Project+ objective-1-6-Explain the different types of organizational structures.

1-6-Explain the different types of organizational structures.
• Functional
• Weak matrix
• Matrix
• Strong matrix
• Projectized

Project+ objective-1-5-Outline the process groups of the project life cycle.

1-5-Outline the process groups of the project life cycle.
• Initiating/pre-project setup
• Planning
• Executing
• Monitoring/controlling
• Closing

Project+ objective-1-4-Explain the components of a project charter

1-4-Explain the components of a project charter
• Key project deliverables
• High-level milestones
• High-level cost estimates
• Identify stakeholders
• General project approach
• Problem statement
• High-level assumptions
• High-level constraints
• High-level risks
• Project objectives

Project+ objective-1-3-Summarize the steps required to validate a project.

1-3-Summarize the steps required to validate a project.
• Validate business case
   - Feasibility analysis
   - Justification for project
   - Alignment to strategic plan

• Identify and analyze stakeholders

Project+ objective-1-2-Identify the characteristics of a project

1-2-Identify the characteristics of a project
• Temporary endeavor
• Delivers a unique product or service
• Constrained by time
• Resources and quality

Project+ objective-1-1- Explain the requirements to complete a pre-project setup

Reference

Explain the requirements to complete a pre-project setup.
• Identify the project
   It is a temporary endeavor that has a definite beginning and ending dates, and it's result is unique product, service, or results.  If the goals are set out to accomplish and fulfilled and the stakeholders are satisfied with the results, then the project is considered successful.  Projects also bring out products, services or results that never existed before. This may include creating tangible goods, implementing software, writing a book, planning and implementing events and more.
They are unique, temporary
• Validate the project
• Prepare a project charter
• Obtain approval (signature) for project charter

Business Analyst required skills - Analytical

Understanding the present state with what and how questions.

--What information is valuable to gather and analyze?  Need to differentiate valuable information and noise
--How do we analyze the gathered information?
--What kinds of analysis are most effective and helpful?
--How do we contexualize the information that has been analyzed?

Define the desired future state

--What is the optimal outcome given project and/or business objectives?
-- What evidence do we have that this is optimal outcome?
-- How can we ensure the proposed solution leads to the most optimal solution
-- How can we verify the solution remains aligned to the business objectives as it is developed and deployed?

Determine How to get there

-- What are the organizations current competencies
-- What competencies are required to move to the required desired future state?
--Does the expected benefits exceed the expected cost?
Technical

Business Analyst

Discovery and analysis of information,
Investigating Stakeholders needs,
Determine underlying issues and identify opportunities

Understand the current state of the organization as a whole or the certain subset that is impacted by the problem. Where are we?

Define the desired future state.  Where do we want to go? Why do we want to go there?

Determine how to get from present state to future state.
Understand what capabilities existed till now, what capability need to exist in the future in order to get to the desired future state, Provide recommendations on the road map that needs to be followed to get from present state to future state.

Defining Business Analysis and the steps of Business Analysis

Business Analysis is the practice of enabling change in an organizational context, by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders. The set of tasks and techniques that are used to perform business analysis are defined in A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK®Guide).


1. Determine problems and identify the business needs
-Notice a problem
-Someone brings attention to a problem (stakeholder or executive) that there is an issue and need call for an action.
- What opportunity is currently available by comparing our goals to current situation and identify gaps, look for root cause analysis to understand the underlying issue so that we can fix it.

2. Identify and recommend viable solutions to meet needs
-Interview different stakeholders, SMEs and come up with potential viable solution.


3. Elicit, document and manage stakeholder requirements to meet business and project objectives
- come to a consensus as to what needs to be done

4. Facilitate implementation of the product, service or the end result of the project or program

The impact of Outsourcing

Recognizing the lack of expertise and to reduce cost, organizations have outsourced to specialized IT services with the belief that specialized providers will be able to deliver higher quality at lower cost often working in the countries where cost are lower. This means the IT Systems are designed, developed  and delivered using staff employed by external supplier. The external supplier gains an additional customer and an opportunity to make a profit from contractual agreement.

The customer who outsourced is not concerned about staffing, infrastructure and support issues since they pay the specialized provider for delivery of the required services.


to be continued......

Business Analysis Origin

Business Operations and management decision making have been focused on development of new services and projects.  The focus has been what IT can do to harness business opportunities while enhancing portfolio of products and services. In addition, assess what needs to change in the organization to fully benefit from the new or enhanced IT system.

Organizations can reach out to customers, connect the system with supplies and provide global operations support with flexible communication. This allows organizations to focus on their key core processes and competencies in which they have the specialization without the distractions in areas where they do not have specialized skills.

Organizations can gain considerable market share by investing in IT Architecture that support delivery and business growth.  Absence of good information systems prevents an organization from developing competitive advantage.  IT Systems do not deliver the predicted benefits with projects continuing to overrun their budget by significant amt and poor communication between business and technical experts.  This has resulted in need for in-depth business analysis.