your selected businesses.

    Become a Leader by signing up for the Business Analysts Boot Camp and then build the Domain Knowledge required for business analyst positions.

    In this post, I discussed how to solve the challenge of acquiring business analyst domain knowledge by specializing in a few domains and solving business problems native to those domains.

    Feel free to share an opinion or insight about this post using the comment form below.

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/06/24/how-do-you-get-business-analyst-domain-experience/feed/ 3     How To Become A Healthcare Business Analyst http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/06/14/how-to-become-a-healthcare-business-analyst/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/06/14/how-to-become-a-healthcare-business-analyst/#comments Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:05:54 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1611

    healthcare business analyst career path

    healthcare business analyst career path

    This question was posted by a Healthcare Business Analyst looking for work!

    If you have a Burning Question or a Challenge that you need help with, be sure to ask your question as a comment on this page and I will answer it fully just as I am answering the question below!

    If you find this article helpful then share it with your friends using the “Share This Post” Link.

    You provide valuable information or advice to others each time you use the Share This Post Link.

    Here is the Question:

    Hi Kingsley,I like your articles and posts and look forward to a good advise from you on the following :

    The toughest challenge for me is to get back into Business Analysis after working for just less than 2 yrs where my domain was government sector projects and a dash of incomplete healthcare knowledge.

    I ‘m neither a fresher nor an experienced guy with very less domain exp. I mostly get healthcare projects ( since my last project was on health care domain) where my knowledge is inadequate and companies do not want to employ me for the same.

    How can I bag such jobs when the domain knowlege is lacking? or how can I convince that my BA skills are good enough for the new domain?

    I am not sure what additional skills I need to gain to be employable.Should I gain any technical knowledge or do IIBA certifications?

    Please advise.

    Thanks 

    Here is my Answer:

    Sri:

    I’m glad that you enjoy reading my articles and posts. I would be glad to answer your questions for you.

    Here are my thoughts on what you need to do to get back in the game.

    1. Learn How To Get A Business Analyst Job Without Applying For Any

    2. Learn How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

    3. Get More Business Analysis Domain Experience

    How To Get More Healthcare Business Analysis Domain Experience

    The main issue facing your business analysis job search based on feedback from employers is inadequate healthcare domain experience.

    You need to address the lack of business analysis domain experience directly by looking for more informal or formal work in the healthcare industry.

    Don’t side-step the main issue by working on getting more educational qualifications because you won’t get more healthcare business analysis experience that way!

    You need to either get more healthcare business analysis domain experience or perhaps start all over with a new business analysis domain!

    If you decide to continue with the Healthcare Industry, then you will be building on your previous healthcare business analysis domain experience.

    If you decide to start over with a new business analysis domain, you may be able to get additional business analyst hands-on experience more easily or quickly.

    You also have the option on working on getting business analysis domain experience in more than one industry!

    For example, you may increase your chances of getting a business analyst job by getting business analyst domain experience in sales or marketing or customer relationship management (CRM) domains in addition to the healthcare domain.

    So, evaluate the availability or accessibility of domain experience in the healthcare industry compared to other industries or expose yourself to additional domains besides healthcare.

    Regardless of which business analysis domains you choose, do not try to bypass the lack of experience issue … be sure to address it directly in your actions

    Learn How To Ace Business Analyst Job Interviews

    It is possible that you are not getting hired because you are not putting up a compelling presentation at your business analyst job interviews!

    You may possess the minimal business analysis domain experience required for a healthcare business analyst job and still not get hired because of weak presentation or interviewing skills!

    A business analyst may get a job where another business analyst else with more experience, skills, training, certifications or educations fails because job interviews are subjective!

    So, you must work on improving your business analyst interviewing skills so you cover all your bases!

    “Click here for more Information on How To Get Through Business Analyst Interviews“

    Learn How To Get a Business Analyst Job Offers Without Applying For Any!

    It is actually possible to get health care business analyst job offers without actively soliciting for them.

    Assuming that the job search process is a marketing process, you are better off getting employers to call you with job offers!

    The problem with the traditional methods of job searching is that everyone who is out-of-a-job is probably doing the same thing! To get a job you have to do more than everyone else!

    So my advice is that; you have to raise the bar higher by getting employers to notice you or call you with business analyst job offers!

    Now, that is quite possible and I am going to show you how!

    The way to get employers to notice you is by becoming a leader in the healthcare business analyst domain or any other domain that you prefer!

    How To Become A Leader In The Healthcare Business Analyst Industry!

    The best way to get a healthcare job is by becoming a leader in the healthcare business analysis domain!

    Becoming a leader in the healthcare business analyst domain means that you do the things that gets you noticed in the healthcare business analysis domain.

    When you become a leader in the healthcare business analyst industry then employers are more likely to call you with job offers and your resume is guaranteed to stand out in any pile of business analyst resumes!

    We have a program that coaches you on how to stand-up and be noticed! . IT helps you “Become a Leader”.

    In that program you are shown or coached on “how to become a leader or gain recognition in the IT marketplace!“

    Sri, feel free to ask for more information by contacting us or by posting a comment, question or reply below!

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/06/14/how-to-become-a-healthcare-business-analyst/feed/ 4     CRM Business Analyst Job Description http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/05/11/crm-business-analyst-job-description/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/05/11/crm-business-analyst-job-description/#comments Mon, 11 May 2009 20:20:49 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/?p=1457

    CRM Business Analyst

    CRM Business Analyst


    One of the biggest hurdles facing business analysts in the current job market is the challenge of demonstrating the hands-on experience required in business analyst job descriptions

    This article explains “how to improve your marketability as a business analyst by targeting business analyst job descriptions.”

    Let me start by saying that there are two types of hands-on experience required for business analyst jobs:

    1. General Business Analysis Experience: This type of experience is gained by practicing or using general business analysis skills including Use Cases, Requirements Gathering, Requirements Modeling, Requirements Elicitation, UML etc.

    2. Domain Specific Experience: This is gained by working or supporting a specific business function, operation or process including sales, marketing, order fulfillment, payroll

    The general business analysis skills and experience is transferable from one industry or job to another.

    For example, it is easy to transfer or apply Use Cases skills gained from one job to another job. We provide training for these in the Business Analysts Boot Camp

    Domain specific business analysis experience may not be transferable or easy to get.

    For example, a business analyst job description listing domain knowledge in the Telecommunications Industry excludes domain knowledge gained from the Healthcare Industry or the Printing Industry.

    We help business analysts gain domain specific business analyst experience in the “Become a Leader” Coaching program

    The lack of industry experience or domain knowledge is one of the biggest reasons why business analysts job applications are rejected.

    In the rest of this article, I am going to post an actual business analyst job description (open as of the day of this posting) and discuss the business analyst domain knowledge required for the job.

    1. You can improve your chances of landing a business analyst job, by learning how to segment the business analyst job market into specific domains or business processes and then gain the hands-on experience required for target business domains.

    2. This strategy is highly effective for getting a business analyst job because it realistic, actionable and specific.

    3. The reality is that you cannot get the business analyst domain experience that matches ALL business analyst job descriptions.

    4. However it is realistic to plan on getting the required domain experience for a handful of business analyst job descriptions.

    Let me summarize what I have said so far:

    1. Segment the business analysis job market into specific domains, operations or functional areas (e.g. payroll, order processing, sales, customer relationship management)

    2. Do not try to get hands-on domain experience that matches every business analyst job description

    3. Do try to get hands-on domain experience that matches a select number of business analyst job descriptions

    In addition to these, learn how to substitute hands-on experience properly: some business analyst job descriptions may seem out of reach because they require hands-on experience in specialized software products.

    What you may not realize is that you can also substitute compelling hands-on experience in competing or similar software products even when the job description does not say so!

    I am going to apply the principles I have been discussing to a real business analyst job description posted below. Note that these principles are covered in-depth within the “Become A Leader Coaching program” which is designed to connect business analysts or software developers with employers looking for qualified and talented IT professionals.

    Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Business Analyst Job Description

    Minimum Required Skills:

    Business Analyst, Netsuite Analyst, ERP, CRM, ODBC, Crystal Reports, Javascript, case management, Issue management, knowledgebase

    If you are a Jr. Business Analyst with knowledge of Netsuite’s Advanced Marketing functionality, and knowledge of Support and Customer Service features within Netsuite, or 1-2 years of relevant ERP / CRM experience, please read on!

    *We will also consider 1-2 years of ERP / CRM experience with another platform other than Netsuite.

    One of the Industry’s best resellers of Networking and Software technology has an immediate opening in there headquarters, located just outside of Boston. The Netsuite Analyst occupies a vital role within the company, and we’re looking for a talented person to fill the it.

    Here’s what’s in it for you:

    1. Great Base Salary and Bonus potential.

    2. Tremendous work environment with talented colleagues.

    3. An opportunity to work with an industry leader, award winning company.

    Here’s what you’ll need to do this job:

    1. 1 to 2 years experience as a Business Analyst supporting ERP / CRM platforms, ideally Netsuite but will consider others

    2. Experience with ERP / CRM System Administration and Customization features

    3. Experience with cash flow statements, payroll statements and the sales process lifecycle

    4. Ability to create reports using internal reporting tools, and/or creating custom Enterprise Reports using ODBC and Crystal Reports

    5. Experience creating enhancements with SuiteScripts, SuiteBundler, Etc.

    6. Implementation of new modules and features within ERP / CRM

    7. Strong communication skills.

    Here’s what you’ll be doing:

    1. Provide support for the Netsuite system including Troubleshooting of the entire Netsuite application suite. Including but not limited to Case Management, Issue Management, Knowledgebase, etc.

    2. Creating and running reports within Netsuite using SuiteScripts, SuiteBundler, etc.

    3. Assisting in month end close with Chart of Accounts and General Ledger.

    4. Create documentation and user guides.

    5. Perform basic DBA tasks and Manage List data.

    So, if you are a Jr. Business Analyst with knowledge of Netsuite’s Advanced Marketing functionality, and knowledge of Support and Customer Service features within Netsuite, or 12 years of relevant ERP / CRM experience, please apply today!

    Note that this business analyst job description is for a real client in the Boston Area and is still available for interested and qualified business analysts

    In the rest of this article and in the next series of articles, I will be discussing how to make your business analyst job search more relevant to target business analyst job descriptions.

    #1: Hands-On Domain Specific Business Analyst Experience

    You stand a better chance of getting hired as a business analysts if you couple strong expertise in specific business operations, processes or functions or domains to the more general business analysis skills that tend apply to most business analysis jobs (communications skills, requirements gathering or elicitation skills, UML skills, Use Cases skills, etc.)

    The CRM business analyst job description posted above calls for hands-on experience in specific business processes including customer relationship management and sales process life cycle.

    So, only business analysts who already have a background in customer relationship management (CRM) software applications or processes are qualified to apply for this job

    The “Become a Leader Coaching” program provides the required hands-on business process specific experience for job descriptions like that posted above (CRM business analyst job description).

    In addition, the “Become a Leader Coaching” program is currently open to subscribers of the business analyst boot camp or any of our IT Boot Camps

    #2: Hands-On Experience in Common Business Processes or Functions

    Sales, Marketing and Customer Relationship management business processes or functions are common to most businesses. So, business analysts who gain hands-on operational experience in these areas will find that there skills are applicable to most industries or businesses.

    In a recent survey published by one of the leading outsourcing job banks, more companies are asking for help with their marketing and sales processes because of the need to generate additional income or revenue.

    The “Become a Leader Coaching” program considers the importance of a domain or business process in preparing Business Analysts for that domain. The aim is to provide business analysts with compelling hands-on experience in target or select business processes or functions

    #3: Match or Substitute Software Skills

    The CRM business analyst job description posted above requires hands-on experience in the Netsuite CRM family of products.

    However, you may not realize that in business analyst job descriptions like this, employers will accept hands-on experience in competing software products.

    Also, you may not know what software application skills to substitute for the specialized or restricted skills required on the job description.

    For example, you may not know that the hands-on Netsuite CRM experience mentioned above may be substituted with hands-on CRM experience in SAS, Chordiant, Salesforce, PeopleSoft (Oracle), Siebel (Oracle), SAP, Epiphany, Amdocs, SugarCRM, ZohoCRM, SplendidCRM or Microsoft Dynamics.

    Remember that it is not practical to have a compelling hands-on experience in every business process or supporting software product.

    That is why during the “Become a Leader Coaching” program, we provide business analysts with hands-on experience in specific business processes and supporting software applications.

    In this article, I discussed “how to improve your marketability as a business analyst by learning how to target business analyst job descriptions” using a live business analyst job description.

    In another article, I will discuss in more detail the business analyst – customer relationship management (CRM) job market. Note that this article is the first in a series of articles dicussing business analyst job descriptions.

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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/05/11/crm-business-analyst-job-description/feed/ 14     How To Get An IT Business Analyst Job http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/ http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:25:17 +0000 IT Career Coach http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/

    jobs-employment-recession

    On of my readers needs help with finding a business analyst job. I posted the information I provided to him below. If you have any question about this or about your business analyst career, post it as comment at the end of the post and I would answer it for you.

    Here is the business analyst career question posted by my reader:

    Hi – my greatest challenge is the fact that I’ve never held an IT Business Analyst position. I’m convinced I can do the job based on my experience, but I have not had any interviews outside of my current employer. I had a few interviews in my current company but was being sabotaged by my former boss so I never got the job.

    As the economy has dived over the last few months, I am not getting any offers for interviews. I’ve given up trying to get into the IT Bus Analyst field for now.

    What do I need to do to get back into the ‘hunt’? And, how do I convey to potential employers that I am the man for the job?

    Below is my response to the question posed by this reader. If you have any questions that you want answered about your business analyst careers, post it below:

    Why Do IT Managers Hire Business Analysts

    IT Managers hire business analysts with skills, training and experience matching specific jobs. IT Managers have a wide range of requirements for business analysts. The most in-demand skills for business analysts include UML, Use Cases, Requirements Elicitation.

    IT Managers Are Looking For Hands-on Business Analysis Experience

    The Key to getting a business analyst job is to find out what employes or hiring managers are looking for and then give it to them.

    This sounds quite easy and simple, but believe me, it is not that easy. There is a lot that goes into following this simple directive.

    What are IT Managers hiring for? IT Managers are looking for hands-on skills, experience and expertise in specific knowledge areas. You may already have some of the requisite skills and experience based on your previous or current job experience. Some of the list of skills is frequent demand are included in the business analyst career curriculum:

    Tailor Your Resume To Business Analyst Jobs

    You may already be able to do a business analyst job based on your current experience … so, why not also work on improving your current resume so that it reflects the experience or skills you may already have in business analysis?

    Begin by highlighting and expanding on the business analysis tasks you have performed in the past. Put more spotlight on the skills you utilized, the business analysis roles and responsibilities you held (formally or informally) and the results you achieved.

    You want to joggle your memory and bring out every relevant detail. Imagine that you are making your case in front of a skeptical judge. Your prosecutor is the list of job candidates that would make a better presentation than you. The arguments in your favor is your resume.

    Your business analyst resume has to be very convincing for you to get the job.

    Improve Your Business Analyst Resume

    The strongest argument that you can make will be along the lines of experience, resume and skills. So, you want to marshal all your arguments forcefully on your resume because if you don’t, you may never get a second chance.

    If your resume is not convincing, you may not get a second chance or a follow-up phone interview or a face to face interview or the job or an offer or the ability to pay your mortgage … you get the picture?

    Add More hands-on business analysis experience to your resume!

    The fastest way to get hired for an IT business analyst job is not your educational qualification or your business analysis certification but your hand-on business analysis experience! Are you surprised about that?

    IT Managers know that certifications can sometimes be gamed! There are horror stories about job candidates who have the perfect certifications and the perfect scores and then fail to perform on the job after they are hired! These sorts of candidates have damaged the credibility of the certification market!

    But experience cannot be gamed. It either you have it or you don’t. Because IT Managers are looking for hands-on experience, your can cut to the chase by getting a lot of hands-on business analyst experience such as that offered through the business analyst boot camp training. There are other ways to gain hands-on experience and I discuss this next.

    • Start again by volunteering for non-profit organizations. They are plenty of them around and in this recession they will be needing your help even more!

    • Do a good job and ask the non-profit organization to provide you a reference for for the work you’ve done for them.

    • Use your spare time in the evenings and weekends to rack up your experience and references.

    • Then go on a job hunt. Start by sending your resume to multiple recruiters (not just one or two recruiters) … telling them that you are in the market for a business analyst job … then just sit back and wait for them to line up business analyst job interviews for you.

    • That is all you need to do. Take massive action towards landing your dream business analyst job and while you are on it, forget about the economy or the recession or your manager who denied you the opportunity to move ahead.

    FYI: Stephen Covey in “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” mentions that proactive people do not worry or focus on factors or things over which they have little or no control … instead they focus on their “Sphere Of Influence” … those factors or circumstances over which they exercise control.

    So, while you may not be able to change the past or the economy or the recession, you can dramatically improve:

    • Your Business Analyst Resume

    • Your Business Analyst Hands On Experience

    • Your Business Analysis Job Interview Skills

    If you have any question or challenge about your business analyst career, go ahead and post it as a comment at the end of this article and I will address it for you.

    Looking To Advance Your Career?



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    ]]>     http://www.it-career-coach.net/2009/02/26/how-to-get-an-it-business-analyst-job/feed/ 33