3. Testing world seen through the thick lens
of a business analyst
Test Camp
Iasi, November 16th 2013
Anca Gafiteanu
Gabi Rotaru

4. Agenda
Unicredit Business Integrated Solutions
Testing department in my eyes
IT factory
Road Map
Project challenges
Functional specifications
Presentation meetings
Contact the business analyst
Summary
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5. UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions
GERMANY
CZECH REPUBLIC
UK
POLAND
A community of 11 000 colleagues
11 Countries*
SLOVAKIA
HUNGARY
ITALY
ROMANIA
AUSTRIA
IASI
300 people
OUR TEAM
 40 people
 managing the integration of applications;
 sustaining front-end solutions for the
 redesigning the corporate and retail
eBanking platform for 7 UniCredit banks;
components of the eBanking platform.
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*UniCredit Business Integrated Solutions operates also in 2 additional branches, New York and Singapore

6. Testing department in my eyes
 peaceful and quiet working place
 taking one task after another
 time and material activity
 why is this guy bothering me with questions while I’m working on my task?
 having difficulties passing through people on the way to the bathroom
 taking the time to plan a barbecue in weekend
 party in clubs on weekdays is always a good idea
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7. IT factory
How do you feel at work?
 Third employee on the second row
 Groundbreaking haute couture designer
OR
Flash news: IT industry is all about designing!
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8. IT factory (cont.)
 if you feel like in a factory, you’d better look around;
 exciting new things are flying all around your working place;
 if you’re not feeling yourself as a part of it, maybe you should update your CV.
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9. Road map
Building the product road map
 Almighty business department
 Customizations and nice-to-have items
The business analyst often finds himself in the damage control area.
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10. Road map (cont.)
 apply latest market trends;
 use current projects to drive to a better product;
 harmonize road map with the current features.
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11. Project challenges
I bet you know this joke!
Have you ever wondered why is it happening so often?
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12. Project challenges (cont.)
 communication
 personal touch
 devil is in the details
 customer product knowledge
 handle all case scenarios
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13. Functional specifications
How do you look at the functional specifications document?
 Good foundation, let’s build on top of it!
 Believe and don’t doubt!
OR
There is no such thing as perfect functional specification document!
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14. Functional specifications (cont.)
 translate customer requirements to product terminology;
 make sure the related current status is deeply analyzed and understood;
 expose the proposed changes into easy-to-understand phrases.
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15. Presentation meetings
Why do we need presentation meetings?
 It’s easier to pass the information
 Brainstorming on the proposed solution
OR
Put your mark on the product!
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16. Presentation meetings (cont.)
 the business analyst is mainly a meeting mediator;
 the idea is to gather (almost) immediate feedback from all the participants;
 you are there to offer suggestions and remarks;
 “we already thought about it, but…” answer is not a failure;
 large number of action items makes the business analyst happy
 insist on receiving a proper explanation for turning down your suggestion;
 you should broadcast to others where needed.
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17. Contact the business analyst
Not my favorite email layout
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18. Contact the business analyst
Checklist:
 ID and description of your current task;
 if first contact, state your name / department / area;
 state high importance and/or urgency;
 always quote the functional specifications document;
 high level presentation of the problem;
 case scenario steps;
 avoid sending log files and/or audit logs;
 avoid idle times.
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19. Summary
Approach the business analyst if:
 you do not understand the business model / customer requirements;
 some related current status functionalities are not present in the document;
 the proposed change does not fit the customer requirements;
 it will be very difficult for the operator to use the new features;
 it will be very difficult for the customer’s end-users to understand the new features.
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20. Thank you!
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