3-Part Blog Series – Part 3: What Does Enterprise Analysis Look Like? Objectives and Key Results
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Understanding enterprise analysis is helpful to those who practice business analysis. While enterprise analysis differs from business analysis, it is related to it. Modern Analyst defines enterprise analysis as a knowledge area that describes business analysis activities that take place for an enterprise for the purpose of:
- Identifying business opportunities
- Building a business architecture
- Determining the optimal project investment path for the enterprise
- Implementing new business and technical solutions
Business analysis differs from enterprise analysis. Schulich School of Business wrote, “Business analysis is also a research process but happens after (enterprise analysis) in the initiated project – interacting with stakeholders to elicit, analyze and manage requirements, and then developing and defining a solution to an immediate business problem.”
What Does Enterprise Analysis Look Like in the Real World?
Like business analysis, enterprise analysis is a process. That process is made up of five steps, according to the BABOK® Guide. The article “An Overview of Enterprise Analysis” listed the steps:
- Define the business need
- Assess the capability gaps
- Determine the solution approach
- Define the solution scope
- Define the business case
Enterprise analysis looks like a business analyst completing each of these steps and participating in the development of goals and objectives. Alternatively, a business analyst practicing enterprise analysis could conduct business goals and objectives development sessions. The article The Lay of the Land: Enterprise Analysis explained,
“With the goals and objectives set, the three core areas of focus are Elicitation, Analysis and Assessment.”
During assessment, the business analyst would facilitate several considerations and activities. Examples include peer reviews, structured walkthroughs, and user acceptance testing, the source stressed. “All of these activities play an instrumental role not only in defining the potential solution at the Enterprise level, but in nurturing its growth through to solution development,” the article stated.
Keep Learning: “7 Trends to Watch in Business Analysis in 2021”
Techniques for Effective Enterprise Analysis
Those who practice analysis often use techniques such as benchmarking (identifying solution approaches) and brainstorming (generating alternatives) when practicing enterprise analysis in the real world. Other analysis techniques include decision analysis (ranking and selecting possible solution approaches), estimation (developing initial cost comparisons), and SWOT analysis (comparing possible approaches).
Enterprise Analysis Key Results
Enterprise Analysis is the identification of business opportunities, development and maintenance of a business architecture, and the determination of optimum project investment. The most significant result that can come from effective enterprise analysis would be a business meeting its strategic goals. Enterprise analysis makes this possible by enabling analysis professionals to understand the needs of the organization and the direction it is going in, and identify which initiatives are most likely to allow the company to meet its goals.
Business analysis plays a critical role in the success of an organization, including business analysis professionals at the onset of enterprise initiatives could be the difference between a successful initiative and a failed one.
Interested to know about why investing in elevating the practice of business analysis is a good investment? Check out “Business Analysis Driving Business Success” for case studies and more.
About The Author:
Sema Sali is a business analysis ambassador at IIBA, leveraging the intercept of marketing with business analysis to increase awareness of the value and criticality of business analysis to the success of organizations in today’s complex and disruptive world. She contributes to the growth of IIBA’s ecosystem through marketing efforts of IIBA’s Organizational Programs for Corporate, Academic and Endorsed Education Providers.
