Attention:
This article is my view about the “new” role of Business Analysts in Enterprise Agile.
Article Content:
Let’s be honest about it. All technologies involve change, and we think you’ll agree that some things can keep you awake at night a whole lot more than others.
For instance, agile brings many advantages but also brings change. In fact, a battery of change – people roles, processes, tools, money – just like Dave Thomas (CEO at Bedarra Research Labs) said in our “CIO Power Panel” at NextStep 2012.
Let’s focus on people role changes. And before we move on, we want to be clear that everyone is important in an agile team.
All roles change, some more than others. The role that changes most is the Business Analysts (BA). Agile projects rely on BA as the basis for planning, development, and delivering business value – they are the glue to the agile team.
So if you are (or will be) working with this “new” agile BA, or become BA, you must be wondering how your life will change. For instance:
- Should you bring a new BA, convert an IT people, or empower a business owner to this new business role?
- Where should the agile BA be located? On the developers or product owners teams? Do they need to have the full picture of the area, or sub-area of your company?
- What exactly does an agile BA? If you are a BA, how will your activities differ from those of traditional development?
- Should all requests be channeled through BA? How to handle the extra hurdles in governance and people? How to get the several towers (business, IT, User Interface) on the same side?
| This CIO Power Panel” answers all the questions above and more, without holding anything back. It only takes 15 minutes, and can make a remarkable difference to the results of your current (or next) agile project. Watch it here. |  |
P.S. And even if you are not involved in an agile project, for sure you will take, at least, one good idea that you can implement. For instance, how your IT department can have several BA without any costs. See how, here.
Author Information:
Maria Spínola helps High-Tech companies generate more leads and close more business by translating complex technologies into clear business benefits.
