SafeNet recognizes that designing projects and developing requirements are vastly more than just completing templates. SafeNet’s approach uses business modeling to provide context, close stakeholder management to ensure scope is well managed and strong estimating techniques to enable predictability. The four roles in the Process Management practice are all practitioners in these three key capabilities as well as the recognized industry best practices for requirements management. The most senior role in the Process Management practice is engaged at any part of the project lifecycle from project initiation through completion. With strong business analysis, architecture, process re-engineering, modeling and project management skills, this role provides leadership in the very largest enterprise programs, often acting as co-owner with clients on large projects. The Business Engineering Professional works mostly at the enterprise level, syndicating recommendations, projects, requirements and internal marketing material among executive team members, often representing them in both internal and external meetings. The incumbent identifies out-sourcing opportunities and leads vendor analysis and selection. On the IT side, this role completes process assessments, organizational analysis, scorecard and metrics development and capacity management techniques, often bridging the “divide” between development and technical services organizations using business process management techniques and service level agreements.
The Supporting the business process analysis and definition and the Analysis stages of major initiatives, the Business Architect is responsible for modeling enterprises and major businesses for process and information, ensuring alignment between business processes, business goals and objectives and technology. This role collaborates with the Business Engineering Professional taking the lead on ensuring the technology community within a firm is prepared for major BPM initiatives and integration of Service Oriented Architecture with business services and processes. The Business Architect supports Business Analysts in requirements preparation and often provides methodologies and tools and techniques where clients don’t already have them. The incumbent is expected to be an expert enterprise-level modeler.
Once a project has been funded and goals and objectives identified, the Business Analyst is responsible for taking the project through the project initiation and requirements phases. The incumbent writes the project charter or project agreement, defines quantitative and qualitative benefits, business needs and business requirements. This usually involves the design of business processes and scenarios, information models, business rules, use cases and the traceability of requirements through user acceptance testing. For web projects, the Business Analyst designs the user experience and the information architecture that underlies it. To ensure the results of development that occurs after requirements are approved, the Business Analyst designs and leads user acceptance testing. In many situations, the Business Analyst is called upon to lead small teams of Requirements Analysts and testers. This role requires strong facilitation skills (for JAD sessions and other planning efforts) and the ability to design the initiation and requirements phases of projects of any size, in conjunction with a project Management from SafeNet’s Management practice.
The Requirements Analyst is responsible for developing and documenting project requirements, process models and use cases based upon functional and non-functional business needs defined by a Business Analyst. The Requirements Analyst identifies business rules, use cases, use case diagrams, data journals, business scenarios, user experience maps, service-level requirements, user reports and business metrics.