TECH TALK : Difference between Functional Consultant and Business Analyst
It appears that one uses the term 'Functional Consultant' when one needs to customize existing applications/products that are large such as an ERP or a CRM. And a Business Analyst would be required when one designs and develops a module/system/application from scratch by understanding the business and its systems.
A Business Analyst is typically a 'sector expert' - someone who has spent time in the industry vertical before getting into the IT domain to do Business Analysis. For example, if some one moves from Financial Services/Banking into IT, he/she could be a Business Analyst focused on the Banking and Financial Services (BFS) domain. Similarly, if someone has spent a lot of time in the Automobile industry or in general the Manufacturing Industry, he could fit into the role of a Business Analyst for that domain quite easily. While one may not always find Business Analysts who are specialists from that industry/domain, one would expect to.
However, a Functional Consultant is expected to have a very good understanding of the product - an ERP system such as SAP or a Customer Relationship Management system such as MS CRM. Their understanding of the product and its modules help them in customizing it to companies in various domains.
Role of a Functional Consultant in an End To End Implementation:
1. A functional consultant is expected to generate knowledge about the current business process, design current business flows, study current business processes and its complication - in all we can say that this is getting through with the current business setup. Flow diagrams are prepared- all this forms the part of the AS IS document.
2. Everything configured has to be documented according to their categories in the form of predefined templates; these then have to be approved by the team leads or who ever the consultant is reporting to.
3. Mapping and GAP analysis is done for each module.
4. Before starting configuring future business processes in SAP, the DFDs/ERDs are prepared, this documentation is called TO BE, which can be also said as the result of mapping and gap analysis.
5. Sometimes Functional consultants are also expected to prepare test scripts for testing the configured scenarios. Testing may also include Unit testing, System Integration Testing, Performance Testing, User Acceptance Testing, Regression Testing or any client specific software testing.
6. A configuration document showing all the setting done by the consultant is also comes under the area of role & responsibilities of consultant.
7. End user manual and user training is also expected from Functional Consultants.
8. Updation of project status to Project Manager & other concerned persons.
9. Interaction with core team members, end users & other team members.
10. A Functional consultant has to be a good communicator he has to communicate with Customer ERP core team, implementing team, Technical consultant and his project leader.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Fallacy of Togetherness - Osh
Make friends with them who is on the path at least as much as you are. If they do not take you forward, at least they do not become a reason to move you backward on your quest. If this is not possible, just walk alone. The companionship of fools is not good. Remember one thing, you have come alone in this world and will leave this world alone. The togetherness ideal is just a way to make you feel better. That is why it is important to learn the art of solitude. In the company of a person who has gone deeper into themselves, you will feel their company as well as solitude.
Crowds are formed by people who are focused on the external. It’s a miracle to see that there are no crowds to be seen when you are with people who are focused in and within themselves. If ten internally focused individuals are sitting in a room, it is not that there are ten internally focused individuals sitting. It is each individual sitting by themselves, thereby not forming a crowd.
Internally focused people don’t make bridges to the outside. If there are ten externally focused people sitting, there not a crowd of ten people – it is a crowd of ten thousand. This is because each individual is connecting with the other ten and so on. Thousands of relationships are been forged. Even if internally focused people are together, they leave each other alone. The best company is offered from people who allow you to be alone even while you are with them. The people worth developing company with are people who let your solitude retain its purity.
The naturalness and nakedness of your solitude maintains its pristine state. Your aloneness, your silence remains untouched and pure. They respect your boundaries and do not become a reason for disturbing your solitude. They provide company, one which does not invade your space. When you call them, they come near to you. Only as near, as you call them and no more.
They leave you alone when you want to go inside of yourself.
Crowds are formed by people who are focused on the external. It’s a miracle to see that there are no crowds to be seen when you are with people who are focused in and within themselves. If ten internally focused individuals are sitting in a room, it is not that there are ten internally focused individuals sitting. It is each individual sitting by themselves, thereby not forming a crowd.
Internally focused people don’t make bridges to the outside. If there are ten externally focused people sitting, there not a crowd of ten people – it is a crowd of ten thousand. This is because each individual is connecting with the other ten and so on. Thousands of relationships are been forged. Even if internally focused people are together, they leave each other alone. The best company is offered from people who allow you to be alone even while you are with them. The people worth developing company with are people who let your solitude retain its purity.
The naturalness and nakedness of your solitude maintains its pristine state. Your aloneness, your silence remains untouched and pure. They respect your boundaries and do not become a reason for disturbing your solitude. They provide company, one which does not invade your space. When you call them, they come near to you. Only as near, as you call them and no more.
They leave you alone when you want to go inside of yourself.
Monday, May 17, 2010
OM !
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
I understood........
Your feelings may deceive you. So, be careful of getting too wrapped up in them. Perhaps you feel yourself getting pushed and pulled in directions that you don't feel comfortable with. You may tolerate this tension for a while without expressing your feelings to any one. This policy is extremely dangerous, for it may give others the impression that it is OK to continue treating you the way they do...
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The woman in your life - very well expressed...
This is a beautiful article: The woman in your life - very well expressed..
Tomorrow you may get a working woman, but you should marry her with these facts as well.
Here is a girl, who is as much educated as you are;
Who is earning almost as much as you do;
One, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have because she is as human as you are;
One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements.
One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters, almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life;
One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family name.
One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day one, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen,
One, who is expected to make the tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more, and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a servant, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you.
One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities; Yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise
One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met;
One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important, relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her;
One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it.
But not many guys understand this..
Appreciate "HER"...
I hope you will...
Tomorrow you may get a working woman, but you should marry her with these facts as well.
Here is a girl, who is as much educated as you are;
Who is earning almost as much as you do;
One, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have because she is as human as you are;
One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements.
One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters, almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life;
One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family name.
One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day one, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen,
One, who is expected to make the tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more, and yet never ever expected to complain; to be a servant, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you.
One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities; Yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise
One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met;
One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important, relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her;
One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it.
But not many guys understand this..
Appreciate "HER"...
I hope you will...
Monday, March 22, 2010
An Ode to Michael Jackson
I was going through my mail box last night when I opened a mail from Jija. Thought to post it.
Jija in his mail writes ,"I still remember how some of my friends (from school) used to be so very kicked about the albums 'Thriller' (Just beat it) and 'Bad' (I'm bad, who's bad!) trying to imitate him, dance like him and of course, moonwalk like him. More lately, his 'History' album (this was when I was in my first year at IIT) was also followed quite a bit although it was a flop. I remember the 'We are the world' song for its lyrics and the music.
Reading about all the criminal investigations and the molestation cases is so very disturbing somehow. Wish I could understand better how a mind like his runs..... I remember thinking about how I had loved Mackaulay Culkin after his 'Home Alone' and how it was disturbing to see the growth of a child being killed owing to the 'star status' and how he was eventually drawn into the Jackson molestation and alchohol controversy in 2005....
A reminder :
Time just flies. Make the most of whatever you have.
Jija in his mail writes ,"I still remember how some of my friends (from school) used to be so very kicked about the albums 'Thriller' (Just beat it) and 'Bad' (I'm bad, who's bad!) trying to imitate him, dance like him and of course, moonwalk like him. More lately, his 'History' album (this was when I was in my first year at IIT) was also followed quite a bit although it was a flop. I remember the 'We are the world' song for its lyrics and the music.
Reading about all the criminal investigations and the molestation cases is so very disturbing somehow. Wish I could understand better how a mind like his runs..... I remember thinking about how I had loved Mackaulay Culkin after his 'Home Alone' and how it was disturbing to see the growth of a child being killed owing to the 'star status' and how he was eventually drawn into the Jackson molestation and alchohol controversy in 2005....
A reminder :
Time just flies. Make the most of whatever you have.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Being Judicious, not Judgmental - Thanissaro Bhikku
One of the most difficult but necessary skills we need to develop is learning how to be judicious without being judgmental. And as a preliminary step to developing that skill, it's good to reflect on the difference between the two.
Being judgmental is basically an effort to get rid of something we don't understand and probably don't want to understand. We see something we don't like and we try to dismiss it, to stamp it out without taking the time to understand it. We’re impatient. Whatever we're being judgmental about, we just want to get rid of it quickly.
Being judicious, however, requires patience together with understanding. A judicious choice is one you've made after understanding all the options, all the sides of a question. That way your choice is based on knowledge, not on greed, aversion, or delusion.
The problem with being judgmental is that it's not effective. We try to stamp out things here and they go springing up someplace else. Being judicious, though, is more effective. It's more precise. We see what's really skillful, what's really unskillful in the mind, and we learn how to disentangle the two. Often our skillful and unskillful habits get entangled. The things we don't like within ourselves actually do have some good in them, but we don't notice it. We focus instead on what we don't like, or what we're afraid of, and we end up trying to stamp it all out, the good along with the bad.
Being judgmental is basically an effort to get rid of something we don't understand and probably don't want to understand. We see something we don't like and we try to dismiss it, to stamp it out without taking the time to understand it. We’re impatient. Whatever we're being judgmental about, we just want to get rid of it quickly.
Being judicious, however, requires patience together with understanding. A judicious choice is one you've made after understanding all the options, all the sides of a question. That way your choice is based on knowledge, not on greed, aversion, or delusion.
The problem with being judgmental is that it's not effective. We try to stamp out things here and they go springing up someplace else. Being judicious, though, is more effective. It's more precise. We see what's really skillful, what's really unskillful in the mind, and we learn how to disentangle the two. Often our skillful and unskillful habits get entangled. The things we don't like within ourselves actually do have some good in them, but we don't notice it. We focus instead on what we don't like, or what we're afraid of, and we end up trying to stamp it all out, the good along with the bad.
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