I am sure many people reading this article will have worked on one, or probably many, projects which involve migration of data from one IT system to another.  One of the things that the data migration elements of these projects tend to have in common is that they are painful. It is not that migration of data itself is always tricky, it is more that the quality of data on the source system tends to be an issue.  Data cleansing and data mapping can be tricky, particularly when there has been poor data governance and stewardship.  In a worst case scenario, we might even find fields being used for different purposes by different teams, or there might be ‘debates’ over what specific data items actually mean (“Order date is the date the order is received”.  “No! Order date is the date that the order is accepted, which means payment has also been made”). 

There are so many issues that we could discuss, I’d like to zoom in on one: the granularity of data. 

What Does ‘Granularity of Data’ Mean for Migration?

This is probably best illuminated with an example.  My home insurance was recently up for renewal, which I purchased via a large online insurer.  Technically, they are a broker rather than an insurer—but you wouldn’t know that to look at them (as the policies are branded with their logo, and you have to look pretty hard to find out which insurer actually underwrites them).

Close to the renewal date I shopped around and found some slightly better prices .  I rang my insurer to see if they could price-match, and I was surprised as they asked me for a whole bunch of information that they already had  on file.  Concerned, I asked why, and the agent explained to me that they had migrated from one IT system to another, and he no longer had access to the ‘legacy’ data.

Understanding tricky business situations often requires us to draw upon our modelling skills. There are a wide range of types of model that we might utilise, ranging from conceptual models that help us understand how stakeholders think the situation ought to be operating, right through to process models, data or information models, state transition diagrams and many, many more beside.

Yet with this plethora of models comes a challenge: how do we create ‘views’ of the situation (or requirements) that are actually meaningful? How can we convey tricky and complex information in an understandable way, to a whole range of interested stakeholders, each of whom have different preferences and needs?

This is a perennial challenge. Executive stakeholders often want a “helicopter view” of a situation, and a detailed process or data model may disengage them. I remember working with one senior manager whose mantra was “one slide”. She took the view that if an idea or proposal couldn’t be distilled to a single slide, then it probably wasn’t well enough thought through (yet).  She was probably right.

Yet, as well as executive and senior managers we need to communicate effectively with end-users, subject matter experts,  vendors, third parties, middle managers and so on, each of whom will have different interests and concerns. Can ‘modelling’ really help us with this?  Don’t we risk creating something that is too high level to be useful, or so detailed that it will swamp and overload our stakeholders?

Precision and Accuracy

I was recently discussing this challenge with a client when a useful analogy emerged. We could perhaps consider communication—of any type, but including communication using models—along two dimensions: Precision and Accuracy

Take these three statements:

If you’re based in the UK, you may have heard that it is Dementia Awareness Week. One organisation that does fantastic work in this field is the Alzheimer’s Society, and while reading through their website my mind suddenly jolted back to the day job.

I suspect many people reading this article will have a friend, family member or acquaintance who suffers from some form of dementia. The term ‘dementia’, it turns out, is actually an umbrella term for a wide range of conditions—if you aren’t familiar with the symptoms I’d thoroughly recommend reading this set of articles.  Dementia affects various faculties at different stages, but one key concern is memory. And of course the very people using the systems and processes that we help implement and change may well include people who are living with various stages of dementia.

 

As business analysts, when working on changes to organisational systems and processes, we’ll often focus on non-functional requirements—and of course useability and accessibility are core considerations. Yet, how often in our projects and change initiatives do we really consider the detailed nuts and bolts of accessibility? How often do we ask things like:

 

• What if the user can’t remember or retain a 4 digit PIN
• What if the user forgets multiple pieces of information and gets frustrated that they can’t access their account
• What if the user cannot digest a large ‘terms and conditions’ page, and perhaps needs it in a different format (video, audio) or needs the information explained to them so that they can ask questions?
• Do our processes work if somebody loses mental capacity and a representative with Power of Attorney needs to take over?
• Have our front line staff been trained to be empathetic to customers who may need a little more time?
• Are task and process measures and KPIs appropriate or are management setting ‘maximum call length’ targets and penalising staff that allow customers extra time?

 

Although I have no doubt we all try to keep accessibility and useability firmly in mind I suspect, if we are being honest, the answer will often be ‘we don’t consider these things as much as we could’.

 

Statistics show that we have an ageing population. With people living longer, it is likely that organisations will be serving more and more customers living with dementia and other conditions. What was once perceived as an ‘exception’ may well become more frequent. As business analysts, we have the opportunity when improving processes, IT systems and broader organisational structures to ask questions like: