User Guide User Guide - Impact Test Equipment: Fill & Download for Free

Some links to get this answer started...Yahoo!http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_41/b4004068.htmhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/10/BUQP1BEDSM.DTLFacebookhttp://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/02/12/jeff-hammerbacher-on-facebook%E2%80%99s-approach-to-data-and-analytics/http://www.scribd.com/doc/18588637/Information-Platforms-and-the-Rise-of-the-Data-Scientisthttp://overstated.nethttp://dataspora.com/blog/predictive-analytics-using-r/http://www.zurb.com/article/515/podcast-of-julie-zhuos-talk-on-how-faceboTwitterhttp://www.slideshare.net/kevinweil/hadoop-pig-and-twitter-nosql-east-2009http://www.slideshare.net/kevinweil/protocol-buffers-and-hadoop-at-twitterZyngahttp://tdwi.org/Blogs/WayneEckerson/2010/02/Zynga.aspxBookshttp://www.amazon.com/Super-Crunchers-Thinking-Numbers-Smart/dp/0553805401http://www.amazon.com/Competing-Analytics-New-Science-Winning/dp/1422103323/http://www.amazon.com/Numerati-Stephen-Baker/dp/0547247931/http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1422177696/Personal Experiences at FacebookSome things we did I thought added value; I'll add more as I think of them:Published a weekly Growth Report, which included a summary of the critical growth numbers for that week, some charts comparing raw numbers to previous weeks' numbers, and a detailed exploration of a single question about growth (e.g. "Why are we growing so rapidly in Canada?).Automated tools for producing pre- and post-sales collateral for direct sales clients. For example, if Walmart wanted to advertise on Facebook, our account managers could type "Walmart" into a simple web interface and get a bundle of data about how our users related to the Walmart brand.Assisted in defining and building a few different a/b testing frameworks, which automated tests of significance and enabled engineers to rely on data for making small user interface decisions.Built out the backend and some of the frontend for the "Insights" product for ads, pages, and applications. Before "Insights", we also built out a product for advertisers who purchased Sponsored Groups (remember those?) called "Group Intelligence".Built a model for user navigation through the site which could be used as input for intelligent caching and prefetching of site content.Performed several longitudinal studies of user acquisition and retention which helped guide product decisions.Maintained data about special business development relationships which could be used for reporting and billing the third party.Helped define the platform application reputation scoring system, which automatically determines how many invitations, notifications, news feed story insertions, and other activities certain applications are allowed to take per week.Provide infrastructure and guidance to the search team for search quality analysis.Provide a shared infrastructure for the storage of arbitrary amounts of log and application data as well as systems for collecting and querying data.Built a "social" BI tool for internal users which allowed for easy charting of data sets and related discussions.Built a language classifier to determine what language a particular user was speaking on the site, using training data from Wikipedia.Worked with the ads team to fight spam and determine ad quality.Worked with the product marketing team on SEO/SEM strategies for advertiser acquisition.Worked with the infrastructure team to inject latency in to the site and evaluate the impact on pageviews and other site metrics.Conducted an analysis of motivations for content production: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1518701.1518847Conducted an analysis of how content spread through the Facebook social graph: http://cameronmarlow.com/papers/gesundheit-modelingHelped assess the impact of PR stories about Facebook on site growth and user retentionServiced countless ad hoc questions about user and advertiser behavior on the siteInvestigated the impact of News Feed on site growth and user engagement in the days following the launch to determine what modifications, if any, should be made to the product given the negative reaction in the press and user communityBuilt and maintained an inventory estimation service for Facebook adsDuring a Hackathon, an enterprising Data team engineer and a current Quora engineer equipped a few folks with a brain-computer interface in search of a better quality metric for News Feed storiesBuilt two versions of the Lexicon service, which parsed meaningful data out of speech acts captured on the site (e.g. status updates, wall posts): http://www.facebook.com/lexicon/new.

35+ years working as an embedded software developer. Since 2005 I have worked mainly on small consumer devices, e.g. cell-phones. Early career was spent working on industrial machines, e.g. check-scanning, micro-fiche duplicating, semi-conductor capital equipment and robotic work-cells.One common denominator with most of the projects is the lack of documentation that is acceptable. The bottom-line is that schedules rarely, if ever, leave room to document the engineering project. When I started, in the mid-80s, it could be argued that we didn’t really know better, today that argument doesn’t fly. Today, though, there is stiff competition and this legitimate argument can be made: that to adequately document a project impacts time-to-market and can result in a product that is DOA by the time it is released.A book I read in college really left an imprint on me, The Soul of a New Machine, which documented a new mini-computer project, I believe by Data General, a direct competitor to DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation). A technical writer was embedded with the project team and wrote a book about the experience.I submit two projects I worked on that tell opposite sides of this story. The first illustrates what can happen when the documentation is taken to the extreme. I was hired by a small robotics company that had been awarded a sub-contract from IBM to create a single robotic work-cell in a “lights-out” factory. The original contract was awarded to IBM by the US Navy. The over-arching project was CCAPS and I can’t for the life of me remember what the acronym stands for and I have googled it. The company I worked for had about 35 people and delivering the amount of documentation required by IBM and the US Navy literally killed and buried the company. We brought the first work-cell online, passed the grueling acceptance test and closed the company doors.The second project was a couple of years later with a much larger corporation, at least at that time, a name that many people would recognize. I was hired during the early design phase and found myself in daily design reviews. This went on for weeks if not a month and we never wrote a single line of code. We hashed out the design, back and forth. We introduced new concepts (at the time) like using OSS tool-chain (gcc) to build a product. We used Tcl to embed a scriptable command-shell in the product so we had a built-in unit-test tool. At the end of the design phase we published a design document that was on the order of 200 pages and included diagrams and tables and flow-charts, etc. etc. I still remember one of the senior managers on the project walking the corridors with the document in one hand, basically showing off what his team had accomplished. For me the proof that this approach had been worth the effort was when we got to integration, the schedule called for 2–3 weeks (SCSI driver for Unix talking to a robotic tape juke-box). In the early 90s we were creating an online digital tape storage for supercomputers to use, providing 6 terabytes of accessible storage. We accomplished the integration in 2 days.These two projects are the exception for all of the projects I have worked on. The vast majority of projects receive minimal documentation. Schedules rely on tools to generate documentation from the code. The paper-trail emphasis is on tracking bugs which addresses the symptom and not the problem. The User Guide for a product is usually the only documentation that is sanctioned for an engineering project.

[Credibility: I worked as a BA for hundreds-of-millions of pounds worth of projects (of course, there were hundred others with me), and for different projects for nineteen countries (quite often, as a lone gunman; and, more often, simultaneously for five/six markets)]...Well, of course, welcome aboard :-)Dear First-Timer,It's a wonderful world; and, it's a powerful position to be a Business Analyst to be in it :-)Powerful because it equips you with sharp insights. You would discover it – soon.As you live your profession, you'd start to realize why certain systems are designed so (and, more often, why not designed in many ways they're not); why Facebook would ignore seemingly-obvious pseudo 'requirements' and focus only on one diverse-yet-specific set of, say, Messenger/M pursuits; why an ATM doesn't offer to know if you'd like to change your password by default whenever you insert your card, but rather keeps it layered in the dig-down menu to be availed for when-you-need-it-only :-)And, not just systems. Our everyday, physical world, too. You'd see why a retail outlet is organized in a certain way; why the lines are forced to be queued up in certain manners and away from other certain patterns. It's a powerful practice to be in—Business Analysis.Now, it's actually an honour to answer questions like this :p And, here's what I'd humbly submit: But, w'ever you do, consider taking, at least, the first two –Relentless persuasion (more on this later; but, this is the first tip)Talk specifics, explicitly – from hour-one. When the King says his users would try on the Cinderella shoe, he actually means they'd carry out twenty different steps each: From finding a place to sit, to putting off own shoes, to putting those down, to holding the glass slipper...Spell those in plain-dumb language. And, you must ensure everyone in the room speaks the same way as well (more on this, too, below; and, dear First-Timer, this is the big-change tip to become a BA from a regular user)Don't hold yourself to steadfast boundaries—"BAs don't do that; no, not UAT; I'm not exactly a Tech Support; come on, I'm a BA, not a Project Manager..." At least, in the beginning, you want to learn the ropes and want to make connections. Do itDon't let your users behave according to you behaving the tip-2; it's a firm 'no'. That is, don't let your users avail you as a Tech Support or an IT Infrastructure resource or whichever you're not. Gently guide them on how they could get the support; and, then, here's the trick—run back to your back-end team and get them do it while you stand with the resolvers. Learn the ropes, see how it's done—but, just don't be the Tech Guy for all users. If you really want them to know you're doing it, make sure they understand it's a favor and isn't granted or, even sustainable in any manner. Say 'no' from early onDevelop the Developer's Speak, fast :-) Don't worry, it's really not difficult; or, very heavily difficult. Learn what it means to git, what are the development cycle and so on. You won't have to be able to code (no way) but, by all means, do take a look at the codes—skim through them carefully, develop the feel like you're reading it (don't worry if you're not really able to read it)—do that whenever you get to meet a friendly developer. Please try to learn how a Developer thinks and what are the next steps they go through in their development process and how do they communicate among each otherAnd, oh, yes, make friends with Developers, with Solution Center teams, with IT Architecture teams, with every team down-the-back-bench who actually clicks the check boxes and radio buttons to configure users' access and system functionalities or gives the green signals. You would do wonders if your support tickets are addressed at magic, and those do. People work sixty-hour at stretch, work at ungodly odd hours, would leave New Year's party to initiate a new Financial Period for you if you treat them with respect and warmth previouslyLearn your organization's system works related submission-approval processes and templates very-very clearly. And, also, the system transports/releases mechanisms (including triage/defect management processes). Anyway, I'm certain, along the way, you'd also get to know the usages of your organization's specific tools (configuration/requirements management software, if any, et al)Practice to be a great facilitator :-) And, do enjoy that, a lot, dear!Remain yourself, please!Now, about talking specifics, explicitly –Dear First, you'd see, in one aspect, there's a single giant step in becoming a BA from being a Functional Manager (a Marketing/Finance/HR/Legal/any other user).And, the sooner you get to be able to put on this habit, the less costly it would be for you and for your organization.As a user, we don't actually talk in steps. But, as a BA, this is what you need to hammer on and on – and on. "When you say 'close the door', what exactly do you mean? Well, er, push the door...No, how does a user push it from where they stand? Well, they'd walk up to it. Okay, so you really mean, first they'd need to be close to the door? Of course...But, what about the glass they're holding in their hands?...Well, they would put it down, hell, first!"As a user, we always expect everyone would understand we have always meant that all dependencies are clearly expressed as assumptions :-) "Well, duh, this is a report and how can you make it without making the title and the relevant details? I thought you'd understand—anyone would understand, right? When a user wants a report, how can it not happen to have a title, for God's sake?..."Users often don't want to give adequate time in the beginning of the initiative when you're capturing the requirement and preparing the system design document; but, it's only later, much later, they come to share their exact desires. Gently but firmly share with them the consequence of their missed-time at the very onset of the initiativeOne true story. It's about one of the most successful e-commerce platform for a multi-billion-pound industry. And, early in the requirements/prototyping stage, somehow one simple step was missed out. That is, after carving out all the exciting details and intuitive features, the brilliant team which was working on it somehow missed to capture that a shopper would have to check on an "I agree" checkbox before checking out. Thankfully, this was discovered in the planned Quality Assurance activity. But, the impact? This simple step-miss was equal to a hefty 10,000 GBP cost of works for Developers (even when this correction was before being built in full or Tested) as opposed to a cost of zero had it been captured in the beginningMake sure: (1) You underscore how important it is that whatever they visualise, they'd have to explicitly share it. Else, it won't be built that way; (2) And, you know they'd not be able to do it properly; you'd have to help them. Guide them in thinking all the intricacies, all the nuances and gently force them to imagine the rare scenarios.Finally, about relentless persuasion –Dear First, in very few other roles, you'd be tugged away by almost everyone, where they believe you might be the person they need to influence, control, budge, get a hold of, or, at least get sympathy from :-) That is, people would want you to understand their pains-n-aspirations so that the world of systems you'd authorize/pen up/draw a blueprint of/propose in the Business Case gives them a sympathetic share of their rivers and mountains and clouds and do not create too much of a wild jungle for them :-)But, what would also happen is – stakeholders would often want solution in "four months" and would share that expectation with senior leadership team members. And, later on, when the Developers won't deliver on time, you'd find you're the unfortunate messenger burning the brunt of it!Make sure you don't become the messenger just because your stakeholders didn't clearly understand each other.Another story (locations have been roughly changed to keep anonymity). When the big-name developer house you and your team have hired from Silicon Valley (USA) comes back to you after critical four weeks only to share the off-shore developer agency they've subcontracted in Pakistan have gone broken and you now need to add an unearthly 60% extra to your project cost because they now want to do it from close-to-their-home to avoid further risk, you'd just realise what it means to be relentless. How it goes? You terminate your contract (there's no question really, can't afford it) with these guys, issue a re-tender, and give your work to a new global supplier in India and now jump on all four to squeeze the same work into a significantly reduced work period because key stakeholders in 100 markets have already initiated to undertake all the other business readiness activities according to the original anchor plan.Now, please don't give up! It'd be 'too much' pressure, it'd be 'too much' to take in, at times; no mistake there. But, that's what you've asked for, right? You couldn't just thought of jumping into being in one of the powerful roles without relieving your selfish desires to not-care about everyone whose life would be impacted because of your work. What you capture as the future state to be would would be the world these users (and, their subsequent service recipients) would expectedly live in, unless someone rescues them from it later on. So, please hang on to learn, to feel their world—especially because they just don't often understand the importance of or, perhaps, have the capacity to explicitly share with you that world very readily.End of the way, you would be the one to bring it home. You would be the one pulling the changes and enabling the great organization to reach its desired future estate with everyone!..Those were my tips :-)You can also ask for/get a wealth of great suggestions at the IIBA Community Site (you'd have to become a member first, though).And, here's a very helpful write-up from Howard Podeswa which he wrote in 2011 – 10 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Starting Out As A BA.Ending this with a 7-min brutal fun –(at times, this joke-happening does get to become the "blue blistering barnacle" reality of things, sadly.)It's a great profession. Sincerely hope you get to enjoy a great career walk of it—both professionally and personally.Thank you for asking :-)Best regards,Oli