Kathleen B Hass - The Business Analyst as Strategist: Translating Business Strategies Into Valuable Solutions: Translating Business Strategies Into Valuable Solutions

The Business Analyst as Strategist

Translating Business Strategies
into Valuable Solutions

Kathleen B.Hass, PMP

8230 Leesburg Pike, Suite 800
Vienna, VA 22182
703.790.9595
Fax: 703.790.1371
www.managementconcepts.com

2008 by Management Concepts, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief quotations in review articles.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hass, Kathleen B.
The business analyst as strategist / Kathleen B. Hass.
p. cm. (Business analysis essential library)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56726-209-4 (alk. paper)
1. Business analysts. 2. Strategic planning. 3. Information technologyManagement. 4. Business planning. I. Title.
HD69.B87H368 2008
658.4012dc22

2007037989

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Kathleen Hass is the Project Management and Business Analysis Practice Leader for Management Concepts. Ms. Hass is a prominent presenter at industry conferences and is an author and lecturer in strategic project management and business analysis disciplines. Her expertise includes leading technology and software-intensive projects, building and leading strategic project teams, and conducting program management for large, complex engagements. Ms. Hass has more than 25 years of experience in project management and business analysis, including project portfolio management implementation, project office creation and management, business process reengineering, IT applications development and technology deployment, project management and business analysis training and mentoring, and requirements management. Ms. Hass has managed large, complex projects in the airline, telecommunications, retail, and manufacturing industries and in the U.S. federal government.

Ms. Hass consulting experience includes engagements with multiple agencies within the federal government, such as USDA, USGS, NARA, and an agency within the intelligence community, as well as industry engagements at Colorado Springs Utilities, Toyota Financial Services, Toyota Motor Sales, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Hilti US Inc., The SABRE Group, Sulzer Medica, and Qwest Communications. Client services have included maturity assessments, project quality and risk assessment, project launches, troubled project recovery, risk management, and implementation of program management offices, strategic planning, and project portfolio management processes.

Ms. Hass earned a B.A. in business administration with summa cum laude honors from Western Connecticut University.

Part I The Business Analysts Role in Strategic
Planning and Enterprise Analysis

Chapter 1 The Emerging Role of the Business Analyst
in Strategic Planning

Chapter 2 The Emerging Role of the Business Analyst in
Portfolio Management

Part II Using Portfolio Management to Achieve
Strategic Goals

Chapter 3 The Value of the Business Architecture in
Strategy Execution

Chapter 4 Using Feasibility Studies to Determine the
Most Valuable Business Solution

Chapter 5 Preparing the Business Case and Decision
Package

Chapter 7 Evolving from Business Analyst to Business
Strategist

The Business Analysis Essential Library is a series of books that each cover a separate and distinct area of business analysis. The business analyst ensures that there is a strong business focus for the projects that emerge as a result of the fierce, competitive nature and rapid rate of change of business today. Within both private industry and government agencies, the business analyst is becoming the central figure in leading major change initiatives. This library is designed to explain the emerging role of the business analyst and present contemporary business analysis practices (the what), supported by practical tools and techniques to enable the application of the practices (the how).

Current books in the series are:

• Professionalizing Business Analysis: Breaking the Cycle of Challenged Projects

• The Business Analyst As Strategist: Translating Business Strategies Into Valuable Solutions

• Unearthing Business Requirements: Elicitation Tools and Techniques

• Getting it Right: Business Requirement Analysis Tools and Techniques

• The Art and Power of Facilitation: Running Powerful Meetings

• From Analyst to Leader: Elevating the Role of the Business Analyst

Check the Management Concepts website, www.managementconcepts.com/pubs, for updates to this series.

An organizations ability to achieve strategic goals through programs and supporting projects depends on its ability to establish a future vision, set strategic goals, select the most valuable projects, and then execute flawlessly. Organizational strategic alignment is achieved by converting strategic plans and goals into a valuable portfolio of programs and supporting projects, as depicted in Strategic project leaders and project teams execute the project plans to meet objectives and deliver project outcomes, adding value to the organization.

Figure I1Organizational Strategic Alignment

As the role of the business analyst evolves and matures, senior business analysts will emerge as the key individuals in the organization who have the depth of business acumen and technological proficiency to serve as both business and technology experts. In this capacity, business analysts will become involved in an array of activities designed to devise a strategy to reach the organizations future business vision by achieving strategic goals.

As the business analyst elevates into a leadership role as the business and technology strategist, he or she serves the executive team by facilitating, informing, and enabling the most favorable business decisions during the strategic planning and enterprise analysis phases of the business solution life cycle (BSLC). This book examines the emerging critical role of the business analyst during these first two phases of the BSLC, depicted in