2 | Create a Business Analysis Center of Excellence
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and other projects with uncertain requirements;
however, they know that their analysts are
frequently not properly prepared for that role
and often lack support. So, they are looking for
ways to improve the skill sets of their business
analysts and provide structured support for them.
The business analyst plays a lead role in
identifying, defining, and documenting business
and stakeholder requirements for IT and other
projects. High-quality requirements are a key
factor in successful projects. Requirements
are generally communicated to different
stakeholders in various documents. The
documents are composed of a variety of artifacts
such as use cases, context diagrams, storyboards,
data dictionaries, data models, business process
models, business rule catalogs, decision tables,
among many others.
The actual choice of artifacts to include in a
requirements document is generally up to
the business analyst. The business analyst
chooses those artifacts that best allow others to
understand the requirements. However, most
business analysts are self-trained and work in
an ad-hoc fashion. Rarely is there guidance for
the business analysts in what artifacts should be
prepared for a particular project and how those
artifacts should be communicated; in addition,
business analysts often rely on simple tools such
as word processors and drawing programs rather
than professional requirements management and
visualization tools.
The first step in increasing the competency
of business analysts is training that leverages
industry best practices and is aligned with the
International Institute of Business Analysis®
(IIBA®) Business Analysis Body of Knowledge®
(BABOK® Guide). Once the analysts are trained,
they need a support organization that provides
guidance to them and the organization at large.
A business analysis center of excellence (BACoE)
provides such guidance.
The Business Analysis Center of Excellence
Let's start by defining what a business analysis
center of excellence should be. A BACoE is an
organization that encourages and facilitates
collaboration and manages best practices for
some specific functional area in an effort to
increase business success. Perhaps a more apt
term would be a "competency development
center."
Trained business analysts members in a
dedicated BACoE group.The BACoE can be set
up as a virtual organization matrixed into the
rest of the company or an actual group with a
discretionary budget, separate management,
and clear authority. The group can be staffed with
dedicated or part-time members.
The creation of a business analysis center of
excellence is an indication that the organization is
reaching a higher level of organizational maturity.
As the maturity of the organization increases, the
risk of failed projects tends to decrease.
Responsibilities of the BACoE
A significant responsibility of a BACoE is
to ensure that business analysis artifacts
are prepared with the same level of quality
throughout the organization. Often, the artifacts
prepared by one business analyst may differ
dramatically from those of another. When
that occurs, the organization has to deal with
