Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

A Company I Never Used Filed for Bankruptcy

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/24/nx-s1-5338622/23andme-bankruptcy-genetic-data-privacy - 23andMe is filing for bankruptcy. Here's what it means for your genetic data

Friday, November 4, 2022

Lyft lays off hundreds and Amazon freezes corporate hiring

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

This would be a Good Class

Business Analysis for the IT Professional Course Outline

Overview
The business analyst role has evolved from that of a business procedures analyst to that of a business liaison between the non-technical user community and the technical solution providers. This course provides proactive, introductory coverage of the knowledge and skills essential to business analysts today and the foreseeable future.

Delivery Method
This IT Business Skills Series course does not follow the intensive hands-on lab methodology that is used in our traditional system administrator or developer classes. Our IT Business Skills classes have less of a hands-on component and more of a lecture/presentation style delivery.

About ONLC
Our Business Analyst course has been approved by the IIBA and it conforms to the BABOK v3 (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge). ONLC Training Centers is approved by IIBA as one of their Endorsed Education Providers.

Duration
4 days

Who should attend
• New business analysts
• Experienced business analysts looking to update their skills and understanding of their role
• Project managers who incorporate business analysis roles in their projects
• Managers that have business analysts on their staff
• Individuals with a general understanding of database concepts and programming and systems development

Career changers should have either IT or business domain expertise in their chosen field before attending this course to gain the maximum benefit from this course.

PDU Credits
Our Registered Education Provider (REP) number is: 3452
This course is worth: 28 PDU's

What you will accomplish
• Describe the relation between projects and processes
• Describe three major project development methodologies
• Discuss the basics of enterprise analysis and its impact on project selection
• Learn the communications processes and how they can impact project requirements
• Determine each participant’s communications style (BEST profile) and how that understanding can help in eliciting requirements
• Gather and document user requirements using the following techniques
Interviews
Collaborative sessions
Prototyping
Using the Work Breakdown Structure
Use case basics
Business process analysis
• Modeling the business
• Fundamentals of Process Modeling
• Requirements validation through Data Modeling
• Testing fundamentals and quality assurance

Course Outline

1 Overview
1.1     BA Responsibilities
1.2     Communications
1.2.1     Information distribution
1.2.2     Communications styles
1.3     Documentation strategy

2 Requirements Gathering
2.1     Levels of requirements on a project
2.2     Identifying needs vs. wants
2.3     Techniques for gathering requirements
2.3.1     Interviewing
2.3.2     Prototyping
2.3.3     Use Cases
2.3.4     Collaborative Workshops
2.3.5     Work Breakdown Structure
2.3.6     Business Process Analysis
2.3.7     Use Cases
2.4     Ranking requirements

3 Modeling
3.1     Business Process Analysis
3.1.1     Business Process Improvements (BPI)
3.1.2     Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
3.2     Data Modeling
3.2.1     Fundamentals
3.2.2     Entity Relationship Diagrams

4 Fundamentals of testing
4.1     Testing strategy
4.2     Ensure project quality and quality of the product
4.3     Test scripts

5 Templates
5.1     Software/Product Requirements Outline
5.2     Use Case Template
5.3     Test Plan Template

6 Practical Application Sessions
6.1     Determine your own Communication Style
6.2     Interview a project sponsor
6.3     Develop Use Cases and a Use Case Diagram
6.4     Gather requirements while developing a Work Breakdown Structure
6.5     Create a Business Process model
6.6     Design and facilitate a Requirements-Gathering session
6.7     Develop a high-level Requirements Document
6.8     Develop an Entity Relationship Diagram
6.9     Create a Project Test Plan

Wednesday, October 20, 2021

This is the Model Software Companies Ought to Adopt

This is the model that I think software companies ought to adopt. Before you view the page, I am going to describe it. These are the tabs.

Under Consideration - lists 23 ideas that seem to be changes to the system that are being considered
Planned - shows enhancements that are going to be released in 2021-Q2, 2021-Q3, and 2021-Q4. If you were waiting for one of these enhancements, by viewing this tab, you would know when that enhancement should be expected
Launched - shows the cadence of software releases so that the user can determine when an update will be released

In the page header, you can click Submit idea and enter text about an enhancement you want to be added. The default text says What would you like to be able to do? How would that help you? There is also a prompt to set How important is this to you? with the following choices:

Nice to Have
Important
Critical

There is also a field to enter your contact email address. https://portal.productboard.com/nwjcjusaorfjhy7rmtqgv7jl/tabs/2-under-consideration

Thursday, October 4, 2018

The Irony of It All...

On the day that I noticed this job ad, which asks for experience with Info Mapping, DITA, XML and tools such as FrameMaker, oXygen, and XMetal also asks for "strong/expert skills" in tools not known for using structured authoring: MS Word, MS Publisher, and Adobe Acrobat. And, just as a point of reference, ACT was one of the companies I was interested in joining after I was laid off from Pearson. Obviously, this could certainly be a different opening, but it's funny (to me) that both Transamerica & ACT "passed" on me, at the time, and now both companies seek technical writers. I do especially love this line in the job description below - Ability to create content for reuse in different formats—documents, apps, training, etc. - as it is something I would include in a job description if I were able to hire a second technical writer to work with me. No, that's not even on the radar, just a side / interesting thought. I would also require experience with RoboHelp.

Senior Technical Writer, Product Delivery & Implementation

ACT, Inc.

Iowa City, IA

This role writes content for external consumption, primarily documents, emails and web content, for the operational fulfillment of ACT programs. This content explains the administration of ACT programs to different audiences, including testing staff, educators at the school and district levels, and students.

ESSENTIAL JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

Typical work-related activities include:

Perform writer, editor and layout functions for content

Creating and updating content that helps students, parents, educators, and counselors prepare for testing, participate in testing, and interpret testing results

Coordinating input from numerous sources on complex, large-scale programs with multiple stakeholders and ensuring consistency in messaging and appearance

Creating and updating content that helps test administrators prepare for testing, administer tests, and perform posttest activities

Provide editing services

Proofreading copy for quality control including grammar, punctuation, and style in accordance with the editorial style guide

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline required

Master’s degree preferred

Or an equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired

Experience:

A minimum of 5 years of professional writing and/or content development experience

Experience with structured authoring, e.g., Information Mapping or DITA XML (strongly desired)

Experience with structured authoring tools such as Adobe FrameMaker, oXygen, XMetaL, or a component content management system (CCMS) (strongly desired)

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Strong/expert skills in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Publisher, and Adobe Acrobat

Ability to create content for reuse in different formats—documents, apps, training, etc.

Ability to adapt to new technologies and new/evolving communication channels

I see this in my CBJ Business Daily email:

ACT begins realignment in Commercial Division

Iowa City-based ACT informed employees this week about a new realignment in its Commercial Division that will include job cuts, transfers and some new positions.

The realignment was made as the nonprofit assessment organization began its fiscal year, and "in an effort to streamline operations and better serve our customers," spokesman Ed Colby said in an emailed statement. He said the changes are part of ACT's new approach to providing sales and support across its products and services.

The company did not disclose the number of employees that would be affected or file an Iowa WARN Act notice. The latter is typically required 30 days before a layoff event affecting 25 or more full-time employees.

ACT in February said it would cut 100 jobs, and in July announced the elimination of 23 jobs as part of an outsourcing effort launched in 2016.

The company announced last week that it has agreed to acquire the automated item generation (AIG) technology of MGHL Consulting Ltd. Terms of that deal have not been disclosed.