In anticipation of her presentation at Building Business Capability in Las Vegas, Nov. 2 – 6, 2015, we asked Dagmar Cole, Business Process Analyst Sr. Staff, a few questions about pursuing business excellence. Check out her interview in relation to her BBC presentation entitled, Developing a Holistic Strategic Plan.

Q: What are your near term goals for creating a more agile organization at your business or company?

A: For many organizations, the business is agile, the developers are agile, the project managers are agile whereas one of the most important areas of IT, strategic planning, is lumbering behind.  Planning and process engineering need to be as nimble as the rest of the organization.  IT organizations tend to believe strategic thinking is planning for server upgrade.  What real IT strategic thinking is how to align with the business and leverage technology to leapfrog the organization over the competition or to work faster and smarter with fewer resources.  That may or may not involve a server upgrade!

Q: What’s the most valuable thing you’ve learned in 2015 thus far? What’s the most important goal/trend for [pick one or two: business analysts, business architects, business process managers and/or business rules managers] to keep in mind?

A: I see a trend away from the perception of the BA as “note taker” and as a “real” analyst who is identifying gaps and areas of opportunity.  I also see BAs who are uncomfortable as the “change driver” and want to be the “passenger.”  I forecast an increasing demand for BAs who are willing to become leaders in identifying gaps and opportunities for the business and how IT can be leveraged. But this requires a BA to be strategic-thinking, have deep domain knowledge, and broad understanding of technology.

Q: What’s the latest method/process/tool you have implemented to help your organization or business run more efficiently and effectively?

A: A by-product of moving swiftly and maximizing resources is recognizing not everything can fit into the time box.  I found implementing a strong change control and management process helps the customer understand that “not in this iteration” does not mean “forgotten.”  It also alleviates the burden on the development resources to demonstrate understanding that there are only so many hours in a week and not all fixes can fit into that timeframe.  The project manager can perform capacity planning and maximize resources because the PM knows what backlog is already planned for which iteration. It’s a win-win for every member of the team.

Q: If you could give your five-years-ago self-insight and advice about this industry, what would you say?

A: In the beginning of my career it was like the Wild West, anyone could do any job.  Virtually everyone was self-taught and certainly no certifications.  We were all tradesmen at our job; we got the job, and we did the job, and experience was sufficient for hiring and promotion.  The times are changing; IT is becoming “professionalized” with accreditations and certifications.  I predict this trend will only strengthen in future years; five years from now, it will become a standard job requirement to be certified for the position to be considered for hire.

Q: Sneak preview: Please tell us a take-away that you will provide during your talk at Building Business Capability?

A: The measure of IT success is the degree it supports the business. If IT does not directly support business capability, we have failed our major objective.   Supporting the business does not mean transitioning to latest database version, it means providing the technological underpinnings to support the business’ strategic goals.  The problem is, IT is mired with tangled web of legacy applications and often has no idea how to get out of the mess.  Ron Ross’ Resource Life Cycle Analysis is a “short cut” to cut through the existing process mire.

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Don’t miss Dagmar’s presentation, Developing a Holistic Strategic Plan, at Building Business Capability on Friday, November 6, 2015 from 8:00 to 8:50 am. Click here to register for attendance.