Building Business Analyst Practice

Delta Technology Case Study

Delta Technology required consistent methodology to more successfully gather and clearly document requirements. ESI International and Delta Technology chose a training program that created a baseline for success and ensured consistency in gathering and documenting requirements.

As DT began relying more and more upon the use of outsourcing for its mid-tier server engineering and limited application development, the company identified the need among its employees for a consistent methodology to more successfully gather and clearly document requirements.

In developing what DT called its Business Analyst Practice, the company was faced with several Delta Technologykey decisions. These included determining:

• If the Practice would be centralized or decentralized
• If all 90 of its business analysts would be included in the Practice
• Whether business analysts would sit within the Practice or within their specific project areas

The centralization issue was particularly complicated because most of DT’s business analysts are also subject matter experts in their respective areas. As a result, they’re often involved in tasks that stretch beyond business analysis. This, obviously, makes centralization difficult. DT determined that in order to succeed, its business analysts must be able to fulfill their specific roles and then move on to their next projects. So, DT decided to keep its current decentralized group and also create a centralized group of business analysts within the Practice to be “matrixed” to various projects.

The Strategy
Upon creation of its Business Analyst Practice, DT implemented a number of successful initiatives, including the use of SharePoint^™ to post and share information throughout the company, and the implementation of a coaching and mentoring program. They also more clearly defined their business analysts’ responsibilities based on a newly created Business Analysis Lifecycle, which aligned with the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA^™) Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^™ (BABOK^™).

Still, to create and maintain a consistent methodology organization wide, which was its ultimate goal, DT knew that it needed to provide its employees with a comprehensive training program. For that, in January 2006, they turned to the leader in project management and business analysis training, ESI International.

Together, ESI and leaders from DT chose a training program that would create a baseline for success and ensure consistency in gathering and documenting requirements. The program consists of a suite of courses from ESI’s curricula in business analysis and project management along with a four-hour workshop for managers that presents the expectations for the program and how it will ultimately benefit the organization.

Results
The initial phase of the ESI – DT training program lasted nine months and – despite the usual corporate challenges, including resistance to change and adaptation of new processes – it was a rousing success. In April 2007, DT found itself with a core team of business analysts equipped with the skills to coach and mentor others and to promote a set of best practices and consistent methodologies.

The Next Step
With Phase One of training complete, ESI and DT are now preparing to begin Phase Two, which will not only enhance the newly established coaching and mentoring program, but will help DT’s business analysts continue to effectively develop metrics, governance standards and assessment methodologies. The focus will be on identifying any existing knowledge and skill gaps as well as identifying any opportunities to further increase the overall effectiveness of DT’s approach to business analysis.