Why Good Isnt Goodthe PMO: The Global State of the PMO: The Global State of Enough: Its

Value, Effectiveness and and ItsThe Global State of Value, Effectiveness RoleRole as HubHub of Training as Business Analysis the the of Training
Survey conducted in December 2011

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An ESI International Study An ESI International Study

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ExEcutivE Summary
Organisations around the globe are using business analysis (BA) to define requirements and determine courses of action and solutions to help them achieve their goals. BA activities are critical to project and organisational success, but success requires standards of practice and adherence to the BA discipline. How good are organisations at practicing BA? Are they realising its full potential? In September 2011, ESI International conducted a survey of professionals with varying titles within organisations worldwide to ask about their experiences and perceptions of BA. This global study seeks to determine the actual business impact that BA has on organisations, and examines its current state by inquiring into BA practices, trends, challenges and applications of the BA discipline. The more than 1,600 respondents, who represent a broad spectrum of industries, including the public sector, answered questions about their organisations, including the following: How do they rate the proficiency of their overall BA function? How do they rate the proficiency of their individual BA activities? What are the key success factors for their projects?

We found that proficiency in BA can vary among activities and among organisations, but respondents are essentially satisfied with their BA practices and outcomes. While people believe their organisations BA practices are good, analysis shows there is room for improvement, indicating that good isnt necessarily good enough. Gaps exist in certain BA areas, such as: Proficiency in BA activities The practice of BA at the enterprise level Levels of experience Achieving certification in BA

ESI International, Inc. 2011. This report is the copyrighted property of ESI International, Inc. All rights reserved.

SurvEy rESuLtS

The survey revealed some key findings:

Respondents view BA as crucial to successful projects and in fact, the overall rating of BA functions is highly related to project success rates.

CHART 1. PRojEcT SuccESS And BA PRofIcIEncy ARE PoSITIvEly coRRElATEd

Percent of Respondents

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

BA overall Rating Poor BA overall Rating fair BA overall Rating Good BA overall Rating very Good BA overall Rating Excellent

-5

-7

-9

tha

n2

25

51

contradicting external findings of project results, more than 90 percent of respondents consider more than half their projects to have been successful over the last three years. Sixty-eight percent of respondents consider 75 percent or more of their projects to have been successful. Middle management is more critical of the BA function than senior management, yet business analysts themselves also see room for improvement.

les s

75

10

% Projects Successful

0%

4%

9%

5%

0%

4
CHART 2. RATInG of BA PRofIcIEncy By oRGAnISATIonAl TITlE

Percent of Respondents

100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

Poor fair Good very Good Excellent

Respondents at all levels of the organisation rated the most important success factors of their projects as: customer satisfaction: 81 percent Time completion: 62 percent Budget delivery: 52 percent Product quality: 46 percent

Survey results indicated that BA is not viewed as being impactful to business results. only 22 percent of respondents said profit impact is an important success factor for BA. just 15 percent said acquisition and retention of customers are important success criteria for BA, while 4 percent said market share. just under 20 percent of total respondents said that they are responsible for enterprise analysis, and only 7 percent said that they spent most of their time on enterprise analysis. Among BAs, only 26.3 percent are responsible for enterprise analysis and 6.5 percent said that they spent most of their time on enterprise analysis. nearly half of BA practitioners have five years or less of BA experience; of them, 15 percent have less than two years of experience. Twenty-one percent have six to nine years experience and 30 percent have 10 years or more. Thirty-seven percent of organisations have increased their number of BA positions in the last two years, and 27 percent expect to increase them over the next two years. The key challenges faced in BA are communication (47 percent) and cross-functional collaboration (46 percent). BA certification is not widespread in organisations. only 2.5 percent of total respondents said they have their cBAP certification, and 6.4 percent of BA respondents have their cBAP certification. less than 2 percent of total respondents and 1 percent of BA respondents said they have a ScRuM Master certification.

cBAP is a registered certification mark owned by International Institute of Business Analysis. This certification mark is used with the express permission of International Institute of Business Analysis.

Exe

l cut ive vic M e P ana res ge ide r/ nt Se nio rM an ag er Pro jec tM an ag er Bu sin ess An aly st

c-l eve

Organisational Titles

concLuSionS
The survey shows respondents make the connection between BA proficiency and project success, but that a disconnect still exists in recognising the impact of BA and successful projects on business value and results. This could likely be the result of individuals granular focus on projects without seeing the Big Picture. In addition, BAs do not always understand their impact on the organisation from a financial or business perspective since they often conduct task-oriented work with stakeholders who may also lack an overall perspective. Both business analysts and project managers need to become more involved at the enterprise level. not surprisingly, enterprise analysis ranks lowest in proficiency among business analysis activities. Without an enterprise analysis perspective, BAs lack the connection between what they are doing and why they are doing it. So while they may be winning the project battle, they dont have the enterprise-wide perspective to win the war.

organisaTions are using business analysis To win The baTTle, buT They may noT win The war

The majority of respondents believe that their BA competencies are good to excellent, and that 75 percent or more of their projects over the last three years were successful. However, since real-world evidence indicates otherwise, organisations may be in need of a reality check.

mosT believe good is good enough

The survey shows a relatively large population of less experienced practitioners of BA, with nearly half reporting five years or less of experience. The still maturing nature of BA has numerous implications for organisations since it impacts performance, including the potential for business analysts to work from an enterprise perspective, handle challenges within their discipline and their organisations, and achieve a level of proficiency and success equated with more seasoned professionals. despite this, organisations recognise the critical importance of requirements management and BA, with survey results showing an increase in the number of business analyst positions in the last two years, and an increased number of business analyst positions projected over the next two years.

ba in demand despiTe inexperience and immaTuriTy of The profession

Establishing BA as an organisational discipline may be undermined by a lack of the supporting elements of the profession. The survey results show that BA certifications are held by a very small percentage of those practicing the discipline, unlike its project management counterpart, the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. just as surprising may be the small percentage of ScRuM Master certifications, given the importance of Agile as an explosive development methodology. In addition, BA tools are not as prevalent as might be expected given their potential enhancement to the business analysts output, with more than one-third of respondents reporting no use of dedicated tools at all.

cerTificaTion, Tools lacking To supporT The ba discipline in organisaTions

In a competitive and economically challenging environment, there is always room for improvementin BA, as well as in other areas. organisations that allow themselves to stand still will be left behind. Raising expectations for and the proficiency of BA in organisations is key to helping organisations realise the full potential of the discipline and maximize BAs business impact.
PMP is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

summary

SurvEy rESuLtS
The ultimate impact that projects have on decreasing costs and increasing revenues is directly related to profitability; profitability is the reason that organisations do projects at all. In our questioning of respondents about the state of BA, we believe the most significant finding is that project participants are failing to make the connection between their tasks and activities and their impact on business profitability. organisational profit impact ranked fifth among the top criteria for successful projects when survey respondents were asked which were most important to both them and the organisation.
CHART 3. THE ToP cRITERIA you conSIdER kEy To THE SuccESS of PRojEcTS (RAnk THE ToP THREE)

projecT parTicipanTs missing The big picTure

Number of Responses

1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200

1188 905 756 680 315 123 100 93 90 65 53 27

tio n ec om on -Bu ple Re ten tio dg n et tio co no mp Qu fc a let urr ion en org lity o tc f th an lie isa eP nts tio rod /cu Ac na uc qu sto lP t isit rofi me ion t Im rs ( of Ex pa ne ter ct w na cli l/In en ter ts/ nu na cu mb l) sto er me of rs ( de E fec nu ts mb xtern al/ er of Int ch ern an al ge Im sR ) pa eq ct ue on sts Ma rke Be tS ing ha re fir st t oM ark et

he

cu sto m

While the larger business issue of profitability could be understandably overlooked at the task-oriented level, organisations should be aware that such inattention could be a root cause of related and unrecognised project deficiencies. Given these results, organisations have the responsibility to establish the training and communication needed to point out these links at the project level.

bas lack enTerprise perspecTive

The project activities for which most survey respondents said they are responsible are project management (69 percent), requirements analysis (69 percent) and requirements management (68 percent). Among the activities for which the least number of respondents were responsible are portfolio management and enterprise analysis (both cited by 20 percent).

on

-Ti m

Project Success Measures

er

Sa tis

fac

ot

7
CHART 4. SuRvEy RESPondEnTS ARE RESPonSIBlE foR THE folloWInG PRojEcT AcTIvITIES (SElEcT All THAT APPly)

Percent of Respndents

80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10%

59% 47% 40% 32% 20% 20% 49% 52%

63%

63%

68%

69%

69%

an ag em En ter en t pri Pro se gra An mm aly sis eM an ag em Sys en t tem Re sA qu ire me nalys is nts Eli So cit lut ati Pro ion on jec As tE ses val sm ua en tio ta n nd Re qu va lid ire ati me on nts Re Mo qu ni ire Re me torin qu g nts ire me Pla nts nn i co Re mm ng qu ire un me ica tio nts n Ma na Re ge qu me ire nt me nts Pro An aly jec sis tM an ag em en t
CHART 5. WHIcH AcTIvITIES TAkE uP THE GREATEST AMounT of youR TIME? (SElEcT THE ToP 3)
722 640 610 383 353 348 339 327 323 307 274 150 120

Po rt

fol i

Number of Responses

oM

Project Activities

looking at the time spent on project activities, 44 percent of survey respondents said that project management takes up the greatest amount of their time, followed by requirements analysis (39 percent) and requirements management (37 percent).

800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100

nt en uir ts A em n en ts M alysi s an Re So ag qu lut em ire ion me en As t nts ses Eli sm cit en ati ta on nd va Pro lid ati jec on tM Re an qu ag ire em me Re en nts qu t ire Mo me nit nts ori ng co mm Re un qu ica ire tio me n nts Pla nn Sys tem ing sA na Pro lys jec is tE Po val rtf ua oli tio oM n an ag em En ter en pri t se An aly sis

Ma n

Project Activities

fol io Po rt

Given the focus on project management, it is likely that not enough BA muscle is being flexed, and organisations are relying on project management to steer the right course.

Re q

Re

qu

ire m

ag

em e

8
Since PM focuses on what is urgent while BA focuses on what is important, the results indicate that a more balanced portfolio of project activities between the two disciplines will prevent the urgent taking precedence over the important.

Survey respondents reported high rates of proficiency of overall BA and individual BA activities, although later in this report, we will see that a lack of experience and professional certification call these ratings into question. Thirty-five percent rated the overall proficiency of their BA function as very good or excellent, while 39 percent rated it good.
CHART 6. RATE THE ovERAll PRofIcIEncy of THE BuSInESS AnAlySIS funcTIon WITHIn youR oRGAnISATIon

reporTed ba proficiency, projecT success in quesTion

4.7% 20.5%

Poor

5.5%

Excellent

fair

30%

very Good

39.3%

Good

Respondents also rated their organisations proficiency as good to excellent in: Business analysis, planning and monitoring (70 percent) Elicitation (62 percent) Requirements management and communication (68 percent) Enterprise analysis (52 percent) Requirements analysis (73 percent) Solution assessment and validation (69 percent)

9
CHART 7. RATE THE PRofIcIEncy of EAcH of THE folloWInG BuSInESS AnAlySIS AcTIvITIES In youR oRGAnISATIon

Number of Responses

1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200

dont know Poor fair Good very Good Excellent

Eli cit ire ati me on an nts dc M om an mu age nic me ati nt on En ter pri se An aly Re sis qu ire me nts An So aly lut sis ion As ses sm va ent lid an ati d on

An a an lysis d M Pl on ann ito ing rin g

Business Analysis Functions

sin

ess

Bu

As noted in the executive summary, organisations should be aware of contradictions between reported project success rates and BA proficiency rates, compared with the known realities of projects and failure rates.
CHART 8. WHAT PERcEnTAGE of THE PRojEcTS THAT you HAvE BEEn InvolvEd In ovER THE lAST 3 yEARS do you conSIdER To HAvE BEEn SuccESSful

Re

qu

2.3% 6.1%

less than 25%

25%-50%

11.9%

100%

23.4%

51%-74%

56.3% 75-99%

If current BA proficiencies are so highly rated and a large majority of projects considered successful, then the challenge remains for organisations to establish and achieve higher standards of excellence.

10
Part of the challenge in achieving higher standards of excellence may be due to the relatively small numbers of certified business analysts. Survey results show that business analyst certifications are currently lagging behind PMP certification among those practicing BA. Thirty-two percent of respondents have their PMP , although this is not surprising given it has been available far longer than other project professional certifications.

business analysT cerTificaTions lagging

only 7 percent of respondents said they have a business analyst certification. However, 9 percent said they are planning to earn a business analyst certification within the next six months and 18 percent are planning to in the next two years. Twenty-five percent of overall respondents and 24 percent of business analyst respondents said they are not planning on obtaining any certification.
CHART 9. WHIcH BEST dEScRIBES youR cERTIfIcATIon STATuS (cHEck All THAT APPly)

Percent of Respondents

35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5%

32.4% 25.2% 20.9 18.3 8.9 2.5% 1.9% 1.8% 0.6%

lan wi to ea thi rn ot nt aB he r he A Ip lan ne cer x t wi to ea t two ificat thi rn n t a B year ion he A s ne cer xt tifi Ih 6 m ca ave on tion ac ths BA P Ih cer ave tifi aP cat Ih rin ion ave ce2 Ih aS cer ave cR tifi uM the cat ion Ma ISE ste Bd r ce ipl om rti fic a in ati Bu on sin ess An aly sis s

ific ati nin on go an n y c ob ert ta ific ini ati ng on

PM

ave a

Ih

no

tp

lan

cer t

Responses

Ia

Responses regarding the amount of time spent actively performing BA activities provide indications of experience levels as well as insight into why a relatively low number of cBAP certifications has been earned. nearly half of respondents (49 percent) have only five years or less of experience, while the cBAP requires seven or more years of experience. Twenty-one percent have six to nine years while 30 percent have 10 or more years of experience. The years of BA experience reported by respondents is also an indication of the immaturity of the profession.

professional experience shows ba sTill maTuring

Ip

11
CHART 10. AMounT of TIME SPEnT AcTIvEly PERfoRMInG THE BuSInESS AnAlySIS/REQuIREMEnTS MAnAGEMEnT AcTIvITIES foR WHIcH you ARE RESPonSIBlE

15% 34%
2-5 years

less than 2 years

21% 6-9 years

30%

10 years or more

Survey results showing the challenges business analysts face in the organisation offer few surprises. communication and crossfunctional collaboration lead among top challenges with 47 percent and 46 percent of respondents, respectively, citing them. These difficulties underscore the importance of training and professional development to reduce impediments to better performance and improved project and organisational results.
CHART 11. WHIcH of THE folloWInG PoSE cHAllEnGES In youR oRGAnISATIon AS THEy RElATE To BuSInESS AnAlySIS/REQuIREMEnTS MAnAGEMEnT? (SElEcT All THAT APPly)

organisaTional challenges facing business analysTs

Percent of Respondents

50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5%

47.3%

46.1%

34.1%

33.7%

33.4%

33.1%

29.2%

27.4% 24.3% 24% 20% 15.2%

4.1%

cu c an tives omm dB ,P u us ro ni cro ines ject Mcatio ss- s u an n w Inv fu nit ag ith olv nc tio Head ers em na en l co s ta t th lla bo eI rat nit ion ial Pro Sta Tra jec keh ini tS old ng ta er /Pr Ma ges ofe na Ba ssi ge on me Pu lance al rch nt de of ase vel Tec op an h me d A nica nt la do pti nd So on Ma of R ft S na eq kills ge uir me em n e Exe t Too nts ls cut un de ive co rst Su mm an pp din un ort ica go tio fc Inv ns are olv wi er em th Pa en IT th tw Pro ith gre Q ssi Pra uali on ty cti A ces ss (te uran sti ce n ce g) rti fic no ati ne on of the Ab ov e

Business Functions

Exe

12
The majority of respondents said that they work on a fewer number of projects of longer length; 33 percent said they have worked on one project lasting 18 months or more in the last three years. When considering years of experience respondents reported, it can be inferred that there is a relatively inexperienced population of people working on mission-critical, long-term projects.
CHART 12. nuMBER of PRojEcTS you HAvE BEEn InvolvEd WITH In THE lAST 3 yEARS THAT lASTEd

fewer projecTs of longer lengTh

2500

Percent of Responses

2000 1500 1000 500

18 Months or more one year to 18 months 6 months to one year 3-6 months less than 3 months

ct

ct

ct

ct

ct

Number of Projects

1P roj e

2P roj e

3P roj e

4P roj e

As mentioned previously, business analysts have a surprising lack of dedicated tools at their disposal. fifteen percent said they do not use any tools, 14 percent are using basic Microsoft office software and 5 percent are using, in-house developed solutions. While this is a likely a reflection of the lack of maturity of BA in the marketplace, it is foreseeable that in five years, these results will be significantly different.

Tools of The Trade

5P roj e

13
CHART 13. WHIcH ToolS do you uSE REGulARly In BuSInESS AnAlySIS AcTIvITIES? (SElEcT All THAT APPly)

Percent of Respondents

40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5%

34.6%

46.1% 14.6% 13.6% 5.4% 5.1% 4.9% 4.6% 4.4%

2.7%

2.3%

1.6%

1.3%

Ra tio Ra nal s tio of oth na tw er l R are eq su uis it ite e Pro

ft eg he Ab r de own ove ve /In Bo lope -Ho d u rla Blu nd Tool se ep c s rin tR ali eq be uir rR em M en ts c iRi se en Su ter ite of Pro du Ra ct lly So ft w Int are eG RE Ra AT ven e flo de w vT ech no log ies

ffic e

no ne

ple te

ca se

Mi

IBM

despite the challenges and immaturity of the profession, the BA community has grown and organisations are continuing to invest in their BA competency. 37 percent of respondents said their organisations had increased the number of business analysts in the last two years, and 27 percent of respondents said their organisations plan to increase their number of business analysts in the next two years. While the survey results did not indicate whether these positions would be filled in house or outsourced, these robust employment findings are a testament to the importance of the BA function amidst economic uncertainty and lingering unemployment.
CHART 14. HoW MAny BuSInESS AnAlySTS ARE EMPloyEd By THE dIvISIon oR oRGAnISATIon you WoRk foR?

a growing populaTion of business analysTs

24.5%

50 or more

Ho m

no n

eo

Business Analysis Tool

to

cro

sof

co m

21% less than 10 3% 5.7%

40-49

30-39 20-29

8.7%

14.1% 10-19

14
CHART 15. coMPAREd To TWo yEARS AGo HAS THE nuMBER of BuSInESS AnAlySTS In youR oRGAnISATIon?

24.5%

dont know

36.8% Increased 26.5%

Stayed the same

17% decreased social media Taking a key role in informaTion exchange for ba

In a sign of the times, social media has taken on an integral role in training and career development in business analysis, as it is has in most other professions. People are using some social media channels, including linkedIn (35 percent) and youTube (13 percent), more than traditional BA communities of practice.
CHART 16. WHIcH of THE folloWInG HAvE you uSEd foR TRAInInG oR cAREER dEvEloPMEnT? (SElEcT All THAT APPly)

Percent of Respondents

40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5%

38.9% 34.9%

20.4%

17.2% 13.1% 12.5% 8.6% 8.3%

7.7%

5.7%

4.2%

2.1%

eA bo ve lin ked In

t Mo Time s de rn BA An ce aly nte st ro fE xce lle nce fac eb oo k BA Me nto r

yo uTu b

IIB

tte

nG

ice

no n

co mm u

Bu

sin

Career Development Tools

fP rac t

f th

yo

eo

nit

ess

An a

lys

Tw i

RQ

15

SurvEy mEthoDoLogy
In September 2011, ESI International sent an email survey of 24 close-ended questions to organisational professionals from the executive to project level who are responsible for project activities in public and private organisations in the Americas, EMEA and Asia/Pacific regions. A total of 1,632 respondents participated in the survey, but not all respondents answered every survey question. The survey was anonymous unless respondents wanted to receive the results, in which case they had to provide additional information.

SurvEy DEmographicS
CHART 17. RESPondEnTS By oRGAnISATIonAl TITlE

17.9% other 4.4% Business unit Manager 6.1% consultant 0.9% Head of PMo 22.3% Business Analyst

1.6% c-level 3% Executive Manager/vice President 7.6% Senior Manager 11.3% Programme Manager

25% Project Manager

16
CHART 18. RESPondEnTS By InduSTRy

4% Telecommunications 5% Manufacturing 5% Energy/utilities 7% Pharmaceutical

and Healthcare

4% Aerospace/defense

21% Government

19% financial Services 23% other 12% Information Technology

CHART 19. oRGAnISATIon SIzE By nuMBER of EMPloyEES

13.9% 50,001- or more 6.6% 25,001-50,000 9.2% 10,001-25,000 7.1% 6,001-10,000 22.9% 1,501-6,000

10.8% 0-100

15.7% 101-500

13.7% 501-1,500

17

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