Agile Business Analysis Enterprise Analysis
Today I am discussing the tasks from the BABOK associated with Enterprise Analysis. These are the tasks to understand what the enterprise is capable of performing. There are five tasks associated with Enterprise Analysis. Again, I show the BABOK® purpose. Then I discuss the impact on who and how in projects leveraging progressive elaboration, incremental delivery, close customer engagement, ongoing learning, and self organization
Task: Define Business Need
| Purpose | Agile Impact |
| The definition of the business need is frequently the most critical step in any business analysis effort. The business need defines the problem that the business analyst is trying to find a solution for. The way the business need is defined determines which alternative solutions will be considered, which stakeholders will be consulted, and which solution approaches will be evaluated. | In mature Agile projects, the business need is determined up front by the Product Owner. This happens on an Agile project in a similar fashion that it happens on non-Agile projects. However, during the course of the effort, the business need is continuously reviewed and updated as appropriate. |
Task: Assess Capability Gaps
| Purpose | Agile Impact |
| To identify new capabilities required by the enterprise to meet the business need. | On an Agile project, this occurs not just at the start of the project – but throughout the project in retrospectives and operational reviews. This is not performed by the Business Analyst, but is performed cooperatively by the team. |
Task: Determine Solution Approach
| Purpose | Agile Impact |
| To determine the most viable solution approach to meet the business need in enough detail to allow for definition of solution scope and prepare the business case. | Agile development provides a faster delivery of value than traditional methods. It also supports incremental delivery so the Solution Approach can be evolved over the course of the project. This approach allows a different bargain to be struck with the business regarding determining the solution. |
Task: Define Solution Scope
| Purpose | Agile Impact |
| To define which new capabilities a project or iteration will deliver. | The Scope of Agile projects evolves during the course of the project as the team learns more about ways to solve the problem and the customer preferences for a solution. The scope is defined in higher level abstractions (themes, epics, etc) and is detailed as the project evolves. |
Task: Define Business Case
| Purpose | Agile Impact |
| To determine if an organization can justify the investment required to deliver a proposed solution. | The business case for Agile projects are typically based on achieving a specific business outcome within a specified cost and time. The business case is revisited frequently as the team learns what it can deliver, how well it meets the real (not perceived) needs, and whether the business outcome can be achieved within the specified cost and time. |
Enterprise Analysis Agile Summary
All of the tasks in Enterprise Analysis are important on Agile projects. The primary distinctions in this Knowledge area are contributing to the continuous improvements of the organizations ability to deliver as well as the emergence of the business need through the project.
Tags: Agile, Big Agile, Business Analysis
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