Category: Business Analysis

The Most Important Question in a Successful Software Project

What is the most important question in a successful software project? Questions like “What functionality will we get?” or “When will it be finished?” or “What will it cost?” are all good candidates, but they should come later in the project. The real answer is a small but critical question – “Why?” In high school,… Continue reading The Most Important Question in a Successful Software Project

Back to the Basics – Using Business Analysis to Find the Right Solution

I’m sitting on a plane right now, writing this blog, because I have been struck with the irony of “getting back to basics.” I’m on the last leg of my second roundtrip flight in two weeks, on two different airlines that have all made the same choice, which is to remove free in-flight entertainment. For… Continue reading Back to the Basics – Using Business Analysis to Find the Right Solution

Project Management Budgeting: Phase in, Phase out…it’s the Agile Way!

Financial advisor insurer speaking consulting african client looking at laptop making presentation, caucasian mentor teaching black intern, employees colleagues help discuss online computer project

In my last blog, The Elephant…I mean Project Budget Question…in the Room, I spoke about the importance of having documented requirements in order to move forward with your software implementation. I also wrote about the importance of knowing your budget, how the Project Management Office (PMO) can craft a solution that can fit any budget… Continue reading Project Management Budgeting: Phase in, Phase out…it’s the Agile Way!

Current State Meets Future State: The Magic of Starting ERP Projects

How do you make planning ERP projects into reality? There are often various demands for an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to perform some automation or another that the system is not currently able to do, or perhaps the entire system itself needs to be upgraded or reimplemented. These ERP projects, large or small, require… Continue reading Current State Meets Future State: The Magic of Starting ERP Projects

Architectural Renderings and ERP: A Unique Perspective

What do Architectural renderings, Hawaiian Christmas cards, and ERP have to do with each other? Very little on the surface, yet strangely enough, there is a path…or maybe I’d just rather be hiking. Amongst other things, my father’s long career as an illustrator was focused on architectural renderings. He was a master of his craft… Continue reading Architectural Renderings and ERP: A Unique Perspective

The Missing Step

I love Spring for many reasons – more daylight, warmer weather, holidays, and my poppies are starting to bloom, all of which all got me to thinking how everything in life has an order in which it happens, some natural and some imposed on nature by us, especially where business operations are concerned.  I was… Continue reading The Missing Step

You Need to Look Long and Hard for Stakeholder Requirements

When performing a business analysis for Microsoft Dynamics NAV implementations you often need to look long and hard, for deep and insightful stakeholder requirements. As a boy growing up in the mid-west I heard the occasional story from my family about my grandparent’s cat named “Blooey” that they owned starting around 1917.  Blooey’s name came… Continue reading You Need to Look Long and Hard for Stakeholder Requirements