00:14i'm tom hathaway i'm wearing my ba hat
00:16so let's talk business analysis
00:19in this knowledge nugget i want to
00:21define business process analysis
00:24in the context of discovering
00:25requirements for it projects
00:28i'd like to discuss what types of
00:30business process modeling conventions
00:33and introduce a few specific analysis
00:36techniques that use the models
00:38to drive out requirements these
00:40techniques will help you
00:42when you are the one wearing the ba hat
00:46business process analysis is a concept
00:49originated in the 90s where
00:51organizations discovered the benefits of
00:53thinking in terms of
00:54business process as opposed to the
00:56underlying functions
00:58and procedures a business process
01:02combines manual and automated tasks that
01:05ultimately add measurable value
01:07to a product or service a model
01:10or business process diagram of these
01:13manual and automated processes
01:15is a picture of how your business
01:18as is or should work in the future to be
01:23to develop an effective application that
01:25optimally supports the business process
01:28developers have to understand the
01:30business process thoroughly
01:32the challenge for the person tasked with
01:33defining the requirements for an it
01:36aka the one wearing the ba at is to
01:40the inner workings of the business
01:43in terms the information technology or
01:47needs for developers to build the
01:52the 1990s business process revolution
01:54also introduced concepts
01:56such as business process re-engineering
01:59and business process improvement as
02:02methods for restructuring and improving
02:06of business processes as a result
02:09many especially larger organizations
02:12created departments solely responsible
02:15analyzing and improving the
02:18organization's business processes and
02:22these organizations have extensive
02:24business process documentation
02:26often including models that you can use
02:28for business process analysis
02:30in companies that have no process
02:32documentation you can create the
02:34business process models as needed
02:37in either case the model makes you aware
02:40of aspects of the business process
02:43that are not obvious even or perhaps
02:46to those involved in the process
02:51business process analysis identifies
02:54inefficiencies disconnects and other
02:59developers need solution functional and
03:02non-functional requirements to develop
03:05or modify an application
03:07as the one wearing the ba hat your
03:10responsibility is to use the results of
03:12business process analysis
03:14to drive out business stakeholder and
03:18requirements for an it solution
03:22for that you need to be able to
03:23recognize things like what the process
03:26what does it deliver the internal steps
03:30subprocesses activities tasks or
03:34depending on the model's level of detail
03:39the sequence in which these internal
03:43control flow external elements that
03:46interact with the process
03:48conditions that influence the execution
03:53the business data that individual
03:54processes create and consume
03:57where business data comes from and where
04:00the data flow the value that each
04:06the owner or organizational unit
04:08responsible for the process
04:13in interpreting business processes using
04:15a business process model
04:17is that there are several competing
04:19conventions for drawing them
04:21each convention focuses on different
04:23aspects of the represented process and
04:26ignores or hides others the most common
04:29process modeling conventions in use
04:32are dataflow diagrams dfd swim lane or
04:35activity diagrams and business process
04:40bpmn knowing what is represented
04:43and what is hidden is the first step in
04:45using the model effectively
04:47so how do these conventions differ a
04:51data flow diagram or dfd
04:53focuses on the flow and transformation
04:56business data it distinguishes people
04:59and organizational units
05:01that are in scope i.e over which your
05:04project has some control
05:06from those that are not in dfd lingo
05:09external entities represented with a
05:13external entities provide data to and or
05:18internal processes the internal
05:21transform incoming data into outgoing
05:24according to a set of business rules
05:28the dfd also identifies essential and
05:31temporary data stores or data sets
05:34waiting to be consumed
05:37a dfd is the right choice for business
05:40if you need to understand the creation
05:42and consumption of data
05:44in the individual business processes
05:47business process analysis using a dfd
05:50will help you identify missing
05:53find missing data and define business
05:55rules that govern the data
05:56transformations within each process
06:00it's important to note that a dfd shows
06:02the sequence of processes
06:04based solely on data dependencies
06:08there are no conditional flows no symbol
06:11on a dfd the dfd shows every possible
06:14flow of data between internal processes
06:17data stores and external entities
06:21an activity swimlane diagram on the
06:23other hand focuses on the sequence
06:26also known as control flow of events and
06:30within a business process it replaces a
06:33widely used developer model called a
06:37which focused heavily on hardware
06:40for the sake of simplicity an activity
06:43the individual activities or steps
06:47a clearly defined starting point
06:49indicating the initial state
06:51solid arrows indicating possible paths
06:55guard conditions and events that select
06:58or restrict specific paths
07:01and termination points a large black dot
07:03with a circle around it
07:06arrows on the diagram represent possible
07:08paths that control can follow
07:10and indicate the direction of the flow
07:14because it shows workflow sequence with
07:17an activity diagram is ideal for
07:20analyzing complex workflows and
07:25optional swim lanes add value to an
07:29swim lanes are simply lines drawn
07:31horizontally or vertically on the
07:34to group sets of activities and flows
07:36into organizational units
07:38physical locations or areas of
07:42by grouping groups of swim lanes into
07:44pools you can represent a hierarchy of
07:46departments divisions etc on the diagram
07:50although swim lanes originated in the
07:52world of activity diagrams
07:54you can also use them on dfds to segment
07:57the process by the same criteria
08:00bpmn or business process modeling
08:04offers a highly sophisticated set of
08:06symbols for depicting even the most
08:08aspects of business processes provides
08:13starting ending and intermediate
08:17tasks subprocess transactions and
08:21gateways for branching and merging paths
08:25and connections sequence flow message
08:28similar to data flow and associations
08:32bpmn also encourages the use of swim
08:35to group components by common criteria
08:39the significant number of symbols that
08:42allows you to represent more aspects of
08:46than either the activity or the data
08:50because of its power and flexibility it
08:52is rapidly becoming the tool of choice
08:54for business process analysis
08:58so how do you decide which type of
09:00diagram is best for analyzing your
09:04the answer depends on what you want to
09:05represent and what process models
09:08exist in your organization if you have
09:11to create them yourself
09:12the simplest tool is the activity
09:15and as a result many people migrate
09:18toward it as the only diagram necessary
09:21unfortunately although activity diagrams
09:23are great tools for seeing what to do
09:26all too often the problems in a process
09:30activity diagrams are not great at
09:34that is the primary focus of the data
09:38if the primary problem your application
09:42deals with missing or redundant data
09:45you're probably better off using a dfd
09:47if your goal is to improve the overall
09:49workflow or business process
09:51you should invest the time to learn and
09:53use bpmn due to its expanded
09:56capabilities whether you analyze a
10:00business process model using dataflow
10:02diagram activity diagram
10:04or business process model notation bpmn
10:08you can use some simple business process
10:11to identify requirements
10:14for instance problem analysis uses the
10:18to show where a business problem rears
10:21where the cause of the problem is
10:22located and what changes you have to
10:25make to the process model
10:27to avoid or fix the problem timing
10:30analysis of a business process model
10:32identifies timing anomalies such as
10:34activities that are waiting on resources
10:36from other activities unnecessary delays
10:40disconnects between steps etc it
10:44detailed performance requirements
10:48exception analysis uses the model to
10:50determine where unusual situations arise
10:54and illustrate potential strategies for
10:56dealing with them most effectively
10:59usage analysis of a business process
11:01model identifies data elements that are
11:04redundant or inaccurate
11:07these are just a sampling of specific
11:09techniques for business process analysis
11:12that can reveal a thundering herd of
11:15and these are requirements you just
11:16might otherwise miss
11:19knowledge nuggets describing how to
11:21perform each of these techniques are in
11:23and we will deliver them as soon as
11:27meanwhile i hope you can make good use
11:29of the information provided in this
11:32when you are the one wearing the ba hat
