Keith Ellis Vice President Marketing IAG Consulting © IAG Consulting 2009 1.

The Future of BAs

… Why are BAs valuable, … Changing value delivered, and

… Predictions on the future of the role

Keith EllisVice President MarketingIAG Consulting

© IAG Consulting 2009

1

Tough Question

"Why are we doing this requirements

stuff?!"

2

What are we going to talk about?

• Some FACTS About VALUE from The Business Analysis Benchmark – 2009

• Dispel some Myths that get in the way of making improvement

• Look at the future of BAs and make some predictions


3

A CANDID DISCUSSION ON VALUE

Are you a great BA?Does your BA FUNCTION deliver Great Value?What is the difference between these?

4

MYTHBUSTING: CIOs Can’t Just Hire Good People and Expect the Problem of Poor Requirements to go Away

40%50%60%70%80%

Performance of Level 3 Skilled People in a Level 2 Maturity Or-ganizationPerformance of Level 2 Skilled People in a Level 3 Maturity Or-ganization

N=437Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009

Lower skilled people in higher maturity companies OUTPERFORMHigher skilled people in lower maturity companies


5

Define ‘Requirements Maturity’?

o What elements would you look at to determine if an organization was Mature in Requirements Definition and Management?

6

Requirements: Are NOT a Document

DocumentationWhat is produced

ProcessWho does what,

when

TechniquesHow are the steps done?

OrganizationDevelop services,

resources,framework

TechnologyTools to enable

analyst productivity or management

StaffKnowledge, skill

and ability of workforce

Company Needs


7

What is Requirements Maturity?

Level 1 – Performed (Ad-hoc)Level 2 – Defined (Individual-centric)Level 3 – Implemented (Consistent)Level 4 – Institutionalized (Part of culture)Level 5 – Continuously optimizing (Adaptive)

Levels of Maturity:


Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Maturity Levels

CapabilitiesLevel

1

Process 1.5

2.3Staff Competency

Technology 1.9

2.1Practices and Techniques

Process

2.1

Organization 1.2

Deliverables/

Results

• Planning and Management

• Gathering (or Elicitation)

• Analysis and Documentation

• Communication

• Implementation

8

Most Organizations are Level 1 or 2

Almost 75% of organizations have not implemented consistent

requirements discovery & management practices, let alone

institutionalized these practices across the enterprise.


9

Maturing Requirements is Valuable

Requirements Discovery & Management Maturity of Organization

In % of all projects

A

B

C

D

A

B

C

D

N=437Source: IAG Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009


Every Measure of Effectiveness Improves as Maturity Improves

10

Average Cost of a $250,000 Project by Maturity Level

$356K

$343K

$309K

$274K

$261K

$257K

Maturity Level


Poor Requirements Affect Both Development and Maintenance Budgets

Difference between these two numbers

is Requirements Maturity waste…About $1 in $3

spent.


11

What Happens on Large Projects?

Maturity LevelN=437Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009

62%

37%

% of Development Budget Consumed by Poor Requirements Practices


12

Comparison of Project Success Rates: Maturity Level of Organization in Requirements Discovery

& Management VERSUS Method of Development Utilized

Requirements Discovery & Management Maturity

Per Cent of Projects that

are Successful


MYTH BUSTING #2: Requirements Are Still CRITICAL Regardless of your Development Approach


13

SO – WHAT’S THE VALUE OF BA’SHave I answered the Question?

14

Where does RM Improvement Impact?

Business Domain

Technology Domain

Business Analyst

Productivity

Efficiency in Achieving Business

Objectives

Major Change

Efficiency

IT Development Efficiency


15

What Impact Does Requirements Maturity Have on Business Stakeholder Groups?

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Level 5

Maturity Levels

CapabilitiesLevel

1

Process 1.5

2.3Staff Competency

Technology 1.9

2.1Practices and Techniques

Process

2.1

Organization 1.2

Deliverables/

Results

Here HereGoing from to

Project Success Rate: 49% 89%

Projects that Hit BusinessObjectives of Development:

54% 83%

The Level 1 organization pays the following Premium:• 35% more Time required to get to Equivalent Functionality on the AVERAGE

project• 56% more Time to get to Equivalent Functionality on Strategic (larger) projects**

** From IAG Business Analysis Benchmark - 2008 Study

to

to

81.6%

53.7%


16

Illustration…o Two F500 organizations… One Level

4, one is Level 1

o 1,200 peopleo Each person gets 1 objective/yearo Each objective gets the company $25,000 per

year ($2000 ish per month) in incremental revenue once achieved

o Each $500K in new revenue means the organization can add 1 person.

o BY HOW MUCH DOES THE L4 OUTPERFORM THE L1 after 10 years

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910$0

$50,000,000

$100,000,000

$150,000,000

$200,000,000

$250,000,000

Chart TitleDifference in Revenue


17

Average Difference Between ROA of Respondent and ROA of Respondent’s Industry Peer Group –

by Maturity Level

+0%+1%+2%+3%+4%+5%+6%+7%+8%+9%

+10%

Average DifferentialROA versus IndustryPeers

N=141Source: Business Analysis Benchmark, 2009Source: Reuters (comparative industry data)

High Maturity Companies Outperform…


18

On Which Does the BA have the Bigger Impact?

Business Domain

Technology Domain

or

19

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE FUTUREOF THE BUSINESS ANALYST

Predictions…

20

Some Thoughts on the Future of BAso The BA role will always struggle:

• People understand the need for great requirements but tend not to take effective action

• The role has responsibility without authority• The role is impacted by BOTH business optimization

methodology trends AND Dev methodology trends• There are certain activities that are very high value – and certain

activities that are very low value• As industry maturity rises… so to does the role become more

demanding

21

My Predictions…o Lots more Level 4/Level 5 organizations and the emergence of

ultra-high RM success storieso Emergence of 'professional' BA creates barriers to entryo We'll see a fracturing of the value chain:

• Low value tasks: decentralized, outsource, offshore, automate• High value tasks: centralized, broader role, ‘essential services’

o Far FAR FAR faster requirements elicitationo Tool explosion… then shakeout to fewer, more holistic, toolso Emergence of mass collaboration expertiseo Rise in team-centric accountability organizational modelso A swing back to data flow analysis – which seems to be getting lost in

the shuffle

22

Closing Thoughts

o Great requirements are not a documento Assess your current level of requirements definition &

management maturity – be systematic about improvement

o Focus: Understand the services your requirements organization offers. Value? Quality?


23

When you do answer the tough question…

"Why are we doing this requirements stuff?!"

o Impact on Timelinesso Impact on Budgeto Impact on achieving Objectiveso Impact on achieving Project Successo Impact on reducing Risko Impact on Legislative Complianceo Impact on IP Protectiono Impact on Organizational Competitiveness

Catalyze your benefits24

Keith Ellis Vice President Marketing IAG Consulting © IAG Consulting 2009 1.

Documents

maturity level n

maturity level of organization

revenue iag consulting

requirements maturity

predictions iag consulting

industry maturity

great requirements

maturing requirements