So it’s clear to me that I’m coming at business analysis from a different place than a lot of people. That is very obvious when I catch articles like this one on Estimating Analysis Time
from the Business Analyst Blog.
An important BA skill is the ability to accurately estimate the amount of time required to perform analysis work and be able to explain and justify it to project managers and sponsors.
I’m completely unclear as to how such an activity can be considered an important part of getting software out the door. Your stories/requirements/whatever are feeding the whole team; you’re the first person in the assembly line. It should be obvious the time they take and the value, because without them, every downstream team will be idling.My gut feeling is that it’s only in extreme cases of divorcing analysis from construction that anyone would even ask for these estimates. They should be reflected in the total volume of software produced, and I’d say that if your metrics/estimations aren’t based on total volume including all the activities (testing, analysis, development, engineering, etc.) then you have bigger problems.
