Reflections on the 2012 BA Conference Europe.

1. REFLECTIONS
BA Conference Europe 2012
BSG (UK) Business Analysts recently attended the
Business Analysis Conference Europe 2012 . Shortly after
the conference, the BSG delegates collectively identified a
number of trends which cropped up across the conference
topics.
It is our vision that the BAs should not be part of the IT function
BA profession If BAs are to be the key change facilitators within an organisation, it’s important that they are
becomes recognised as positioned where they can drive change from a benefits perspective rather than a technology
the agents of change capability perspective. Just as it is recognised that software projects should be business led
across the enterprise. rather than technology led, so should the agents of change driving these projects (i.e. BAs).
Admittedly, it’s not uncommon for BAs to have an IT bias. Many BAs began their careers within
IT and the discipline itself was born out of designing software projects. As the profession
matures, so should its ability to establish credibility within the organisation as a business
change function rather than simply as part of the IT function.
BAs should focus on outcomes, not products
BAs have to be asking themselves “By producing this project product (e.g. document), am I
really going to allow my stakeholder to meet their overall objective?” In order to do this, it’s
crucial that we understand our customers’ “why” and how this project enables it.
 What is their strategic ambition?
 How does this project’s outcome enable that strategic ambition?
 How does this project product enable the project to deliver the project outcome?
As BAs, we need to continuously check ourselves to ensure that the work we are doing speaks
to this bigger picture. We need to be adding value, not merely adding words to a page.
The Business Analysis skillset has inherent value
The BA skillset allows organisations to repeatedly design and deliver meaningful change. This
is not a function of being an expert in a particular industry or product, it is a function of having
the skills and experience to drive change. By introducing a structured approach to problem
solving and solution design, BAs are able to take transformative roles and drive change.
Typically at BSG we try and use blended teams who have a mix of domain knowledge (often
these team members are client stakeholders) and BA expertise. Domain knowledge is
important, but core BA skills have a significant contribution to make in their own right.
BAs need a meaningful elevator pitch
How do you respond to The BA profession is slowly becoming more recognised but it remains difficult to explain to a
the question “So tell layman what we do. We need to be able to say, without hesitation, “A BA is someone who …”
We need to be consistent in this messaging within our own organisations, across the
me, what does a BA
profession and outwardly to the business community. If we can’t consistently advocate the
really do?” benefits we deliver and how we deliver them, how will our customers put their faith in us to
drive change across their business?
Business Systems Group (UK), Registered in England No. 6150570, 230 City Road, London, EC1V2TT
www.bsgdelivers.com // @bsguk
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2. REFLECTIONS
BA Conference Europe 2012
The new ‘wave’ of design is people focused, not task or
process focused
The technique of “Design Thinking” was a hot topic at the BA Conference with a number of
talks incorporating an aspect of this. Design thinking focuses on a creative process based
around the building up of ideas through monitoring people in their day-to-day routines. The
key message delivered was that no matter how great the solution you design, how many bells
and whistles it has, or how technically sound it seems to be, if it doesn’t meet the need of the
person who’s going to be using it, unfortunately it’s going to fall flat. BAs should not forget that
the best solution is always the one that has the customer at its core.
Documents are no longer good eno ugh
The drive to move away from compiling thudware (large documents) toward using
collaborative, interactive communication platforms is gaining momentum. Ideally these are
online, intuitive to use and provide ready traceability across the design. A quick poll of the
audience in attendance in a particular session highlighted that nearly half of the organisations
were already using such technologies and seeing the benefit in their day-to-day work.
BAs are more than just scribes
It’s becoming more and more evident among other professions (our customers) of the value
that a BA can add in effecting positive change within their organisation. After all, BAs identify
meaningful requirements and enable solutions to be delivered. However, all too often the BA
has historically been seen as someone who just “takes orders”, i.e. writes up someone else’s
vision into a large document. The scribe role is not particularly value adding for the customer
nor is it inspiring for the BA.
The profession needs to continue to advocate that we are more than just scribes. More
importantly, BA practitioners will only build this credibility through repeatedly delivering on
our ambition of being proactive agents of change.
In closing, a reflection
It was inspiring to witness first-hand the optimism within the wider BA community about the
future of our profession. A recurring theme observed in many presentations during the 3 day
event – from keynote speakers to seasoned analysts – referred to the prominent rise of the BA
in the ‘information age’. Even more encouraging was observing how the message seemed to
resonate: delegates were consciously rallying together to take up the challenge with the
knowledge that they would be key to success in the future and be seen as the leaders of
change, guiding their respective companies through the turbulence that is inevitably part of
the journey.
At BSG we are passionate To reference conference material, please visit http://www.irmuk.co.uk/ba2012/.
about design and delivery
of change which makes a David Reinhardt, a BSG (UK) Principal Consultant, delivered a session titled “Learn to Speak
Analyst”. The talk focused on three “orders of Business Analysis” and how the analytical
difference for our toolset allows BAs to progress from being merely a scribe to being a proactive agent of change.
customers and their The presentation, with speaker notes can be found here http://bit.ly/learnspeakanalyst.
customers.
A collection of BSG (UK) BA practitioner www.bsgdelivers.com // @bsguk
insight can be found at +44 20 7390 8674
http://bit.ly/bsgukinsight info@bsguk.co.uk
Business Systems Group (UK), Registered in England No. 6150570, 230 City Road, London, EC1V2TT