Business Analyst

Tutorials

MB Requirements Engineering: A Practicum

Erik van Veenendaal, Improve IT Services BV

Mon, 11/11/2013 - 8:30am

Identifying, documenting, and communicating software requirements are key to all successful IT projects. Common problems in requirements engineering are “How do we discover the real requirements?”, “How do we document requirements?”, and “How do user stories fit into requirements?” Erik van Veenendaal answers these questions and more while helping you improve your skills in requirements engineering for both traditional and agile projects. With practical case studies and hands-on exercises, Erik illustrates requirements issues and solutions.

TH The Role of the Agile Business Analyst

Steve Adolph, WSA Consulting

Tue, 11/12/2013 - 8:30am

The business analyst (BA) role seems conspicuously absent from most agile methods. Does agile make the BA role obsolete? Certainly not! But how does a BA exploit the short cycle times and collaborative nature of agile methods? Drawing from the principles of lean product development flow, Steve Adolph introduces five principles for the agile BA—Open the Channels, Chart the Flow, Generate Flow, Lean Out the Flow, and Bridge the Flow. As a communicator, the BA must Open the Channels and Chart the Flow to align all stakeholders.

Concurrent Sessions

BW6 Data Collection and Analysis for Better Requirements

Brandon Carlson, Lean TECHniques, Inc.

Wed, 11/13/2013 - 2:15pm

According to studies, 64 percent of features in systems are rarely—or never—used. How does this happen? Today, the work of eliciting the customers' true needs, which often remains elusive, can be enhanced using data-driven requirements techniques. Brandon Carlson describes why traditional requirements analysis is so difficult and presents a set of seven data collection approaches and analysis techniques you can employ on your projects right away. Learn how to instrument existing applications and develop new requirements based on operational profiles of the current system.

BW10 Requirements Elicitation—the Social Media Way

Stefano Rizzo, Polarion Software

Wed, 11/13/2013 - 3:45pm

Agile methods have proven their ability to improve project success rates. However, when agile methods are applied to complex projects, we need to further explore the area of effective customer involvement. According to the agile philosophy, the users must be part of the development team. But, Stefano Rizzo asks: What if there are thousands of users with good ideas dispersed around the globe and around the clock? Can a Product Owner really represent all their interests?

BT11 The Personal A3 Approach for Developing People

Bob Payne, LitheSpeed

Thu, 11/14/2013 - 3:45pm

Organizations invest high levels of effort setting up elaborate employee performance tracking systems. In fact, these costly and onerous processes may even drive the wrong behaviors if inappropriate metrics are selected or employees learn to game the system. However, a simpler and more effective approach to personnel development is right in front of us. Bob Payne describes the Lean A3 problem solving and communication tool that can be used to improve processes and create a learning culture.