tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.comments2010-02-11T01:39:06.723-05:00Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775ranjanjha@gmail.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-22536358114242746852010-02-11T01:39:06.723-05:002010-02-11T01:39:06.723-05:00Good one, gives a good picture of shaping up through storyboards/prototypesFrizbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17637397863808010863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-3985307692030382282009-11-10T20:27:46.600-05:002009-11-10T20:27:46.600-05:00@Bhavendra &amp; Sudhindhra: Thanks a lot for such encouraging comments. Please keep visitingRanjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-7046489327952984262009-11-09T02:32:15.042-05:002009-11-09T02:32:15.042-05:00Truly great and well said.A R Sudhindrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105412804716279609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-66663365637538765712009-11-08T21:44:49.210-05:002009-11-08T21:44:49.210-05:00Hi Ranjan,<br /><br />I am following your Blog since some time and have read all your Blog posts, this is incredibly nice stuff, I am just a beginner on the way to become a Business Analyst. Your experience sharing across various projects is giving good look rounds about the way how Business analyst works and what all situations they face.<br /><br />Kudos to you!!!Bhavendranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-51178036346540877792009-10-06T23:00:13.826-04:002009-10-06T23:00:13.826-04:00Thanks for your comment Maulik. Certainly these are the challenges faced by the BAs.<br /><br />Keep visiting.Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-51178036346540877792009-10-06T23:00:13.600-04:002009-10-06T23:00:13.600-04:00Thanks for your comment Maulik. Certainly these are the challenges faced by the BAs.<br /><br />Keep visiting.Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-17550009217791733252009-10-05T20:46:32.450-04:002009-10-05T20:46:32.450-04:00I would like to share some of my experiences with COTS projects:<br /><br />1. It may be difficult for a BA to map to-be processes if he/she is not familiar with COTS product. <br /><br />2. Most COTS projects involve process re-engineering and change management. Often, the business can not agree on changes business processes. A BA has to face the following challenges:<br /><br />a) Business may not be ready for a change.<br />b) Reluctance to sign-off processes due to the politics around increased / decreased workload of individuals / depts. as a result of process changes etc...<br /><br />3. It can be challenging to proove how a COTS solution met business requirements. Often the requirements are high-level one-liners that are open for interpretation. It can be a difficult task to derive test cases from such one-liners.<br /><br />4. What to test - Requirements or to-be business processes?Mauliknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-17550009217791733252009-10-05T20:46:32.236-04:002009-10-05T20:46:32.236-04:00I would like to share some of my experiences with COTS projects:<br /><br />1. It may be difficult for a BA to map to-be processes if he/she is not familiar with COTS product. <br /><br />2. Most COTS projects involve process re-engineering and change management. Often, the business can not agree on changes business processes. A BA has to face the following challenges:<br /><br />a) Business may not be ready for a change.<br />b) Reluctance to sign-off processes due to the politics around increased / decreased workload of individuals / depts. as a result of process changes etc...<br /><br />3. It can be challenging to proove how a COTS solution met business requirements. Often the requirements are high-level one-liners that are open for interpretation. It can be a difficult task to derive test cases from such one-liners.<br /><br />4. What to test - Requirements or to-be business processes?Mauliknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-41807773018177409662009-10-01T13:54:28.375-04:002009-10-01T13:54:28.375-04:00Agree with you David. <br /> <br />Many of the packages specially in ERP space have matured a lot and as you said as long as the requirements are defined in terms Process, Data and Rules..things are not that complicated.<br />But not all COTS products have matured.. take for example the ECM space..products like MOSS, Interwoven, Documentum, Fitlnet etc. are still evolving and the business use these products for various purpose.. from building an enterprise intranet portal to building a collaborative drug dev. system. In such scenarios the challenges are different and it is rare to find a BA with both product and business specialty ..the intent is to address such situations.. which I myself have faced while working as Business analyst.<br /><br />Thanks a lot for your comments. I learned that if we still focus on Data, process and rules this can be easier..Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-77797916869762932092009-09-29T18:10:33.911-04:002009-09-29T18:10:33.911-04:00Not to get picky, but COTS packages have been around for decades. Originally, there was a definite choice to be made between customizing the package or trying to change your business to do what the package did.<br /><br />However, packages have come a long way. It started with something simple as user-defined tables, to today where many packages are highly configurable. My example would be my experience with HRM products from Kronos; if you can define your business requirements as processes, data and rules, then Kronos consultants can configure their system to do what you want. No programming needed, and virtually no requirements that went un-met. Not your father&#39;s package, as the saying goes.David Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05103379078232846587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-77797916869762932092009-09-29T18:10:33.911-04:002009-09-29T18:10:33.911-04:00Not to get picky, but COTS packages have been around for decades. Originally, there was a definite choice to be made between customizing the package or trying to change your business to do what the package did.<br /><br />However, packages have come a long way. It started with something simple as user-defined tables, to today where many packages are highly configurable. My example would be my experience with HRM products from Kronos; if you can define your business requirements as processes, data and rules, then Kronos consultants can configure their system to do what you want. No programming needed, and virtually no requirements that went un-met. Not your father&#39;s package, as the saying goes.David Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05103379078232846587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-91349892076260198642009-09-21T22:03:10.910-04:002009-09-21T22:03:10.910-04:00Sudhindra: <br />Thanks for the comment.. wait for more ;)Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-91349892076260198642009-09-21T22:03:10.910-04:002009-09-21T22:03:10.910-04:00Sudhindra: <br />Thanks for the comment.. wait for more ;)Ranjanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116680505359178775noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-55298491811714092642009-09-21T02:35:14.568-04:002009-09-21T02:35:14.568-04:00Amazingly great!! Hit the spot!!A R Sudhindrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105412804716279609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-55298491811714092642009-09-21T02:35:14.568-04:002009-09-21T02:35:14.568-04:00Amazingly great!! Hit the spot!!A R Sudhindrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15105412804716279609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-53559714951528900052009-06-14T19:55:12.882-04:002009-06-14T19:55:12.882-04:00Seems Interesting stuff dude.shivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00843071466809618571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-53559714951528900052009-06-14T19:55:12.882-04:002009-06-14T19:55:12.882-04:00Seems Interesting stuff dude.shivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00843071466809618571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-65835500753783282272008-11-05T16:23:38.591-05:002008-11-05T16:23:38.591-05:00maybe this blog will help me understand BA better so that I can apply for the job next May when I graduate!Red Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18411697702687310877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-966014228290622289.post-65835500753783282272008-11-05T16:23:00.000-05:002008-11-05T16:23:00.000-05:00maybe this blog will help me understand BA better so that I can apply for the job next May when I graduate!Red Soulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18411697702687310877noreply@blogger.com