WHY DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IS IMPOSSIBLE WITHOUT BUSINESS ANALYTICS?

Paradoxical as it may sound, in many cases the formation of a detailed technical task is the most difficult and crucial stage of software development. The customer in most cases knows what he wants to get as a result, and the development team knows how to make the product. But bringing business logic and technical models together is not easy. Therefore, for the digital transformation of a business, it is important to attract one or more business analysts. The task of these specialists is to clarify in detail the business requirements of the customer and translate them into the technical language of IT developers.

Another unquestionable argument in favor of a preliminary business analysis is the impossibility of the most detailed and complete documentation of all the initial requirements for the product. Even if the customer has a basic understanding of the principles of software development and understands exactly what and how he wants to automate in his business, he will not be able to create the ideal TOR that would completely satisfy the development team and answer all conflicting questions.

The time spent on the formation of such a document would exceed reasonable limits and would be unreasonably high.

It is much more reliable to entrust the preparation of detailed requirements for a digital product to a person who:

• on the one hand, can penetrate the business philosophy of the customer;
• on the other hand, it will be able to deliver the task to programmers deeply and deeply.

Avada Media provides business analysis services in outsourcing format, and also recommends including a preliminary analysis of business processes in the implementation of all enterprise-level digital transformation projects. Without a preliminary analysis of the business, it is unlikely that effective implementation of corporate projects of the type of CRM and ERP systems will be possible. Therefore, we suggest you familiarize yourself with a concise description of the role of business analytics in our team.

In order to begin the first stages of software development – the formation of technical specifications and prototyping of a digital product, a preliminary analysis of both the business and the entire market in which the customer works is necessary. In order to accurately and correctly understand the requirements that are put forward for a digital product, you need to:

• understand the business schemes and key processes according to which the company operates;
• find out the roles and functionality of responsible specialists;
• fix the existing document flow etc.

The easiest way to invite one or more business analysts for this purpose is to study the company’s activities in practice.

Within a few days or even weeks, they should delve into and record the existing scheme of the enterprise, regularly contacting with the customer. As a result, business analysts form a detailed document on the basis of these data, which becomes the basis of the technical task.

The detailed business model that the business analyst captures becomes the foundation of software development. It will also be the basis for improving, automating and optimizing the company’s business model in the interests of the customer.

Thus, a business analyst acts as an intermediary between the development team and business representatives. He is deeply involved in the software development process, and at the same time understands and defends the interests of the customer.

The work of a business analyst is reduced to several key functions – a system analysis of the enterprise, communication with the customer and the team, and detailed documentation of requirements.

• The formation of the initial requirements in the form of a detailed TR (technical requirement) is what the development of any digital project begins with. A business analyst should understand the customer’s request as a basis, study his business and try to find the most simple and logical solution to the problem.
• Communication and inclusion in the processes involves deep contact with the customer in feedback mode, as well as regular work in the format of a brainstorming session with a team of programmers. Therefore, a business analyst is involved in the prototyping of a digital product, is included in the creation of a functional user interface and software testing.

• The preparation of documentation and management of changing product requirements is necessary with the flexible development of software according to the Scrum method (work in the format of sprints – time intervals of 1-2 weeks with clearly defined tasks). In the process of creating software, customer visions, baseline conditions, or other factors may change. Therefore, a business analyst monitors and captures a change in the digital transformation model, offering the most optimal solutions in the new conditions and logging the current situation.

As a result, the business analyst provides optimal two-way communication between the development team and the customer and is involved in finding solutions in the event of a crisis.

A modern approach to software development enables effective remote participation of specialists of various profiles in the development of digital solutions. For this, a business analyst, along with the customer and programmers, gets access to various project management and collaboration services.

First of all, we are talking about such systems:

• general project management can be carried out in the Teamwork system;

• Jira system is used to track errors and changes;
• for detailed documentation, use the Confluence wiki.

The participation of a business analyst in the software development process will provide the necessary level of integration and reduce the likelihood of strategic errors when the development process is sent in the wrong scenario.

As already mentioned, the participation of business analytics is necessary in the implementation of all enterprise-level projects. These include the following projects:

• CRM-systems for managing the base of contacts and clients;
• ERP-systems that provide automation of the entire company;
• special cases of ERP-systems, such as PPM-systems for managing a portfolio of projects, PLM-systems for managing the product life cycle, MES-systems for controlling production processes, SCM-systems for supply management;

• specific industry solutions in the field of accounting, shipping systems, restaurant business and much more.

Avada Media is ready to include business analyst, systems analyst and systems architect (software designer) in the development team to analyze your business and draw up a detailed technical task. Such an approach will provide a simple and obvious algorithm for future software development and will give a clear understanding of the estimated budget for product development already at the earliest stages of a digital business transformation.