Grab this Widget ~ Blogger Accessories

Business Analysis - What It's All About

For businesses to survive, particularly during tough economic times, they must set themselves apart from their competitors. Innovation, therefore, becomes a key component of their success. Innovation requires both a strategic vision on the part of businesses, as well as creating conditions that can be achieved through internal changes and improvements. This is accomplished through a process called Business Analysis.

Business Analysis (BA) can be defined as an investigation into the operations of an enterprise aimed at understanding every aspect of how the enterprise is functioning including its processes, people and performance, as well as its goals and objectives.

(BA) is the crucial first step in the software consulting process because it identifies enterprise needs and helps build the solutions required to meet these needs.

Although, technically, business analysis is distinct from financial analysis, project management, quality assurance, organizational development, testing, training and documentation development, it is a given that all these functions take place.

It is imperative that organizations ascertain the mood and the conditions for starting or consolidating a business venture. If you don't understand how the business works, what makes i successful, what the challenges are, and where it is headed, it is most likely headed in the wrong direction.

Over time, best practices have been developed which contain a series of well-defined steps. The BABOK-Business Analysis Book of Knowledge has been created by the International Institute of Business Analysis to collect and consolidate the experience of hundreds of practitioners.

The first step is to gain a basic understanding of the business and then proceed to the final design, deployment and validation of whatever solution best meets the organization's needs most effectively. The following is the list of steps in the business analysis process:

* Understanding the business * Competitor Analysis * Market Analysis * Defining Project Scope and Objectives * Requirements Gathering * Requirements Analysis and Documentation * Communicating Requirements * Designing the Solution * Implementation and Testing the Solution

The accomplishment of an effective (BA) project is a challenging project. It will most often include a combination of modeling, systemic thinking, innovating, communicating root cause analysis, persuasion and several other analytical skills. It is something which involves considerable interaction with other team members as well as substantial client interface, so team work and good interpersonal skills are important.

While (BA) is not an exact science, it is still a wiser alternative than rushing into a new business strategy or decision without planning ahead. By understanding how the business works, what makes it successful, what the challenges are, and where it are headed, opportunities to succeed and prosper are truly enhanced.

Thanks for reviewing this article, I hope you found the information useful and to of great use.

The Initiation Stage of Project Management

The business needs and requirements should be set forth by the client or the project management team. If a client of a web-design firm wants a website built, they will inform that company of their requirements. They might want to offer many products, a way for people to purchase, bid, and other things. The requirements are usually detailed documents the entire staff will follow as a guideline for the job. All requirements should be met. Any company needs to be sure they have the ability to meet the requirements of their customers and clients.

Reviewing the current operations is performed along with analyzing the requirements of the project. The firm we mentioned above might need to perform some C+ programming but not have an employee with this knowledge. This means the project will require outsourcing or hiring an employee with this skill. It is very important that any business carefully review the requirements of a project thoroughly and ensure that their current operations have the capability to perform the work. If the current operations cannot perform the work, training might be involved, or hiring more people. If equipment is a factor, it might need to rented or purchased.

When reviewing current operations, a financial analysis will be started. Project management requires a very close estimated budget for a project. If you budget a project too low, you might lose money and some people could be working for free, depending on the contractual agreement. Budgeting a project includes the resources needed to perform the project from start to finish. Resources include labor, materials like software, equipment, and even skills. The budget should also include any training that might need to take place in order to teach employees how to use a new software package. All of these factors must be considered and included when in the initiation phase of a project.

Stakeholder analysis includes determining which resources or people you will use where. Who are the key players in the project and will they make a difference? Which employees will provide support? Will your business need assistance or support, and who will provide it? Make a list of all key players and people that will be involved.

The project charter is the final task in the initiation phase of project management. The project charger is what you will bring to the table when you are asking for money to begin a project or looking for bids. This will include costs, tasks, deliverables, and a detailed schedule from start to finish.

Thermal Combustion Analytical Equipment and Environmental Analysis

In the industrial age, companies embarked on practices that would lead to the computer age. Some of those practices came at a price: as the human environment flourished, the natural environment was compromised. Today, the movement to mitigate the environmental effects of big industry is well underway - a goal made possible by analytical technology that supports environmental analysis. Used by eco friendly companies and laboratories worldwide, this equipment helps scientists and technicians perform the following types of analysis, among others:

Air Monitoring Companies that reside in low emission zones (LEZs) must carefully monitor their emissions. In the U.S., companies that violate emissions codes are subject to an excess emissions penalty that is based on the number of tons emitted in violation of the emissions cap. Along with hurting the environment, excess emissions can hurt a company's finances through fines. Analytical equipment for air monitoring helps companies to avoid these problems.

Soil Analysis Soil analysis serves several purposes. In brownfield projects, it is used to determine the necessary cleanup measures for contaminated soil. In agricultural planning, it examines soil's viability for crops, and whether it is contaminated or pure. In industrial monitoring, it is used to measure particulate accumulation in soil. Along with air monitoring and water analysis, soil analysis is a core practice among companies that maintain environmental compliance.

Water Analysis Water analysis is performed in several capacities, including greywater analysis for greywater recycling, drinking water analysis for public water supply, and wastewater analysis for industrial wastewater. As history demonstrates, improper analysis of processed water and wastewater can cause sickness in humans, damage aquatic life, contaminate soil, and lead to lawsuits that hurt a company's finances and reputation.

Industrial Hygiene Industrial environments can harbor dangerous gases and particulates that predispose workers to chronic health conditions. For example, long-term exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) could induce respiratory, nervous system, or neurological disorders, and long-term exposure to certain particulates could cause cancer. Regarding the prevention of workers compensation claims and lawsuits; industrial hygiene can be as financially important as the products or services a company sells.

Radiation Measurement For entities that work with radioactive materials or processes, continuous radiation measurement is essential to ensure public and private safety. Thermo combustion equipment for radiation measurement is used for contamination monitoring and area monitoring to achieve compliance with as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) program limits, dose measurement of contained chemical processes that involve radioactivity, and the protection of tangible assets.

The Future of Analytical Technology

When used for the endeavors above, analytical technology improves the human environment and the natural environment simultaneously - an accomplishment that traditional industrial practices could not achieve. With an emphasis on environmentalism now present in all sectors, the future of industry will be inseparable from analytical technology; indeed, it will largely be defined by it. For companies whose processes or projects involve elemental or environmental analysis, analytical technology will play an increasing role in the development of new products and services.

Using Technical Analysis and Fundamental Analysis to Profit From Spread Betting

Data/Research

Information is the key to being successful in financial betting. A range of sources are available for free, but it's worth paying for as much data as you need to trade your market successfully. There's always someone else who could get the edge on you with better data, so it pays to keep ahead.

Data and News

The biggest driver of market sentiment is news. A story that breaks will have a knee-jerk response from the markets, and then when the news is more thoroughly digested the real price adjustments will happen. This interpretation part can be performed alone or via one of the many market analysts opinions, but being in consensus with the crowd isn't always an advantage. Proper examination of market-moving factors will at least allow you to explain a confusing price movement and could enable you to notice a major development before everyone else.

International events will affect the whole market but keep an eye open for industry-specific implications e.g. An event leading to a higher oil price could benefit alternative fuel sources like Wind power or Nuclear. Industry-specific websites are useful to have at hand in your bookmarks, a handy start-point would be the financial directory at the link below. More local level news stories affect individual stocks, as can tangential news about a company's suppliers or clients.

It is advisable to set up email alerts so that whenever something relevant to your markets happens, these are freely available from any large Finance portal such as Yahoo. Internet broadcasting of Finance channels such as Bloomberg can be a useful background item for your online working time too. There are also certain companies which provide corporate level news feeds, eg. Bloomberg, Reuters. The company ADVFN provides a great deal of info for free, as do Yahoo Finance or Motley Fool. There is live data on ADVFN and free software called Medved Quote Tracker can stream data sources directly into a useful interface.

Technical Analysis

This is a form of investigation into the price of a share/ index/ commodity which produces predictive information. There are simple forms of analysis such as the use of moving averages and support/ resistance areas, then there are the more derived branches such as Elliott Waves and Fibonacci. Some people become pure technical analysts and just trade on this information, whilst most people use the technical analysis alongside fundamental indicators Charts are extremely useful and carry a wealth of information. Any trading decision should be accompanied by at least some research of the charts.

Fundamental Analysis

This is the traditional method of examining a stock. Some factors which are looked at in great detail are; Industry sector, Dividends, Yields, Market Capitalization, Earnings, Projected Earnings, Growth Rates, etc etc. Basically it is a company's valuation and future growth rates which are being weighed up, and prices are derived from that. Fundamental is no longer the one and only way of assessing a company, but rather should be taken in conjunction with a range of other tools and factors.