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Make the Case for Enterprise Business Analysis

Putting the strategic and tactical puzzle together.

  • It can be difficult to secure alignment between the many lines of business, IT included, in your organization.
  • Historically, we have drawn a dividing line between IT and "the business.”
  • The reality of organizational politics and stakeholder bias means that, with selection and prioritization, sometimes the highest value option is dismissed to make way for the loudest voice’s option.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • Enterprise business analysis can help you stop the debate between IT and “the business,” as it sees everyone as part of the business. It can effectively break down silos, support the development of holistic strategies to address internal and external risks, and remove the bias and politics in decision making all too common in organizations.
  • The business analyst is the only role that can connect the strategic with the tactical, the systems, and the operations and do so objectively. It is the one source to show how people, process, and technology connect and relate, and the most skilled can remove bias and politics from their lens of view.
  • Maturity can’t be rushed. Build your enterprise business analysis program on a solid foundation of leading and consistent business analysis practices to secure buy-in and have a program that is sustainable in the long term.

Impact and Result

Let’s make the case for enterprise business analysis!

  • Organizations that have higher business analysis maturity and deploy enterprise analysis deliver better quality outcomes, with higher value, lower cost, and higher user satisfaction.
  • Business analysts should be contributing at the strategic level, as they need to understand multiple horizons simultaneously and be able to zoom in and out as the context calls for it. Business analysts aren’t only for projects.

Make the Case for Enterprise Business Analysis Research & Tools

1. Make the Case for Enterprise Business Analysis Storyboard – Take your business analysis from tactics to strategy.

2. Communicate the Case for Enterprise Business Analysis Template – Make the case for enterprise business analysis.


Make the Case for Enterprise Business Analysis

Putting the strategic and tactical puzzle together.

Analyst Perspective

We commonly recognize the value of effective business analysis at a project or tactical level. A good business analysis professional can support the business by identifying its needs and recommending solutions to address them.
Now, wouldn't it be great if we could do the same thing at a higher level?
Enterprise (or strategic) business analysis is all about seeing that bigger picture, an approach that makes any business analysis professional a highly valuable contributor to their organization. It focuses on the enterprise, not a specific project or line of business.
Leading the business analysis effort at an enterprise level ensures that your business is not only doing things right, but also doing the right things; aligned with the strategic vision of your organization to improve the way decisions are made, options are analyzed, and successful results are realized.

Vincent Mirabelli

Vincent Mirabelli
Principal Research Director, Applications Delivery and Management
Info-Tech Research Group

Executive Summary

Your Challenge

  • Difficulty properly aligning between the many lines of business in your organization.
  • Historically, we have drawn a dividing line between IT and the business.
  • The reality of organizational politics and stakeholder bias means that, with selection and prioritization, sometimes the highest value option is dismissed in favor of the loudest voice.

Common Obstacles

  • Difficulty aligning an ever-changing backlog of projects, products, and services while simultaneously managing risks, external threats, and stakeholder expectations.
  • Many organizations have never heard of enterprise business analysis and only see the importance of business analysts at the project and delivery level.
  • Business analysis professionals rarely do enough to advocate for a seat at the strategic tables in their organizations.

Info-Tech's Approach

Let's make the case for enterprise business analysis!

  • Organizations that have higher business analysis maturity and deploy enterprise business analysis deliver better quality outcomes with higher value, lower cost, and higher user satisfaction.
  • Business analysts aren't only for projects. They should contribute at the strategic level, since they need to understand multiple horizons simultaneously and be able to zoom in and out as the context requires.

Info-Tech Insight

Enterprise business analysis can help you reframe the debate between IT and the business, since it sees everyone as part of the business. It can effectively break down silos, support the development of holistic strategies to address internal and external risks, and remove bias and politics from decision making.

Phase 1

Build the case for enterprise business analysis

Phase 1

Phase 2

1.1 Define enterprise business analysis

1.2 Identify your pains and opportunities

2.1 Set your vision

2.2 Define your roadmap and next steps

2.3 Complete your executive communications deck

This phase will walk you through the following activities:

  • 1.1.1 Discuss how business analysis is used in our organization
  • 1.1.2 Discuss your disconnects between strategy and tactics
  • 1.2.1 Identify your pains and opportunities

This phase involves the following participants:

  • Business analyst(s)
  • Organizational business leaders
  • Any other relevant stakeholders

How business analysis supports our success today

Delivering value at the tactical level

Effective business analysis helps guide an organization through improvements to processes, products, and services. Business analysts "straddle the line between IT and the business to help bridge the gap and improve efficiency" in an organization (CIO, 2019).
They are most heavily involved in:

  • Defining needs
  • Modeling concepts, processes, and solutions
  • Conducting analysis
  • Maintaining and managing requirements
  • Managing stakeholders
  • Monitoring progress
  • Doing business analysis planning
  • Conducting elicitation

In a survey, business analysts indicated that of their total working time, they spend 31% performing business analysis planning and 41% performing elicitation and analysis (PMI, 2017).

By including a business analyst in a project, organizations benefit by:
(IAG, 2009)

87%

Reduced time overspending

75%

Prevented budget overspending

78%

Reduction in missed functionality

Make the Case for Enterprise Business Analysis preview picture

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

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Author

Vince Mirabelli

Contributors

  • Danelkis Serra, IIBA
  • Jamie Champagne, Champagne Collaborations
  • Jennifer Battan, The Uncommon League
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