Business Requirement to Project Delivery

Basic Business Analysis Lifecycle

1. Project Plan

Planning includes creating a work plan. Planning is a team event. You need to collaborate with business users, stakeholders throughout the phase of the project. Every day is not a Sunday similarly no two projects are same. You may have large or small, complex or simple projects but planning is critical part of every project. As a Business Analyst the primary role during planning is scope of the effort.

2. Project Scope

Before starting to define and documenting project scope we need to know why the project has been initiated and goals of the project. The business analyst needs to thoroughly analyze business problems before jumping to a solution. We can identify the opportunity or problem the company needs to address.

3. Analyze and Communicate Requirements.

As a Business Analyst this is very important part of requirement gathering. As a business analyst you need the understand business needs and find the root cause of business problems. Then you discuss the requirements with business users and stakeholders. You must communicate the requirements effectively and efficiently to all the parties. The task also involves categorizing the requirements and ensure the project is solving the right problem.

4. Design

Once the requirements are gathered and approved by the business users the development team starts working on implementing the solutions as stated in the requirement document. The business analyst should be available to support the design and development team even though it’s not his expertise area. If the business analyst who knows the system in and out can work with development team more efficiently.

5. Build Solution.

Once all the requirements are gathered then the business and project team need to make a decision whether to build the system internally, outsource the project and buy a prepackaged solutions. At the same you role is to ensure the solutions stills meets the business need as stated in the business requirements. In the mean time you can start working on test cases or scenarios.

6. Test Solution.

After the solution has been designed you need to validate the business needs raised during the project are met. You work with test team to ensure the solution are met as stated in the requirements. The business analyst needs to work with test team to make sure their no bugs in the systems. The business analyst can perform sanity testing or ask test team to perform. Once we complete the testing we can ask business users to do the testing before the solutions is implemented in the main environment.

7.  Implement

Once all the solution are built into the system you want business users to use the solution. You work with business users and stakeholders as the solutions rolls out. You need to train the users and make them comfortable with solutions. Regardless of how great your solution is the individuals impacted by it determine the success or failure of the project. The big part of your change management plan is managing stakeholders’ experience with change. Failing to address human side of the change the project is bound to fail.

8. Post-implementation Review.

When the solution are implemented the business analyst need to make sure the goals in the project are being met. If you find out that something is missing you need to start another project to fulfill all the needs of the business users and stakeholders and is solving their problems. There is problem with your car and you take the car for repairing. Once the car is repaired you tend to check the car. But if you still feel there is a problem with the car you ask mechanic to recheck the car. Similarly as a business analyst you do the same thing with the project. You validate that your implemented solution solve the business problems.