1. Business Analyst as
Scrum Product Owner
Craig Brown
BA World Symposium, 2009

2. Introduction notes
In this presentation I plan to elaborate on one of the several ways business analysts
can step into the role of product owner.
Who else is more suited than the masters of bridging gaps, delivering business value
and getting things done?
The first part of this talk runs through some generally accepted definitions of a
business analyst’s role. I then briefly talk about the basics of scrum before diving into
a more in-depth exploration of the Product Owner role (in enterprise contexts.) Lastly
I talk about some of the areas I believe that BA’s may need to adjust their thinking
when moving from a traditional BA role to the PO role.
This conversation is far from over and your contribution to the discussion is most
welcome.
Craig Brown
www.betterprojects.net

3. Sponsored by IGL
Ingena Group Limited
Level 8, 30 Collins Street, Melbourne Vic 3000
www.ingena.com.au

4. What is a business analyst?

5. In 2007 and 08 I surveyed job descriptions for BAs to see what hiring organisations
were looking for from business analysts. This is what I found.

6. This role encompasses more than the ability to document processes
and apply technological expertise.
…wherever they sit, Business Analysts must be great communicators,
tactful diplomats, problem solvers, thinkers and analysers - with the
ability to understand and respond to user needs in rapidly changing
business environments.
We define the purpose of the role of the Business Analyst as being
ultimately responsible for ensuring that organisations get the most
from their limited IT and change management resource.
Guy Beachamp
http://www.businessanalystsolutions.com/what_is_a_business_analyst2.htm

7. “...the most successful and valuable analysts are
those who understand the "Business" rather than
those who understand IT.”
“A broad experience of business is required, the
more varied, the better.”
Derrick Brown and Jan Kusiak,
IRM Training Pty Ltd

8. The role of the BA differs from the role of the
Project Manager in that the BA is responsible for
defining and managing the scope of a business
solution, while the PM is responsible for the work
necessary to implement that solution.
IIBA blurb
http://www.theiiba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=What_s_a_BA_

9. Business analysts often play a critical role in
aligning the needs of business units with the
capabilities delivered by information technology,
and may serve as a translator between those two
groups.
It includes the definition of organizational goals,
how those goals connect to specific objectives,
determining the course of action that an
organization has to undertake to achieve those
goals and objectives, and defining how the
various organizational units and stakeholders
within and outside of that organization interact
BABOK v2

10. A Business Analyst is a professional who supports
the evolution and implementation of business
decisions via the application of specialist
analytical tools, techniques and procedures.
Brenda Treasure and Martin Vaughn
Core Consulting for ABAA in Business Analysis Competency Framework
http://www.abaa.org.au/cms/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=66

11. As a BA, I find my client area is glad to have
someone to deal with that “techo” stuff and
therefore the challenge is to ensure a level of
common understanding and “getting the business
system right” first time.
Maria Horrigan,
SMS Technology
www.barocks.com

12. The professional business analyst… differs from
traditional IS analysts in that it focuses almost
exclusively on adding value to the business”
Kathleen Haas, Management Concepts

13. Business Analysts get the job done. It's that
simple - they get the job done. When everyone
else retreats, gives up, waffles or disassociates
from the job the analyst gets the job done.
HM Winning
Trials and Tribulations of a Business Analyst,
IT Toolbox
http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/business-analyst/what-is-a-business-analyst-here-you-go-24325

14. Business Technical

15. What is a
‘Product
Owner’

16. Alexa Page rank search

17. Laura Brandau
Bridging-the-gap.com

18. Laura Brandau
Bridging-the-gap.com

19. Scrum…

20. …which is an agile thing

21. The Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and
helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and over processes and tools
interactions
over comprehensive
Working software
documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right,
we value the items on the left more

22. The Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and
helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and
Scrum over processes and tools
interactions
over comprehensive
Working software
documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right,
we value the items on the left more

23. The Agile Manifesto
We are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and
helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:
Individuals and over Scrum
processes and tools
interactions
over comprehensive
Working software
documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan
That is, while there is value in the items on the right,
we value the items on the left more

24. Principles behind the Agile Manifesto
1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the 1. Working software is the primary measure of
customer through early and continuous progress.
delivery of valuable software.
2. Agile processes promote sustainable
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late development. The sponsors, developers, and
in development. Agile processes harness users should be able to maintain a constant
change for the customer's competitive pace indefinitely.
advantage.
3. Continuous attention to technical
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a excellence and good design enhances
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with agility.
a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the
4. Business people and developers must work amount of work not done--is essential.
together daily throughout the project.
5. The best architectures, requirements, and
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. designs emerge from self-organizing
Give them the environment and support teams.
they need, and trust them to get the job
6. At regular intervals, the team reflects on
done.
how to become more effective, then tunes
6. The most efficient and effective method of and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-face
conversation.

25. Principles behind the Agile Manifesto
• Our highest priority is to satisfy the • Working software is the primary measure of
customer through early and continuous progress.
delivery of valuable software.
• Agile processes promote sustainable
• Welcome changing requirements, even development. The sponsors, developers, and
late in development. Agile processes users should be able to maintain a constant
harness change for the customer's pace indefinitely.
competitive advantage.
• Continuous attention to technical
• Deliver working software frequently, from a excellence and good design enhances
couple of weeks to a couple of months, with agility.
a preference to the shorter timescale.
• Simplicity--the art of maximizing the
• Business people and developers must work amount of work not done--is essential.
together daily throughout the project.
• The best architectures, requirements, and
• Build projects around motivated individuals. designs emerge from self-organizing
Give them the environment and support teams.
they need, and trust them to get the job
• At regular intervals, the team reflects on
done.
how to become more effective, then tunes
• The most efficient and effective method of and adjusts its behavior accordingly.
conveying information to and within a
development team is face-to-face
conversation.

26. Scrum’s three aspects

27. Sprint
Process

28. People
(agile scrum)
team Scrum master Product Owner
1,510,000 292,000 35,100

29. People
(agile scrum)
team Scrum master Product Owner
1,510,000 292,000 35,101

30. The product owner
• Assure team is pursuing a common vision
• Establish priorities to track business value
• Act as ‘the customer’ for developer questions
• Work with product management to plan releases
• Plan, elaborate and accept user stories and iterations
• Technical: understand and prioritize refactoring and infrastructure
Dean Leffingwell,
Scaling Software Agility

31. User Stories
(We’ll come back to that)

32. The issue for BA’s assuming the Product Owner role is ‘authority’
Rochelle Glover, Fronde
http://www.fronde.com/blog/?p=318

33. C.R.A.C.K.
Analysts
(Barry Boehm, Richard Turner)
Collaborative
Representative
Accountable
Committed
Knowledgeable

34. Products (Deliverables)

35. Pre-sprint work

36. Post sprint
implementation
work

37. Pre sprint Sprint Post sprint

38. As a <user type>
I want to <achieve a goal>
So that I can <get some value>

39. INVEST
in good user stories

40. Plus
• Estimates*
• Release plan
• Acceptance
criteria
• “Acceptance”
* Don’t produce them, but
probably does report them

41. Plus
• Business Value
• Balancing
stakeholder needs
• Implementation
planning
• Selling the
solution

42. Plus
Constant interaction
with the dev team

43. Secrets to success
• Early and often
• Focus on value
• Release focus
• Avoid eating elephants
• Test first approach to requirements
• Done-Done (James Shore, The Art of Agile Development)
• Communication, communication,
communication (as usual)

44. Questions?
Craig Brown
www.betterprojects.net

45. View the notes page to see the credits and sources of the photos
Craig Brown
www.betterprojects.net
This work is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia License. To view a copy of this licence, visit
http://creativecommons.org/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California 94105, USA.