Business Analyst

Nishant Bhalla

Phone: 203-***-****

Email: ******.*******@*****.***

BUSINESS ANALYST

Business Analysis/ Project Management/ Business Solutions/ Quality Analysis/ Quality Planning/

Strategic Planning/ Tactical Problem Solving

SUMMARY

• Strong experience in Business Analysis, Project Co-ordination, Management and Technology.

• Hands on experience with working in all phases within the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and following UML methodologies using MS Visio, Smart Draw 2008 and Adobe Livecycle to create: Use Case models, Activity Diagrams, Sequence Diagrams and Business Workflow Models.

• Employed best practices in Data Analysis and Data Warehousing solutions for ETL [Extraction, Transformation and Loading] of data and acquired skills in working with Sybase to analyze, query and integrate data.

• Experience in following a structured approach with MS Project/ MS Excel/ MS Access to organize requirements into logical groupings of essential business processes, business rules, and information needs for data analysis and project management while ensuring that critical requirements are met.

• Proven success while working with Business stakeholders, Project Managers, Developers and Quality Assurance analysts.

• Conducted, facilitated and scribed effective communication sessions, meetings and JAD sessions with business users, potential clients, customers and the technical team.

• Experience in conducting Gap, feasibility and adaptability study and risk analysis to identify business critical high-risk areas using elicitation techniques like interviewing, brainstorming and prototyping.

• Diversified experience in Software Quality Assurance (SQA) in all stages of testing including Functional, System, Regression, Integration, Comparative, Stress/Load, Performance and User Acceptance testing (UAT).

• Proficient in writing Test Scripts and Test Cases for validation and compliance.

• Good business knowledge, a strong will to learn, excellent oral and written proficiency, highly capable in communicating and documenting concepts, models, ideas, information system architecture and user needs.

• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, Multi-Tasking abilities, with proven experience in utilizing people and process knowledge to assist enterprises in making critical decisions.

• Ability to rapidly learn new concepts and methodologies.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Operating Systems: Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/7, Linux, Mac OSX, Unix, Citrix Metaframe

Languages: C, C++, HTML, Java, J2EE, XML/ UML, Visual Basic 6, .Net

Business Analysis Software: MS Office, MS Visio, MS SharePoint, SmartDraw 2008, MS Project, Lotus Notes, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe LiveCycle Designer, MPI Stylus 8.0

Database Administration: SQL Advantage 11.x, DbArtisan, Sybase 12.x, Toad for Oracle 8.i, MS Access, SQL Server 2000

Testing Tools: Test Director 8.0, WinRunner 7.0, SSH Secure Shell 3.0, PVCS

EDUCATION CREDENTIALS

Enrolled and preparing for Charted Financial Analyst (CFA) Program.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIDGEPORT – Bridgeport, CT

Degree: Master of Science Major: Computer Engineering

Graduation: 05/06

UNIVERSITY OF BRIDGEPORT – Bridgeport, CT

Degree: Bachelor of Science Major: Computer Engineering Minor: Mathematics

Graduation: 12/02

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL - Newark, NJ 02/07 to Present

Business Analyst – Retirement Services Reporting 01/08 to Present

• Business Analyst in Retirement Services Reporting - IT within the Investment/Asset Management division of the firm.

• Currently, Business Analyst for implementation of Due Diligence Advisor Reporting Program.

• Previously, Business Analyst for Retirement Services Reporting (products include Defined Contribution Plans, Defined Benefit Plans, Variable Annuity Plans, Fund Factsheets, Investment Monitors, Analytical Grids, Plan Performance Memorandums) servicing the Retirement Services Client Sales Team.

• Worked extensively on complex financial reports providing detailed Performance data and Statistical analysis of Retail Funds, Institutional Funds, Manager of Manager Funds (Separate Account and Alliance), Variable Annuity Funds and Money Market Funds across a wide array of asset types like Fixed Income, Equity, Balanced and asset classes like Large Cap, Mid Cap, International, Health, Natural Resources, Balanced Allocation, High Yield Bond, Intermediate Govt., Money Market and Stable Value.

• Worked extensively on Prudential Retirement’s internet Advisor Reporting Tool (iART), an award-winning tool that services Prudential Retirement's Manager of Managers investment platform.

Business Analysis:

• Gathered and analyzed software requirements from Business Users for Retirement Services and Investment Management; formulated requirement documents focusing on current business process needs and future visions.

• Responsible for scoping and planning of both large initiatives as well as tactical enhancements and worked closely with Development teams for their implementation.

• Performed extensive data analysis using SQL for requirements and troubleshooting purposes.

• Followed the SDLC (Software Development Lifecycle) process within Reporting Systems -IT. Extensively used the SDLC process for Creation of Functional and Requirements specification documents.

• Used UML to design Use Cases to effectively capture and document user requirements.

• Liaised between business users and IT staff throughout system development.

• Worked closely with external vendors like Morningstar, Lipper, Vestek, State Street Bank and Factset for sending and receiving fund performance and attribution feed data.

• Performed extensive analysis in collaboration with internal groups like Operations and Sales to create data feeds for downstream Reports.

• Managed the change process between scope definition and system implementation using Requirements Matrix.

• Gained and applied business product knowledge during requirement analysis for effective capture and implementation of the requirement.

• Coordinated with QA teams, ensuring coverage of requirements in test scenarios and proper execution of test scripts.

• Extensively involved in training front office users and application demonstration to senior management.

• Created relevant user manuals for information sharing.

• Coordinated and managed UAT (User Acceptance Testing) cycles, and prepared required documentation.

• Provided application and business expertise to IT support personnel, to ensure smooth operation of applications in production.

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Environment: MS Office Suite, MS Visio, MS SharePoint, SQL Advantage 11.x, Sybase 12.x, Adobe LiveCycle Designer, SmartDraw 2008, MPI Stylus 8.0, Lotus Notes

Project Management:

• Assisted team lead in project scope and specification documentation based on business priorities, for robust and scalable solutions.

• Effectively communicated project related information in a structured manner to the business, and other related teams within, as well as outside, the bank using MS PowerPoint and MS Project.

• Developed Client relations with external and internal clients and built relationships with the business and other IT and Operations teams, to enable a cooperative and collaborative workflow.

Environment: MS Office Suite, MS Project, MS Visio, MS SharePoint, Adobe LiveCycle, Lotus Notes

Quality Assurance Analyst – Retirement Services Reporting 02/07 to 01/08

• Quality Assurance Analyst for Retirement Services servicing the Investment Advisor Sales Team. Lead QA Analyst for testing Reports and Web based applications supporting proper functionality (Fund Factsheets, Investment Monitors, Analytical Grids, Plan Performance Memorandums, etc.)

• Performed functional, system, regression, integration, comparative, stress/load and performance testing on various Reports and their supporting applications.

• Planned entire test cycles, wrote and maintained test plans and formulated test scripts based on requirements, functional and development specification documents.

• Liaised with other IT streams, managed change process, helped control risks and costs within QA.

• Managed defect lifecycle for all software bugs detected throughout the SDLC (software development lifecycle).

• Utilized knowledge of Defined Contribution/ Defined Benefit Retirement business, to understand and translate functional and business requirements into Test Cases, and Test Plans.

• Provided Production Support to business users regarding any and all issues regarding Retirement Services Reports including but not limited to report generation, report maintenance, Fund performance analysis, Fund Statistical Analysis using MPI Stylus etc.

• Responsible for developing test schedule and maintaining test matrix (based on development completions and project timelines).

• Helped in coaching and cross training for user acceptance testing.

• Extensively used SQL to query databases, for testing backend systems, writing stored procedures, and performed database administration using SQLAdvantage for Sybase.

Environment: MS Office Suite, SQL Advantage 11.x, Sybase 12.x, MPI Stylus 8.0, XML, Visual Basic 6, .Net, C, C++, HTML, SQL Server 2000, Unix, SSH Secure Shell 3.0, PVCS

UBS INVESTMENT BANK- Stamford, CT 06/06 to 02/07

Quality Assurance Analyst – Credit Derivatives IT

• Quality Assurance Analyst for Global Credit Derivatives IT, within Fixed Income, Rates and Currencies division of the bank. QA resource for testing Market Data Applications for Credit Trading, Emerging Markets and Principal Finance businesses.

• Performed functional, system, regression, integration, comparative, stress/load, and performance testing on various Flow and Structured Credit Derivative applications.

• Utilized knowledge of Credit Derivatives business, to understand and translate functional and business specifications of requirements into Test Cases, and Test Plans.

• Worked closely with other teams on the project to formulate effective and efficient Test Plans.

• Extensively used SQL to query databases, for testing backend systems, writing stored procedures, and database administration using DBArtisan for Sybase and Toad for Oracle.

• Test Director Administrator for Global Flow Credit Derivatives IT.

Environment: MS Office Suite, DbArtisan for Sybase, Toad for Oracle, C, C++, HTML, Test Director 8.0, WinRunner 7.0

HEATING OIL PARTNERS – Darien, CT 05/05 to 05/06

Network Support Administrator

• Point of contact for resolution of desktop/network-related problems in an 800-user Citrix based environment.

• Day-to-Day Support to clients on site or via telephone using Revelations 3.5.2.

• Maintained trouble ticket system to record and track user calls and emails.

• Troubleshoot, research, diagnose, document, and resolve technical issues surrounding Citrix Metaframe, Windows NT, Windows 2003 Server, MS Office, Active Directory, User management, Internet connections, and hardware/peripherals, Blackberry Enterprise Server, Desktop Manager 4.1

• Network Administration on site and remotely of servers Windows NT/2000/2003 server.

• Network Installations (Windows NT/2000/2003), Citrix application Publications and remote control.

• Installation of Domino Server, Proxy Server, Cisco VPN, ISA server and IIS server.

• Installation and Support of Windows Xp/2k/98/95 stand alone or networked.

• Monitoring of internal/external mail and internet services using NetIQ Webmarshal/Mailmarshal.

Environment: Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/7/2003 Server, Citrix Metaframe, Revelations 3.5.2., Blackberry Enterprise Server, MS Office Suite, NetIQ Webmarshal, Lotus Notes

CLAIROL – a Division of Proctor and Gamble - Stamford, CT 02/04 to 05/05

Windows Desktop Support Administrator

• Serve as the initial point of contact for resolution of desktop/workgroup-related problems in a 300-user environment.

• Day to Day Support to clients on site or via telephone using Compaq Insight Manager

• Maintained trouble ticket system to record and track user calls and emails

• Troubleshoot, research, diagnose, document, and resolve technical issues surrounding Windows NT, Windows 2000 Professional, MS Office, e-mail, Internet connections, and hardware/peripherals.

• VPN deployment and troubleshooting

• Network Installation and administration both on site and remote (Windows NT/2000/2003, Novell Netware)

• Assisted in Installation of Exchange Server, Proxy Server, ISA server and IIS server

• Installation and Support of Windows XP stand alone or networked

• Configured routers, firewalls, domain name services, e-mail, web and ftp services

Environment: Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP/2K/2003 Server, Novell Netware, Exchange/ISA/IIS Server, MS Office Suite, VPN, Compaq Insight Manager

WEIL, GOTSHALL & MANGES LLP – Manhattan, NY 10/02 to 11/03

Helpdesk/Migration Support analyst

• Upgrading Machines from Win 95/98 to XP using Symantec Ghost

• Involved in testing applications for Windows XP including but not limited to Citrix, Adobe, Docs Open, Internet Explorer, Lotus Notes, Shiva and software customized for the Law firm.

• Duties incorporate flashing bios, hardware upgrades, data migration, Server Management using Novell

• Server Side administration using WIN 2K server, TCP/IP, DHCP and DNS to keep intra-networks up to date and the users with the correct policies and privileges.

• Provided user training.

Environment: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, Novell Netware, Citrix, Adobe, MS Office Suite, Lotus Notes, Symantec Ghost

UNILEVER - Greenwich, CT 12/01 to 05/02

Windows XP Rollout Specialist

• Migrating Windows NT machines to Windows 2000

• Provided one-on-one and group training to 100 employees

• Upgrading hardware, Software Installation, configuration and troubleshooting end client issues

• Packaging software applications using Windows Installer, configuration of windows, closely assisted in maintenance and security of the corporate intranet

• Prevented security breaches by use of PC firewalls including Black Ice

Environment: Windows 95/98/NT/2000, Citrix, Adobe, MS Office Suite, Lotus Notes, Symantec Ghost, Black Ice

PITNEY BOWES - Shelton, CT 08/01 to 11/01

Windows XP Rollout Specialist

• Part of the Windows 2000 Migration team at Pitney Bowes

• Upgrading machines from Win95 to Win2K maintaining user data

• Responsible for software testing for Win2K compliance

• Packaging software applications using Windows Installer

• Providing extensive hardware/software support (Phone and Manual) to all upgraded users using Remedy Helpdesk and Callogistix Call Center Software

Environment: Windows 95/98/NT/2000, Adobe, MS Office Suite, Lotus Notes, Remedy Helpdesk, Callogistix

PITNEY BOWES - Stamford, CT 05/00 to 06/01

Helpdesk Specialist

• Upgraded about 1500 233 MHz computers to 733 MHz

• Resolved software and hardware issues as part of the Help desk support team serving 1500 clients

• Involved in installation, configuration and troubleshooting of software applications like MS Office, MS Outlook, Internet Explorer, Netscape, Windows 9.x, Windows NT, Windows 2000, FrontPage 98, MS Visio, Citrix metaframe, MacAfee Virus Scan etc.

• Answering to day-to-day user queries using Remedy Helpdesk and Callogistix Call Center Software

Environment: Windows 95/98/NT/2000, Citrix Metaframe, MS Office Suite, Lotus Notes, Frontpage 98, MS Visio, Remedy Helpdesk, Calllogistix

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