Information Security

Information Security

Business analysts select and manage the information gathering process on business projects to establish detailed high-level business requirements. Defining high-level business requirements enables the establishment of the project goals and objects to achieve alignment of the whole project processes and activities. The BA ensures problem-solving through business analysis to determine problem root-cause and establishing facts on the findings. The BA leads the requirements elicitation process and communicates functional and non-functional requirements for designing and implementing solutions on identified business problems. The BA is also responsible for analyzing client operations by identifying strengths and weaknesses to determine improvement strategies. The needs of clients are assessed by the business analysts, ensuring utilization of the structured requirements through prioritizing the most immediate business needs. Risks and threats assessed from the information-gathering process are highlighted to help in decision making later when designing the business continuity plan. The BA evaluates business requirements to determine their impact based on the cost of implementation and benefits to be achieved. The information documented by the BA in business requirement elicitation process is presented to the project manager to help in decision making while choosing strategies for solving the identified problems.

BA perform leadership tasks in project management through coaching and guiding team members to transfer knowledge to less experienced team members. A collaborative workforce is established by the BA through working constructively with project team members. The BA is responsible for discussing the project progress and identifying obstacles impacting the development process. All the team members are controlled by the BA, who ensures that ideas and resources are managed effectively to achieve the project goals and objectives. The BA is responsible for ensuring the achievement of project objectives and identifies necessary skills, roles, and knowledge required to meet the set objectives and implements business practices in staffing. It’s the role of the BA to recognize team associates’ performance and reward them for encouraging the dedication practices. The BA is responsible for workforce management and ensures the project implementation is in alignment with the selected strategy plans. The performance of the project is assessed by the BA who documents and presents the reports to the project manager. This makes it easier for the project manager to coordinate team activities, which include motivating the team and resolving possible conflicts.

The BA is responsible for the definition of business rules which govern the entire project processes and activities. It’s the role of the BA to coordinate with the Requirement Workshop Planning to evaluate business policies and formulate business rules. Rules that are recorded are prioritized and documented, after which the BA ensures they are communicated to the development team. The BA evaluates any changes in the business priorities and ensures they are documented and included int the business rules through running updates throughout the project. The business rules enhance the project manager in decision making when planning the project approach.

Business analysts provide business modeling services through analysis of business processes and using critical thinking skills to make decisions from acquired business needs. The BA maintains value of the project deliverables by ensuring that business needs are satisfied and that obtained value is accurate as possible. The BA models business needs and processes into models like prototypes, which are presented to stakeholders for evaluation and analysis. The BA is also responsible for communicating and explaining to stakeholders how the system works and highlight on its impact on both the internal and external business environments. Its the role of the business analyst to identify any complexity in comprehending the functionalities of the systems and help recommend possible solutions to any challenges. During business process modeling, the the BA ensures that all processes are captured and represent the project’s current state. The BA is responsible for selecting the most suitable modelers which are comprehensive in explaining  the business models to all stakeholders. Any need for change and redesign is handled by the BA who leads the development team in ensuring a successful change request management. The project manager uses the information from the BA to organize presentations to address the project progress and make high-level status reports.

The BA is responsible for testing of systems including business models for quality assurance and provides help to the development  team in improving quality of the project systems. Reports from system quality tests are evaluated by the BA to validate interface specifications. The BA manages system testing processes and designs the test standards and guidelines for each business process. Through collaborative coordinations with development team, the BA analyses the root-causes of identified defects and and defines solution frameworks to achieve required standards. Its the role of the BA to review and approve that the test plans on end product are in compliance with all impacting protocols and regulations before being verified as reliable. The BA also monitors the testing processes and ensures integration of appropriate test frameworks before delegating approval of system as appropriate. The BA communicates testing status of the system to the product manager through documentation of high level and low level designs detailing the results and any recommendations if applicable.

The BA ensures time management of the development process by priotritizing tasks to meet deadlines and on-time solution delivery. Roles and responsibilities of the development team are scheduled within time frameworks to ensure specified demands are met in time. The project manager is capable of effectively managing schedules in the project and achieve expected progress as defined.

2. D

Business Case Lifecycle

Business case is essential in project management and acts as guidance tool which justify reasons to undertake a specific project and not another. Business companies that adopt a business case are able to evaluate projects based on their benefit, the cost to be incurred, and risks involved making it easy to choose most suitable options that will create business value. Business case provides an overview of possible outcomes and resource quantity to be consumed is a specified project is initiated. Its lifecycle includes the following stages; feasibility testing, Analysis of requirements and specifications, solution design, Design implementation and integration, and recommendations.

The feasibility testing stage involves the definition of the project to enable stakeholders have a comprehensive understanding of the project which includes background information, business objectives and business problem scope. The background information details briefly the purpose or opportunities of the project if its initiated. The  business objective details the goals or aims to be obtained if the project is implemented and may also include how the project supports the business strategy. The business scope defines the features and constraints required to initiate the project and satisfy the stakeholders needs.

Analysis of requirements and specifications is the second phase in business case presentations and details the available alternative approaches. A shortlisting process is performed on the approaches and to obtain three or four most suitable options.The resulting shortlisted approaches are then detailed with their corresponding requirements and specifications. Each approach is analyzed based on the obtained requirements and shortlisted further.

Solution design is the third stage and it details the impact of each alternative approach on the business objectives based on the risks and cost, and value on business factors. The most suitable alternative strategy is selected with its strengths and reason of preference detailed.

Design implementation is the fourth phase and includes implementation plan information of the selected alternative from the third phase. The approach is detailed with how each processes and procedures will meet the business objectives which includes the required resources and risks involved. Roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders and development team are detailed to account for milestones involved in the implementation process. A disaster plan for identified risks and threats is developed to communicate the action plan which includes the roles and responsibilities from involved team.

Recommendation phase is the fifth stage and details information confirming and approving the selected option including strategic benefits to the business to be achieved from initiating the approach. The financial advantages o be achieved from the approach implementation are are documented. Risks likely to face the project are detailed together with disaster plans to mitigate possible losses.

Benefits

Business case ensures a selected project is aligned to the business goals and objectives by defining the detailing the business strategy. Using a guided framework to justify the choice among alternative options is essential in utilization of resources as projects with most value on business are considered.

Resource wastage is prevented as projects that are not aligned with business objectives are overlooked.

Business case ensures that projects are thought through before attempting to initiate them. All business projects have to be presented in a business case which provides regulates projects that get approvals through recommendation based on the value on business, return on investment, and risks involved. Financial resources required to fund projects in a business are analyzed through sensitivity analysis to compare and determine best alternatives to invest in.

A business case helps business to evaluate project options by measuring and success and benefits associated with each. Through this framework project failure risk is managed and through guidance in choosing the most appropriate choices. Business that deploy the use of business cases in project management gain strategic advantage in comprehending the business states in acquiring strategic alignment. Using business case presentations enables strategic focus on business activities and processes including the strengths and weaknesses which are recommended for optimal utilization.

Business case presentations helps business to achieve accountability in decisions and actions impacting the performance and business prosperity. Business cases highlights exceptions and outcomes of actions during project management through detailed evaluation information for each alternative options.  Providing impromptu reviews on projects help in guiding decision making and actions initiation with reduced risks and business failures.

Setting milestones during project management process is an essential tool which is achievable when using a business case. Each project alternative is identified and key goals and objectives detailed which development team use to ensure project strategic alignment.

Business that deploy the use of business case in project management enjoy streamlined workflows and processes  which saves on time and improves collaboration. Project complexity are documented by business case prior to initiation to help in preparation processes which reduce error rates and resource wastage. Development process of projects is made effective as team members are informed and prepared for the expected situations which enhances effective collaboration. When business cases are used in project management, the service quality is improved due to reduced complexity and effective communication which results in motivated teamwork.

Improved time management is another benefits which makes it essential to deploy business cases in project management. Scheduling the processes involved in development provides timescale information which enables preparations and reduce possible risk rates and impact.

3. D

Conducting stakeholder analysis in large business environments requires strategic focus which can be achieved through formulation of objectives. Business analyst with expertise is capable of documenting  guidelines to interpret process direction and expected deliverables. With knowledge of the business domain, the business analysts will ensure that his objectives in the stakeholder analysis process is complete with reduced errors or omissions. Business analysts knowledge enable him/her know all the involved stakeholders and is able to design relevant techniques to gather information during the requirement elicitation process. BA problem solving skills enables modeling of processes to be automized with expertise resulting in a reliable stakeholder analysis process. The business analyst can select representatives from each group of stakeholders based on motivation and relevance to the project. This will increase the accuracy of gather information and avoid time wastage during the exercise.

A successful business analyst has good communication skills and is able to interact with stakeholders to gather information. The ability to express points clearly with accuracy will make the stakeholder analysis process efficient with reliable information. Stakeholders being involved in the analysis process are able to comprehend questions with ease and share relevant  responses. The business analyst is able to focus his queries appropriately by asking insightful questions to achieve accurate analysis process. An expert business analyst can deploy engaging communications but but ensure to listen to comprehend and gather useful information.  Different learning styles of stakeholders can be considered by the an expert business analyst to ensure adapted communications to gather as much information as possible.

A business analyst with expertise can manage time during the stakeholder analysis exercise to meet schedules and enable other dependent  development processes to progress. Eliciting requirement s from a large number of stakeholders requires multi tasking skills to be able handle different processes at effectively thus saving time. The BA is capable of analyzing involved processes and prioritizing them based on their urgency and relevancy. A successful BA can organize the analysis processes to achieve a clear picture which controls time usage by detailing schedules for each activities as planned. Interruptions resulting from the stakeholder analysis processes are reduced effective activity organization frameworks are deployed.

Modelling skills acquired by expert BA  enables effective conveyance of large amounts of information during stakeholder analysis. Ability to use visual presentation to interpret information makes it easy for BA to handle large number of stakeholders by effectively identifying gaps and ensuring a successful processes. Information gathered by stakeholder analysis can be conceptually represented by BA through high level models to convey useful results.

With continuous learning skills and basic requirements elicitation concepts, business analysts are able to apply their knowledge on requirements elicitation engineering. The are capable of collecting required types business needs e.g. functional and non-functional requirements with expertise.

BA is able to analyses requirements to reinforce and improve stakeholder analysis by ensuring process compliance and alignment  to business objectives. An abstraction advantage can also be acquired by deploying BA expertise in gathering information from stakeholders since he/she ensure quality processes and recommends adjustments to achieve efficiency. During the stakeholder analysis, the BA is capable of selecting and reviewing alternative approaches to determine the most effective method and deploying it to achieve reliable information.

Stakeholder management is essential and requires knowledge to identify and analyze each of them to understand how to acquire useful business needs. An experienced BA is able to determine the influence and power of each stakeholder requirements which impacts how they are managed and the information gathering techniques to be used. Having knowledge of the business requirements obtained from each group of stakeholders can facilitate an effective requirement elicitation process that brings value to development process. The expertise of a competent BA can help in influencing the stakeholders either directly or indirectly to achieve a successful information gathering process. The knowledge of a BA can also be used to deploy strategies to facilitate information flow during the elicitation process resulting in a reliable information.

A large number of stakeholders requires the use of reliable strategies to deliver different range of requirement documents. An experienced BA can ensure the documentation process is effective, comprehensive and accurate, and be appropriate o the stakeholders’ level. The strong writing skills of a BA will ensure that concise information is communicated enhancing clear informative responses.

Knowledge to use requirement workshops is necessary when gathering business needs from a large group of stakeholders. BA with expertise in organize requirement workshop which improves the quality of business needs collected by grouping stakeholders to relevant workshops to be able to perform comparison to collect patterns. Keeping small workshops can enhance discovery requirements which could remain hidden if another information gathering technique was used. Ability to use workshops will also enable reduced overhead costs in conducting a multiple stakeholder analysis. Comparison of various requirements from various workshops results in refined requirements which are more accurate and reliable. Information gathered can also be prioritized based on their impact in achieving the project objectives.

BA with observation skills are essential in requirement  elicitation process when large number of stakeholders are involved. The complexity of involving each stakeholder in information gathering is resource consuming and is not achievable in most cases. An experienced BA is capable of observing and interacting with stakeholders to determine possible needs that may be necessary for the business system. This is beneficial as hidden needs can unveiled through environmental interaction and analysis of already gathered business requirements.

4. D

nvesting in a current state analysis is a crucial process to help businesses develop a clear understanding of their domain. A business domain knowledge enables comprehensive understanding of competitive scope and industry dynamics. Businesses can strategies with this information to make good judgements through innovations to deal with rivals to gain competitive advantage. New markets niches can also be identified which may lead to the need to re structuring of business process to enable new market entry. Current state analysis helps businesses to develop a solid foundation of organization processes which impacts decision making in documenting project objectives. Having domain knowledge through as-is analysis enables business acquire a guideline for the business requirements that are essential to solve identified problems. Industry trends can also be identified through current state analysis to obtain necessary information to influence stakeholders to provide concise and up-to-date requirements necessary to achieve or maintain business competence. Ensuring the business needs are up-to date and comply with current industry requirements will enhance development of a reliable system to improve performance.

Current state analysis helps businesses define problems that impact business processes and activities. This helps stakeholders understand the required needs to solve identified business problems. Risks and threats facing business can be defined using the current state analysis which help stakeholders comprehend the necessary strategies and resources needed through recommendations. During the requirements elicitation process, appropriate business requirements can be identified to help protect and manage potential disasters. The current state analysis is necessary where the system to be developed is vulnerable to threats and requires minimal errors in its functionality. Ability to identify problems impacting a system in a business domain ensures accountability and performance management which prevents losses and failures through prevention of risks and threats.

Conducting a as-is state analysis provides stakeholders with a comprehensive foundation on the organization’s processes which influences requirements and specifications.  Detailing impacted areas ensures necessary deliverables are made resulting in value to the business. Stakeholders are capable to identify gaps and opportunities which ensure the business requirements are tailored to meet unique specifications. Factors impacting business projects are analyzed from both the external and internal environment which ensures stakeholders understand them are prepared to meet their demands. This is necessary especially where business projects are affected by external factors such jurisdictions. Business stakeholders and sponsors are able to ensure compliance and preparation to meet financial demands. Having knowledge of the external forces affecting business processes is essential ensures compliance to regulatory standards to save time and  that the new system is reliable for production.

Deploying the use of current state analysis before requirement elicitation process helps development team to gain insight into the scale of the project. Effective plans for conducting the information gathering process can be strategized to ensure reliable approaches and plans are used to obtain business needs. The as-is analysis is necessary when business environments have large number stakeholders and already has previous systems which need reviews. Being able to understand the scale and scope of a project enables prevent losses that can result from failures during requirements elucidation or after project completion. Business that use current systems need to be reviewed by development team to understand the state of the business process. This will help have background information for improvement which is recommended resulting in effective business requirements.

Current state analysis helps  improve business coordination and responsiveness. The analysis process can help identify challenges that might impact the requirements elicitation process by detailing the organizations structure. Communication channels are assessed to obtain metrics on responsiveness of the organization which is likely to impact business requirements elicitation process. The as-is analysis can help address challenges in coordination and organization responsiveness with stakeholders to ensure the current state is improved and reliable. It is essential for business with challenged organization communication and coordination to deploy the as-is analysis to facilitate business requirements elicitation. Business can save on time and funds used since communication within the organization is improved and ensures business needs are acquired with ease thus saving on time. Funds allocated on the project are likely to be utilized effectively since reliable business needs are obtained thereby avoiding wastage if blatant business needs were collected.

Deploying current state analysis in business needs can enable organizations with mergers adopt their  processes for efficiency. Stakeholders are able to understand the need to integrate processes with their partners for reliable performance. The business specifications will be constrained to ensure alignment to expected process integration. The development team is capable of understanding the relationship between different partners and recommend necessary necessary business requirements to achieve an optimal functionality. Understanding external processes impacting a business’s processes is crucial and saves on cost through acquiring a shared cost plan by including the partners in the project.

Current state analysis can help save funds and resources required in project by analyzing existing business processes and prioritizing business requirements. Prioritizing business needs ensures an effective project management which limits expenditure economically by analyzing and detailing each of the business processes and activities.  Detailing each business process can help identify those with problems and require full restructuring and those that need partial improvements. This is beneficial if a business already has an existing system which requires improvement. Being able to identify the states of each process, funds needed on the new system can be utilized effectively avoiding redoing the same system functionality.

5. D

“Voice of the Customer”  refers to a  reaserch methodology that is used by businesses and organizations to acquire the requirements and needs of their customers with an aim of product improvement. This method captures views of the customer based on the services and products being provided by the business companies. The processes also captures the preferences and aversions and experiences with business brand. Information gathered from this process helps business to visualize the gaps existing between the customer preferences and the actual experiences provided by the businesses in question.

In the PAMS system, VoC can be used in requirement elicitation by first defining the objectives of the process to act as a guideline and ensure alignment of involved processes. The goal and objectives defined should focus on experience and preferences of the users regarding the current state of services. The service users in the library can then be identified and segmented into either direct clients or indirect clients. Segmenting the clients will enable the VoC team to identify the appropriate channels to reach the client for requirements gathering. The patrons and the customers are the service users in the library and are associated with the organization differently depending on their service preferences. The customers will be segmented as indirect clients while the patrons will be segmented as direct clients.

The next phase of the VoC approach will involve identifying research techniques to be used in gathering information and must have accessible to the customers and patrons. The most effective techniques to obtain the information include interviews, focus groups, and surveys. A research plan is developed to manage the processes involved during the  requirements elicitation which enable the VoC team member to keep track. In this phase the VoC team ensure coordination with library management team to facilitate responsiveness and communication channels to reach their clients. The questions to be used in the information gathering process are defined in this phase and adopted in their respective requirement elicitation techniques. The clients under direct segment will have their questions based on the experience when and service quality based on the existing system. The questions asked must be concise and aligned with with goals and objectives defined in the first stage of the VoC approach plan. Contact information of the direct clients is acquired from the library management team. The nature of contact available is used to determine the appropriate requirement elicitation technique to be used. The indirect clients can be reached through online platforms like social media.

The third phase of the VoC approach will involve collection of information from the identified clients. The following factors will be used to determine nature of business requirements gathered.

1. i) Demographics of the target clients.

This will include the demographic analysis to determine the population, age and level of education of the clients. This will be essential in knowing the statistical characteristics  of the requirements elicited.

1. ii) Confidential interval

This will determine the accuracy of the collected information gathered based on the overall population. Error margins recorded for every requirement elicited will help determine the accuracy of the collected business needs.

iii) Standard deviation

This will record and analyze the variations of responses to determine the optimal business requirements by defining acceptable variation values.

Collection methods

The following techniques will be used ON PAMS system information gathering.

Surveys

For direct clients, surveys will be sent to their email address inform of questionnaires which recipients will be expected to fill and submit to a specified email. The recipients will be expected to recommend possible improvements for improved performance.

Interviews

Direct clients who cannot be reached via electronic mail will be asked to avail themselves for face-to-face interviews with interviewers. The interviewees will respond physically either through writing or verbally. Follow up question will be used to document options regarding the interviewees they interacted with. This is will be used a measuring metric to ascertain the credibility of information gathered.

Social Media

Indirect clients will be accessed through social media platforms like Facebook and will be asked to be involved in online surveys. The surveys used will be questionnaire asking them their interaction with the Scootvile Library.

Analysis Phase

The analysis phase will involve use of tools to process the raw data collected to provide useful data in presentational form. The data will be trained based on the factors identified on the phase three for effective data which represents the business needs. Classification functions will be used to classify the collected needs based on their relevance and importance to the project objectives. The information will used in making decisions prioritizing business needs.

Integration phase

The integration phase involves translation of the collected VoC business requirements into design specification  for the proposed system. The Quality Function Deployment approach will be sued to accomplish the translation process of the VoC business needs into project design.The approach determines how the system design specification are supposed to meet client requirements using QFD matrices.

6. D

identify key stakeholders

Identifying the target stakeholders on social networks is an essential factor that impacts the efficiency of obtaining business requirements. Business analysts should conduct social network analysis to acquire demographic statistics regarding the users of the social network in relation to business needs.  Having knowledge of how target stakeholders engage on a social platform can help BA to know how to influence the requirement elicitation process to gather business requirements. Develop a discrete definition of the target market which helps apply filters to obtain concise and relevant information with a manageable search space. This will help BA to understand how to easily access and interact with the identified target group. The BA should compile the data on the current stakeholders and develop a stakeholder management plan to uniquely identify each of them and avoid biased requirements elicitation process.

Business analysts should use social media analytics to obtain useful information on business needs. The metrics in the analytics should be considered to define and determine potential business requirements which are in alignment with the business objectives. The social network analytic data can be used to determine gaps existing between stakeholders and the business at large. Being able to identify these gaps enables in strategic planning to tailor the business needs to meet opportunities. Due to large amounts of data that result from social media analytics, BA should be able to identify useful and useless metrics to avoid time wastage and acquire reliable information. The BA should apply data interpreting knowledge to identify patterns and relationships among users to establish concise business requirements. BA should keep an eye on competitors to capture common trends and possible opportunities which models the overall business requirements ensuring a competitive advantage. Social network analytics from rivals in the same industry can impact business needs by detecting any weaknesses and using them as a tool to gain competitive advantage.

BA use tailored content for their target audience on the social network platforms to achieve relevance at all times. Maintaining relevance when interacting with social media stakeholders is a crucial factor since engagement impacts the information gathered. BA develop metrics on user engagement to help in identifying essential trends and specializing on them strategically. Responses and reaction from the target audience should help adjust the business requirements and also help prioritization. The business analyst should ensure that the targeted audience is informed on the service and products of the business for distinction from any similar products. This will ensure the responses

acquired are accurate and reflect on the actual experience offered by the business.

Business analysts should be able to deploy approaches to determine the power and legitimacy of each type of stakeholders. Defining the level and ranking of each stakeholder is beneficial in evaluating business requirements to determine the metrics of priority and importance. This ensures that requirements elicited truly reflect the affiliated stakeholders.

Business analysts should define the aspects of the social network being used to avoid being affected by issues or problems of the system when gathering stakeholder information. Conducting an analysis on the social media under study is necessary since all social networks have different functionality domain and could impact the requirement elicitation process. The BA should consider the strength of ties between the social network and the business to establish the most eligible option to use to ensure reliable results. The social network should be good for communication an able to support analysis tools enable information gathering. The social network should be analyzed to ensure compliance to norms of trust and information management. A BA should be able to clarify any impacting factors including strategies to handle the situation to ensure an error free process in establishing business needs.

Business analysts should ensure a continuous and active engagement to capture reliable business needs. Ability to engage stakeholders in a responsive manner helps acquire complete and sufficient information. Developing healthy relationships with stakeholders facilitates efficient information gathering through interactions and engagement. Maintaining an improved engagement helps image building and reputation which makes stakeholders concerned and share genuine responses on business products or services.

Using social media in infuriation gathering should consider the centrality factor which affects the audience demographic and the overall business needs obtained. The BA should analyze the alternatives when selecting an effective social network platform. The preferred social network should contain a significant percentage of the target audience. Choosing a social media platform with the most number of target actors is effective as information is able to diffuse faster through the network and reach a large population resulting in reliable size of information for business requirement  elicitation.