Introduction and Relevance to E-commerce - Case Study Example

Table of contents 1. Introduction and relevance to e-commerce 2. What is Business Analysis? 3. Business Analysis in 30 years 4. Changing Requirements and roles in business analysis 5. Why Business Analysis 6. How business analysis supports the work between business and IT 7. How Business Analysis developed 8. Different types of Business Analyst 9. Business Analysis now 10. Summary and Conclusion 11. References Introduction and relevance to e-commerce Business analysis is normally done by business analysts. A specific group of analysts who develop software systems are called systems analysts or Information Technology business analysts. The role played by system analysis is very critical in any organization. It is critical in to have solutions to business problems created through system analysis because many businesses deal a lot in e-commerce and internet operations Valovic, T. S. (2006).This paper therefore explores this role together with the evolution of business analysis over the last 30 years. The development of this role and the methods of its development in the future have also been given attention in this paper. Included in the paper are the introduction, the discussion part where the details of the role, its evolution and future is explored, and finally the conclusion. The study of business analysis is relevant to e-commerce because the business analysis process relies heavily on software systems in information technology for it to accomplish its objectives (Hass, Vander Horst 2008). What is Business Analysis? Business analysis refers to the practice of the identification of needs in a given business after which solutions to the identified needs are sought. In the solutions there may be a component for systems development, policy development, process involvement, strategic planning and change in the organization. Business analysis as a title has often been applied in processes that have no relationship with Information Technology. However its rightful place is the connection between Information Technology and business people. The word ‘business’ when used implies that if an organization designs application software it should put it to the use of improving the organization’s business activities through revenue increase, cost reduction and an increase in the services given to the organization’s clients (Hass et al 2008). Changing Requirements and roles in business analysis Business analysis has a very wide scope which makes business analysts to go into specialization leaning on any of the three aspects. The business analysis role at times tends to be hard. Business analysts have the responsibility of going through all the information given to them in order to unearth the hidden problems Delone & Mc Lean, (2004).The information presented at times can be wrong or correct. The analyst has to do his research in order to understand the condition of the organization. The business analyst receives information from various perspectives. The opinions of various people have the potential of determining the way related issues are perceived. Opinions may bring more irrelevant information that can make the business analysis role more complicated (Hass 2008). In cases where people with business knowledge want to dictate what needs to be done then the business analyst gets into problems. The business analyst must understand the expected outcome. The analyst listens, understands and incorporates the information given. He or she has the ability to tell what can be done and that which should be avoided. Therefore the business analyst comes in to solve business problems. To play the role efficiently the business analyst should be in a position to understand the problems from the point of view of the user and one who the application has affected (Graff, Zurich (2006). Different types of Business Analysts Business analysis comprises of elements such as strategy, architecture and system analysis which make up its complete role. Under strategy development organizations are expected to aim at strategic matters in a way that is continuous. Strategic profiles of organizations together with the surroundings of those organizations are the things that business analysis will aim its focus at. Business analysts are charged with the responsibility of giving advice to senior organization managers about the most appropriate policies and the outcome of the decisions taken on these policies (Paul, Debra; Yeates, Hindle 2006). The architectural role of the business analysts may demand that they give their contribution in the development of solutions to some problems identified earlier. In this effort, the organization may have seen the need to bring in total change in order to address the issues identified in strategic analysis. The contribution of business analysis can be obtained through doing the analysis of resources, objectives and processes. Business analysis can also give suggestions on improvements and re-design. Analysts are expected to have the soft skills which are very much instrumental in this exercise. Such skills include stake holder analysis, knowledge of a particular business and requirements engineering (Hass 2008). Other skills otherwise called ‘hard skills’ like modeling of the business are also required. The accomplishment of this role is impossible without knowledge in Information Technology. However it is not fully focused on IT. In architecture there are three things which are very crucial. These things include management of the change taking place in the organization and redesigning of principal processes in business. There is also the involvement of necessary technology which can provide support to the processes. This kind of analysis of a business is otherwise known as reengineering or Business Process Improvement (Paul et al 2006). How business analysis supports the work between business and IT Systems analysis is involved with the alignment of IT development with some production systems in the organization. It has however been a challenge for long for people to achieve the highest return from investments done in Information Technology that are costly but necessary and very important. To counter this problem Information Technology departments curve out a role for the business analyst who can be in a position to comprehend and lay out the requirements for those Information Technology systems (Graff, Zurich 2006). Even though the testing and development roles can be overlapping the Information Technology area in the process of change is more targeted. Business analysis in this area is more appropriate when a decision has already been finalized about a change to be made. Business analysts are only expected to do investigation work into problems facing the business. However currently they are also involved in finding solutions through design work (Graff et al 2006). Today many organizations are in the process of using computers in the operations of their businesses. It is important to have specialization being practiced because with time computer systems are getting on with complexity and it may soon be impossible for any one individual to have the knowledge of the operation of all the things required. Specialization has therefore given birth to a group of people called business analysts. These people create a link between business owners with business issues and the people who create solutions to these problems through technology (Paul et al 2006). How Business Analysis developed The growing software industry has a short history since it was only discovered in late 1970s. It is a young industry although it is growing in specialization and sophistication. During the 1980s people came to a point of accepting and accommodating the life cycle of software development as an important step. Those involved in the industry were technicians by training and worked in IT organizations. They were well versed in development of software and could do a lot of good programming. They applied textual requirements together with dataflow diagrams, ANSI flowcharts, prototypes and database diagrams (Graff, Zurich 2006). The greatest challenge in development of software was that it needed a very long time in order to be able to produce a system which had no guarantee of meeting the needs of the business. People dealing in business had gotten used to better and sophisticated software which pushed them to want a faster and better product. To be able to respond to the speed deficiency, development tools called Computer ‘Aided Software Engineering’ (CASE) were created. The use of these tools was to take up the requirements and utilize them in the management of projects for software development from start to finish (Cartcher 2009). One was expected to stick strictly to methodology, get used to the long time required in getting to learn what was involved. This procedure made the business community to get alienated form the process of development since they had a lot of difficulty trying to understand the process with the strange symbols being applied in diagrams. At the time when IT specialists were preoccupied with the process of learning how they could use the CASE tools personal computers started coming in great supply on desk tops in the organization. Within a short while it became easy for people to learn designing, programming and using the computers (Hass et al 2008). IT specialists had not completed their job on the management of a mainframe computer when so many independent computers came around of which they were required to manage. Technology operating on client-server basis appeared to replace the normal software which was based on key board operations. This came with a negative impact on software development. Consequently a need arose for the re-consideration of the classic approaches and methodologies so that they could provide support to the newly issued systems technology. Since the users of computers were also growing in their knowledge and sophistication there arose so many requests for computer software (Cartcher 2009). With time, business people grew weary since they had been waiting for a new but cumbersome application from the huge and sluggish Information Technology department. Due to this impatience they developed their own knowledge of working things out on their own. Alternatively they would hire consultants who were also called business analysts to assist them with automation needs and would bring direct reports to them. The IT department ran into more problems with this initiative by the business class. This was so because they were being called upon to give support to software that came about not from their approval or writing (Graff et al 2006). Independent databases in most cases small ones were developed all over with data that was always unprotected and lacking in consistency. At such a time the role of the internal business analyst was greatly reduced and consequently several of the systems could not take care of the right problems affecting businesses. The resultant effect was reworking and incurring more maintenance expenses. In response to the challenging changes, new approaches and methodologies were created. They included Rapid Application Development (RAD), Object Oriented (OO) and Joint Application Development (JAD) methods and tools (Caxton 2007). With the beginning of this new millennium Internet technology emerged which brought another strong wave in Information Technology. With the coming of the internet users with high sophistication and with the passion to make use of the latest technology started looking beyond their organizations in order to get the automation they so much desired to have. The technology was now being driven in a manner never experienced before by the business people in the organization (Catcher 2009). As a result in many organizations the role of the business analyst was staffed from inside the operational units as opposed to the expected way of it being done from Information Technology. At present there are accountants, payroll clerks, marketing directors and attorneys who perform the business analyst’s role. With the expansion of companies globally they started seeking for ways through which they could lower ‘their cost of missed requirements.’ This brought on the scene a quality movement that began in the 1970s with TQM (Graff et al 2006). The International Standards of Organization (ISO) put into place some quality standards which were to be observed strictly by those dealing in business at an international level. A quality standard for the development of software ‘Capability Maturity Model’ was created by Carnegie Mellon. In addition six sigma availed a proper quality approach which was data driven for processing the improvement in order to get rid of defects in all products, transactions and processes. All the above quality initiatives needed more rigor and facts in the process of the requirements, analysis and even gathering. This clearly showed that there was need for business analysts with better skills who had a proper knowledge of Information Technology and e-commerce, the business and the ‘quality best practices’ (Caxton 2007). Business Analysis now Currently business analysis personnel originate from both the business and information technology areas. Business analysts are currently equipped with skills in business and IT. These personnel carry specific different titles and also business analyst groups have a structure that has many variations just like the companies. However business analysts have an important set of activities they are engaged in that is not determined by their industry or background. With the increased geographical dispersal of project teams a growing importance is being placed on the role of business analysis. This is expected to be extended into the future (Graff et al (2006). This change of late has been driven by factors such as globalization and outsourcing of big organizations. When the role of IT development is no longer contained in the organization, there arises a necessity for accurate and full elaboration of the requirements with more details. A structured approach was a good thing a few years ago but in this present environment a lot of success is expected of it. Most of the organizations retain the role of business analysis within their own internal functions. Consequently more people specializing in Information Technology are receiving training in business analysis skills (Cartcher 2009). In future it is expected that the role of business analysis will continue increasing its focus on the business system as it moves focus from software. A competent business analyst has the capacity to study any area of business and from that recommend on personnel changes, procedural and policy changes together with a recommendation of the appropriate software. Business analysis is capable of helping to better a business system instead of improving the business software only (Caxton 2007). The evolution of the role of business analysis is expected to continue in its evolution depending on the direction taken by the business. Better increases in the productivity of the future will come about when the requirements are re-used. Management of requirements is expected to become an important skill in business analysis roles since organizations are continually maturing in their practice of this important expertise. Business analysis has for some time now been taken to be the carrier of the change that is required in business practice (Caxton 2007). Successful business analysis requires a set of diverse skills which may include data modeling and communication. The professional and educational background of business analysts vary also with others having business knowledge while others have an IT background. Considering these wide backgrounds it becomes hard for a business analyst to have every skill needed for business analysis within him. With time it is coming to the realization of some organizations that people with sound backgrounds of business analysis are hard to come by. As a result many companies are opting to take their own employees through training for business analysis in structured approaches that display consistency (Catcher 2006). Summary and Conclusion Business analysis involves the discovery of the problems affecting a given business and creating solutions to such problems. Business analysts have the role of bridging the gap between professionals in the IT sector and those in business practice Business analysis has been evolving over a period of time. It started in the later parts of the 1970s and has been growing ever since Hunger, J. D., & Wheelen, T. L. (2007).With the development of the internet it has become more sophisticated with so many businesses applying e-commerce in their operations. Business analysis is expected to focus more on business systems as it moves aware from the area of software. The field is expected to widen in its scope since those trained in IT are also acquiring skills in business analysis. This paper looked at the role of business analysis, its evolution since thirty years ago and the future developments expected to take shape in business analysis References Paul, Debra; Yeates D., Hindle K.,(2006). Business analysis Chester, Pearson Kathleen B H, Hass R. V.., Kimi Z. (2008). From Analyst to Leader: Elevating the Role of the Business Analyst Management Concepts, 2008" Graff M., Zurich E, 2006, Journal of Business Cycle Measurement and Analysis; Switzerland Cartcher M(2009).Information Technology and business analysis; Journal of business Management; London Caxton J (2007).Growth in use of computers in business analysis; A software development journal; Sydney; 2007. Delone & Mc Lean, (2004). Measuring e-commerce success, International Journal of e- commerce, USA, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 31–47 Valovic, T. S. (2006). 'Digital mythologies: The hidden complexities of the Internet'. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Williamson & Jenkins (2006). 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