Kevin Brennan has posted a Mind Map snapshot of the revised introduction to version two of the BABOK™ on the IIBA Blog. He’s asking for comments and feedback so take a look and let him know what you think. Here’s the link to the specific blog post:

http://blog.theiiba.org/2008/08/babok-v2-introduction.html

This past April on Requirements Unplugged, we interviewed Mike Cottmeyer and Lee Henson with VersionOne regarding how an agile approach impacts the role of the analyst. As a follow-on to that, Mike and Lee have published a whitepaper titled “The Agile Business Analyst.” Download it here.

You know that survey we’ve been running for a while? Well, Teresa Lanowitz of Voke will be presenting the results of the survey in an upcoming, free webinar on Thursday, August 21st entitled “Business Analysts Empowered: Optimize global IT project teams through a Requirements Lifecycle”:

Theresa will discuss never before seen findings of a four month Voke Business Analyst research effort that includes:

• The Role and Practice of the Business Analyst in global IT organizations
• The Correlation of Project Success to Business Analyst led practices of Requirements Definition and Management
• The trends of how Business Analysts validate requirements for accuracy before project’s begin.

In part two of our webinar, Mark Sarbiewski, Sr. Director at HP Software and Matthew Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer at Blueprint will discuss how requirements definition and management have evolved into a lifecycle approach for a global world. Part two will explore how empowering business analysts with visual requirements definition combined with risk-based requirements management can ensure final application functionality maps directly to business needs.

You can sign up for it by clicking here.

Kevin Brennan of the IIBA has started a Business Analysis page on Google’s just-launched Knol, a competitor to Wikipedia. In case you’re curious, here’s what Wikipedia contributors had to say about business analysis.

Jonathan Babcock has written an interesting article about the factors behind selecting Agile or Classic PM/BA methodologies.   His article includes a chart which compares the two methodologies in a two-by-two matrix which looks at the type of organization contrasted against the top of projects and which methodology makes the most sense.

An excerpt from the conclusion:

 Obviously, there are holes to be poked in any simplified method of making complex decisions, and Chin acknowledges that, “[d]eciding to employ agile PM is not a simple, black-and-white question.”

For all its simplicity, I did find the agile/classic matrix to make quite a bit of sense. At the very least, the approach Chin used provides some useful insights that can help in deciding which management method best suits your situation.

If you get the chance, pick up the book. Chin provides much more detail on the topic in his book than I have in this simple summary. He includes several other factors that may influence the classic/agile question, and tackles numerous other agile project management topics.

So, what are your thoughts? Would you agree on the factors used? How would your decision matrix differ from Chin’s? As always, I’ll look forward to your input.

Read the article here:

Blueprint’s own VP of Products, Tony Higgins, has written a piece for SearchSoftwareQuality about how to maintain and enhance legacy applications, effectively by reverse-engineering their requirements:

The skills of a forensic detective are required to gain an understanding of a legacy application’s implementation and its purpose. This understanding is essential to reducing risk and to making development feasible. Understanding is achieved by identifying the possible sources of information, prioritizing them, filtering the relevant from the irrelevant, and piecing together a jigsaw puzzle that elucidates the evolution of the application that has grown and changed over time. This understanding then provides the basis for moving forward with the needed development and hopefully turning the corner, providing a foundation for subsequent development.

Learn how to be a detective, here.

In this week’s episode we sit down with Theresa Lanowitz from Voke, Inc. and discuss some of the surprising results emerging from the Business Analysis market study currently being conducted. We discuss the “why” and “how” of the study and then turn our attention to what the study is telling us. We dig into how the application lifecycle is transforming, how the Business Analyst role is changing, and what needs to take place in the tools market to support Business Analysis going forward.

Join us for this quick preview into the study and stay on top of what’s happening in your industry.

Download the podcast, or grab it in iTunes.

Welcome back to Requirements Unplugged with Season 2, Episode 1 of the podcast!

After taking a short break we’re ready to kick off season 2 with our first ever “on the road” recording. We decided to take our Snowball microphone to Vegas and capture live interviews from the exhibit room floor of HP Software Universe. This was a great opportunity for us to meet some of our listeners and conduct interviews with BAs, Quality Associates, and even a developer. We simply asked: “What does the requirements lifecycle look like in your organization, and what challenges are you facing with regards to it?” My thanks to those who stopped by and joined us for an interview.

Although we still intend to spend time with some of our industry experts, in Season 2 we will also be focused on conducting interviews with BAs in the field so we can get even more real-world insight into what’s happening in the Business Analysis field worldwide. If you would like to be on the show and share your own insights into the requirements lifecycle in your organization please send me an email (keith.barrett@requirments.net) and I’ll be in touch.

In our next episode we’ll be chatting with Theresa Lanowitz from Voke regarding the BA Market Study and some of its surprising findings. There’s still time to participate in the study by clicking on the “Survey” link in the top right hand corner of the Requirements.net homepage.

Click here to download the podcast, or download in iTunes.

Got questions about the BABOK™? We’ve got answers.

The BABOK, produced by the IIBA™, is quickly becoming the source of consolidated BA practices (Tasks/Techniques) in the industry. Although not really a “how to” guide for each of the techniques, of even more value, it helps connect the Task-to-Technique relationships which brings clarity to how we chart our course through the BA process.

In this episode of the podcast we talk with Kevin Brennan, Vice President, BABOK, to gain a better understanding of how the BABOK came to be, who is working on it, what its primary purpose is, and what’s changing from Version 1.6 to 2.0.

We also discuss how Version 2.0 impacts the CBAP exam and what/when we might expect in Version 3.0. If we don’t cover all your questions regarding the BABOK, just send us an email and we’ll address it in a future episode or directly with Kevin via email.

Click here to download the Episode (iTunes/Quicktime required), or click here to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes.

Voke Inc., one of the most respected analyst firms on the planet, is teaming with the Requirements.net team in putting together the first-ever BA market sizing survey. This is an incredible opportunity to participate in assisting in one of the industry’s first market-sizing reports focused on the emerging business analyst space.

As we discuss on this site and in the Requirements.net Podcast “Requirements Unplugged”, the traditional definition of business analyst is under transformation. Business Analysts are now considered an essential control point in the quality lifecycle, with requirements definition and management being a central part of their job description.

We invite you to be heard. Please take 5 minutes to complete this survey. Click here!