The Role of Business Process Design in Business Analysis on IT Projects
Lenka is a management consultant with an agile mindset and 15+ years of managing domestic and international cross-functional teams.
Business analysis that precedes system implementation is one of the key factors influencing overall project success. The goal of the analysis is to elicit requirements on the solution and provide inputs for their prioritization.
We expect the design to be comprehensive, executable and fit the needs of a wide range of stakeholders. We are looking for a solution that reflects future user expectations, is feasible given the actual system architecture, fits the budget and at the same time supports long-term business strategy.
Business analysts often face a variety of challenges, like constraints given by the existing IT infrastructure, data models and overall system architecture. On top of that, some stakeholder needs may be in contradiction (e.g., when a user prefers a tailored comfortable design, while the project sponsor pushes for a low budget).
Picture 1: Illustration of requirements from various stakeholders that may be in a conflict
To balance the requirements and to ensure that all important aspects of the solution are included, we need to go back to basics. Information systems do not exist on their own—they have a purpose, and that is to support execution of company processes by providing tools, automation and data integration and analysis. When there is a need for a new software solution or a change in an existing one, the main input for system …
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Published at Mon, 26 Nov 2018 05:00:00 +0000
