Reviews for Business Analysis

1. Good basic desciption of Business Analysis

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2010

   This a good review of the skills required by Business Analysts and some useful pragmatic info on how BA's are viewed in different organizations.
   
   

2. Brilliant introduction to the topic and helped me pass ISEB Foundation

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, January 12th, 2010

   As someone with a number of years experience in this area, I purchased this book with a view to sitting the ISEB BA foundation exam, knowing that the content directly correlates with the ISEB syllabus. The text comprises the work of various experts in the field and for the most part the book addresses the subject well. It has a good breadth of coverage and provides a more than well rounded introduction to business analysis techniques. This learning provides a solid grounding to someone starting out in BA or wishing to consolidate their knowledge and was more than adequate for preparation in sitting the foundation certification.
   
   I would recommend this as a good starting point for someone wishing to undertake some formal study in Business Analysis.

3. Ideal overview of complex subject

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, January 12th, 2010

   I bought this as I was looking into doing some courses (which are very expensive) and to see if the overall subject was right for me. Some of the aspects I have to do as part of my job so it was good to get them into a more formal context.
   This book is designed as an introduction to a variety of subject areas within the whole scope of business analysis. It is well written, concise and easy to read which I didn't expect for a book with 'business' in the title! Worth buying if you are thinking of doing further training before shelling out on a course which is not right for you.
   THere are recommendations for further reading which I have not investigated.
   
   There is a new volume out soon,which I may purchase, on Business Analysis TEchniques:77 essential tools which gives further details. Both these seem to be well priced.

4. A reasonable but uneven introduction to Business Analysis

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, January 12th, 2010

   I was in two minds whether to recommend this book. In its favour it has plenty of material that aspiring (and even experienced) business analysts will find useful, not least of which is a framework for business analysis that presents a life cycle from problem investigation through analysis and solution finding to implementation and change management. However as the book is written by a series of different people, the individual chapters are not well integrated into this life cycle and there is some confusing overlap and contradiction in places.
   
   Add to this the fact that some of the chapters are rather weak (the one on data management, for example, is far too general, and the one on business cases has some very poor aspects (e.g. a payback table that lists costs and savings using the same notation, and a contents list that does not include linking project goals to strategy)).
   
   It's not all negative, though. You do get an excellent overview of the skills and techniques that a business analyst needs, ranging from investigation tools like rich pictures and workshops through business activity mapping and process mapping, to change management and requirements analysis (use cases and UML).
   
   Coming from the British Computer Society, the bias is strongly about business analysis for IT, and although the book acknowledges there is a wider context almost all of the examples are IT-centred.
   
   On balance I would recommend this book to those who are new to business analysis to get an overview, and to those with experience to get a reminder of some of the techniques they might perhaps have allowed to fall into disuse; but all with a pinch of salt. The book isn't very up to date (for example although it focuses on internal IT development it barely covers Agile) and it misses some key areas (there is nothing on systems thinking apart from some of Checkland's soft systems stuff, and nothing much on lean).
   
   If you want to get the ISEB Business Analysis Foundation Certificate, this book is mandatory, and it could also help towards the ISEB diploma. Otherwise I'd say it's one to read alongside other business analysis texts: it's not strong enough to stand alone.

5. Good for passing the exam but..

   Rated 4 out of 5 stars, January 12th, 2010

   This is certainly a good book if you 'just' intend to pass the exam (thats the reason for this book isn't it?). However, it tries to cover too many concepts in too little space. If you need to know more you must take help of numerous other resources.