1. What’s the most pervasive trend in the BA space at the moment?
The most important is User Centred Design or Design Thinking. UCD promotes five key steps: 1. Empathize; 2. Define; 3. Ideate; 4. Prototype; and 5. Test. It’s all about understanding your customer through persona’s, user groups, observation etc. and then testing to see if your design solution meets their requirements.
2. What do you perceive to be the biggest issue facing organisations at the moment?
The need for speed is the biggest issue but this is coupled with risk aversion for many government organisations as they have to show they’ve spent the taxpayers’ dollars wisely. So in a nutshell – faster, better and cheaper!
3. The role of the BA is changing, how do you see the profession shifting?
I think the need for analysis skills is growing; does that mean that everyone will be called a Business Analyst? Maybe not, but you will see a great demand for analysis skills. I believe that BAs will move out of technology teams and start to work closer with the business, hence supporting the trend of customer-driven development approaches.
We need to remember that not all solutions are technology solutions and I think that the world is starting to be smarter about delivering the “right” solution to the “real” problem. A business analyst will ensure that they uncover the real problem (or opportunity) and deliver the right solution, based on the constraints of the organisation.
4. What does the new BABOK® v3 mean for BA’s?
The knowledge areas have changed slightly and are more realistic in their grouping but the biggest change is the perspectives and the simplicity of the core concept model.
Perspectives are used within business analysis work to provide focus to tasks and techniques specific to the context of the initiative. Most initiatives are likely to engage one or more perspectives, and in the BABOK® Guide, they include: Agile; Business Intelligence; Information Technology; Business Architecture; and Business Process Management.
The perspectives provide a real focus on “how” to approach the work due to the lens that you have put on for that piece of work. A great BA will be able to switch these lenses “in and out” at the appropriate time.
6. How will SoftEd’s new Business Architecture course meet the needs of industry?
Firstly I’d like to answer the question “What is business architecture?”
Business architecture provides architectural descriptions and views, referred to as blueprints, to provide a common understanding of the organisation for the purpose of aligning strategic objectives with tactical demands. The discipline of business architecture applies analytical thinking and architectural principles to the enterprise level. A business architect needs to consider the business model, operating model (our processes), organisational structure, constraints and architect solutions that will deliver value to the organisation.
Our course will enable participants to learn a variety of modelling techniques that can be used at the enterprise level but more importantly how to “think and challenge” as a business architect.