Business Area Analysis Using Joint Application Development (JAD) Facilitated Sessions with In-Session Documentation

Hathaway & Associates, Inc. is a Florida-based training and consulting firm

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	Business Area Analysis JAD Sessions

People Involved
Technical Components
Typical Activities
Potential Deliverables

Our Promise:

Top down analysis of major business functions
Business-focused IT project prioritization
Risk assessment and contingency planning
Technology independent solution analysis

Benefits:


	Business area analysis evaluates how well business processes, business rules, business data, organizational structure, and people skills match the mission of the organizational unit. It develops recommended process improvement actions which can include quick fixes for serious problems, modifications of existing automated systems, workflow adjustments, new development of an automated system or the initiation of a business process reengineering project.

Recognize the actual scope of a potential change
Instill ownership of business problems and solutions
Flush out overlap between competing projects
Achieve consensus across multiple functional areas
Prioritize competing projects
Increase understanding of project scope
Define project deliverables consistently



		Business Process Owners, Executives, Business Managers, End Users, Human Resource Representatives
		System Analysts, Business Analysts, Data Analysts, Project Leaders, System Designers
		Auditors, Information Technology Specialists, Contingency Planners, Security, Developers, Trainers, Standards, Vendors, Quality Assurance
		We offer experienced JAD facilitation teams (session leader and session analyst) with proven track records who work virtually or at your site to deliver the best possible result.


		- Existing mission statements - Current organizational chart - Procedural documentation - Existing reports or forms
		Business Process Modeling, Workflow Diagramming, System Usage Matrixes, Problem Definition, Problem / Symptom Reduction, Enterprise Modeling, Data Modeling, Process Modeling, Affinity Analysis, CRUD Matrixes, Scoping Techniques, Cost/Benefit Analysis
		Diagramming tools, Spreadsheets, Word processors, Upper CASE, Data dictionary

All of the following business system analysis activities and deliverables can also be supported via e-mentoring


	Each session is unique. We create the actual session agenda together with you based on your business needs. The selection of the deliverables is a pre-session activity.

	Assess and revise business goals and strategies
	Create high-level process model of business
	Identify mission critical application functions
	Identify environmental and social dependencies
	Prioritize business functions based on mission
	Overlay organizational chart on process model
	Define process and interface ownership
	List all internal and external interfaces
	Develop workflow diagrams
	Assign post-session tasks and schedule post-session meeting
	Define business problems and opportunities
	Determine benefits of solving business problems
	Create high-level data model of major business entities
	Level process models
	Evaluate impact of emerging technologies
	Overlay organizational chart on data model
	Define data entity ownership and responsibilities
	Develop CRUD (Create, Retrieve, Update, Delete) matrixes
	Define strategic information system initiatives
	Evaluate potential project scopes based on affinities
	Define first-cut project scopes and initial estimates
	Prioritize strategic projects
	Scope project
	Collect, analyze and document problem statements
	Determine problem causes based on process models
	Define benefits of solving problems
	Define project objective
	Evaluate existing system for "Quick Fixes"
	Evaluate organizational standards and guidelines




	Scope statements and diagrams clearly delineate the business areas to be analyzed. Critical success factors identify information needs and systems that are critical for business continuity. Risk assessment of potential internal and external disruptions that can either degrade or interrupt performance of business functions, operation of plants, or affect the quality of products and services. High-level process models show business functions performed by organizational units and the internal and external information flows they produce and need. Business function/system matrixes relate applications or automated functions to business functions. Workflow diagrams indicate how to execute complex manual procedures to accomplish the business mission. List of assumptions that define the baseline against which each deliverable was established. If the baseline is changed, the validity of the other deliverables is at best questionable. Post-session task assignments define the actions that individuals have to do to clarify open questions or resolve open issues. Problem/opportunity statements define what the organization has to address. Strategic systems visions select information systems within the organization that provide or enhance a competitive advantage. Technology architectures assess current and emerging hardware and software technologies that may impact the organization and require an appropriate strategy. High-level data models present major entities, potential key attributes and the business relationships between entities. Association matrixes relate data entities to business function, business function to IS system, business function to organizational chart, etc. IS project lists identify, scope and prioritize information system projects with guesstimates of required effort and cost. Business rules document organizational decisions and directives. A synopsis contains a short overview of the results of the entire session for the management review The project objective relates this project to strategic corporate goals. Quick Fixes are recommended short term, stopgap solutions based on the evaluation of the existing situation. Open issues are unanswered questions and issues that must be resolved before continuing with the project. Subjective requirements must be clarified to enable test case development.

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