COURSE OBJECTIVE:
What You'll Learn
• Role and importance of the BA
• Vocabulary standards and business analysis practices through the use of the IIBA A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK Guide)
• Plan BA requirements activities
• Elicit requirements from stakeholders, with an emphasis on interviews
• Analyze stated requirements, with an overview of modeling techniques
• Document requirements for different types of projects
• Verify and validate requirements
• Elements of requirements management and communication and the BA's role in them
• Elements of solution verification and validation and possible BA roles
• Enterprise analysis: choosing appropriate projects
• Necessary competencies and best practices of BAs
• Waterfall, incremental, and agile lifecycles and how they change BA practices
TARGET AUDIENCE:
• Systems analysts
• Business analysts
• Requirements analysts
• Developers
• Software engineers
• IT project managers
• Project managers
• Project analysts
• Project leaders,
• Senior project managers
• Team leaders
• Program managers
• Testers
• QA specialists
COURSE PREREQUISITES:
There are no prerequisites for this course.
COURSE CONTENT:
1. Introduction to Business Analysis
• Importance of Effective Business Analysis
• Role of the BA
• Standardization and Adaptability
2. Requirements Planning
• Role of the BA in Requirements Planning
• Vision and Scope Document
• Types of Requirements
• Stakeholders
• Business Analysis Plan
3. Requirements Elicitation
• Role of the BA in Requirements Elicitation
• Investigative approach
• Iterative approach
• Techniques
• Interviews
• Focus groups
• Requirements workshop: Requirements meeting
• Requirements workshop: JAD session
• Brainstorming
• Observation
• Survey
• Prototype
• Document analysis
• Business rules analysis
• Reverse engineering
• Product trials
4. Requirements Analysis
• Need for Analysis
• Using Analysis to get Stakeholder Feedback and Verify and Validate Developing Requirements
• Value of Modeling Techniques in Analysis
• Modeling Techniques
• Organizational model
• Location model
• Process/flow models
• Use case models
• Data models
• State model
• Types of Requirements
• Business Rules Analysis
• Prioritizing Requirements
• Verifying and Validating Requirements
5. Requirements Documentation
• Formal and Informal Documentation and the, Level of Detail Required
• Writing for Usability and Comprehension
• Common Requirements Document Defects
• Components of a Formal Requirements Document
• Requirements Verification and Validation
• Requirements Sign-Off
6. Requirements Management and Communication
• Throughout the Project and to Decommission
• Change Management
• Define a baseline
• Define a change management process
• Identify the Change Authority
• Traceability and Its Uses
• Requirements Attributes
• Requirements Communication
7. Solution Validation and Acceptance
• Testing and Non-Testing Methods
• Purposes of Validation
• Find defects
• Prove compliance to requirements
• Test Cases and Test Suites
• Challenges in Testing
• Structured Testing
• Role of the BA in Solution Validation: the V Model
• Solution Acceptance and Project Close-Out
8. Enterprise Analysis
• Definition and Causes
• Role of the BA on the Enterprise Analysis Team
• Steps in Enterprise Analysis
• Define the business need
• Techniques for root cause analysis
• Assess capability gaps
• SWOT analysis
• Determine the solution approach
• Define the solution scope
• Define the business case
• Contents of business case
• Who does what?: the BA's limited role in developing a business case
9. Competencies, Best Practices, and Life Cycle Models
• Competency Proficiency
• BA Necessary Competencies
• Analytical thinking and problem solving
• Behavioral characteristics
• Business knowledge
• Communication skills
• Interaction skills
• Software application knowledge
• Best Practices
• Use iterative analysis
• Focus on process improvement
• Apply progressive elaboration
• Check as you go
• Use the investigative approach
• Adopt traceability
• Formalize business analysis through standardization
• Improve communication through modeling
• Life Cycle Models
• Waterfall
• Incremental
• Agile
• Effects on business analysis
10. BA Fundamentals
• Communication Skills
• Leadership Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Business Knowledge
• IT Knowledge
11. Case Studies
12. Exercises
FOLLOW ON COURSES:
GK2964, Business Analysis: Requirements Development, Documentation and Management