Business analysis (BA) is an internal service discipline with responsibility for investigating business systems, clarifying requirements, improving processes and evaluating proposed business and IT changes. When conducted by skilled practitioners, business analysis can help organisations to spend investment funds with focus and insight. This book takes you through the creation and management of a BA Service and includes guidance on defining the BA Service Portfolio, recruiting business analysts, establishing a customer-centric service culture and ensuring continuous improvement. A suite of case studies from highly-regarded BA leaders are included throughout the book to illustrate how the key principles of the BA Service are applied in practice.

Authored by leading experts Debra Paul and James Cadle, the fourth edition of this bestselling publication provides comprehensive guidance for business analysts, encompassing the essential concepts, frameworks and techniques needed to provide professional business analysis services. New topics include the service view of business analysis, the strategic context and enterprise architecture, customer experience analysis and design thinking.

An essential addition to the bookshelf of every professional business analyst.

Written by AssistKD's Debbie Paul and Lynda Girvan, this book provides a comprehensive account of the agile philosophy, principles, approaches and techniques, and explains these in the context of business analysis. It is ideal for anyone undertaking business analysis activities who wishes to understand how business analysis and agile work practices aid collaborative working and the delivery of beneficial business outcomes.

Topics include: The agile mindset; The need to understand problems before focusing on solutions; Prioritisation and goal decompositions before focusing on solutions; Analysis techniques such as user stories, personas and scenarios; Planning and management of iterations.

The fifth edition of the best-selling book by AssistKD director James Cadle and Donald Yeates, published by FT Prentice Hall in 2008. Updated in many areas, including coverage of different types of IS project and new approaches to development, such as Agile, the structure of the book has also been reorganised, to group the various 'themes' of project management together.

Written by AssistKD's Debbie Paul and James Cadle, along with Phillipa Thomas, this book looks at the importance of strong interpersonal skills; a requirement in any business environment. The importance of these skills cannot be overstated in today's business world particularly in the light of current economic conditions.

There have been numerous publications that look at interpersonal skills, but none specifically address their application within professional job roles, in particular those within the IT industry. This book fills that gap, providing guidance on all of the key skills and forming a comprehensive reference manual that will be relevant to a huge variety of situations.

Topics include: building rapport; team working; leadership; negotiation; written communication; managing conflict; presentation skills; coaching and mentoring; problem solving.

Introducing Systems Development offers a concise introduction to systems analysis and design, suitable for undergraduates on Computer Science or Business Studies programs. Based on Steve Skidmore's previous two books, Introducing Systems Analysis and Introducing Systems Design, this comprehensive text retains the strong practical emphasis that characterised these texts. 

Systems development is the process of creating and maintaining information systems, including hardware, software, data, procedures and people. It combines technical expertise with business knowledge and management skill. This practical book provides a comprehensive introduction to the topic and can also be used as a handy reference guide by those already working in the field. It discusses key topics of systems development such as lifecycles, development approaches, requirements engineering and how to make a business case, among others. It is the only textbook that supports the BCS Certificate in Systems Development.

The new edition is fully updated and presents 123 essential techniques aligned to the BA Service Framework. It complements Business Analysis 4th Edition (Debra Paul and James Cadle), also published by BCS, and offers a more detailed description of the techniques used in business analysis, together with practical advice on their application.