Getting started
This article considers things to consider when creating a business analysis centre of excellence. You may also like to view the article, ‘What is a business analysis centre of excellence?’
This article takes you through the items on the diagram below, ‘A framework for a business analysis centre of excellence’.
Governance and Management in Business Analysis
Effective governance and management is central to the development of a business analysis centre of excellence.
Business analysts should be familiar with:
- Governance frameworks such as Val IT and Cobit
- Principles of portfolio, programme and project management
- Principles of risk management, business case production and benefits realisation
Planning the Business Analysis Centre of Excellence
- Create a vision and high level goals for the centre based on support for the organisation’s strategic objectives
- Create qualified, quantified and prioritised objectives as landmarks on the plan for the iterative development of the centre
- Integrate the plan with current and proposed change initiatives and IT interventions
Techniques for Business Analysis
Relevant techniques for business analysis include:
- Process improvement
- Business data analysis
- Business rules management
- Business case production and benefits management
- Risk analysis
Projects – Business Analyst Participation
Project participation overlaps with all the other areas in the above model of a business analysis centre of excellence.
Each of the areas the model will be refined on the basis of project experience.
Change – Role of the Business Analyst
Change management is at the heart of a business analysis centre of excellence. It overlaps all the other areas in our model.
Business Analysis Relationships
Relationships include the structure of the business analysis organisation as well as its relationship to other organisation units within IT, the business units and with external suppliers.
- Relationships with business units may be orchestrated though the IT Director / CIO
- As well as relationships with operational business units, ensure that there are effective relationships in place with Finance, Human Resources, Legal, Sales and Marketing
- Vital relationships with IT include IT strategy, Testing, Architecture and Design, Programming, Release Management, Programme and project Management, Technical Infrastructure and Support