Purpose

• The purpose of Analyze Current State is to understand the reasons why an enterprise needs to change some aspect of how it operates and what would be directly or indirectly affected by the change.

Description

• The starting point for any change is an understanding of why the change is needed.
  • Potential change is triggered by problems or opportunities that cannot be addressed without altering the current state.
• Business analysts work to help stakeholders enable change by exploring and articulating the business needs that drive the desire to change.
  • Without clearly understood business needs, it is impossible to develop a coherent strategy, and the resulting change initiative is almost certain to be driven by a mix of conflicting stakeholder demands.
• Change always occurs in a context of existing stakeholders, processes, technology, and policies which constitute the current state of the enterprise.
• Business analysts examine the current state in the context of the business need to understand what may influence proposed changes, and what will be affected by them.
• The current state is explored in just enough detail to validate the need for a change and/or the change strategy.
• Understanding the current state of the enterprise prior to the change is necessary to identify what will need to change to achieve a desired future state and how the effect of the change will be assessed.
• Scope of the Current State
  • The scope of the current state describes the important existing characteristics of the environment.
  • The boundaries of the current state scope are determined by the components of the enterprise and its environment as they relate to the needs.
  • The current state can be described on different levels, ranging from the entire enterprise to small components of a solution.
  • Creating a model of the current state might require collaboration throughout or outside the enterprise.
• Dynamic Nature of the Current State
  • The current state of an enterprise is rarely static while a change is being developed and implemented.
  • Internal and external influencers, as well as other organizational changes, can affect the current state in ways that force alterations in the desired future state, change strategy, or requirements and designs.