Crossing The Chasm Corp

IIBA GLOBAL THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SERIES
DIGITAL BUSINESS ANALYSIS - CROSSING THE CHASM FROM TRADITIONAL TO DIGITAL WORLD - MARCH 2018
CEO’s MESSAGE
Digital is the future of business. Therefore, it will be the future of business analysis. It will alter the way
industries and enterprises will function. It will alter the way business analysts work in the areas of
business analysis, product management, business process management, data analysis, and business
architecture. We will also see a blurring of the lines of delineation of the professions. We will see more
specialization and a substantial increase in the way that we all will operate and collaborate in teams.
Having said this, digital still builds on the foundations that all of these professions have established in
their bodies of knowledge. Not that what we have is sufficient, it will need to evolve with the demands
in the marketplace for digital.
This paper is from the IIBA Global Thought Leadership initiative. It clarifies what ‘digital’ means in
the first place. It frames the area of digital as not just a technology ‘thing’, but as an approach, which
starts with customer focus. This paper provides a perspective to evaluate whether a company is a
digital company. It tries to outline some of the major areas we see impacted and, more specifically,
how digital impacts business analysis as a discipline and as a profession. It also provides a practical
roadmap for organizations and business analysts to cross the chasm into the digital world.
This paper is the first in a series about digital. IIBA’s Global Thought Leadership program will publish
a series of papers with an intent to educate business analysis professionals on digital, deep enough
to know what possibilities it offers, evaluate its utility, applicability and benefits in specific business
situations. Future papers will also evaluate how requirements will need to be elicited, analyzed, and
documented for a solution implemented in the digital space.
IIBA® holds itself to its core purpose of “uniting a community of professionals to create better
business outcomes”. We will continue to drive towards that purpose in the digital world and remain
focused on the business outcomes, while adapting to the challenges and the opportunities, which
digital brings. We will actively participate, we will collaborate, and we will lead where appropriate in the
areas to extend the profession and create greater career opportunities for our stakeholders.
Ken Fulmer
IIBA, President & CEO
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Executive Summary
The future is “Now”.
“Now” is Digital.
Unlike popular perception, digital is not just about technology. Digital is about disrupting traditional
business models, which place the business at the centre of attention. Digital is about creating brand-
new business models by placing the customer at the centre of attention, creating processes that
offer incredible customer experiences enabled by technology. In the digital world, the gap between
business and technology is blurring. Technology drives businesses in the digital world by enabling
businesses to offer better value propositions to their customers.
The worrying question is whether business analysis will remain relevant in a world where digital
strategy is the key to business strategy. And if so, what’s the “New Normal” in business analysis that
will help business analysts be successful in the digital world?
“Digital is about creating brand-new

business models by placing the customer
at the centre of attention, creating
processes that offer incredible customer
experiences enabled by technology.”
Here are highlights of the “New Normal” for Business Analysis:
• The core of business analysis will remain the same in the digital world. The knowledge areas,
tasks and competencies as described in the of BABOK® Guide will continue to remain relevant,
and in fact, are going to be even more critical in the digital world.
• The digital world will expect the business in general and specifically business analysts to adopt
an agile mindset. This requires a business analyst to develop a notion of a product rather than a
project. Business analysts must adopt a minimum viable product (MVP) approach.
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• Some of the best practices, which didn’t matter even if they weren’t applied in the traditional
business analysis world, are going to be baseline practices for a business analyst in the digital
world. Strategic thinking, customer centricity, empathy, design thinking, agility, technology, and
continuous stakeholder engagement are now foundational best practices without which business
analysts simply cannot succeed in the digital world.
• Business processes will play an absolutely critical role in the digital world. In the traditional world,
business processes were centred around business stakeholders (inside out view). In the digital world,
they are centred around business customers (outside in view). The traditional business analysis
world required incremental changes to business processes with an intention to automate them. In
the digital world, business processes must be reimagined with an intention to deliver exceptional
customer experience.
• In the world where technology drives businesses, business analysts cannot afford to remain
distant from technology. Business analysts must learn technology deep enough to know the
possibilities offered by the technology, evaluate its utility, applicability and benefits in specific
business situations, and to understand how business, stakeholder and solution requirements
need to be elicited, analyzed and documented based on the technology chosen to implement a
solution for a business situation.
• Going by the vastness and varieties of technologies that are emerging, business analysis will
go the specialization way. No one BA would be able to deliver end-to-end solutions in the digital
world. It’s the combination of business analysis specializations that will help deliver the desired
customer experience.
Application of an effective business analysis mindset and best practices in the

digital world is ensuring the success for businesses to adopt the digital wave.
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The Future is Now

Paytm is a unicorn startup in India. It is a $7 billion US mobile wallet company. No, wait! Paytm
was a mobile wallet company, but now they also are officially a retail bank (a Payments Bank to be
precise). So Paytm is a bank. But, no…wait! They’re also an e-commerce company selling everything
from movie tickets to gym equipment in their Paytm mall via their mobile app and website. They
compete with Amazon. So, Paytm is a mobile wallet, a bank, and an e-commerce marketplace. But
hold on...there’s more.
Recently, Paytm bought a majority stake by merging two hyper-local marketplace companies called
Little Internet and Nearbuy. So, Paytm is also a marketplace for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone
that serves up deals from merchants across a range of verticals, including restaurants, movies,
hotels, salons, gyms, and spas.
Why would Paytm get into such diverse businesses? Is core-competence a concept past its lifetime?
Well, if we think about it, Paytm has stuck to their core-competence. They intend to become the
go-to place when people wish to pay for their purchases. Paytm is simply converging all related
businesses that will help them become the leader in the payments space.
The following two-minute video, masterfully scripted by DELL-

EMC, is another excellent example of how a company in the auto
insurance space might synergize multiple, seemingly diverse
business domains, yet retain their core-competence.
The scenarios described in the video might seem futuristic, but

they are not. This is now. The future is now!
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmGRBoam1aA )
“Now” is digital. Paytm is a digital company. The insurance firm in the video is also a digital
company. Uber, Lemonade Insurance, Airbnb, and almost every startup these days are digital
companies. The behemoths like Walmart, Target, AIG, ING, GE, with no choice anymore, are all trying
to reinvent themselves into a digital company. Even as per Forrester’s 2018 Predictions1 , rising
customer expectations are forcing companies to go digital and deliver individualized experiences at
scale and operate at the speed of the market.
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Demystifying ‘DIGITAL’
What is digital, anyway? Was the world not already digital since
the advent of automation? Is digital simply automation of business
processes using web technologies? People are confused about what
digital means.
Well, let’s try to address that right away.
Many assume that ‘digital’ is the name given to a set of emerging technologies. They say digital
is a solution that resides on the cloud, provides mobility, incorporates artificial intelligence, or
robotic process automation, blockchain, virtual reality, and so on. It is like saying that a Bentley or a
Lamborghini is a vehicle that offers extraordinary torque, or inbuilt GPS, or voice command sensors.
These statements are all true, but a Bentley is much more than an amalgamation of technologies.
Similarly, while it is true that digital is all of those technologies, it is not just that.
Businesses that have achieved their digital vision are those that have their business model designed
at the intersection of two critical elements: Customer Experience and Technology.
1. Customer Experience
Zipcar is a car-sharing startup in the US that allows customers to rent cars on an hourly basis.
Zipcar disrupted the obvious competition, the existing rental car companies. More recently,
Zipcar managed to counter the biggest competition for all rental car companies – car ownership.
How did Zipcar manage this? And also force the incumbents to follow-suit?
You see, Zipcar asked a question that even customers

weren’t asking themselves – what do customers really
want? The incumbents, even if they did ask this question,
found the answer stuck inside their ‘world’ – better
cars to rent, cheaper rentals, closer locations, and so
on. Zipcar discovered a critical need that customers
really wanted shorter rent-cycles and a frictionless
customer experience. Zipcar offered them hourly rentals
and took-over the responsibility of fuel and insurance.
Zipcar thought about every customer touchpoint: how
customers will find their car, how they will lock and
unlock it, how they will fill-up if the fuel goes low, where
they will collect and drop off the car, and while thinking about solutions for all of these needs,
Zipcar ensured that their customers will find the experience a breeze.
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The interesting aspect here is that customers were not even actively looking for the facilities
that Zipcar provided. The incumbents assumed that the customers only wanted what they were
already getting. They designed their business processes with their business at the centre of
their focus and worked on making their business processes more efficient. To them, customer
experience probably meant adding a water station in their lobby to make customers comfortable
while they wait in line to rent their car, reducing the wait time, and so on; just incremental
adjustments to their established business processes, not complete re-imagination. Customers,
too, voluntarily ‘succumbed’ to their established business processes.
Zipcar reimagined their entire business model. They eliminated the need for customers to
wait in any kind of line. They built a mobile app instead. They removed the need for customers
to purchase insurance separately. They built the premium into their pricing plans. They
eliminated the need to collect the car keys from an office. They designed a way for the car keys
to stay inside the car and use the mobile app or a Zipcard to lock and unlock the car. Zipcar
placed customers at the centre of their attention, reimagined their business processes, and
demonstrated to the customer what is possible.
“Zipcar placed customers at the centre of

their attention, reimagined their business
processes, and demonstrated to the
customer what is possible.”
Lemonade is not just a drink anymore. Lemonade is a start-up disrupting the property and
casualty insurance market. Imagine the current process for buying insurance. It involves
paperwork and intermediaries and is time-consuming. The claims process is another lengthy
and unpleasant journey for customers. But, customers voluntarily ‘succumb’ to it, because they
did not have any other option. The best that the incumbents are doing is bringing ‘automation’ to
reduce the process time. But there is no real ‘change’ to the customer’s experience.
Lemonade reimagined the insurance space. They asked the questions that customers were not
even thinking about. Lemonade designed business processes around the customer. Lemonade
has zero-paperwork and they settle claims in a matter of seconds.
Netflix has transformed the whole game of entertainment and disrupted the TV and movie
businesses. Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, has gone on record to say that “Netflix is open to
supporting theaters, but their subscribers deserve to watch Netflix original movies first.” Imagine
their courage to take head-on the established eco-system. The most recent Will Smith starrer
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‘Bright’ was only released on Netflix - not in theaters. The reason why they can confidently do
this is because Netflix’s entire business model rests completely on their sharp grasp of their
customers experience, i.e. to be able to watch the best movies and TV series streamed to any
device in the best quality possible on that device, anytime, anywhere.
“In the digital world, customer experience is no longer

just talk. The first element of digital is single-minded
pursuit of superior customer experience.”
Per Gartner2 , “Renovating the customer experience is a digital priority. The practical digital
business sees customer experience innovation as the next frontier, and half of all consumer
goods product investments are likely to be directed toward improving the customer experience”.
Ken Fulmer, President and CEO, IIBA mentions in his discussion paper titled “What does it mean
to be Digital?”3 that the focal point switches from a model of the company and interfaces, to a
model of the customer and the touchpoints, and integrating that experience. The key to delivering
this experience is the ‘Outside In’ thinking that surrounds the ‘Customer’.
2. Technology
Advancements in technology have made digital business possible. Digital business uses
technology to create business processes with the primary intention of delivering a superior
customer experience. More importantly, it is not one technology that drives the customer
experience, it is a set of technologies being brought together to deliver a greater customer
experience.
There is no way that Zipcar can do business without the use of technology. The founders of
Zipcar are techies. Underlying Zipcar’s business model that delivers superior CX is the heart of
their business – technology. Zipcar’s proprietary technology is a “black box” that sits in every car
and connects to the car’s ignition, the locking mechanism and serial data that is put out by the
car. The black box connects to the servers via GSM GPRS tech (mobility). The customers conduct
business with Zipcar using their mobile device. RFID technology built into the black box is used
to recognize the customer. Analytics technology is used to balance the demand for cars to their
supply in various locations of a given city. The whole infrastructure runs on the cloud.
The heart of Lemonade is the Artificial Intelligence bot (which they fondly call AI Jim), which
does the underwriting and the claims processing using powerful algorithms for fraud detection.
The entire business is conducted via mobile apps.
Netflix operates its own global network of storage servers (called content delivery network)
that cache content close to where it will be viewed to optimize the bandwidth costs and make
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it easier to scale the service over a wide area. Netflix uses analytics to predict what kind of
content people might want to watch, and pre-populates appropriate servers with such content,
thus reducing bandwidth use in peak hours. Netflix uses AWS cloud infrastructure for tasks like
running its website and recommendations engine, which incidentally depends upon big data
analytics. So what kind of a company is Netflix? Is it a technology company? Or is it a media
entertainment company? Well, it’s both, isn’t it?
Likewise, Uber, Airbnb, Amazon and all the new age companies: Are they technology companies
or behemoths in their cab, hotel and e-commerce industries? Or are they both? Innovation in any
business domain is no longer possible without first acknowledging the role of technology. Today,
a confluence of technologies creates a customer-centric business process. CEOs of Citigroup
and ING have publicly acknowledged that they are “technology companies with a banking license”.
Every new age company that is disrupting the traditional business model is
doing so because of technology. Some of these technologies are as follows:
1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) – capability built into

computers to learn, think, and make decisions
2. Wireless – includes all technology for wireless communication like RFID,

ultra-high frequency sound waves, Bluetooth, GPRS, 3G, 4G, 5G, and so on
3. Mobile – technology that enables powerful computing capability to be bundled

into handheld devices
4. Robotic Process Automation – technology that can automate mundane,

repeatable human tasks
5. Blockchain – distributed ledger technology
6. Virtual / Augmented Reality – technology to provide real experience in the

virtual world
7. Analytics and Big Data – technology that enables data driven decision making
8. 3D Printing – making custom production a reality
9. Cyber Security – the challenge that is every leader’s top priority in the digital world
10. Internet of Things – allowing real-time connectivity among devices possible
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In the past, technology was considered just an enabler for business processes. At least, that is
what most business analysts believed. This is not true anymore in the digital world. Technology is
the driver of business processes. The imperative for BAs is that technology “appreciation” will no
longer be sufficient. We must understand technology better.
Business strategy of the future is significantly about reimagining business processes to provide superior
customer experience by exploiting the emerging technologies. Thus far, the focus was on incremental
changes to existing business processes with an objective of infusing automation into the business. In the
digital world, the focus is on the customer and hence, business processes must be conceptualized afresh
from scratch to deliver exceptional customer experience. These reimagined business processes give
birth to new business models at the intersection of “Customer Experience” and “Technology”.
Business Domain Convergence -

A Result of Digital
Amazon started off as a business selling books over the internet.They began with a single-minded focus
on perfecting the technology and reimagining the customer experience of the book ordering and delivery
business. Once that was done, they gradually moved on to include other products, from socks to drones,
and invented the inventory-led model of e-commerce. What was once considered a separate furniture
business, a separate garments business, a separate consumer durable business, suddenly all came
under one roof.
Amazon then opened up their technology infrastructure to other companies and virtually invented the
cloud business – the Amazon Web Services.
Flipkart, the e-commerce unicorn in India, is the only company providing any worthwhile competition to
Amazon in the country. They too started by selling books. But now they, too, sell everything from socks
to satellites. Flipkart pioneered the marketplace e-commerce model, where they offered their platform
for traditional sellers to set-up shop in the online marketplace and conduct business. Flipkart invested
a lot in their logistics and delivery business and brought supply-chain and logistics businesses within
their fold. Then they moved to delivering groceries. All they had to do was to include grocery sellers into
their marketplace. Flipkart forced Amazon’s hands. They had to get into the marketplace model in India.
Amazon has now launched Amazon Now – a grocery delivery business.
Almost all e-commerce startups invest in a payments platform. Even Amazon is slowly developing
Amazon Pay into a payments platform. Payments is a seemingly disconnected business to e-commerce.
But it converges on the e-commerce business model. Paytm traversed the path in the opposite direction.
They started off as a mobile wallet company and are now gradually turning into an e-commerce
marketplace.
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Uber started off as a taxi-hailing company. They perfected the technology and customer experience of
that business. Now they are integrating other forms of delivery, like food (Uber Eats), into their business.
“The convergence of business domains, which

previously were assumed to be vastly different
from each other, is the reality. This is the reality of
the digital age – Business Domain Convergence.
Technology is making this possible.”
A bank is no longer just a bank. Apart from the fact that every bank is also a Fintech company, every
bank is also an insurance company, and an investment banking company (Citigroup). A health insurance
company is also a lifestyle company given the fact that they all are investing heavily in causing behavioral
change in consumers towards healthy living (Aetna). A retailer is also an e-commerce firm, a streaming
media company, a motion picture production company - all rolled into one (Amazon).
The convergence of business domains, which previously were

assumed to be vastly different from each other, is the reality. This
is the reality of the digital age – Business Domain Convergence.
Technology is making this possible. This result of digital has
made companies think through a new persona, a new process,
and a new business domain and bring all of them together
to build products/services that provide greater flexibility to
customers while giving them an exceptional experience. This
trend may be observed in Amazon, Alibaba, Uber and Flipkart, all
multi-billion dollar businesses of the world.
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The Future for Business Analysis

The digital world and the business domain convergences require us
to think about business analysis differently. While looking forward
into the future, business analysts are bound to be introspective. The
questions that naturally linger in one’s mind are:
• Is business analysis going to be relevant at all in the digital era?

• How will business analysis change to adapt to the future?
• Are my skills going to be sufficient in the digital era?
• What should I unlearn and relearn to remain relevant?
Let us lay the first apprehension to rest right

up-front - business analysis will not become
obsolete anytime soon.
As a mindset, a discipline, a manner of

thinking while approaching business problems
and their solutions, business analysis cannot
and will not become obsolete. The core of
business analysis will remain the same in the
digital world. The knowledge areas, tasks, and
competencies as described in the BABOK®
Guide will continue to remain relevant. These
are fundamental best practices and are going
to be even more critical in the evolving digital
world than ever before.
However, in the transformational times, such as the present and future,

established business analysis approach, tools, and techniques, while still
relevant and necessary, are not going to be sufficient. How, then, should
business analysts adapt to the future?
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The best practices described in the BABOK® Guide. These best practices are
necessary and relevant today more than ever.
In the ‘so-called’ traditional business world, a business analyst could succeed without applying, or worse,
without even being aware of these best practices. As we cross the chasm into the digital world that is
characterized with agility, evolving needs, and innovation, these best practices are the baseline practices for a
business analyst. There is no choice, but to gain mastery over these best practices.
Let us discuss these seven best practices in greater detail:
1 Understand Strategic Imperatives

Simply put, the strategic imperatives are the big picture, the “why” behind the “what”. The real problem
that is being solved.
As a business analyst, understanding strategic imperatives translates to having a thorough knowledge

of, as the BABOK® Guide eloquently articulates, the current state and the future state. The current state
understanding relates to knowing how an enterprise functions currently, what their challenges are an
and what they need to do to overcome these challenges. The current state understanding creates a
baseline and context for change. The future state defines what the business will look like when the
business needs are met. This is foundational. What makes the digital world exciting is the focus on
the “customer” and the experience that they expect today! So, the digital strategies and initiatives for
organizations would involve an extensive focus on the customer.
The strategic imperatives must guide all activities of the organization as well as those of the business
analyst. The BABOK® Guide lists a few practical techniques that enable a business analyst to assimilate
strategic imperatives:
• The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic planning and management tool

• Business Capability Analysis is a technique that helps business analysts describe the capacity of an
enterprise that helps it to achieve a business goal or objective
• Business Cases help a business analyst understand the rationale or the strategic intent for
undertaking a change
• Business Model Canvas describes how an enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value for
and from its customers
• SWOT Analysis helps identify the overall state of an enterprise both internally and externally by
evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
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2 Empathize With Real Customer

A business model that delivers on the promise of a great customer experience is possible only
when the business has unfailing empathy for their customers.
How would Zipcar be able to discover that customers need hourly rentals? How would Uber
become aware that the challenge for customers lies in flagging down a taxi, especially when taxis
are so ubiquitous? How would Netflix know that customers need the experience of on-demand
content streamed straight to the device in their hands? The answer is empathy, genuine empathy
towards their customers.
“In a digital environment, the stakeholder of

most prominence is the customer, meaning
the person who writes the cheque.”
No wonder, then, empathy is one of the foundations of design thinking. In his paper3, Fulmer
states “[Business Analysis requires an] ‘outside in’ thinking. In the traditional business process
and/or information-based approach, the work that a BA does is in support of the internal business.
The stakeholders that are directly involved with a BA are all folks that belong to the internal part
of the business. Stakeholders are identified and [their needs] elicited to understand the business
problem and then [the business analysts set out] to define requirements and assess a solution.”
Fulmer continues “In a digital environment, the stakeholder of most prominence is the customer,
meaning the person who writes the cheque. And many of the other stakeholders on the path are
external partners, vendors, and providers. This change in perspective and how they all tie together
to be part of the customer experience are at the heart of digital.”
“Business analysts are currently accustomed with business process mapping, analyzing those
processes, and making recommendations for improvement in the process, and in the systems
(including information systems) that are needed to establish a new solution. The digital world
expects BAs to develop customer personas, empathy maps, ecosystem maps and customer
journey maps. [Business analysis in the future] fully embraces the customer experience
perspective and adapts to the new tools and techniques to support this form of analysis.”
Business analysis is increasingly about collaboration. It is about engaging with customers,

partners and employees as part of the experience design process. The solutions are now typically
more complex in this digital network of service components behind the scenes to deliver a more
seamless customer experience. Moreover, it is not one technology that is put to use for the
desired customer experience, it’s the set of technologies, e.g. AI, machine learning, analytics,
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Internet of Things, etc. that, once combined together, provide a customer experience which not
only meets a critical customer need, but solves some critical problem and delights the customer.
“As the analysis of customer experience becomes so important, so too is the way in which we,
business analysts, ‘elicit’ customer-centred input. We need to actively solicit feedback from the
customers about their experience with the products and services. Many companies also extend
this to include examining more indirect feedback from customers as evidenced in emails or calls
to customer services, and social media posts,” said Fulmer.
Empathizing with the real customer is critical to learn their unstated needs. Empathy is not just
discovering the ‘real customers’ and eliciting their needs in some workshop. Empathy is feeling
what the customers are feeling, getting in touch with the true emotions of customers when they
interact with the business. Only then would it be possible to learn the customers true needs even
though, on the outside, customers don’t verbally or non-verbally declare these needs.
Infusing empathy into the equation takes elicitation to a whole new level. Learning customers’
real needs leads us to the possibility of reinventing business processes, which in turn leads to
reimagined, superior customer experience. This new level is where BAs need to operate at in the
digital world.
3 Reimagine Business Processes
An incremental change to business processes might infuse efficiency into the existing ecosystem.
Reimagined business processes disrupt the market, create a new ecosystem and elevate it to a
whole new level of equilibrium.
What if Zipcar sought out only to reduce the wait-time of customers while they stand in line to rent
a car? They would probably have invented a more efficient, but only incrementally better, business
process. Instead, Zipcar aimed at a different space in customer experience, sought to reimagine
the rental-car business model, completely reinvented their business processes, and set a new
benchmark in the car rental space.
Netflix could easily have started a TV channel or a network, or a production company, and still be
able to do everything they are offering today. But that would only be incremental. It wouldn’t change
the game for everybody in the market. Instead Netflix asked themselves the question, “How do we
bring high-quality content directly to the consumer on-demand and provide the highest quality of
ad-free experience to them?” Netflix ended up creating a new conduit for offering entertainment
that has not ended up disrupting traditional TV networks and the Hollywood ecosystem.
The BAs of the future are expected to ask these bold questions to themselves that lead them to
reinvent business processes and disrupt the market. The digital business processes not only need
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to consider the expected customer experience to be delivered, they also need to consider the ways
in which these processes are executed by the customer. Today, most customer-facing processes
run on mobile devices, which require new thinking in the ways these digital business processes are
executed, both in front and behind the scenes.
“Today, most customer facing processes run on

mobile devices, which require new thinking in the
ways these digital business processes are executed,
both in front and behind the scenes.”
While reimagining business processes is essentially an exercise in creativity for imagining what is
possible, the BABOK® Guide lists specific techniques that provide structure to such imagination:
Process Analysis and Process Modeling.
4 Embrace Agility
Every company in the digital world today needs an agile mindset. At the risk of sounding flippant,
one can argue that even nature adopted an agile mindset while creating this universe. Evolution is
the proof. The point is agile thinking is natural. Any approach that goes against the basic tenets of
agile thinking is not.
Agility is not Agile SDLC. We are not referring to SCRUM or XP. We are referring to business agility
as a sentiment, a mindset, a way of thinking. The Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide beautifully
articulates the goal of agile mindset as “to maximize the outcome (value delivered) with minimum
input: “do less and do the right things, right”.
The main aspects of agility include:

• deliver value rapidly and consistently
• collaborate courageously
• iterate to learn
• simplify to avoid waste
• consider the context and adapt to realities
• reflect on feedback and adapt both product and process
• produce the highest quality products
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Initiatives in the digital world have a defined beginning, but not a defined end. Initiatives are
enduring and continuous. For instance, Google Search has no defined version numbers (at least
those that are visible to users) nor are there any visible efforts to end further development of the
product.
Agile thinking requires a business analyst to develop a notion of a product rather than a project.
Business analysts must adopt a minimum viable product (MVP) approach to every deliverable.
An MVP has just those core features that are sufficient to deliver the product to the customer,
seek feedback, accelerate learning from such feedback, and use that as a base to improve the
product to its next MVP level. Likewise, this MVP approach can easily be applied to every activity
and deliverable, not just for a product. MVP approach helps a business analyst to demonstrate
considerable progress, seek feedback, elicit learning, and improve the deliverable to take it to the
next MVP level.
Agility is a mindset that lays emphasis on staying true and aligned to the big-picture or the
strategic intent (consider the context and adapt to realities), having relentless focus on stakeholder
collaboration, seeking stakeholder feedback continually, delivering an outcome that is valuable
at regular intervals, recognizing mistakes early and quickly, and rapidly adapting to emerging
information.
The IIBA’s Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide, version 2 is the best guide for business analysts to
internalize agile mindset, thinking, tools, and techniques to be successful in the digital world.
5 Continuous Stakeholder Collaboration

Agile thinking requires continuous stakeholder engagement. The term ‘engagement’ means
collaboration, i.e. the stakeholders assume an active role in your endeavor as a business analyst.
Now, the list of stakeholders in the digital world is a little longer and more complex than the
traditional world! Business analysts always deal with internal and external stakeholders in their
day-to-day life. The digital world goes beyond traditional stakeholder management:
• The key in the digital world is to create a deeper and continuous engagement
with stakeholders, so they are part of the journey rather than just a document
signing father figure. The imperative of establishing continuous engagement
with stakeholders is that newer and more relevant stakeholders might surface
at any time during the initiative. Therefore, business analysts must not only be
welcoming of the new stakeholders but have to be proactive in discovering them
all the time.
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• And, there is another set of stakeholders that are developing – “The Digital
Stakeholders”. We are not referring to humans that use Facebook, Twitter,
WhatsApp etc. We are talking about intelligent ‘digital’ systems evolving over time.
We are talking about ‘intelligent’ systems being developed to provide ‘human like’
experiences. The interactions among such systems are not going to be as simple
as a message format, or a data file exchange. Such digital system interactions
would involve exchange of intelligence to deliver greater value and the desired
customer experience. Hence, business analysts need to always be watchful of the
IT landscape around them.
Continuous stakeholder engagement is hard work. It requires the business analyst to up their game
in elicitation and collaboration. Considering that business analysts must develop a notion of product
(as opposed to project), they need to adopt a ‘Product Owner’ persona. They are the lead collaborator
among the product stakeholders. In the digital world, the role of a business analyst is about taking
accountability for the business outcome and the product to achieve that outcome. The BABOK® Guide
is the best guide to learn and internalize the best practices for stakeholder engagement.
6 Drive Evidence-Based Decisions

It is important to evaluate and analyze evidence while envisioning the new business model/
processes in the digital world to deliver expected customer experience. This requires one to look
for the data that can be leveraged to make the right decisions. Such data could come from various
sources like surveys and trends, trade organizations, historical data of the business process being
reimagined and so on. The challenge is that data may not be available or may not be in right forms
or shape for the business analysis community to derive insights, prove hypotheses, and make
decisions. But once you have the right evidence, it could help you understand the real customer
pain points, improve your strategic imperatives, reimagine the business processes, and deliver a
solution that solves the exact customer problem.
Target, one of the large retail chains, faced a challenge in low ROI in their coupons business.
Upon analysis of feedback collected from their customers, Target discovered that their customers
were viewing coupons as trash. They learned that since every fortnight, all customers essentially
received the same coupons, and since those very coupons were also available at the store
entrance, those coupons seemed worthless to the customers.
To solve this riddle, Target decided to analyze the petabytes of sales data that they owned. They
figured out a way to personalize the coupons for their customers. They learned from the sales data
18
that if a customer makes a series of purchases of a certain kind of product(s), they will purchase a
specific product on their next purchase. Target sent them a coupon for that very product, much to
the surprise of their customers.
Now, think about yourself in the digital world reimagining business processes to deliver a great
customer experience, evidences collected by looking at data can vastly improve your chances of
achieving the desired results.
So, business analysts in the digital world need to have the capabilities to:
• understand the data that they need,
• be able to collect it,
• be able to organize and analyze it effectively.
Data could be a single source of truth that can make or break the value that one intends to deliver
to its customers. Having exceptional data analysis, analytics, statistics, six sigma, and information
architecture skills and capabilities can help the business analysis community succeed in the digital
world.
7 Understand Technology
Earlier in this paper, we argued that technology is one of the critical elements of the digital world.
Reimagination of business processes in the digital world is impossible unless one knows what is
possible with technology.
Lemonade’s claim settlement in literally seconds is impossible without AI and machine learning.
As a BA, one would not be able to even think of a 3-second claims process if the BA is unaware of
the technology underlying AI/ML.
Imagine a business problem that Target faced in their coupons business. The ROI on their coupons
business was struggling, and they discovered that the only way to revive the business was to
personalize the coupons. This meant that they had to create a business process that treats every
customer so uniquely, that each customer receives personalized coupons leaving the customer
wondering “Wow! This is great! I wonder how Target learned that I was looking to buy this exact
product. I might as well buy this from Target.” How would a BA tasked with solving this problem be
able to imagine a solution for Target if the BA is not aware of the possibilities offered by analytics
technology?
19
Imagine a business problem where an auto insurance company that spends a fortune on their
claims call centre, is looking to dramatically reduce these costs to remain profitable and afloat. The
call centre typically accepts notice of loss and helps maintain customer touch points throughout
the claims process. As a BA, how would one be able to reimagine this business process if one
does not understand the possibilities offered by robotic process automation, IVR technology,
analytics, machine learning and software bot technology?
BAs cannot be evasive of technology by saying “My job is to define the business needs. The tech
part is the job of the implementation team.” The argument that business is enabled by technology
is no longer true. Technology drives businesses in the digital world. The gap between business and
technology is blurring and it is critical that the business analysis community gains the foundational
knowledge of these technologies to deliver the expected outcome in the digital world.
It might seem that the above listed best practices were always required to be followed even in the
past. While that is true, not many business analysts followed these best practices, but they were
successful despite that. Not anymore. In the future, without mastering these best practices, it is
highly unlikely that one would be a successful business analyst.
20
Crossing the Chasm

In the previous section, we discussed the seven key best practices that
business analysts must actively embrace and master to succeed in the
digital world. In summary, in the digital world:
1. Digital strategy is key to business strategy. The divide between business and
technology is blurring in the digital world. Therefore, BAs cannot remain
distant from technology. BAs must actively embrace technology and have
sufficient understanding of the same.
2. The solution to a business problem focuses on providing an exceptional

customer experience. It spans across multiple business domains and is a
combination of more than one technology. But one BA may not be able to
master all these technologies.
In this section, we list specific, actionable ‘tracks’ that business analysts can
follow to migrate into the digital future. We use the word ‘track’ because
they can run serially or in parallel, depending upon the individual pursuing
these tracks. There are three tracks in all:
1. Two foundational tracks – business analysis best practices and business domain
expertise. These two tracks are compulsory, and every BA must master them.
2. The third track is the technology track, which is also compulsory. But, here BAs
have a choice of selecting one or more technologies to deep-dive into.
The two foundational tracks plus the choice of specific technologies will lead to a Business Analysis
Specialization.. For instance: Fintech BA, Data Science BA, InsureTech BA, and so on.
21
Finally, in the digital world, foundational business analysis capabilities as a discipline, a mindset,
and a set of tasks, techniques, and best practices need to be honed by everybody, not just by those
individuals designated as BAs, for digital initiatives to be successful.
Track 1
Master foundational business analysis
The BABOK® Guide combined with the Agile Extension and other IIBA publications provide business
analysts with a comprehensive body of knowledge of the most foundational business analysis
capabilities.
Six of the seven best practices described in the previous section are described in detail in IIBA’s
A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide). An entire knowledge area
is devoted to understanding strategic imperatives (Strategy Analysis). The tools, techniques, and
best practices to engage stakeholders continuously is well documented under Elicitation and
Collaboration knowledge area (KA 4), as well as under the Plan Stakeholder Engagement (3.2) task.
The Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide, version 2 is entirely devoted to embracing agility. Several
techniques provide the hard skills in respect to modeling business processes and managing data.
22
The digital world expects BAs to empathize with real customers. Techniques like customer personas,
empathy maps, ecosystem maps and customer journey maps help business analysts in this regard.
These techniques fall under the larger umbrella of design thinking. IIBA’s Global Thought Leadership
program is in the process of publishing a series of papers that will be available free for IIBA
members. There are already quite a few books and other resources BAs can reference to enhance
their capabilities. For instance, IIBA’s recent live panel discussion titled “Incorporating Design
Thinking into Your Practice” is available on IIBA’s member portal. Accomplished design thinkers
participated in this session, offering valuable insights, which BAs will find very useful. Business
analysts may lend legitimacy to their skill and experience by acquiring a globally recognized IIBA
certification(s) as they progress through their career.
Track 2
Pick a business domain and gain expertise in that domain
There is a raging, unsettled debate on the extent to which domain expertise is significant for a
business analyst. There are companies with differing views at both extremes. Some believe in
domain expertise so much so that they hire doctors and nurses to work on healthcare projects and
ignore all of the other skills and best practices required for the role of a business analyst. On the
other extreme, there are companies that solely rely on business analysis skills and completely ignore
domain expertise.
IIBA views business knowledge as one of the key underlying competencies for a business analyst
and classifies it by:
• Business Acumen: Understanding of fundamental business principles and best

practices, which are common across all industry domains
• Industry Knowledge: Understanding of current practices and activities within a
given industry
• Organization Knowledge: Understanding of the structure, business
architecture, practices, processes and activities within a given organization
• Solution Knowledge: Understanding of a given solution to a specific or set of
business processes in each industry
• Methodology Knowledge: Understanding of the methodology adopted by an
organization while executing a specific process or a project
23
In the digital world, domain expertise will continue to remain significant. The ability of a business
analyst to quickly learn new business domains will work in one’s favor. To gain legitimacy,
particularly in the early years as a business analyst, IIBA recommends business analysts to acquire
domain certifications. For example, LOMA is globally recognized as the authority for Insurance
certifications. Universities typically offer short-term and part-time / full-time programs in specific
domains. There are several MOOC courses (many are free) available on various online platforms.
Track 3
Take a deep-dive into one or more technologies, and aim for a BA Specialization
The final track is about technology, and business analysts are required to venture into technology
if they want to succeed in the digital world. There are several technologies emerging in the digital
world, some very nascent like blockchain and some already robust like analytics.
Business analysts will need to acquire knowledge and skills related to technology for two
basic reasons:
• To ensure that they understand technology deep enough to know what is possible
to be accomplished with that technology, evaluate its utility, applicability and
benefits in specific business situations; and
• To understand how business, stakeholder and solution requirements need to

be elicited, analyzed and documented based on the technology chosen to
implement a solution for a business situation.
IIBA will, in the due course of time, introduce micro-credentials in each of these technology areas. For
example, cyber security was always seen as a hardware gig, and at most a firewall tech play. It was never
seen as something relevant to business analysis until major data leaks from even the best of companies
made cyber security the top priority of CIOs. IIBA is collaborating with the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) to launch a Business Analysis certification in cyber security. Likewise, IIBA
will independently or in collaboration with other standards bodies develop and launch micro-credentials
to equip business analysts with required knowledge, skills, and techniques in specific technology areas.
Business Analysis Specialization: IIBA will also introduce business analysis specializations like
Fintech BA, a Data Science BA, an InsureTech BA, and so on. Foundational certifications plus
a specific combination of micro-credentials will lead to a specialization. For example: An IIBA
accredited data science business analyst may be one who has a valid IIBA certification plus possibly
one or more micro-credentials in business analytics, cognitive and AI/ML.
24
Coming Up
This paper is the first in the series of IIBA’s Global Thought Leadership publications on digital business
analysis.
In the coming months, IIBA will publish a series of white papers to extend the conversation on Digital
Business Analysis.
Stay tuned!
25
Authors
Ashish Mehta, CBAP Praveen Udupa, CBAP
Managing Director – India, APAC Program Manager,
and Global Thought Leader IIBA
IIBA
Ashish Mehta is a recognized thought-leader in the Praveen Udupa brings over 15 years of rich
business analysis profession with over 23 years of experience in all facets of Business Analysis.
experience and has worked with clients globally to Praveen is a Certified Business Analysis
establish highly effective Business Analysis and Professional (CBAP®) from International Institute
IT Consulting disciplines, enabling the delivery of of Business Analysis (IIBA®) and a Certified
solutions to business and technical problems. Professional in Requirements Engineering from
International Requirements Engineering Board
Ashish is a Certified Business Analysis Professional (IREB).
(CBAP®) and a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt. In his
previous assignment, Ashish was a Vice President Praveen believes in the necessity and effectiveness
and Global Practice Head – Business Analysis of the business analysis mindset in creating
at NTT DATA Inc. where he established a unique transformational impact on organizations and
business analysis practice model – a $50M book society.
of business with 350 consultants. Ashish has
consulted in multiple domains like BFSI, Healthcare, Praveen is an advocate of business analysis
Retail, Airline, Travel, Manufacturing and Public education at the grass-root level. He has
Sector. collaborated with other like-minded platforms
like the BA Convention and has spoken on the
Recognized by IIBA for his dedication and significance of BA Education in Academia.
commitment to business analysis profession,
Ashish has volunteered with IIBA for a decade in For 12 years ending 2012, Praveen was a practicing
different roles including Global Board of Director. Business Analyst at NTT Data working on several
Ashish has helped IIBA in strategizing numerous high-value initiatives for clients across the globe.
global initiatives. Praveen used to manage the Business Analysis
Centre of Excellence as a Director of Insurance
A committed and passionate Business Analyst, Business Analysis Practice at NTT Data. In this
Ashish frequently advises and speaks on role, he was responsible for Training, Coaching &
business analysis topics at various conferences Mentorship, Best Practices, Governance, Thought
internationally and is dedicated to the growth of the Leadership and Sales Support.
business analysis profession.
26
References
1
Forrester© - Predictions 2018 A year of reckoning
2
Gartner - Top Strategic Predictions for 2018 and Beyond: Surviving the Storm Winds of Digital Disruption
3
IIBA® - What does it mean to be Digital? - Ken Fulmer, President and CEO, IIBA
27
©
2018 International Institute of Business Analysis™ (IIBA®). All rights reserved.
“IIBA”, the IIBA logo, and the IIBA Global Thought Leadership logo are marks of the
International Institute of Business Analysis. For a comprehensive list of IIBA marks, visit
http://www.iiba.org/About-IIBA/Corporate-Identity-and-Trademark-Policy.aspx.

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IIBA GLOBAL THOUGHT LEADERSHIP SERIES

“Digital is about creating brand-new

Here are highlights of the “New Normal” for Business Analysis:

Application of an effective business analysis mindset and best practices in the

The Future is Now

The following two-minute video, masterfully scripted by DELL-

The scenarios described in the video might seem futuristic, but

Well, let’s try to address that right away.

You see, Zipcar asked a question that even customers

“Zipcar placed customers at the centre of

“In the digital world, customer experience is no longer

1. Artiﬁcial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) – capability built into

2. Wireless – includes all technology for wireless communication like RFID,

3. Mobile – technology that enables powerful computing capability to be bundled

4. Robotic Process Automation – technology that can automate mundane,

5. Blockchain – distributed ledger technology

6. Virtual / Augmented Reality – technology to provide real experience in the

8. 3D Printing – making custom production a reality

10. Internet of Things – allowing real-time connectivity among devices possible

Business Domain Convergence -

“The convergence of business domains, which

The convergence of business domains, which previously were

The Future for Business Analysis

• Is business analysis going to be relevant at all in the digital era?

Let us lay the ﬁrst apprehension to rest right

As a mindset, a discipline, a manner of

However, in the transformational times, such as the present and future,

Let us discuss these seven best practices in greater detail:

1 Understand Strategic Imperatives

As a business analyst, understanding strategic imperatives translates to having a thorough knowledge

• The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic planning and management tool

2 Empathize With Real Customer

“In a digital environment, the stakeholder of

Business analysis is increasingly about collaboration. It is about engaging with customers,

3 Reimagine Business Processes

“Today, most customer facing processes run on

The main aspects of agility include:

5 Continuous Stakeholder Collaboration

6 Drive Evidence-Based Decisions

Crossing the Chasm

2. The solution to a business problem focuses on providing an exceptional

• Business Acumen: Understanding of fundamental business principles and best

• To understand how business, stakeholder and solution requirements need to

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