Comments on: Kathleen Barret, IIBA, on the Business Analyst role #ogtoronto http://www.column2.com/2009/07/kathleen-bartlett-iiba-on-the-business-analyst-role-ogtoronto/ BPM, Enterprise 2.0 and technology trends in business. Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:15:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sandy Kemsley http://www.column2.com/2009/07/kathleen-bartlett-iiba-on-the-business-analyst-role-ogtoronto/comment-page-1/#comment-11513 Sandy Kemsley Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:20:53 +0000 http://www.column2.com/2009/07/kathleen-bartlett-iiba-on-the-business-analyst-role-ogtoronto/#comment-11513 So now you're redefining the meaning of the phrase "the same thing as"? :) It might have been clearer for her not to use that phrase, but to state what I now think that you meant, which is that they're on the same continuum of skills. I'm looking forward to seeing how you can help to clarify the business architect role as distinct from that of business analyst; I see a lot of confusion over this with how my clients assign the two titles to people within their organizations. So now you’re redefining the meaning of the phrase “the same thing as”? :) It might have been clearer for her not to use that phrase, but to state what I now think that you meant, which is that they’re on the same continuum of skills. I’m looking forward to seeing how you can help to clarify the business architect role as distinct from that of business analyst; I see a lot of confusion over this with how my clients assign the two titles to people within their organizations.

]]> By: Kevin Brennan http://www.column2.com/2009/07/kathleen-bartlett-iiba-on-the-business-analyst-role-ogtoronto/comment-page-1/#comment-11506 Kevin Brennan Mon, 27 Jul 2009 05:04:30 +0000 http://www.column2.com/2009/07/kathleen-bartlett-iiba-on-the-business-analyst-role-ogtoronto/#comment-11506 Hi Sandy, One point on which I would clarify. When we say that an enterprise business analyst/business architect is the same thing as a business analyst, we don't mean that the work they do is identical. What we mean is that the underlying skills and knowledge are closely enough related that they are, in a meaningful sense, part of the same profession. In other words, it should be and as far as anyone can tell is a natural progression from business analyst to business architect, without the kind of transition where you suddenly have to learn a new set of skills or display a new set of competencies. This is different from the BA to PM transition common in a lot of organizations, because a PM does something fundamentally different from a BA (for example). In general, both business analysts and business architects seem to agree with this assertion which is a good indication that it is in fact true. That said, business architecture is still in its very early stages as a profession and the reason Kathleen and I were there was to begin discussions with the Open Group on how exactly we could work together to define that. This is pretty different from the business analyst role--at this point we've got that pretty much nailed down (with data to back it up) and IIBA's definition seems to be gaining rapid acceptance in the industry. However, it's not much different from where business analysis was when we started five years ago and so I'm confident that we can make significant progress in this area. Hi Sandy,

One point on which I would clarify.

When we say that an enterprise business analyst/business architect is the same thing as a business analyst, we don’t mean that the work they do is identical. What we mean is that the underlying skills and knowledge are closely enough related that they are, in a meaningful sense, part of the same profession. In other words, it should be and as far as anyone can tell is a natural progression from business analyst to business architect, without the kind of transition where you suddenly have to learn a new set of skills or display a new set of competencies. This is different from the BA to PM transition common in a lot of organizations, because a PM does something fundamentally different from a BA (for example).

In general, both business analysts and business architects seem to agree with this assertion which is a good indication that it is in fact true. That said, business architecture is still in its very early stages as a profession and the reason Kathleen and I were there was to begin discussions with the Open Group on how exactly we could work together to define that.

This is pretty different from the business analyst role–at this point we’ve got that pretty much nailed down (with data to back it up) and IIBA’s definition seems to be gaining rapid acceptance in the industry. However, it’s not much different from where business analysis was when we started five years ago and so I’m confident that we can make significant progress in this area.

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