New System Implementation
Building a system from the ground up to meet new business needs
What It Is
A new system implementation is a project where an organization builds or deploys a completely new system to address previously unmet business needs. This could be a new customer-facing application, an internal tool, a mobile app, or an enterprise platform that didn't exist before.
- No existing system to replace
- Creates entirely new capabilities
- Often driven by business growth or new market opportunities
- Requires defining processes from scratch
What's Involved
Define business goals, gather requirements, plan scope
Design system architecture, workflows, and user experience
Build the system iteratively with continuous feedback
Conduct comprehensive testing and deploy to production
Monitor performance and provide training to users
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Conducts stakeholder interviews to understand business needs and pain points
- Documents functional and non-functional requirements
- Creates use cases, user stories, and process flows
- Designs wireframes and prototypes for user experience
- Facilitates workshops and meetings between business and technical teams
- Manages scope creep and requirement changes
- Develops test plans and validates system functionality
- Creates training materials and change management plans
Difficulty & Duration
High Complexity
- Typical Duration: 6-24+ months depending on scope
- Team Size: Medium to large (developers, BAs, testers, architects)
- Risk Level: High - new systems have many unknowns
- Stakeholder Involvement: Very High - active participation essential
COTS (Commercial Off-The-Shelf)
Implementing and configuring existing software solutions
What It Is
COTS projects involve selecting, implementing, and customizing existing commercial software products to meet organizational needs. Rather than building from scratch, you're adapting pre-built solutions like Salesforce, SAP, Workday, or Microsoft Dynamics.
- Pre-built software solution
- Configuration over customization (ideally)
- Faster time to value than custom development
- Limited ability to change core functionality
What's Involved
Evaluate vendors and select the best-fit COTS solution
Document gaps between business needs and system capabilities
Configure system settings; custom code only when necessary
Connect COTS to other systems and data sources
Test configured system and go live with proper cutover
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Participates in vendor selection and RFP (Request for Proposal) evaluation
- Documents current business processes and desired future state
- Conducts gap analysis between system capabilities and requirements
- Works with functional consultants to configure the system
- Identifies which requirements require custom development vs. configuration
- Creates detailed process and system documentation
- Develops training plans and end-user documentation
- Manages stakeholder expectations around system limitations
Difficulty & Duration
Medium-High Complexity
- Typical Duration: 6-18 months depending on system and customization
- Team Size: Medium (consultant partner + internal resources)
- Risk Level: Medium - known product but configuration complexity
- Learning Curve: Steep - teams must learn the COTS tool
Data Migration
Moving data from old systems to new systems reliably
What It Is
Data migration projects focus on transferring data from legacy or old systems to new systems while ensuring data integrity, completeness, and accuracy. This could be migrating customer data to a new CRM, financial records to a new ERP, or patient data to a new healthcare system.
- Data-centric focus
- High risk of data loss or corruption
- Complex data mapping and transformation
- Requires extensive validation and reconciliation
What's Involved
Audit source data: volume, quality, structure, and issues
Define how source data maps to target system
Fix data quality issues, standardize formats
Run pilots and test migrations to validate processes
Execute final migration and verify all data integrity
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Conducts initial data assessment and quality audit
- Documents source and target data structures
- Creates detailed data mapping specifications
- Identifies data quality issues and remediation strategies
- Develops test plans for data validation
- Executes reconciliation and variance analysis
- Documents migration procedures and rollback plans
- Coordinates with stakeholders on data cutover timing
Difficulty & Duration
High Complexity
- Typical Duration: 2-12 months depending on data volume
- Team Size: Medium (data engineers, BAs, DBAs)
- Risk Level: Very High - data integrity is critical
- Attention to Detail: Critical - small errors can have large impact
System Upgrade
Upgrading existing systems to newer versions
What It Is
System upgrade projects involve moving from one version of existing software to a newer version. This could be upgrading from Salesforce Spring 2023 to Winter 2024, or upgrading SAP from version 6.0 to 7.0. The core system remains the same, but functionality and capabilities change.
- Incremental change to existing system
- New features and capabilities introduced
- Compatibility and backward compatibility concerns
- Often includes security patches and performance improvements
What's Involved
Identify what changes and what might break
Plan upgrade path and prepare test environments
Test existing customizations and configurations
Perform upgrade in controlled manner with rollback plan
Verify functionality and train users on new features
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Documents current system configuration and customizations
- Identifies new features and how they could benefit the organization
- Conducts impact analysis on existing processes
- Tests system changes and validates functionality
- Identifies incompatibilities or breaking changes
- Creates communication plans for user awareness
- Develops training on new features and changed functionality
- Manages cutover and supports users post-upgrade
Difficulty & Duration
Medium Complexity
- Typical Duration: 2-6 months depending on customization level
- Team Size: Small to medium
- Risk Level: Medium - known system but version differences
- Disruption: Lower than new implementations due to familiarity
Process Improvement
Optimizing existing business processes for efficiency
What It Is
Process improvement projects focus on making existing business processes more efficient, effective, or cost-effective. This might involve streamlining workflows, reducing manual work, eliminating bottlenecks, or applying methodologies like Lean or Six Sigma. Technology may or may not be involved.
- Process-focused rather than system-focused
- Often uses Lean, Six Sigma, or continuous improvement methods
- Can involve technology changes or be purely procedural
- Focus on metrics and measurable improvements
What's Involved
Map current processes and establish baseline metrics
Identify bottlenecks, waste, and improvement opportunities
Redesign processes for efficiency and effectiveness
Test redesigned processes with a small group first
Roll out changes organization-wide and track results
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Facilitates process mapping workshops with stakeholders
- Creates process flow diagrams (current and future state)
- Identifies metrics and KPIs to measure improvement
- Conducts root cause analysis on process inefficiencies
- Designs optimized process workflows
- Coordinates pilot testing with select users
- Develops documentation and training on new processes
- Tracks and reports on improvement results
Difficulty & Duration
Medium Complexity
- Typical Duration: 2-6 months
- Team Size: Small (BAs, process experts, key stakeholders)
- Risk Level: Low to Medium - focused on processes
- ROI: Often quick wins and visible improvements
System Integration
Connecting multiple systems to work together seamlessly
What It Is
System integration projects connect different software systems so they can communicate and share data. For example, integrating a CRM with accounting software, or connecting an e-commerce platform with inventory management. The goal is creating a unified system ecosystem.
- Multiple systems involved
- Data flows between systems
- Real-time or batch-based synchronization
- Requires careful data mapping and error handling
What's Involved
Define what data flows between systems and how
Design integration architecture and data mapping
Build APIs, middleware, or use integration tools
Test data flows and error scenarios
Deploy integration and monitor for issues
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Documents requirements for system integration
- Maps data fields between source and target systems
- Identifies business rules and transformation logic
- Defines error handling and exception processes
- Specifies data validation rules
- Creates test scenarios for data flows
- Develops user documentation and support procedures
- Monitors integration performance and issues post-deployment
Difficulty & Duration
Medium-High Complexity
- Typical Duration: 3-9 months depending on scope
- Team Size: Medium (BAs, developers, DBAs)
- Risk Level: Medium - depends on integration complexity
- Ongoing Support: Integration monitoring and maintenance required
Legacy System Modernization
Replacing or refactoring outdated systems with modern solutions
What It Is
Legacy modernization projects replace or significantly refactor old, outdated systems that are no longer maintainable or cost-effective. This could mean moving from a 30-year-old mainframe system to cloud-based software, or rewriting old code with modern architecture.
- Old systems (often 10+ years old)
- High maintenance costs and technical debt
- Difficulty finding skilled maintainers
- Often complex, undocumented systems
What's Involved
Understand current system and identify pain points
Define modernization approach (build new, refactor, or replace)
Run new and old systems in parallel to validate
Migrate data and transition to new system
Turn off legacy system and provide post-support
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Documents current legacy system functionality (often requires reverse engineering)
- Identifies business requirements for modernized system
- Assesses what functionality to keep, change, or eliminate
- Creates detailed data migration specifications
- Manages stakeholder communication about change
- Develops comprehensive testing and validation plans
- Creates extensive training for new system
- Manages complex cutover with back-out procedures
Difficulty & Duration
Very High Complexity
- Typical Duration: 12-36+ months
- Team Size: Large (multiple specialists required)
- Risk Level: Very High - mission-critical system replacement
- Cost: Typically very expensive project
Maintenance & Support
Ongoing improvements and issue resolution for existing systems
What It Is
Maintenance and support work involves ongoing enhancements, bug fixes, and issue resolution for systems already in production. This is often continuous rather than a defined project with a start and end date. It includes maintenance releases, patches, and minor feature enhancements.
- Ongoing, not project-based
- Mix of planned and reactive work
- Typically lower impact changes
- Continuous improvement mindset
What's Involved
- Bug fixes and issue resolution from user reports
- Performance tuning and optimization
- Security patches and vulnerability fixes
- Minor feature enhancements and user requests
- System monitoring and preventive maintenance
- Production support and troubleshooting
- Documentation updates and user support
- Ticketing system for issue tracking
- Priority levels for issue resolution
- SLA (Service Level Agreements) for response times
- Release management for deployment
BA Role & Responsibilities
- Gathers and documents user requests and bug reports
- Prioritizes issues based on business impact
- Works with support teams to understand user issues
- Creates clear requirements for bug fixes and enhancements
- Validates and accepts completed work
- Coordinates release schedules and communications
- Provides ongoing system improvements and optimization suggestions
- Maintains system documentation as changes are made
Difficulty & Duration
Low-Medium Complexity
- Typical Duration: Ongoing (continuous operation)
- Team Size: Small (dedicated support team)
- Risk Level: Low to Medium - routine changes
- Resource Allocation: Usually 20-40% of total development capacity