The Agile BA (Business Analyst)

Copyright 2010 Davisbase LLC. Distribution without express permission is forbidden
‣ Bill Gaiennie, Davisbase Consulting
‣ 17 years in software development.
‣ 7 years working with software development teams,
training, leading, and coaching Agile teams.
‣ Trained and coached over 500 teams ranging from
start-ups to Fortune 50 corporations.
‣ Agenda
‣ A Brief Overview of Agile
‣ The Role of a Business Analyst on a Project
‣ The Role of a Business Analyst on an Agile Project
‣ Why Business Analysts AreVital to Successful
Projects
‣ Wrap-up and Q&A
Introduction & Agenda

How the customer described
what they wanted...
Building aTire Swing

How the project manager
understood it...

How the architect
designed it...

How the programmer
wrote it...

How the business consultant
described it...

How the the project
was documented...

What operations
installed...

How the customer
was billed...

How it was
supported...

What the customer
really needed...

DEVELOPING SOFTWARE IS TOUGH!
• We are building something that doesn’t exist.
• Our customer is attempting to describe what they imagine
this non-existent product should be.
• We then try to imagine what they are describing.
• We then try to build the product we believe we heard them
describe.
• And ﬁnally, the ﬁrst opportunity we have to really see if we
built a product that they need and want is after we are done
with development.

Pop Quiz:
Waterfall Requirements Analysis
What percentage of overall project time is
spent gathering, elaborating, and
communicating product requirements?

50%
Pop Quiz:

50%
What percentage of requirements, as originally
deﬁned, change during the course of the
project?
Pop Quiz:

50%
35%
project?
Pop Quiz:

50%
35%
project?
What percentage of features, as ultimately
delivered, are rarely or never used by the
product’s end-users?
Pop Quiz:

50%
35%
65%
project?
What percentage of features, as ultimately
delivered, are rarely or never used by the
product’s end-users?
Pop Quiz:

Software Project Reality?
31% IT projects will be cancelled
before completion
52%Completed projects cost on average
189% over their original estimates
17%Projects are completed on time
and on budget
Source: Standish Group Chaos Report 1995 - 2008
what isSo

Software
Is
TOUGH!
Make No Mistake About It...
Developing

Source: Dr. Dobb’s Agile Survey, 2008
‣ Agile adoption has increased in the last several years across
the globe.
‣ Recent data suggests 69% of companies have adopted an
Agile approach in some form.
‣ Respondents to a recent survey identiﬁed improvements in the
following areas after adopting an Agile development approach:
82% Increase productivity
77% Increase product quality
78% Increase stakeholder satisfaction
37% Reduced costs
Companies Are Adopting Agile

• A philosophy about software development.
• A collection of processes and practices that uphold this
philosophy.
• A grassroots movement to fundamentally change the
approach to software development.
“Agility is more attitude than process,
more environment than methodology.”
So,What Is Agile All About?

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
http://agilemanifesto.org/
That is, while there is value in the items on
the right, we value the items on the left more.
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it
and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
The Agile Manifesto

Complicated Vs. Complex
Watch Making
‣ Thousands of parts, hundreds of steps to
assemble
‣ Intricate, delicate work, difficult to complete
‣ Must work in specific order
‣ In order for watch to work, the final build should
reflect the original plan.
‣ Deviation from plan is considered a defect.
Complicated, but not complex
Weather
‣ Difficulty to predict details about behavior or
outcomes
‣ Outcomes are results of many variables
‣ Variables that affect outcomes are difficult to
impossible to predict reliably
‣ Plans expect variability and deviation, then
account for this in the plan
Complex
Developing Software
Is a Complex
Endeavor

• We develop software for our customers’ beneﬁt.
• Change can be good. Change is usually the result of new
information and learning.
• The software we develop does not create value for our
customer at ‘point of plan’.
• An Agile approach may require us to be comfortable with the
traditionally uncomfortable.
Why We Develop Software

• Enterprise Analysis
• Requirements Planning and Management
• Requirements Elicitation
• Requirements Analysis and Documentation
• Requirements Communication
• Solution Assessment and Validation
BABOK identiﬁes the following:
The BA’s Role on a Software Project

• Enterprise Analysis
• Requirements Planning and Management
• Requirements Elicitation
• Requirements Analysis and Documentation
• Requirements Communication
• Solution Assessment and Validation
The BA’s Role on an Agile Project

• Work with the customer to develop strategic goals and a
product vision.
• Identifying the “value stream” for the proposed product.
• Brokering effective information exchange between the
customer and the IT team.
• The correct scope for Agile projects isn’t deﬁned
requirements, but the well articulated product vision.
Agile: Enterprise Analysis

Agile BA Rule
True product quality is more than
just a measure of defects.
The customer defines quality.
“Quality in a product or service
is not what the supplier puts in.
It is what the customer gets out
and is willing to pay for.A
product is not quality because it
is hard to make and costs a lot
of money, as manufacturers
typically believe.This is
incompetence. Customers pay
only for what is of use to them
and gives them value. Nothing
else constitutes quality.”
- Peter Drucker
Simply stated,
the customer deﬁnes
quality.
Not Always
The Same
Destination

• Requirements evolve with greater product exposure.
• A lean principle: just enough, just in time.
• Requirements are planned for delivery in
time-boxed iterations.
• The development team creates and commits to a deﬁnition
of “done”.
• BA’s help to negotiate standards and the speciﬁcs of
product requirements.
Agile: Requirements Planning

• Understanding the customer’s needs is essential.
• Who are your customers?
• How will your customer use your product?
• What are your customers priorities?
• User Stories capture requirements using the following form:
As a <user>, I want <product requirement>,
so that <desired beneﬁt>.
Agile:Analysis & Documentation

• Understanding “the why” can be as important as “the what”.
As an speaker, I want to
make my presentation
available to attendees
online, so that I do not
need to send it.
As an attendee, I want to
download the
presentation, so that
I share what I have
learned.
• Information gems exist in knowing why our customers want
what they ask for.
Agile:Analysis & Documentation

• The best method of conveying project progress.
• Building a better customer/IT relationship.
• Emergent requirements.
• The product backlog.
• Burndown charts can help drive better project decisions.
• Taskboards can visually radiate project progress.
• Project documentation.
Agile: Requirements Communication

• Delivering the solution in small bites.
• Reviewing requirements during planning.
• Reviewing requirements during demo.
• Requirements describe solution to business needs.
• Determining requirements as late as possible.
• Validating requirements through prioritizing delivery.
Agile:Assessment andValidation

• Great products and happy customers
begin and end with pliable requirements.
• Change happens, how do we embrace it?
• Expanding our toolkit, redeﬁning nails as
opportunities.
• Continuous planning recognizes that
change can be good.
Business Analysts Are Crucial
to Agile Project Success

• Great BA’s assist the customer is deﬁning the best possible
product, a standard consistently examined during the entire
project.
• Great products emerge from designs that evolve as a result
of information made available to the customer and project
team.
• Great project teams promote open and honest
communication, and utilize this information to tune their
behavior.
Wrap Up

‣ Find experts that can point you in
the right direction.
‣ Recognize that training is the
proper foundation on which
team’s build.
‣ It takes time to get good at
anything,Agile is no exception,
but the rewards are well worth it.
‣ Getting started is easier than you
might think.
Your Call To Action

“Simplicity
does not precede
complexity,
it follows it.”
- Alan Perlis
“Whether your next project is
a SUCCESS or a failure
is not a matter of chance,
it is a matter of choice.”
- A wise Agile coach and trainer

Your Questions, My Answers
Note: For those questions we do not have time to answer during the webinar,
I will be providing a written response.

• Thank you.
• Bill Gaiennie, Davisbase Consulting
• bill@davisbase.org
• http://www.davisbase.org
• (949) 303-9109
WRAP-UP

The Agile BA (Business Analyst)

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