Introduction

This is an introductory training program designed to provide participants with a basic understanding of the benefits, functions, and impact a business analyst has within an organization. The Business Analysis: Essentials training program 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.

Topics Include:

• Why requirements are important
• Types of requirements
• Underlying competencies for Business Analysts
• Strategy Analysis Knowledge Area
• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring Knowledge Area
• Elicitation and Collaboration Knowledge Area
• Requirements Life Cycle Management Knowledge Area
• Requirements Analysis and Design Definition Knowledge Area
• Solution Evaluation Knowledge Area
• The BA curriculum

Training 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

Target Audience

The Business Analysis: Essentials Training Program is designed for individuals new to the business analyst role or those who supervise and/or work with business analysts.

• Current and aspiring business analysts 
• Executives and managers
• Project managers
• Programmers

COURSE OUTLINE

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

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 the business analysis
• The BA career path
• Exercise: Review case Study

STRATEGY ANALYSIS AND CHANGE

• The definition of Strategy Analysis

• Components of Strategy Analysis
• Identifying stakeholders and business needs
• Exercises: Business Need development and RACI Stakeholder Identification

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 and create a context diagram
• Optional exercise: Create a Use Case Diagram

UNDERSTANDING REQUIREMENTS

• Define the term requirement
• Understand requirement types
• Present the requirements process
• Requirements vs. specifications and business rules
• Exercise: Identify Requirements

PLANNING & 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

ANALYZING & 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

ELICITATION & 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 and creating a Prototype of your application

VERIFYING & 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