Business Analysis Guidebook/Introduction

Foreword
This Guidebook was written by NYS Business Analysts for NYS Business Analysts. At the request of the NYS CIO Council, specifically Adam Gigandet, Moses Kamya and Daniel Chan--a workgroup was formed to help develop Business Analysts in NYS Government, and to help establish a consistent approach across the various state agencies. The Guidebook Committee, often on their own personal time, developed the following wikibook over two years in an effort to provide a "how to" guide that could be used in combination with the IIBA's Business Analysis Body of Knowledge.

As co-chair of the Guidebook Committee, I would like to thank all of the committee members for their knowledge, drafted sections, and passion in putting this terrific resource together. This would not be possible without your commitment and experience. For a list of initial contributors, please go to the Noted Contributors later in this book.

I'd also like to thank ITS Leadership and also the NYS Forum for recognizing the importance of business analysts in IT projects; your support for our work is invaluable. As a PM Director, I find that projects with a dedicated BA are far more efficient and effective than those without one.

This wikibook is dedicated to all the Business Analysts out there helping their business units meet their goals, day after day, project after project!!

Kelly Smith-Lawless Guidebook Co-Chair NYS Information Technology Services

About This Book
Business Analysts are all about communication! They are responsible for ensuring that all Stakeholders share a common understanding of requirements and project or operational deliverables. This is accomplished by: The intent of this Guidebook is to provide approach, tool, and technique guidance to any New York State-employed BA or Agency staff performing BA Activities. This includes tasks associated with participation and leadership throughout the Project or Application lifecycles. When we initially envisioned this Guidebook, we had grand plans of not only developing this book, but also developing training and a companion mentorship program to help grow Business Analysts in NYS Government. Won't you join us on this journey?
 * accurate and appropriate documentation,
 * close collaboration with stakeholders to identify and define the business needs,
 * separation of 'must haves' from 'nice to haves',
 * assistance or leadership with ensuring a feasible design and specifications for a solution,
 * and validation that the solution delivers the expected outcomes.

Helping us Edit The Book
You will note there are a few section headings and notes within this wikibook that are blank or reference things to come. We felt that to gain acceptance of this guide as a NYS standard--we would be better served having NYS help us put on the finishing touches together. We would like this to be a collaborative effort that we can all use and follow. While we will happily accept any and all feedback and edits--we strongly encourage you to set up a wiki account and make your edits logged in. This will be helpful to the Committee as we review and modify the book going forward. It will also prevent your IP address from being publicly exposed while you make edits. We look forward to your collaborative contributions to define a common approach for Business Analysis work in New York State! Thank you.