Agile Business Analysis

Dot Tudor

www.tcc-net.comBCS/ISEB Business Analysis, PRINCE2, ITIL

Agile Approaches - DSDM Atern

Dot TudorDot Tudor Agile CoachAgile Coach Co-author BCS book “Business Analysis”Co-author BCS book “Business Analysis” DSDM Practitioner/Trainer/ExaminerDSDM Practitioner/Trainer/Examiner PRINCE2 Practitioner/Lead TrainerPRINCE2 Practitioner/Lead Trainer Fellow of the British Computer Society Fellow of the British Computer Society GlobalFN / IAF Certified Professional GlobalFN / IAF Certified Professional

FacilitatorFacilitator DSDM Consortium DirectorDSDM Consortium Director TCC Technical DirectorTCC Technical Director

We need to be Agile …

What does “Agile” mean to you?

Write down 5 key words to describe it

What is Agile?In the late 1990's several methodologies emphasized:

• close collaboration between developers and business experts;

• face-to-face communication (as more efficient than written documentation);

• frequent delivery of new deployable business value;

• tight, self-organizing teams;

• ways to work such that the inevitable requirements churn was not a crisis.

close collaboration

self-organizing teams

frequent delivery

face-to-face communication

requirements churn not a crisis

Early 2001 saw a workshop in Snowbird, Utah, USA, where various originators and practitioners of these methodologies met to figure out just what it was they had in common. They picked the word "agile" for an umbrella term and crafted the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, whose most important part was a statement of shared values:

The Agile ManifestoWe are uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it. Through this work we have come to value:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools Working software over comprehensive documentation

Customer collaboration over contract negotiation Responding to change over following a plan

That is, while there is value in the items on the right, we value the items on the left more.

www.agilemanifesto.org

What the Experts say …“While interest in Agile has blossomed in the past few years, its roots go back more than a decade.

Teams using early versions of:- Scrum- DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method) - ASD (Adaptive Software Development)

were delivering successful projects in the 1990s”

Jim Highsmith – Director, Cutter Consortium

DSDM Atern is the only one that defines the role of the Business Analyst

B A

Business Analysis - the old way …!

Task:

• Specify the requirements (features) for a house you’d like to have someone build for you

(about 20 requirements)

Too Detailed Requirements

• Foundations• Walls• -----------• -----------• Bathroom• Kitchen • ------------• ------------• ------------• ------------

•Wallpaper•Jacuzzi Bath•----------•Sink•--------•Flooring•Plasma TV•Lighting•---------

•Square, pink basin•Satin steel taps•------------•Pop-up rubber plug•Chrome overflow•------------•Integrated soap dish•Tubular chrome frame•Chrome u-bend•Chrome waste pipe•------------

Agile Approach …Not the detailed Functional Spec. up front,

DeFunct.

Spec

High-level Prioritised Requirements

R1 ……… MR2 ……… MR3 ……… SR4………. SR5 ……… MR6 ……… MR7 ……… SR8 ……… SR9 ……… S…………. ………R76 ………C

… But …

… detail emerges later …

Prioritisation

MMust haveO

SShould have

CCould haveO

WWon’t have this time

MMSSCC

WWMM

Delivery Deadline

MMMSC

MMMSC

M

SCC

S

High-level PrioritisedRequirementsR1 ……… MR2 ……… MR3 ……… S

A Cunning, Timeboxed Plan!

Timebox Timebox Timebox Timebox

MMSC

M

FeasibilityPhase

FoundationsPhase

House Walls and roof

Bathroom Living room

Bedroom

Very High-level Requ’ts

Small but complete deliveries

Move in?

Group ExerciseYour task:

• Prioritise the top 20 High-Level requirements for the house you’d like to have built, to show at least the “Must Have” requirements

Note:

To PRIORITISE effectively you need a clearly-stated objective!

The BA and Agile Teams

How Teams work …

Task:

Job 1: WaterfallTurn all dice and move on as a batch

Job 2: AgileTurn dice one at a time and move each one on immediately

Job 3: Even more AgileWork out your own process

Agile, DSDM Teams self-directed small composed of users and developers with equal responsibility

Business and IT in PARTNERSHIP BA facilitates this partnership

underpinned by a team success approach

and a “no blame” culture

close collaboration

self-organizing teams

DSDM Atern Roles & Responsibilities

© DSDM Consortium 2007

© DSDM Consortium 2007

Atern Roles & Responsibilities

OBJECTIVES:

• Boundaries

• Decision

• Commitment

• Approval

Facilitated WorkshopsA team-based information gathering and decision making technique

• Business Analyst may facilitate

close collaborationface-to-face communication

The BIG delivery

Small but complete deliveries

Iterative and incrementalinvestigate refine consolidate

High-level PrioritisedRequirementsR1 ……… MR2 ……… MR3 ……… S

More Analysis Requirements detail emerges

Foundations

Modelling Perspectives

Locations and Network LinksWHERE

WHY

WHO

WHEN

WHAT HOW

Rationale, ends and means

People and Tasks

Events, time and scheduling

Data andRelationships

Processes and Inputs/Outputs

Why DSDM Atern?

• Recognises the importance of analysiswhere other agile approaches do not specify this.

• Recognises the role of BA

B A

DSDM Overview

GuidanceQuality and TestingConfiguration ManagementPlanningRiskEstimating

TeamsRoles and ResponsibilitiesGuidance on team working

8 PrinciplesBusiness FocusPeople, process, technology

TechniquesFacilitated WorkshopsPrototypingModellingTimeboxing

Philosophy80/20MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Wont Have)

Life-cycle(Framework)PhasesProductsobjectives

DSDM

The 8 Principles of Atern

Deliver on time

Collaborate

Never compromise quality

Develop iteratively

Build incrementally from firm foundations

Demonstrate control

Focus on the business need

Communicate continuously and clearly

© DSDM Consortium 2007

Summary: What is Agile Business Analysis?

• close collaboration between the development and business experts;

• face-to-face communication;

• frequent delivery of new deployable business value;

• tight, self-organizing teams, with BA as an integral part;

• ways to work such that the inevitable requirements churn is not a crisis.

… and the BA champions the developing requirements throughout

B A

Questions?