Getting Started on Business Analysis: Are Your Goals Strategic or Tactical?
A business analysis takes valuable time to perform, but the results are invaluable. The hardest steps are deciding what to analyze because there is simply so much you can choose.
As a guideline, decide if you want to start at a high-level, figuring out the best way to run the business, or at a low-level, identifying quick wins, low hanging fruit, and the specific business activities that can be automated and optimized in a short period of time.
Strategic "Top Down” Analysis
A Strategic Analysis examines the most efficient way to automate the processes that make up a business.
A strategic perspective is higher level (i.e. managers) and seeks to understand the processes that make up the business and deliver its value. It focuses on the processes that constitute a business as opposed to the activities that constitute a process, although it’s not uncommon for the analysis to touch on both.
For example, a business typically has processes for customer relationship management, order management, operations, and accounting, to name a few. A Strategic Analysis examines how those processes work together to create the value of a business and determines the most efficient way to automate those processes.
Tactical "Bottom Up” Analysis
A Tactical Analysis examines the most efficient way to automate the activities that make up a process.
A tactical perspective is lower level (i.e. practitioners) and seeks to understand the activities that make up processes. It focuses on the activities that constitute a process as opposed to the processes that make up a business, although it’s not uncommon for the analysis to touch on both.
For example, a business typically has a series of activities that staffers perform for order management. A Strategic Analysis examines how those activities work together to create a process and how those activities can be automated.
How to Choose
|
Strategic |
Tactical |
| Gap/Fit |
Focuses on processes within existing software functionality |
Focuses on activities within existing software functionality |
| Business Process Engineering |
Focuses on processes outside existing software functionality |
Focuses on activities outside existing software functionality |
A business that enters a Strategic Analysis seeks to maximize its overall efficiency and is typically considering an entirely new software platform.
A business that enters a Tactical Analysis seeks to maximize the efficiency of part of the business and is typically considering new ways to leverage its existing software platform.
If you’re considering a new software platform, then a Strategic Analysis is probably right for you. If you want to get more out of your existing software platform, then a Tactical Analysis is a better fit.
After choosing a Tactical or Strategic Analysis, the next step is to examine built-in software functionality versus custom software functionality.