About

Professional

My professional experience is primarily in the broadband/telecom and wholesale distribution/retail industries. I began my career as an analyst for a “Big 5″ consulting company where I worked at a near-suicidal pace for five years before deciding to leave consulting to work in industry.

During my five year stint as a consultant, I had the opportunity to try my hand at nearly every role in the systems development lifecycle; from QA analyst, to project manager, to application architect, to business analyst.

Thanks to the extremely talented group of peers with which I worked, the pressure to perform, and the ridiculous hours I was logging, I was able to learn a great deal about what works in software systems engineering, and what doesn’t.

Currently, I manage a talented team of business analysts for a Fortune 500 retail and wholesale distribution company. In this environment I have the opportunity to work to identify, define and solve business problems, help update the software engineering process, and to strengthen the lines of communication between the business and technical communities. This has also been a unique and rewarding challenge.

Hopefully this site will serve to answer some questions that others in the field may find themselves asking, and maybe even help me make some professional contacts and friends along the way.

It’s my nature to try to keep things as simple, as light, and as humorous as possible, and hopefully that will be reflected in the site’s content.

Why the Website?

I started the site for a few key reasons, but mainly because I felt blogging about business analysis could help make me a better analyst. First, it gives me a place to keep track of my own thoughts and lessons-learned.

Second, I wanted to broaden my network of contacts within the business analysis community and learn how other people were doing things. I understand very well how things are done in my company and at past employers, but how do others solve similar problems? What personal tips and tricks do other BA’s use that I might be able to learn?

There is a vibrant and growing community of business analysts and IT professionals on the web that is very supportive and at the same time candid with their opinions of what works and what doesn’t. I knew that blogging would give me access to that community, and that to “get” I ought to be willing to give a little back. As a student of business analysis and software engineering methodology, this site is my small contribution to the overall body of business analysis knowledge.

Third, I love what I do. I enjoy managing business analysts and being a business analyst. I believe in the value of having enterprise and systems analysis capabilities in an organization. I see the blog as an opportunity for advocacy; for business analysis in general, and for principles and practices that I am convinced are solid and worth sharing.

Personal

As a little personal background, I’m a husband and father of 4. My family, my faith and my friends are the things of greatest importance to me. I also enjoy travel, language study (I speak French with near-native fluency), and the latest sports, political and cultural trends.

I grew up in Michigan, although I’ve lived in several states and countries along the way. I currently reside in the Atlanta, GA area, and love it here.