![]() “We’re delivering more valuable software faster simply because we have a solid understanding of the business process. “What we all want is to deliver the right solution the first time, with a greatly reduced time–to-market for the solution,” says Elston. Why is a product owner asking for a new software or a software change? And now, with a clear, deep and consolidated view of business requirements and business processes, all stakeholders-the BA, the product owner and the developer-are better equipped and more quickly able to identify the issues at the root of any request. ![]() ![]() “It allows the team to very quickly reach a collective understanding, ask more poignant questions and identify “gotcha scenarios” that can really cause delays if discovered later in the software development process.” “Blueworks helps from the standpoint of acquiring business process knowledge and it allows our BAs to map out their understanding of the business process before involving the product owner, who can later vet the BAs understanding,” says Law. Often the product owners gain insight into their own processes when participating in the business process modeling exercise. Only the BAs hold editor licenses in Blueworks Live, which gives them sole responsibility for creating process models, but it also positions product owners in an advisory role, so they may impart their knowledge of their business processes to the BA. The first step BAs are now encouraged to take when approached by a product owner is to review the as-is process using IBM Blueworks Live, which provides everyone involved with a single frame of reference. They’re able to get more clarity about the reasons why a product owner wants a change.” “Teams can build an accurate picture of what’s happening today in those business processes, and clearly understand exactly where the issues are and potential enhancements that need to be made. “IBM Blueworks Live software provides the right structure and accountability for the BAs to leverage with their software developers, scrum masters and product owners,” says Law. “We relied upon the product owner’s understanding of the existing business processes.” “Without having the insight that comes from actually mapping a business process, we weren’t able to consistently make that evaluation,” says Elston. In an effort to address the situation, Insperity enlisted the support of IBM Blueworks Live, a business process modeling software, to help identify where process changes may be the best solution. When appropriate, this typically results in a much less expensive alternative. Sometimes a business need can be addressed by tweaking a process rather than developing new software. “Our teams would often have a partial understanding of touch points and interfaces in their heads.” Business process modeling was often limited to drawings on dry-erase boards, and documentation was informal and ad hoc.īuilding consensus with business process modelingīAs needed better visibility and insight into processes across business units. Law, Insperity’s informal workflow environment sometimes produced a fragmented grasp of business processes. However, they didn’t know exactly which business processes were executed on a daily basis, so the BAs did not have the insight they needed, which made it more difficult to build software,” says Mr. “We’re an agile group, so our BAs were meeting once or twice a week with business owners gathering their requirements. As a result, they instituted a program called, Putting the Business Back in Business Analysis. Law and Elston recognized that their BAs, while well-versed in technology and Insperity’s agile development practices, needed a deeper understanding of business processes. It’s the BAs’ job to help ensure that the end-products from all development teams align with the product owners’ business requirements. Gary Law and his colleague, Lance Elston, are Business Analysis Managers with Insperity, co-managing a group of 20 business analysts (BAs), each of whom serves as a liaison between Insperity’s 17 line-of-business managers/product owners and the company’s teams of application developers. Business challenge story Overcoming a fragmented view of business processes
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