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
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

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)