Business Analysis For Dummies

by Paul Mulvey, Kate McGoey, Kupe Kupersmith

Your go-to guide on business analysis

Business analysis refers to the set of tasks and activities that help companies determine their objectives for meeting certain opportunities or addressing challenges and then help them define solutions to meet those objectives. Those engaged in business analysis are charged with identifying the activities that enable the company to define the business problem or opportunity, define what the solutions looks like, and define how it should behave in the end. As a BA, you lay out the plans for the process ahead.

"Business Analysis For Dummies" is the go to reference on how to make the complex topic of business analysis easy to understand. Whether you are new or have experience with business analysis, this book gives you the tools, techniques, tips and tricks to set your project's expectations and on the path to success.Offers guidance on how to make an impact in your organization by performing business analysisShows you the tools and techniques to be an effective business analysis professionalProvides a number of examples on how to perform business analysis regardless of your role

If you're interested in learning about the tools and techniques used by successful business analysis professionals, "Business Analysis For Dummies" has you covered.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Reference

384 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2013

Reviews

[Zanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd recommend to read this book to anyone interested to know about the role of a business analyst in the company or even already a professional analyst looking to improve his skills. This book can be easily used on a daily basis at work as your guide on a project and even has a chapter 'Ten ways to prepare yourself for a new project' which mentions that you should take a vacation before a new project! Ha, I think we all can use this type of advices. I have also enjoyed the last chapter where ten experts share their favourite techniques and explain how to use them to add value to their work.

[Rawan Salame · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way less dry than the BABOK guide, but still dry. This book, plus a couple of practice tests, is all you need for the ECBA exam.

[Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I come from a background of software and systems analysis. My goal in reading this book was to compare and contrast what I knew with the techniques and roles of business analysis. There Wes a lot of overlap in terms of what needed to be done and who fires what seems more a matter of new names for old jobs than something novel.

Business analysis is presented as a combination of systems analysis and project management. Various disciplines, such as requirements , analysis and planning are all familiar and decomposed hierarchically. When used during a project, these categories can serve as a checklist to assure that nothing is overlooked.

The authors choose to not identify brand names with tools on the assumption that the recommendations would quickly go out of date. They pointed to a website-- b2ttraining.com.com-- where you could find current recommendations. The URL more goes to a new website with a lot of material but no resource page I could find. This is no worse than a book with stale recommendations, but no better. Without the references, the book feels dated.

The book promotes the virtues of the organized thinking and planning process of business analysis. Unfortunately it does not do that by comparing it to something else.

[Tony A. Heckenlively · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read

I highly recommend this book to all BA professionals. I would read this prior to reading the BABOK as the concepts are laid out in plain English and will help BABOK make more sense.

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you acquire the Business Analysis skills described in this book, you will be able to improve my company's weaknesses and enhance your strengths without having to rely on a consulting firm.