Business Analysis Essentials
This is an introductory course designed to provide participants with a basic understanding of the benefits, functions and impact a business analyst has within an organization. The course discusses the business analysis process as it is applied throughout a project as well as the pre-project activities that comprise strategy analysis. Participants learn how a business analyst supports the project throughout the solution development life cycle, from defining business needs and solution scope to validating that requirements have been met in the testing phase and ensuring the solution continues to provide value after implementation. After completing this course, participants will fully understand the characteristics of the business analyst role and the components that comprise the profession of business analysis. Students will obtain a solid working vocabulary to enable effective communication about business analysis activities and deliverables across the project team. Learning Objectives:
- Understand the role of the business analyst
- Discuss industry standards/resources for obtaining more information about business analysis
- Acquire a solid understanding of the various tasks/activities that comprises business analysis
- Recognize the pre and post project business analysis activities
- Learn how to plan, elicit, analyze, model, and test requirements
This course is compliant with IIBA’s Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK® Guide) version 3 standard of business analysis.
Course Outline
Section 1: Introduction to Business Analysis
- Business analysis defined
- The activities that comprise business analysis
- IIBA/PMI and the goals of a professional association
- IIBA’s BABOK® Guide and PMI’s Practice Guide in Business Analysis
- Exercise: Requirements challenges
Section 2: The IIBA™ and the role of the Business Analyst
- Business analyst defined
- BA role vs. PM role
- Importance of communication/collaboration
- The deliverables produced as part of business analysis
- The BA career path
- Exercise: Review case Study
Section 3: Strategy Analysis and Change
- The definition of Strategy Analysis
- Components of Strategy Analysis
- Identifying stakeholders and business needs
Exercises:
- Business Need development
- RACI Stakeholder Identification
Section 4: Understanding and Defining Solution Scope
- Defining Solution Scope
- Project scope vs. product scope
- Defining a problem statement
- Techniques for defining scope
Exercises:
- Conduct a brainwriting session
- Create a context diagram
- Optional exercise:
- Create a Use Case Diagram
Section 5: Understanding Requirements
- Define the term requirement
- Understand requirement types
- Present the requirements process
- Requirements vs. specifications and business rules
Exercise: Identify Requirements Section 6: Planning and Eliciting Requirements
- The Requirements Work Plan (RWP)
- Components of the RWP
- Identifying good questions for elicitation
- Active listening
- Categories and types of elicitation techniques
Exercise: Planning for elicitation Section 7: Analyzing and Documenting Requirements
- Understanding requirements analysis
- The Business Requirements Document (BRD)
- The BRD vs. the functional requirements specification
- BRD components
- The purpose of packaging requirements
Exercise: Analyzing Requirements Section 8: Elicitation and Process Modeling
- Why models are created
- Objectives of modeling
- What is process management
- Understanding process modeling
- Modeling using BPMN
- AS-IS vs. TO-BE modeling
- BPMN subclasses
- BPMN simple structure
- Prototyping
- Business Process Modeling case study
Exercises:
- Modeling
- Create a Prototype of your application
Section 9: Verifying and Validating Requirements
- The difference between validation and verification
- Characteristics of good requirements
- Risks associated with requirements
- Types of testing approaches
- Creating a test plan
- Requirements traceability matrix
- Verified and validated requirements
Exercise: Testing Requirements Section 10: Additional Resources
- Helpful links for obtaining additional business analysis information
Audience
Designed for individuals new to the business analyst role or those who supervise and/or work with business analysts. No prerequisites: this course is suitable for both novices and experienced practitioners who need to have a clear and systematic approach to Business Analysis.