Transcript Professional Business Analyst Skills (IS 6008)

IS Consulting Process
(IS 6005)
Masters in Business Information Systems 2006 / 2007
Programme in Professional Information System Practices
Fergal Carton
Business Information Systems
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Opposing views of IT function
• Business Executives
view of IT
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Apprehensive
Technocracy
New feature focus
Little relevance to real
world
• IT executives view of
Business
– Short-sighted
– Lacking in vision
– Unwilling to exploit IT
Increasingly complex IT, rapidly changing economy
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
CEO view of IT function
• “Black hole of Calcutta”
• “What’s all the fuss about”?
• IT = operations
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
2 basic questions
• How to plan and prioritise ICT investments?
• How to manage ICT operations?
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Why is planning important?
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IT tends to evolve, not follow a plan
Difficult to align IT to corporate goals
Perception of poor “value” from IT
IT considered “too operational”
IT can constrain as well as enable
IT considered a major driver of cost
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Consulting Practice
• Typical consulting assignments:
– Select and justify investment in new s/w
– Improve IT planning process
– Advise on IT cost reduction costs
– Develop requirements for new system
– Build business case for new system
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Why look to consultants?
• Experience lacking internally
• Unable to resolve an issue
• Haven’t got the resources
• Need an unbiased opinion
• Organisational gridlock
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
IS: the symptoms
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Overspending : need to rationalise
Control: need to centralise
Efficiency: need to standardise
Unable to see return on investment
Outage risk: too reliant on IT?
IS organisation not performing
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Do you know more than the client?
• No, you’re not in their business
• Organisations are large and complex
• In discovery phase, you are unique
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Cross functional focus
Up to date
Neutral
Actual process (not Head Office version)
• “Internalise” what you are hearing
• Dealing with the “What do you think” trap
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
What do consultants do?
• Tell you what you already know?
• Guarantee project completion?
• Take ownership of issues?
• Energise an existing project team?
• Cost you a lot of money?
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
What do consultants not do?
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Give the answer up front
Give their services for free
Make a client look bad
Replace client’s own staff
Get involved in politics
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Information Systems
• Types of assistance
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High level strategy
Feasibility study
Requirements specification
Package selection
Understanding costs of IS operations
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• Know-how that you bring to the table
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Frameworks to present and prioritise requirements
Trading off requirements when you can’t do everything
Technology and business awareness: best practice
Project management skills
Communication skills
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MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Consulting process
• Process of consulting
– Understand the requirement
• Why is client using a consultant?
– What is the value you can bring to project?
– Writing a proposal
– Estimating FTE’s
• Project management
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Project phases and tasks
Project resources
Deliverables
Profitability of contract
Communication with
client
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
PPARS project
• Process of consulting
– Understand the requirement
• Why did HSE use a consultant?
– What was the value brought by Deloitte Touche?
• Project management
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Task definition?
Project resources?
Deliverables?
Profitability of contract?
Communication with
client?
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Topics covered
The IS Consulting Business:
• What does the IS Consultant do?
• Why do organizations engage consultants?
Managing Client Engagements:
• Making the sales pitch, writing a good proposal
• Requirements analysis and understanding the
client goals
• Task definition and project resources
• Preparing and presenting the solution options
Making the most of Client Relationships:
• Communication and selling on
• Building long-term client relationships
• Working your client base
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Case study approach
• Work in groups or individually
• Simulates consulting assignments
• Facilitates presentation / debate of findings
• Practical evaluations will be partly case based
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Marking scheme (draft)
• A group consulting assignment next term
– Worth 20%
– With presentation
• An individual assignment this term
– Worth 20%
– With presentation
• Written exam, May / June
– (worth 60%)
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Recommended text
• Rick Freedman (2000). The IT Consultant:
A Commonsense Framework for Managing
the Client Relationship.
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills
Reading for
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2
Oct
• Peter Keen, BPM, Future of IT
• http://www.actiontech.com/library/Documents/
ProtectedDocuments/BPMFutureofIT.pdf
MBS (BIS) / 6008 / Professional Business Analyst Skills