Coverage includes—

• Howard Podeswa is the co-founder of Noble, Inc., a Business Analysis (BA) consulting and training company. He has 26 years of experience in many aspects of the software industry, beginning as a developer for Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd., and continuing as Systems Analyst, Business Analyst, consultant, and author of courseware for IT professionals. He has provided consulting services to a diverse client base, including the Canadian Air Force (MASIS), the South African Community Peace Program, and major financial institutions (Deloitte and Touche, CIBC bank, CGU, etc.) and is a sought-after speaker at international BA conferences. In addition, Howard collaborates with CDI Education on object-oriented projects and training and has designed BA OO training programs for numerous institutions, including Boston University, Humber College, and Polar Bear. Most recently, he was brought on as a subject matter expert for NITAS—a BA apprenticeship program for CompTIA. Howard is also a recognized visual artist whose work has been exhibited and reviewed internationally and supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. His most recent exhibition—Object Oriented Painting Show (OOPS)—was the first to combine his two passions—OO technology and painting.

• Written for the beginner Business Analyst or Business Analyst student who wants to learn the skills necessary to perform their role on an object-oriented project.

• Assumes no prior knowledge of business analysis, IT, or object-orientation.

• Skills are presented in a clear, step-by-step, hands-on style using a real-world case study in order to teach the procedure for applying object-orientation and UML during business analysis.

• Cuts to the point and covers only what the Business Analyst needs to know to effectively use object-oriented technology.

• Includes a set of ROSE files for optional use with the hands-on project. If the ROSE files are used, the reader will learn to use this tool to effectively document user requirements and business rules.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 19 Ratings

UML "Plus" Reference Guide for the Business Analyst - 2009-04-30
Reviewer Rating:
There are many good books that deal with UML from an end-to-end systems life cycle perspective. There are few books geared to address our role as Business Analysts in a world which wants to see requirements expressed using the Unified Modeling Language and Use Cases. (Finally something for us!)

The things I liked best about this book are:
1. The material presented is quite extensive and provides more than just UML.
2. Information provided has supporting rationale and examples.
3. There are a number of templates that can be used right away.
4. Workshop Case studies which show how theory hits reality.
5. Good readability - not an abstract academic treatise but written to guide a learner.

I was not enthused by the provision of tool coverage specific to Rational Rose. For the type and number of models that we, as Business Analysts, produce Microsoft Visio works just fine. I think it would have also been useful to distinguish what UML models and artifacts belong in a Business Requirements Document versus a Software Requirements Specification. I am not fully convinced that all the models presented by Howard Podeswa would be understood or appreciated by the end-user, the sponsor, the typical business user. The models are invaluable for telegraphing to the development team direction going forward but not as valuable for John User who is asked to sign off on a Business Requirements Document.

Must read for business analysts - 2008-03-06
Reviewer Rating:
UML is an excellent tool for communicating business and functional requirements. Podeswa does an excellent job how to best utilize UML, as when as how to elicit better requirements. With his background as a BA and trainer, the book is excellently written and very easy to follow. Senior BA's will find it a quick read with excellent points to improve our quality of work. Others will be able to follow is real world example as Podeswa walks through the requirements gathering process with examples and the rationale behind certain approaches.

I'd also recommend this book for any of your staff interested in a BA role or development management interfacing with business teams.

Business Analyst - 2007-09-15
Reviewer Rating:
I have heard about the book from various internet sources for BUSINESS ANALYST and when I read this book, it has a good worth which polishes the real skill the person has as a Business Analyst into the scientific approach of analysis work and clear representation. Thanks.

Entry Level - 2009-01-31
Reviewer Rating:
I've given this book 2 star. 1 because it just is not overly useful & is quite prescriptive. The 2nd star because, the title is bang on - It really is UML book for Tech-oriented BA's.
Given the content, this really could have been written with 1/10th of the content, paper & cost.

This will have some value for tech-heads wanting to write "something up" in a structured (template-prescribed) manner, but if you have any remote BA experience you will not be satisfied will shelling out for this book. It seemed to have interesting self-bias that I couldn't put my finger. I tried using the format & approach in this book for role I had a few years ago that demanded exactly the approach outlined in this book. I spent more time of trying to extract the practicality of it, than I did in actually writing my spec... which was after realised I was wasting my time.

Summary: Good to techies to entry level analysis only.

Not sure - 2008-09-03
Reviewer Rating:
I was quite dissapointed with this book. Lots of repeats and the general style is for dummies. I bought this because of the high reviews but did not find it very usefull.

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