Time to participate!

IIBA is partnering with Ravenflow and ASPE on a BA salary survey.

Go to http://2010-BA-Salary-Survey.questionpro.com to complete your entry before September 10, 2010.

IIBA will be sharing the results in future newsletters, webinars and other publications.

In less than three months, IIBA will be seven years old. In all that time the structure of the organization – who was responsible for what – developed organically. We put people in positions of responsibility based on their interest and willingness to commit time and energy to the IIBA cause. Since we were all mostly volunteers, we did what we could and hoped for the best.

It is now time to change our approach. Time we started managing our business instead of it managing us. The addition of Michael Gladstone full-time to the leadership team last week has provided an ideal opportunity to rethink how we deliver products and services to our customers.

We have maintained that our business philosophy or “value discipline” is to be Customer Intimate. Therefore, starting immediately, each of the four executives of IIBA – Dave, Kevin, Michael and I, will be accountable for developing and sustaining a healthy, positive relationship with our key stakeholders and customers. The focus of those relationships will be to enhance the profession of business analysis – our reason for being.

Kevin will be responsible for membership and chapters. Developing the Professional.
Michael will be responsible for certified individuals. Recognising the Professional.
Dave will be responsible for organizations that employ BAs. Enabling the Professional.
And I will be responsible for organizations that provide tools or training to BAs. Supporting the Professional.

As well, all products and services will be assigned to one of us. Over the next month, a detailed product profile will be developed for each of these products or services including linkages to other areas and potential revenue.

A few other changes are occurring at the SLT level as well. I have asked the members of the Board who hold positions on the SLT to choose between the two areas. I am concerned about both conflict of interest and overwork. Both Indy Mitra and Alain Arseneault have decided to focus on their Board roles. Kitty will continue in her role of Chair Chapter Governance and Chair Chapter Counsel until the October conference. Jonathan Anderson has stepped down from his role as VP Membership.

The responsibility of the remaining members of the SLT will evolve. While they will continue to provide leadership in their respective areas, they will also report into one of the four ELT members.

I am very excited about this change – and I hope you are too. I believe that IIBA is now poised to deliver even more, higher quality services to its customers.

Thanks for helping make this change a success – in advance!

For the last four days (August 3rd to the 6th), the CCBA Item Writing Team - the folks responsible for creating the questions for the CCBA exam - have been working diligently in a seconded, back room in Toronto.

I am hanging out with them - sort of.

Because I am not an official item writer, I am not allowed to be in the same room as they are as they craft the questions for the exam. Some time in the not-too-distant future, IIBA wants to be ISO 17024 certified, the ISO standard for certifying bodies. To ensure that process goes smoothly, we are doing our best to meet the criteria, i.e., requirements, so when we do apply, there will be no problems.

ISO requires a segregation of duties between the overall organization and the certification group to ensure the integrity and security of the exam.

While I don't like to think of myself this way, I could be perceived as a potential risk to the confidentiality of the exam. So I am keeping a safe distance - except for when I went in to meet the team.

Great folks, all CBAP recipients, from all over the world. They came to Toronto on their own time, to help create, what I am sure will be, a successful certification for business analysts.  Please join me in personally thanking them for their very significant contribution!

Thank you (in alphabetical order)

Amanda Newman
Angela Hansen
Carol Deutschlander
Desiree Purvis
Holly Harvey
Janali Davis
Monica Zapatka
Phyllis Bennette
Prasad Chintalapati
Reshma Pathare
Tony Newport

And Michael Gladstone - their fearless leader!

Tuesday, Aug 10, 2010 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT

Presented by Michael Gladstone, VP Certification, and Suzanne Bertschi, Certification Product Manager

The Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) is an intermediate level designation that will be launched by the end of 2010. The CCBA designation is a stepping stone to obtaining the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP® ) designation and provides recognition for individuals who have business analysis experience but don't yet meet the requirements for the CBAP® designation.

Key learning points include:

• IIBA® vision for the CCBA designation
• Target audience
• Application requirements
• Launch dates
• Difference between the CBAP ® / CCBA designations

This webinar is open to members and non members. Register now at https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/143174618

On June 22nd, IIBA held its 7th AGM and as we have said many times, we have come a long way since our inception.

A good example of our evolution is the newsletter. For the first few years of our existence, we struggled to issue even a quarterly publication. So we hired an editor, Lynda Sydney, and we have successfully sent out a monthly newsletter ever since.

And it is a thing of great beauty - full of content on IIBA and the business of business analysis. The July newsletter was a relatively light edition, coming in at less than 20 pages. Based on the discussions at the editorial committee meeting this week, August looks to be a substantially larger edition.

However, we recognize that the newsletter needs to evolve. Currently, less than 15% of our members download a copy and while this is typical of many monthly publications, it is less than what IIBA wants.

What do we need to do to improve the percentage?

First off, I think we need to improve access. Currently, members who want to read the newsletter must log on to the IIBA website. If the article is longer than the allotted space in the PDF version, we redirect the reader to the community site where the entire article is posted. There is "method to our madness" - we want readers to comment on the content. But it requires multiple clicks to get through which can be off-putting to the reader.

Secondly, the breadth of the newsletter can be a bit intimidating. Some folks just want to read one article. How can we make access to just that content simple?

One of the actions from our quarterly planning session in June was to review the current structure of the newsletter and look at ways of improving it. Lynda Sydney and I kicked-off the effort last Tuesday evening. We came up with a number of ideas and each of us took away quite a few action items. One of mine is to better understand our technology platform to determine how much flexibility it has. Lynda and I will be meeting with Dushan Veljovic, our IT Manager, in the next few weeks for a lesson on Informz, our current email system for iMIS, the website platform.

We have lots of work to do but will keep you posted. I will ask Lynda to write an article directly to you in an upcoming newsletter on some of our thoughts and we plan on conducting a survey in the next few months to capture your ideas and feedback.

Did you ever have one of those days where you struggle to get anything done? Feel like you are stuck in neutral?

I find the best way to "jump start" my creative process is to write something - anything. And hopefully, it will get me focused and motivated.

So this blog post has nothing to do with IIBA except to help me make today a more productive day for me, and therefore, IIBA.

City Life

I love cities - always have. During my adolescence, my grandparents lived in New York City (at 96th and Central Park West for anyone who is curious) and my favourite summer vacation was a trip to the "Big Apple".

All the people, the energy, the bustle. Shopping, theatre, museums, boats rides around the harbour. What's not to love?

The garbage... I forget that cities have not always been good at hiding their refuse. Nothing like a few very hot summer days to remind me that "out of sight" does not necessarily mean "out of mind"  or "out of olfactory distance". Yuck!

Last year, many of the city workers of Toronto went on strike leaving the garbage to collect, week after week, in rotting piles. But we were lucky - the weather was cool. So while we complained about low temperatures, we all privately shared a collective sigh of relief that we didn't add heat to the decomposing piles of rubbish.

This year there is no garbage strike and no mounds of growing waste. But there is heat. And heat, minus cleansing rain, can take the smallest debris and make it seem so much larger.

I noticed this today.

I still love cities - and especially my Toronto - but I can appreciate why some folks prefer the country.

Hey, that's business analysis. Appreciating multiple perspectives. Maybe this blog post is about IIBA.

In alphabetical order:

• Alain Arseneault
• Michael Augello
• Arie Benaich
• Ingrid Colquitt
• Teresa Cheung
• Kitty Hass
• Michael Hugos
  
• Brenda Kerton
• Chuck Millhollan
• Indy Mitra
• Winston Young

• Approval of the audited financials for 2009
• Approval of the selection of Brudner, Herblum & McDougall LLP, Chartered Accountants as Auditors for IIBA® for the fiscal year 2010
• Selection of 7 candidates for the open Board positions

I need to write a song called the "traveling blues". Getting around in the air has been tough since 2001 but yesterday I added to the challenge by forgetting some critical items.

Now I have been business traveler since the late '80's (yes, I am that old!). And I have had my share of cancelled flights, missed connections, and overbookings. But thankfully, I was generally not the guilty party. Yesterday, I decided to make up for my historical level of responsiblity by leaving some very critical items at home.

I can blame it on the fact that I just got back last Friday from Calgary, Alberta. I could blame it on the fact that I had forgotten to book my flight to Des Moines, Iowa until Saturday. I could blame it on the fact that I have a Wednesday morning keynote that I hadn't finished. Ultimately, I had to blame it on me! :-(

Traveling from Toronto to the US is a drawn-out process at the best of times. In addition to the regular security delays, passengers must go through customs before boarding. Yesterday, the line-ups were extra long. Probably 150+ in line. It was going to take at least 45 minutes to wind through the customs line and I had no idea how bad it would be at security.

And it was a rainy, Sunday afternoon.

I climbed out of the taxi and collected my bags - all but my knapsack. The driver must have left it in the trunk. "My laptop - don't forget that one..." It wasn't there! The one bag I needed - the one with my laptop AND passport was sitting on my kitchen table. There was no way I would be able to get that bag to me, at the airport, in time to board my flight.  Sighhhh. The poor folks in Des Moines would have to reshuffle my meetings. Not only that but there were no available seats on connecting flights between Minneapolis and Des Moines at the appropriate times on Monday so I will be driving. ~250 miles. I should be in great shape by the time I arrive!

I will let you know how it goes. The good part is I have never been to Minneasota or Iowa so I will be able to experience first hand...

More later.

IIBA is now accepting applications for candidates for the open Board positions. If you would like to apply, here is what you need to know. You have until May 11, 2010 to submit your application.

• Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to the development and growth of the business analysis profession
• Ability to commit 8-10 hours a month to IIBA as a Board member
• Demonstrated leadership ability
• A diverse and wide-ranging set of contacts and willingness to use those contacts to advance the mission of IIBA
• Board experience (but don'tlet this requriement stop you)
  
• Expertise in one of the following areas:

          - Human Resources

          - Consulting / Small Business

          - CEO / COO of an organization

          - International Business

          - Business Development

Open Positions and Term: Five Volunteer Board of Directors positions for a term of two years

Application Deadline: May 11, 2010

To apply, please email a copy of your resume/CV, a cover letter stating why you wish to be elected to the IIBA Board of Directors, as well as a bio of up to 250 words and a photo (for the selected candidates, these will be posted on the IIBA website) to Alain Arseneault at Alain.Arseneault@theiiba.org by May 11, 2010.

Candidates should be available for a one hour panel interview. Those selected to run in the election must be available on June 16, 2010 to participate in a Meet the Candidates webinar.

Each IIBA Board of Directors candidate will be asked to give a two minute presentation on why they should be elected, and be prepared to answer questions from members.