The Business Analyst who wasn’t (Part 3)

Just as I was ready to start looking for a transfer to IT as a real, live Business Analyst, an opportunity came up which I could not pass up...

One of the first things I’d noticed when called in to act as user representative on the GST system project was that data which had previously been stored and processed in two separate systems was now combined in a single system. And, as someone who had had to perform large complicated calculations involving both sets of data each month, my first observation was: “Now that you’ve got all this data in the same system, you can get it to do all these calculations.” To which the answer was, “No. We’re only here to replace the legacy systems. Anyway, you’re too late – these decisions needed to be made months ago.” Oh, maybe I should mention – they only called for user representatives after the project had already been underway for a few months, and development was well progressed.

Well, I refused to let go of this idea. I went to the business process owner (who I knew, as a result of working in this process for years) and suggested this improvement. His first response was that it was impossible; it simply couldn’t be done; it was literally impossible to get the system to perform these calculations. I then embarked on a three-month campaign to convince him that it was possible. Bit by bit, piece by piece, concept by painful concept, it sank in. Eventually, he turned around from being my greatest obstacle to being my greatest supporter.

Naturally, having the business process owner on board gained great credibility for the idea. Soon (in corporate terms – it was actually about eighteen months later!), a project was approved to improve the GST processing system, starting with – surprise, surprise! – incorporating these complicated calculations. 

And, in recognition of it being my idea, and of my experience on previous projects, I was officially asked to be the business analyst for this project. I was finally acknowledged as a BA! Sort of. I was still officially in my old clerical job, and still being paid my previous salary – I was merely on secondment as a business analyst, and only part time, at that. At the end of the project, I would go back to my old job, and still not be a BA.

That project ran for about eighteen months, during which I was the BA in name and in actuality. I loved every minute of it (even when I hated it!).

Toward the end, the company underwent a massive restructuring program (yes, these things keep happening to me), and I was retrenched. According to HR, I was in my finance & administration department, but they clearly didn’t need me if they could loan me out to work on projects for the majority of my time. Coincidentally, the project manager for the GST project was also retrenched at the same time.

The project sponsor came back from two weeks’ leave to find out that the project manager and the business analyst had both been retrenched and were leaving within two weeks – but the project still had six weeks to run. Panic ensued! She then found out that she could keep only one of us, and only for the necessary six weeks. So, I found myself acting as business analyst and de facto project manager (with a mentor!) for the last six weeks of that project.

Then, I was retrenched. Again.