Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 07

TRANSFORMATION February/March 2019 // Canadian Government Executive / 37 systems. Such platforms enable business analysts to go beyond facilitation of solu- tion delivery and allow them to take the driver seat. For the public sector, these platforms represent an opportunity to tackle some of the most pressing problems most entitles face: aging technology infrastructure and outdated legacy systems that are expen- sive to maintain and even more expensive to redevelop, combined with un-met tech- nology needs due to limited capacity and ongoing change in programs, services and priorities. With the right people at the helm, com- bined with proper governance, the fol- lowing platforms have the potential to completely change how the public sector plans, delivers and maintains digital ser- vices going forward: • No/low code application platforms that allow data modeling, user interfaces, system integrations and digital busi- ness processes can all be implemented by business analysts. Say goodbye to Frankenstein Excel sheets, siloed Access databases, or trying to use commercial off-the-shelf systems that don’t meet gov- ernment requirements. • Business rule engines allow you to de- fine all the rules, regulations, policies, guidelines and other decision points in natural language and/or a graphical format that is easily understood by ev- eryone (not just programmers), and then are automatically available to automate decisions in applications. With these engines you can manage hundreds or thousands of rules that change over time for social programs, internal guidelines, and everything in between. • Self-service analytics tools like Power BI allow a business analyst to pull in data from any source, transform the data so it’s consistent and reliable, gain insights into what is going on or predict what will happen, and publish that informa- tion to everyone in interactive visualiza- tions. • Chat bot/voice skill platforms allow you to build citizen-centric interactive ser- vices that, when paired with application platforms and business rule engines, can go beyond simple question and answer scenarios to leverage the plethora of data available within the public sector to make it more convenient to engage with government. For example, a stu- dent could ask Alexa/Cortana/Google Assistant to check on the status of their student loan balance and ask for early paydown options. With these tools, daunting transforma- tions can be broken down and approached iteratively. This gets away from big ‘one- time’ projects and can enable organiza- tions to develop more of a ‘product’ focus, where changes are continually imple- mented. Cross-functional teams would in- clude a mix of business analysts, technol- ogy experts (when the platforms can’t do everything that’s needed), and front-line program/service staff. Director/Execu- tive Director-level management typically direct these teams by developing opera- tional outcomes for the programs/services under their responsibility and acting as the ‘product owner’ to prioritize and ap- prove changes. Getting Started If you want to realize successful transfor- mation in the public sector, getting the right people involved is a critical first step. Scouring your business analyst ranks for people who can go beyond their current duties is a good place to start, but it doesn’t hurt to look in other related professions as well. Business analysts also need related skill sets to successfully lead change: • Project management skills to get things done effectively and within constraints. • Organizational change management skills to help people navigate through a change. • Technical skills to be able to use plat- forms effectively, so they’re not deliver- ing the equivalent of the next big Access database mess for the ‘real’ IT people to clean up. Underlying these skills are key traits that great business analysts have; these are in- nate characteristics that can help you find people with the potential to become busi- ness analysts even if they’re missing some of the skills mentioned above. Moving away from large transforma- tion initiatives isn’t always possible; if you need to replace a big hulking mainframe or completely overhaul how a benefit pro- gram works, you can’t necessarily take a continual improvement approach. Regardless of the approach you take to transformation, business analysts can be key ingredient to improving your odds of success. Jarett Hailes is President of Larimar Consulting Inc. He has worked with and for provincial and federal govern- ment Ministries, boards, and corpora- tions for twenty years. In addition to consulting, Jarett teaches business analysis at the University of Alberta and MacEwan University.