THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST | THE BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK

Building a Better Business Analyst: Transforming the Enterprise

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:16:00 GMT

Building a Better Business Analyst: Transforming the Enterprise

Report Published by Celent

Transformation. Many companies claim that they are pursing it, but only a few are equipping one of the most critical groups in the enterprise, the business analyst, with the skills to make transformation happen. In order to deliver sustainable, significant change at the execution level, the business analyst job function requires attention and investment. What can insurance companies do to ensure the development of the appropriate number and quality of business analysts, and thus increase project success and shorten delivery timeframes?

In a new report, Building a Better Business Analyst: Transforming the Enterprise, Celent discusses the drivers, expected benefits, and current models of successful business analyst development.

Companies surveyed expressed various reasons to invest in the skills of this vital resource. Several of the drivers were common across the group, including:

A response to an outsourced IT structure
The need to backfill for an aging employee population
A recognition that development quality requires improvement
The imperative to improve project delivery

This report outlines qualitative and quantitative justifications for investments. A benefits model, including expected payoff by project lifecycle phase, is presented. Specific benefits accrued by individual insurance companies are also detailed.

The report describes company and vendor programs in detail. The various approaches span a variety of organizational structures, including:

The global IT function within a multi-line insurer (general and life) headquartered in Europe
The enterprise-level approach taken by a North American life insurer
Division and department responses of P&C companies
Vendor programs deployed in companies servicing the insurance industry

“Transforming an enterprise involves identifying, facilitating, documenting, and communicating new business processes,” says Mike Fitzgerald, senior analyst with Celent’s insurance practice and author of the report. “The people responsible for these critical activities in most insurance companies are the business analysts. By improving their skills, companies are increasing the quality and quantity of successful project implementations.”

The report is 24 pages and contains six tables. A table of contents is available online.

Members of Celent's Life/Health Insurance and Property/Casualty Insurance research services can download the report electronically by clicking on the icon to the left. Non-members should contact info@celent.com for more information.

About Celent

Celent is a research and advisory firm dedicated to helping financial institutions formulate comprehensive business and technology strategies. Celent publishes reports identifying trends and best practices in financial services technology and conducts consulting engagements for financial institutions looking to use technology to enhance existing business processes or launch new business strategies. With a team of internationally experienced analysts, Celent is uniquely positioned to offer strategic advice and market insights on a global basis.

For more information: www.celent.com

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Gary E. Smith
THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST
THE BA NETWORK

IT RESOURCE NETWORK

THE CLOUD NETWORK | THE BPM NETWORK | THE SAAS NETWORK | THE SOA NETWORK | WEB 2.0 NETWORK

THE SOA NETWORK
SOA Governance | SOA Management | SOA Networking | SOA Security | SOA Identity | SOA Test

IIBA Webinar: The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:59:00 GMT

IIBA^TM Webinar: The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst

Our Vision:
To be the world’s leading association for business analysis professionals.

Our Mission:
To develop and maintain standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of its practitioners.

IIBA^TM Webinar: The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst

There is still time to register for the IIBA's first-ever Webinar on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 12 p.m. E.D.T., when IIBA President Kathleen Barret will be discussing "The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst." If you have already registered, you do not need to register again.

The first two webinars are free for IIBA members and non-members as well, so please forward this email to friends and colleagues who may be interested in this topic. All Webinars will be archived on our site after the presentation for IIBA member viewing, and will include an email address for the presenter should you wish to ask additional questions.

You can register now for this session by clicking on the link below, or by cutting and pasting this link into your browser https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/998067678

Please note that spaces are limited - be sure to register now to secure your space.

When you register for the event, you will receive a confirmation email providing the Webinar computer login access details and a list of toll telephone numbers. (Please note: Canadian residents will need to call the U.S. number).

To participate in the Webinar, you will need access to a computer with an Internet connection. To login:

Click the link in the confirmation email to join the Webinar
A screen will open - type in your name and email address then click "Join Webinar"
You will see a "Joining Webinar" screen. Once the program has launched, the screen will read "Launch Successful."
When the Webinar has launched, a pop-up will appear that reads "Verifying Webinar" then "Connecting" - this will take a moment. Once you are connected, you will have access to an audio screen with the choice of Telephone Connection or Speaker Connection over your computer.
If you choose the speaker option, you can listen to the Webinar over your computer speakers or headset.
If you choose the telephone option, you will be given a toll phone number for the U.S. There is also a link below this for local numbers in nine other countries. Dial the appropriate number and when prompted, key in the Access Code followed by #. Once verified, you will be asked for the Audio Pin, also available in the pop up screen on your computer. Key in the Pin followed by #.
Enjoy the Webinar!

If you have problems connecting to this Webinar, it may be that your computer's security settings will not allow it. Please adjust your security settings and retry.

The IIBA would like to thank Forte Solutions Group for sponsoring our first webinar.

Forte Solutions Group

http://www.fortesolutionsgroup.com

With more than 40-years of cumulative experience, Forte Solutions Group is a unique boutique consulting firm specializing in Business Analysis and Initiative Management for Strategic and Project-based initiatives for Commercial and Government sector clients.

Please visit our website for details about our next Webinar "Understanding the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) Designation" with Michael Gladstone, CBAP, Vice-President Certification.

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Gary E. Smith
THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST
BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK

IT RESOURCE NETWORK

THE CLOUD NETWORK | THE BPM NETWORK | THE SAAS NETWORK | THE SOA NETWORK | WEB 2.0 NETWORK

THE SOA NETWORK
SOA Governance | SOA Management | SOA Networking | SOA Security | SOA Identity | SOA Test

Preparing For The Business Technology Analyst

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:57:00 GMT

Preparing For The Business Technology Analyst

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

As traditional notions of the business analyst evolve, application development and program management professionals must prepare for a new, emerging type of business analyst: the business technology analyst. Because these new business technology analysts blend technical knowledge with business sense, they will demand a different working relationship with app dev professionals than the relationship typical business analysts have required in the past.

Preparing For The Business Technology Analyst

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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New Webinar Covers Business Analyst Empowerment, Hosted by voke, Blueprint and HP

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:55:00 GMT

New Webinar Covers Business Analyst Empowerment, Hosted by voke, Blueprint and HP

Theresa Lanowitz of voke Discusses Latest Research Showing How Requirements Definition and Management Can Enable IT Project Success; Case Study Demonstrates Results

TORONTO, Aug 20, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Tomorrow, August 21st, voke will unveil in detail the results of the voke Market Snapshot(TM) report on the Role of the Business Analyst in a webinar with Blueprint and HP. In this exclusive webinar, to be held at 11am PT/ 2pm ET on August 21st, participants will learn about the emerging role of the Business Analyst, and how to succeed and deliver value to the organization in this role.

Today more than ever, software projects must complete on time, on budget, and need to work seamlessly with existing applications. Global 2000 IT organizations are under tremendous pressure to maximize the impact of distributed resources in an effort to align IT and the business.

In this webinar, analyst Theresa Lanowitz of voke will explain how the Business Analyst is fast becoming the critical stakeholder to ensuring business and IT alignment by becoming the champion over project requirements. Lanowitz will discuss the recently unveiled voke Business Analyst research effort that includes:

--  The role and practice of the Business Analyst in global IT
    organizations
--  The correlation of project success to Business Analyst led practices
    of requirements definition and management
--  The trends towards Business Analysts validating requirements before
    projects begin

"In a world where software is growing in importance to organizations of every kind, business analysts are of increasing importance to any enterprise, as they are the key conduit in delivering satisfaction by effectively defining and managing requirements to IT," said Theresa Lanowitz, founder of voke. "Today more than ever, the business analyst is critical to the success of the IT organization, and the business as a whole."

The webinar will also explore how empowering business analysts with a "requirements lifecycle" -- visual requirements definition combined with risk-based requirements management -- can ensure final application functionality maps directly to business needs.

"Business Analyst empowerment is a strategic imperative of Fortune 500 business organizations," said Matthew Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer at Blueprint. "The voke study articulates that organizations must optimize their requirements definition and management processes in order to make global IT projects successful. Distributed teams are here to stay, and a lifecycle approach to better business/IT collaboration delivers innovation, value, and efficiency."

The webinar will conclude with a live demonstration of the "requirements lifecycle" and discuss the ROI from a case study from a Fortune 500 financial organization that leveraged this approach to cut requirements definition time by 15%, cut test case creation time by 80%, reduce project waste/rework by 70%, and provided new levels of organizational agility for risk management.

To register for the webinar, please visit: http://www.requirementsnetwork.com/node/830.

About Blueprint

Named a "Cool Vendor" in Application Development by leading analyst firm Gartner, Blueprint aligns business and IT teams by delivering the industry's leading requirements suite designed specifically for the business analyst. Blueprint solutions empower analyst teams to eliminate requirements misunderstanding by capturing, validating, and delivering precise business requirements to local or distributed IT application project teams. Blueprint's product line functions as a collaborative system for the requirements lifecycle, including requirements elicitation, elaboration, validation, and acceptance. Blueprint is a global provider, with presence in the United States, Canada, and in Europe.

For more information on Blueprint, visit http://www.blueprintsys.com.

Contact:
Zenobia Godschalk
ZAG Communications
Email Contact
(678) 799-8279

SOURCE: Blueprint Systems

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Blueprint Attains Gold Business Partner Status and Product Certification From HP

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:11:00 GMT

Blueprint Attains Gold Business Partner Status and Product Certification From HP

Certified Integration Helps Customers Reduce Time and Effort to Deliver Higher Quality Software

TORONTO, Aug 18, 2008 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) -- Blueprint, a leading provider of requirements solutions for software business analysts, today announced it is now an HP Gold Business Partner. The Blueprint Requirements Center -- the company's flagship product -- is now an HP-certified software application, having passed software certification testing by HP, and is ready for integration with HP Test Director for Quality Center. As a result, customers can expect software that better meets business needs through the elicitation and subsequent validation of requirements.

Today's IT applications are leveraged in every facet of business operations. The risk of application failure or delay must be controlled at all points in the software lifecycle, beginning with the cornerstone of requirements. By using the integrated requirements and testing solution, customers are able to:

--  Automatically generate tests from requirements
--  Dramatically reduce test case preparation time and effort
--  Deliver higher quality requirements and tests
--  Enables vastly superior software delivery, as the true business
    requirements are elicited and subsequently validated

"Blueprint is the first requirements partner to achieve this level of HP integration and certification, which opens the door for customers to combine the strength of requirements and test definition features from Blueprint Requirements Center with those of the HP Quality Center," said Tony Higgins, vice president of products at Blueprint. "In effect, we've connected the business analyst's workbench to the quality assurance professional's workbench, removing the errors and miscommunication that typically obstruct this crucial control point in the development lifecycle."

"Customers can save time and deliver higher quality applications that meet the needs of the business through strong requirements definition and validation," said Mark Sarbiewski, senior director of products, Software, HP. "With HP Quality Center and Blueprint Requirements Center, IT organizations can implement a seamless, traceable lifecycle solution from initial requirements elicitation through application delivery."

About Blueprint Requirements Center

Blueprint Requirements Center empowers business analysts to employ a lifecycle approach to requirements definition by automating the phases of requirements elicitation, elaboration, validation, and acceptance. Blueprint Requirements Center leverages patented modeling and simulation technology to capture initial requirements concepts and to enable non-technical users to create software simulations of proposed solutions. Integrated feedback and discussions foster collaboration around the requirements, helping ensure issues are surfaced and resolved early. The result is dramatically higher levels of quality and precision in the requirements. Tests automatically generated from the requirements inherit these qualities and have traceability established automatically. The transition of this high-quality requirements and test content to HP Quality Center provides a sound basis for IT delivery teams to ensure software projects meet business goals.

For more information about the Blueprint and HP integration, please visit: http://www.blueprintsys.com/product_rc_qc.php.

About Blueprint

Named a "Cool Vendor" in Application Development by leading analyst firm Gartner, Blueprint aligns business and IT teams by delivering the industry's leading requirements suite designed specifically for the business analyst. Blueprint solutions empower analyst teams to eliminate requirements misunderstanding by capturing, validating, and delivering precise business requirements to local or distributed IT application project teams. Blueprint's product line functions as a collaborative system for the requirements lifecycle, including requirements elicitation, elaboration, validation, and acceptance. Blueprint is a global provider, with presence in the United States, Canada, and Europe.

For more information on Blueprint, visit http://www.blueprintsys.com.

SOURCE: Blueprint Systems

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Data Modeling Public Seminars

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:50:00 GMT

Data Modeling Public Seminars

Data Modeling and Data Management in a SOA Environment

Dimensional Modeling

Advanced Data Modeling

Data Modeling and Data Management in a SOA Environment

Tom Haughey

Sept. 15, 2008

Woodbridge Hilton, Woodbridge, NJ

Tuition: $545

SAVE $50 if paid by Aug. 18, 2008

This one day interactive seminar will address the critical issues data and information management professionals encounter in a SOA environment.

How and why data modeling is different in a SOA environment?
Does the level of granularity of the data have to be adjusted for SOA?
Are there issues with data that is too highly abstracted?
What is a canonical model and why is one needed?
How important are standards?
Can data itself be considered a "service" under SOA?
How does SOA alter data warehousing?
How can organizations benefit from integrating the data warehouse within SOA?
Can SOA simplify delivery of business intelligence?

Early Registration Ends Aug. 18, 2008!

Seating is Becoming Limited

Additional information and the agenda

Dimensional Modeling-Data Modeling for the Data Warehouse

Tom Haughey

Oct. 20-23, 2008

Courtyard Marriott, Orlando, Florida

Tuition: $1995

for all 4 days includes Advanced Data Warehouse Seminar

Tuition: $1695 for first three days only

Save $100 on three or four day fees if paid by Sept. 17, 2008

This interactive seminar will focus on the specialized techniques used to model data warehouse data. This will include but go beyond dimensional modeling. It provides concrete guidelines and rules for modeling this data.

This seminar emphasizes three fundamental concepts finding the right level of atomic data in the warehouse; that the data warehouse is not a database but an integrated environment consisting of different levels of data; optimizing the data warehouse design through dimensional modeling.

Additional information and the agenda

Advanced Data Warehouse & Advanced Dimensional Modeling

Tom Haughey

Oct. 23, 2008

Courtyard Marriott, Orlando, Florida

Tuition: $645 Advanced Data Warehousing and Dimensional Modeling only

The seminar will focus on the most challenging data warehouse design problems the world of data warehousing has faced. You will learn where dimensional model is and is not applicable. Among the requirements to be addressed in modeling the data warehouse are: handling aggregation, heterogeneous product and transaction types, handling time and history, handling changing dimensions, handling changing facts, handling late arriving data, supporting data with different rates of change and stability, supporting large scale database environments such as MPP (massively parallel processing).

Addtional information and the agenda

Advanced Data Modeling

Alec Sharp

Nov. 17-19, 2008

Courtyard Marriott, Orlando, Florida

Tuition $1795

Save $100 if paid by Oct.12, 2008

After gaining some practical experience, data modelers encounter situations such as the enforcement of complex business rules, handling recurring patterns, dealing with existing databases or packaged applications, and other issues not covered in introductory data modeling classes. This intense, participative workshop provides approaches for many advanced data modeling situations, as well as techniques for improving communication between data modelers, business analysts, designer/developers, and subject matter experts. The workshop has recently been extensively redesigned to focus on the topics that data modeling professionals have continually rated as the most concrete and useful.

Three main themes will be explored:

The technical side of data modeling - getting better at modeling difficult, complex siutations
Developing and using data models in new ways, and in conjunction with other techniques
The human side of data modeling - improving processes and communication skills

Additional information and the agenda

All DebTech International public seminars offer continuing education and professional development credits

Onsite Seminars

All DebTech public classes can be given onsite at your organizations. For additional information or to view our class listings please visit DebTech International LLC

Missed the 2008 Annual Data Governance Conference?

This conference was held

June 2-5, 2008

San Francisco

conducted jointly with Wilshire Conferences

Conference proceedings are available for purchase.

Ordering and additional information

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Analyst Study Reveals 91% of Business Analysts Use Ineffective Tools to Define Requirements

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:39:00 GMT

Analyst Study Reveals 91% of Business Analysts Use Ineffective Tools to Define Requirements

Business Analyst Role Explored in Detail by voke in Latest Market Snapshot; Finds Market for Business Analyst Solutions One of the Fastest Growing in the Application Lifecycle

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- voke, inc., a modern analyst firm for the Web 2.0 world, announced today the publication of the voke Market Snapshot(TM) Report: The Role of the Business Analyst. This independent survey of the business analyst focuses on:

-- the role and interaction with others in the lifecycle

-- the communication processes and channels used to gather and define requirements

-- the market readiness of solutions expressly for the business analyst

-- a market forecast for solutions designed for the business analyst

The report found that business analysts are playing a greater role than ever in the success of IT projects. 74% of business analysts have been in the role greater than three years, indicating that the role is maturing and having a greater impact on the alignment of the line of business and the IT organization. The report concludes that organizations with business analysts are more likely to satisfy their customers in a more timely fashion, which translates to a competitive business advantage.

"Software drives the business and business analysts are the key conduit in delivering satisfaction to the line of business by effectively defining requirements to the IT organization," said Theresa Lanowitz, founder of voke. "The business analyst is critical to the overall success an organization will experience with its applications."

The report highlights the need for improved use of solutions to help the business analyst closely align requirements with the business needs. 91% of the study's participants say the solutions they use to define requirements are static and do not meet the dynamic nature needed for today's business analyst. The report also identifies a lack of integration between existing requirements definition solutions and the creation of test cases. A total of 76% of survey participants manually create test cases from their requirements.

"It is critical to the alignment of the line of business and IT, as well as customer satisfaction to eliminate time consuming and error prone tasks such as the manual creation of test cases from requirements," said Lisa Dronzek, COO of voke. "Dynamic creation of test cases from requirements frees up the time of the test engineer to focus on more strategic quality efforts. Incorporating modern and dynamic solutions for the business analyst will complement and enhance existing investments in testing solutions."

As a result, the report forecasts that the market for business analyst solutions will be one of the fastest growing segments within the application lifecycle market over the next few years, soon to be a billion dollar segment annually.

"The business analyst has been dramatically underserved for far too long," said David Nyland, CEO of Blueprint Systems, a leading provider of requirements solutions to meet the business analyst need. "As their role grows in importance, we have seen a significant increase in demand for solutions that help them closely align requirements with the business need. Our customers are seeing dramatic improvements in their development process by leveraging requirements solutions to enable the business analyst to succeed."

A detailed market forecast is included in the report.

The full voke Market Snapshot Report: The Role of the Business Analyst is available to subscribers at www.vokestream.com.

To learn more about this topic, register for the webinar "Business Analysts Empowered: Optimize Global IT Project Teams Through a Requirements Lifecycle" to be held on Thursday, August 21 2:00 PM Eastern / 11:00 AM Pacific. To register, visit www.requirements.net.

About voke

Founded in 2006, voke, inc. represents a new model in thought leadership based on fluid collaboration, discussion, and real-time interactions to deliver strategic advice in technology markets. By communicating, collaborating, and understanding the impact technology has on the world around us, voke delivers market analysis, trend observation, and insight. Companies of all sizes, financial firms, and venture capital organizations turn to voke to harness strategic marketing, independent and impartial market observations and analysis to move markets beyond the status quo. For more information about voke, visit www.vokeinc.com.

Targeted memberships in the vokeStream community are available for the enterprise, technology vendors, press, service providers, financial analysts and venture capital teams. Visit www.vokestream.com to request a membership.

SOURCE: voke, inc.

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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BA Collective Announces New Business Analysis BA Collective Video Webcast Series

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:31:00 GMT

BA Collective Announces New Business Analysis BA Collective Video Webcast Series

On July 18th, 2008 the BA Collective announced the new Business Analysis BA Collective Video Webcast Series. The series is a new resource and will provide another dimension to the BA Collective business analysis articles by providing an additional format to receive information, education and news from the BA Collective. The Business Analysis Video Webcast Series was developed together by the BA Collective and Collective Genius.

Saint Paul, MN (PRWEB) July 18, 2008 -- On July 18th, 2008 the BA Collective announced the new Business Analysis BA Collective Video Webcast Series. The series is a new resource and will provide another dimension to the BA Collective business analysis articles by providing an additional format to receive information, education and news from the BA Collective. The Business Analysis Video Webcast Series was developed together by the BA Collective and Collective Genius.

The video webcasts will focus on current and past articles to provide a new format and learning resource for the National Business Analysis Community. In developing the video webcasts they will provide another free educational resource for Business Analysts. Dave Albright the Community Leader of the BA Collective said "We believe this is the next step in the evolution of the BA Collective, it will continue to push our community forward in our goal to create a gathering place for like-minded professionals dedicated to the practice of business analysis."

We believe this is the next step in the evolution of the BA Collective, it will continue to push our community forward in our goal to create a gathering place for like-minded professionals dedicated to the practice of business analysis.

The first in the series of video webcasts will introduce people to the BA Collective. The first video provides a basis for the reason the BA Collective has been created; which runs a parallel mission with Collective Genius - the Local Business Analysis Center of Excellence. The mission of both the BA Collective and Collective Genius is to bridge the gap between the need for professional and experienced Business Analysts and the projects that need them. They hope by empowering the unity of Business Analysts, education and providing additional content resources like the BA Collective Video Webcast Series will help move them towards accomplishing this mission.

The second BA Collective Webcast Video focuses on Use Cases. This video was created to coordinate with Use Case Classics, an article written by one of Collective Genius' founders, Andrew Kass. The article was largely written from a speech that Andrew gave to the IIBA - Twin Cities (International Institute of Business Analysts - Minneapolis Saint Paul Chapter). Use Case Classics was developed to reinforce the importance of use cases and to encourage business analysts, who normally wouldn't utilize use cases, to give them a try. Both the video webcast and Kass' article will give a great overview of use case terminology and emphasize the importance of using the proper process and methodology that is right for the Business Analyst and the environment that they are in.

Stay tuned to the release of the third BA Webcast coming soon, where the BA Collective tackles the topic of documentation. Documentation is all around us and whether it is done correctly or not is a direct reflection of the person who writes the documentation: the Business Analyst. The webcast has some great tips on how to know whether your documentation is done correctly or not, so stay tuned to the BA Collective for our Documentation webcast and many more!

To find the BA Collective Video Webcasts visit the BACollective.com and click on the 'Videos' link on the Main Menu. In addition to being posted on the BA Collective website, the videos are also available on iTunes and YouTube. By accessing the videos through iTunes or YouTube you will be able to subscribe to the videos for free; that way you will never miss an episode. On the BACollective.com website and iTunes you will also be able to download the BA Collective Video Webcasts to your iPod or iPhone.

Watch BA Videos (BA Collective)
Visit: http://www.bacollective.com/videos

Subscribe (iTunes) BA Collective Video and Audio Podcasts
Visit: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=284221280

Watch BA Videos (YouTube)
Visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siEZihx-3GU

About:

Collective Genius is a Business and Information Technology Consulting Organization focused solely in the area Business Analysis, Systems Analysis, and Process Analysis. Being very niche and passionate we have created an organization that attracts top talent for our clients and provides ongoing advocacy and education for our local Business Analysis Communities. Collective Genius develops and maintains Business Analysis Centers of Excellence for organizations and support organizations' needs with the right talent including direct placement, contract to hire, and consultants.

Visit: http://www.collective-genius.com

The BA Collective is a gathering place for like-minded professionals dedicated to the practice of business analysis. This is a place for industry professionals to learn about developing trends and share their own thoughts and experiences with the community. The founders of the BA Collective are also the founding members of Collective Genius, the Local Business Analyst Center of Excellence. At Collective Genius, we believe in creating and empowering a collective genius of BA's.

Visit: http://www.bacollective.com

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Gary E. Smith
THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST

IT RESOURCE NETWORK

THE BPM NETWORK | THE SAAS NETWORK | THE SOA NETWORK | THE WEB 2.0 NETWORK

Requirements Definition and Management: The Key to Business Success

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:52:00 GMT

Requirements Definition and Management: The Key to Business Success

Excerpt from Borland Whitepaper:

Why Projects Fail—and What Executives Can Do About It:
The Truth About Requirements Definition and Management

Executive Summary

Software is the engine of the modern enterprise – and for many organizations, it is their primary source of competitive advantage. Executives at all levels understand that the right software product deployed at the right time can help them automate manual, costly processes; cut operational costs and boost efficiency; accelerate innovation internally and with partners; and differentiate their business from the competition by improving product and service quality.

Software development remains one of the most inefficient and unpredictable areas within IT today. It’s well known that most software projects are either delivered late, way over budget, don’t meet customer needs, or are cancelled altogether.1 And software failures across many industries – from car manufacturers to airlines – cost the American economy billions of dollars annually.²

According to the Business Analysis Benchmark 2008 study that surveyed 110 companies, nearly seven out of 10 companies involved in development projects valued at $250,000 or more have software projects that are marginal in quality and function – or are complete failures.³

What’s the source of the problem? In the vast majority of cases, these undesirable outcomes originate early in the software development process – when requirements are first conceived and documented. Incorrect requirements result in costly rework that typically accounts for 40% of a development organization’s total spend (with most of the effort focused on correcting defects). Did you know that the cost of correcting an erroneous requirement after a product has been released can be 100 times more expensive than if the error is discovered during the requirements development phase?

The good news is that with the right processes and supporting software in place, you can optimize requirements definition and management (RDM) and use it as powerful lever to ensure project success. This paper explains what RDM is, how to do it well using the latest RDM software, and the business impact of implementing RDM solutions as part of a complete Open Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) solution.

You'll learn how Borland customers have:

• Decreased project delays and met customer expectations

• Improved product quality and reduced costs with less rework which typically accounts for 40% of a development organizations total spend

• Regained visibility and control throughout the entire project lifecycle

Borland's requirements definition and management offering is a comprehensive solution that enables you to improve your RDM process from the very beginning so you can reap dramatic business value from your software projects down the road.

To download the complete Whitepaper:

1 Standish report: 2004 CHAOS Report
2 According to the 2002 American’s National Institute of Standards (NIST), software failures cost the United States economy $59 billion.
3 IAG Business Analyst Benchmark, 2008

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Gary E. Smith
THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST

IT RESOURCE NETWORK

THE BPM NETWORK | THE SAAS NETWORK | THE SOA NETWORK | THE WEB 2.0 NETWORK

Coming Soon! - BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK - IT Resource Network for Business Analysts

Gary E Smith - THE NEW BA — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:30:00 GMT

Coming Soon! - BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK - IT Resource Network for Business Analysts

The Business Analyst Network is a resource network for the New Business Analyst. It will provide resources, careers and information on new technologies, methodologies and general trends in the industry impacting Business Analysts.

BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK

The Business Analyst Network is part of the growing IT RESOURCE NETWORK (www.itresourcenetwork.net).
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Gary E. Smith
THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST

IT RESOURCE NETWORK

THE BPM NETWORK | THE SAAS NETWORK | THE SOA NETWORK | THE WEB 2.0 NETWORK

THE NEW BUSINESS ANALYST | THE BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK

Building a Better Business Analyst: Transforming the Enterprise

Building a Better Business Analyst: Transforming the Enterprise

Report Published by Celent

About Celent

IIBA Webinar: The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst

IIBATM Webinar: The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst

Preparing For The Business Technology Analyst

Preparing For The Business Technology Analyst

Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

New Webinar Covers Business Analyst Empowerment, Hosted by voke, Blueprint and HP

New Webinar Covers Business Analyst Empowerment, Hosted by voke, Blueprint and HP

Blueprint Attains Gold Business Partner Status and Product Certification From HP

Blueprint Attains Gold Business Partner Status and Product Certification From HP

Data Modeling Public Seminars

Analyst Study Reveals 91% of Business Analysts Use Ineffective Tools to Define Requirements

Analyst Study Reveals 91% of Business Analysts Use Ineffective Tools to Define Requirements

BA Collective Announces New Business Analysis BA Collective Video Webcast Series

BA Collective Announces New Business Analysis BA Collective Video Webcast Series

Requirements Definition and Management: The Key to Business Success

Requirements Definition and Management: The Key to Business Success

Coming Soon! - BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK - IT Resource Network for Business Analysts

Coming Soon! - BUSINESS ANALYST NETWORK - IT Resource Network for Business Analysts

The Business Analyst Network is a resource network for the New Business Analyst. It will provide resources, careers and information on new technologies, methodologies and general trends in the industry impacting Business Analysts.

IIBA^TM Webinar: The Evolving Role of the Business Analyst