Business Analyst Masterclass

About

Business Analysis as a function is rightly being recognised for the immense contribution it can make to a business and its operations. The global business environment is still operating in a state of flux, and organisations need to respond effectively to opportunities and problems that arise. Bright*Star’s 2nd Annual Business Analyst Masterclass 2011 brings together specialists from New Zealand & Australia and provides a platform for the BA profession to aid organisations in delivering excellence.

Meet, discuss and debate issues at this highly interactive forum on:
• Converging Business Processes, Business Rules and Business Analysis
• Transforming Business Process Models into IT Requirements
• Discussing latest trends and insights from the industry with leading vendors

Fast moving change now seems the norm, and agility therefore a much desired competence to respond fluidly and seamlessly to the changing needs of business. Key issues that will be discussed at the 2011 conference:

• Objective Agility and Agile requirements
• Building Business Analysis teams & Business capability
• Business Analysis performance indicators
• Mini workshop on Business Analysis and the essence of Lean Six Sigma

A relatively young profession, Business Analysis is on its way to obtaining the recognition it deserves. This conference features recognised and award winning Business Analysts who will discuss the profession and how the BA career path must desirably evolve.  

A profession experiencing high levels of growth needs highly trained people to excel in their field.  We’re pleased to encourage and facilitate this with our Special 2 for 1 offer! Register two people from your organisation at the same time and the 2nd attends for free

This conference contains sharp focused content for the BA and builds on the popular 2010 conference acclaimed for its calibre of speakers and professional delivery! Don’t miss this opportunity to network with senior representatives from the Government, airlines, telecommunications, health, research, technology, insurance and other major industries.

Agenda

Agenda: Day 1

8.30

Registration & Coffee

9.00

Opening Remarks from the Chair

David Morris, Product and Service Design Capability Manager, TELECOM NZ

9.10

Keynote Address: Building Business Capability

Today’s business environment features higher than ever demands from customers and clients, less resources and changing regulatory landscapes. This opening keynote will discuss business analysis, business rules and business processes and the need to converge practices to deliver well aligned business capabilities. Further advances are required than what currently exists in business architecture, analysis, process design and business analysis tools and methodologies. This session addresses the how to of improving business solutions analysis and design for smarter, more agile decisions and higher levels of performance.

Jody Bullen, CEO, YONIX

10.00

International Address: Objective Agility & Agile Requirements: Are We Just Blinded by the Shiny New Toys of Epics and User Stories?

Agile is the “new black”! Teams and organisations clamber to say they are following an agile method. An entirely new set of definitions have been created for familiar words to encapsulate what these new requirement types are. No longer do we talk about Capabilities, Constraints, Business or Functional Requirements, as we now have a far sexier vernacular to use where we can talk about Epics, User Stories and Tasks. So do these shiny new terms really help us define what we want a system to do, or do they simply give us an “exit clause” not to document requirements? Does the traditional view of requirements management practices still hold true?

Shane Parkinson, Director - Testing Process and Enablement, CAPGEMINI AUSTRALIA

10.45

Morning Break & Refreshments

11.00

Case study: Agile Requirements: Collaborating to Define and Confirm Business Needs

Requirements are key to delivering value in agile projects. This session will address how Animal Health Board defined and confirmed customer needs to successfully build their product features using agile requirements practices.
• Identifying key practices of agile requirements
• Creating a shared understanding of business and product needs
• Collaborating for efficiency, effectiveness and value
• Defining customer needs for development and delivery
• Managing changing requirements and scope using Agile

Tina Love, Business Systems Analyst & Team Leader, ANIMAL HEALTH BOARD

11.50

The Seven Deadly Sins of Process Improvement

Gilles Rabaud will present the deadliest of the many deadly sins committed during process improvement initiatives. The presentation will temper research with real-life examples of process improvement pitfalls and suggested ways to avoid those.
• Where does it all start and end? A question of scope
• What comes first – business or technology?
• Who’s the REAL customer of a process?
• How do we know what’s broken and needs fixing?

Gilles Rabaud, Principal Consultant, EQUINOX

12.40

Lunch

1.40

Business Analysis Performance Indicators to Increase Productivity

One of the various challenges of the Business Analyst profession is productivity and performance assessments. What are the KPIs? How can these be used to increase productivity in IT projects? How does one know if the project is on the right track as per the schedule?
• Metrics for Business Analysis & measuring BA tasks with accuracy
• Tracking progress and assessing productivity during
- Elicitation of requirement & functional specifications
- Stages of development and implementation
- Testing of BA activities

Deanna Hughes, Business Analyst Team Leader, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

2.30

Buyers Beware! Things You Need to Know Before You Buy a Requirements Management Tool!

Standish Group Chaos Report and the likes quote one of the primary reasons for project failure or delay as being attributable to poor requirements and associated requirements management processes. Whilst a requirements management tool is not a “magic bullet”, countless organisations still flip-flop from one requirements tool to another. Why is this, and what is missing? You’ll be surprised to learn that most failed for the same fundamental set of root causes. Beware of the pitfalls so you can navigate the road to successful implementation and use of these tools.

Shane Parkinson, Director - Testing Process and Enablement, CAPGEMINI AUSTRALIA

3.15

Afternoon Break & Refreshments

3.30

How to Avoid Common Mistakes Analysts Make

Learn from those who have already been there to avoid common pitfalls. This presentation covers learning obtained from experience in hands-on projects.
• Persistent mistakes in business rules projects
• How and why people tend to make them
• Maximise chances of success – the most important things to know
• Best practices and critical success factors - a pragmatic check list

Jody Bullen, CEO, YONIX

4.20

Champagne Round Table Discussions: Converging Business Processes, Business Rules and Business Analysis

All three disciplines – Business Processes, Business Rules and Business Analysis invariably will overlap in certain areas. These round table discussions will focus on how businesses can capitalise on all three areas to gain a competitive advantage.
• Discussion 1: Critical components for building business capability
• Discussion 2: Delivering business solutions vs. purely IT systems
• Discussion 3: Opportunities and options for higher capability in the future

Shane Parkinson, Director - Testing Process and Enablement, CAPGEMINI
Gilles Rabaud, Principal Consultant, EQUINOX
Tina Love, Business Systems Analyst / Team Leader, ANIMAL HEALTH BOARD

5.00

End of day one and networking drinks

Agenda: Day 2

9.00

Opening Remarks from the Chair

David Morris, Product and Service Design Capability Manager, TELECOM NZ

9.05

Case Study: Implementation of an Enterprise SDLC, Defined via Business Process Modelling Notation

Delivering IT projects quicker and at less cost requires an SDLC that is pragmatic and streamlined. An SDLC is no different from any other business process. Roles and responsibilities must be explicitly defined. All deliverables, including those created by Business Analysts, must have a clear purpose.
• BPMN models for SDLC processes, responsibilities and deliverables
• Defining process governance
• Business Analysis with the downstream customer in mind
• Building quality into SDLC processes
• Dealing with variations in the SDLC

Nicole Girvan, Business Analysis Manager, SOUTHERN CROSS HEALTHCARE
Gilles Rabaud, Principal Consultant, EQUINOX

9.50

Case Study: Process Improvement Initiative - Changing the Way We Work at North Shore City Council

Redesigning business processes to better serve customers should ideally lead to growing the business. This session will cover how North Shore City Council has provided capabilities for customers to apply for residential building consents, and Council officers to process plans electronically. A New Zealand first of its kind, this project has won four highly prestigious awards. Whilst the project was purely an IT/Business Process initiative, it has further contributed to corporate and environmental sustainability by eliminating the use of paper.
• Considerations for changing a true bricks and mortar process
• Understanding project goals & analysing business processes in place
• Coordinating and managing business process implementation
• Evaluating and refining redesigned business processes

Shamendra Hurbuns, Business Analyst
formerly BA, NORTH SHORE CITY COUNCIL
Award winner of Business Analyst of the Year 2010 at Computerworld Excellence in IT Awards

Speaker has declined permission for material to be online

10.40

Morning Break & Refreshments

10.55

Mini Workshop: Lean Six Sigma – An Important Part of the BA Toolkit

Organisations are under more pressure than ever to work ‘smarter’ and be more efficient to serve demanding customers in a highly competitive environment. Many organisations are finding Lean Six Sigma (LSS) to be a very effective business improvement method in manufacturing and service industries, as well as the public sector. This highly interactive mini workshop will cover activities including:
• How LSS adds value as a business improvement methodology
• LSS as a “no solution” approach (yes, you’ve read that right)
• Some LSS tools/techniques for:
- Scoping a project
- Identifying and removing wastes
- Improving quality of products/service

Clarence U, Managing Director, CULTIVA CONSULTING

12.20

Lunch

1.15

Evolution of the BA Career Path

This crucial and powerful closing session will cover different perspectives on the evolving BA career path. The role of the BA has been discussed to some length. A BA’s role varies widely from organisation to organisation. Also, businesses, more often than not, will only work with BAs if required by management or a project. Find out how you can create the desired BA role.
• BA career path evolving to a professional status
• The frameworks around competencies
• Relevant training and qualifications pathways
• What BAs can learn from the wider business community
• BAs with a point of difference to set them apart

Shamendra Hurbuns, Business Analyst of the year 2010
Tehmus Mistry, Business Solutions Manager, AHURA CONSULTING

Speaker has declined permission for material to be online

2.00

Case Study: Getting it Right the First Time! Smarter More Efficient & More Effective New Product Development at Telecom

The telecommunications sector is hotly competitive and tightly regulated, and is experiencing tough economic conditions. Against this background, it is more important than ever that investment dollars are wisely spent and people’s time effectively used. Telecom NZ is committed to continually improve new product development processes. David Morris shares some of this experience.
• Ensuring products are customer-focused rather than technology-driven
• Spending more time up front where it is quicker and easier to prove an idea
• Killing weak ideas and prioritising the strong ones
• Adopting an iterative and incremental approach

David Morris, Product Development Capability Manager, TELECOM NZ

2.50

Afternoon Break and Refreshments

3.10

Interactive Panel Discussion: Transforming Business Process Models into IT Requirements

IT and the business must collaborate to enhance flexibility of business systems and business development. Discuss, learn, create and share ideas around the topics featured to enable best practices in Business Analysis.
• What a business actually needs vs. what one thinks it needs
• An inclusive approach through the journey of transformation
• Facilitating feedback and providing support pre & post implementation

Jody Bullen, CEO, YONIX
Nicole Girvan, Business Analysis Manager, SOUTHERN CROSS HEALTHCARE
Shamendra Hurbuns, Business Analyst of the year 2010

3.45

Building Business Analysis Capability by Building Great Teams

Business Analyst of the Year award finalist Fiona McIvor talks about her experience in building great teams, and how what you believe can impact what you do achieve. Fiona will address how incorporating Agile techniques can facilitate team agreement.
• Aligning personal and organisational values
• Melding Agile values to create an empowered team
• Using Agile techniques to agree and work towards the same goal

Fiona McIvor, Senior Business Analyst, VERO

Speaker has declined permission for material to be online

4.30

Closing Remarks & End of Conference

Sponsors/Partners

Interested in sponsorship?

There are some exclusive opportunities to promote your company, and its products and services, at this leading event. Contact the sponsorship team below to request a prospectus or discuss the options, or view more about event sponsorship.