Congratulations, Peter, and thanks again for allowing us to tell your story. Not everyone studies the same way, and I’m glad a class was helpful to you. You have some good tips here that I wanted others to be able to benefit from. (We can see the confidence your approach gave you.) We know your tips will be helpful to others.

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“I took your advice and I attended your virtual CBAP® prep class in August. This weekend (late Oct.) I wrote the CBAP and passed!

“I want to thank you again for your company’s product, the very useful mnemonic system, and the amount of thought and preparation all of your products reflect. The difference this time in writing the exam, which I failed in February, was the approach. I hope these three points help, although I am sure you have heard them before. 

1. I wrote my brain dump before I started, while reading the exam pre-instructions. Last time I chewed up 10 minutes of the 3.5 hour exam time.
2. I used the ‘mark’ facility. Last time I did not use the mark/review facility and reviewed every question again, which left less time to analyze each question.
3. This time I used the brain dump of Watermark Learning acronyms of each knowledge area (KA) to figure out what KA, and where in the KA the question was pointing to. I actually pointed my pen at my brain dump KA and a specific task to force myself to think out the sequence implied by the question.

 ”With 40 minutes left, I had 75 questions marked and the other unmarked questions I did not bother to look at again. I probably changed 20 – 25 of the marked questions to be different from my original choice (I had just guessed these ones the first time), again thinking out the sequence where appropriate and pointing to my brain dump with my pen. Prior to writing the exam, I had taken 7 full exam simulations which started at a 74% score try # 1 and finished at a 94% score for try #7. I was really prepared this time to see the trick questions and also analyze the questions using my brain dump. During my actual exam I took a 10 minute break and had 8 minutes to spare. I still found the exam challenging, but your products provided the tools to allow me to pass. Thank you!”

Peter Riddell, CBAP
Financial Services Company

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To learn more:
*  See our CBAP Study Resources
*  Check out our CBAP Certification Prep class
*  View our CBAP and CCBA Products

CBAP Success – The Second Time Around was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Training in South Africa is mostly the same as it is in the US. One difference is that FTI runs 6-month long programs in business analysis, with some of the training in the daytime and most of it evenings or weekends. They have some “short courses” like we do, but the longer program gives students more depth and more time to apply their new skills. I wish American organizations could be more patient like this! Steve and part of his Johannesburg team are shown in the photo.

We made sure our training rooms were set for the two classes we would teach/observe, and returned to our hotel. It’s a bit of a drive to and from the training center, and the traffic is hectic like in the US. Luckily, Steve drove us, especially since they drive on the left here. We felt right at home with most other things, and are anxious to meet our African students. Look for more posts to follow.

Arrived in South Africa – Aug 1-2, 2011 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

In past blog posts I featured all the task-specific techniques and four of the general techniques: Data Modeling, Observation, Scenarios and Use Cases, and State Diagrams. Next I want to explore Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria Definition with an excerpt from our book CBAP Certification Study Guide.

Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria Definition

This technique covers the specifics we employ as BAs to facilitate decision-making about requirements. Its purpose is to think through and define the criteria that will be used to approve and accept a deliverable. The difference between acceptance criteria and evaluation criteria are as follows:

•     Acceptance criteria – the basic measurements that must be achieved in order to judge whether a given project or solution is worth implementing. Typically used when evaluating one solution, and is frequently associated with acceptance testing.

•     Evaluation criteria – the key requirements that will be used to decide between alternative solutions, assuming there are alternatives. They would be used to score the possible alternatives to recommend the best one.

In the case of acceptance criteria, the decision is about whether to “accept” a deliverable and then the criteria represent the minimum level a solution must meet. For instance, a new order entry system must be capable of adding a new order, and adding items to the order.

Evaluation criteria support broader decisions, such as which COTS package to purchase for a sales commission application. The criteria, such as security, ease of use, cost, etc. form the basis for making the decision, and could be employed with a technique like a weighted ranking matrix. (Decision Analysis is a whole other topic and another blog entry!)

The two BABOK elements to know for this technique are:

1.       Testability. To know if a solution has been met, it needs to be expressed in testable form. The solution will be measured against the criteria.

2.       Determine Ranking and Scoring.

• Ranking: determining the order of importance of requirements, to be used in prioritization. The BABOK technique of Prioritize Requirements would be one way to create rankings.
• Scoring: a process to determine how well a solution meets a requirement. It needs a scale and agreed-on levels for scoring.

Summary

Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria Definition is a widely referenced technique in the BABOK. Out of the 34 general techniques, only 3 others are referenced more often. Because of the wide use of this technique, expect one or more questions on the CBAP or CCBA exam.

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To learn more…

1)       Get a copy of the BABOK by downloading it from the IIBA.

2)      Read about all general techniques in our CBAP Certification Study Guide.

3)      Take our CBAP Certification Preparation training course.

4)      Practice taking questions using our CBAP online study exam or CCBA online study exam.

BABOK Techniques to Know for the CBAP/CCBA Exam: Part 7 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

First of all, nearly everyone preparing for the CBAP questions the BABOK^® and how it may or may not be “real life.” What I tell people is that everything in the BABOK is somebody’s real life! That may or may not be a comfort, but it does put it in perspective.

Most of the topics at my recent session pertained to the CBAP and CCBA application. Here are some notable questions that came up and my answers. Hope this helps you.

A. This is a very common concern. If you have contacts from your project still working at the company, that is obviously the best contact to list. If not, what I tell people is to list a contact who you worked with at the company in question, even if they have moved on to another company. In extreme cases in which there is no one you worked with still around, you should list someone in Human Resources who can attest that you worked at the company in a BA capacity during the time you listed for your project.

One of the attendees at the application session mentioned one of her past companies went out of business and no one works there anymore. You should document that for the IIBA, and still try to find colleagues who worked with you during the same timeframe who could be listed as contacts. Try using LinkedIn to locate possible contacts who worked with you in your past jobs.

Q. How can we avoid having hours deducted from our application? I’ve read that IIBA can do that if you are not careful.

A. Yes, IIBA can and does deduct hours from applications. I have heard stories of applicants who had that happen and ended up just a few hours short of the requirements because of it.  Our advice: only report BA hours and only indicate BA tasks. Look carefully at the tasks in the CBAP or CCBA application. By understanding the BABOK^® and its tasks, you can spot the non-BA tasks in the application. Avoid the non-BA tasks and don’t report hours on projects spent doing non-BA work.

For example, the task “Communicated requirements” is a BA task, but “Conducted design walkthroughs” is not. If those were the only two tasks you checked for Requirements Management and Communication, then IIBA would deduct 50% of your reported hours for that Knowledge Area, because the latter task is not considered a BA task.

Q. I worked on many small projects, as many as 100 in a year. How should we handle that?

 A. IIBA says to consolidate them for a given year and organize them around a software application, business initiative, etc.

Q. I interfaced with testing and training teams and did some testing myself. I understand the hours spent testing don’t account. How do I account for the time spent in setting up testing and training strategies and objectives?

A. First, for testing. What I recommend is to think about the time you spent defining acceptance criteria. Technique 9.1 in the BABOK^® is called “Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria Definition” and would apply here. The most applicable task would be “Validate Solution,” and the application calls this “Defined acceptance criteria for the solution.” For training, actually doing any training doesn’t count for hours. But, if you spent time defining requirements for the training to meet to assist in implementing the solution, than the application task “Defined transition requirements” would count and that is what you would indicate.

Q. Can we get the tips on which tasks in the BABOK areas apply only to BA work?

A. We have a worksheet that captures your work experience by knowledge area and general task.  The tasks we list are the safe ones to check for BA work. You should still review the BABOK^® to make sure that you understand what the tasks mean. For a copy, please visit our CBAP Resources page, or write to us at info@WatermarkLearning.com  and ask for a copy of our CBAP or CCBA Application Project Hours worksheet.

1)       Get a copy of the BABOK^® by downloading it from the IIBA.

2)      Read our book, CBAP Certification Study Guide.

Common Questions for the CBAP and CCBA Applications was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Prioritization Techniques

One of the most difficult things for many decision-makers is to prioritize their needs. It is far easier to say “everything is an A priority” than to rationally sort through the many features of a project and make tough decisions. It is frustrating to project teams to deal with this type of stakeholder, and fortunately there are techniques that can help.

There are three techniques mentioned in the BABOK® specifically to support prioritizing requirements. Some of the techniques are in wide use, and one of them is more a guideline than a technique. If you are studying for the CBAP® or CCBA™ exams, there is a good chance of being tested on one of these because of their importance.

MoSCoW Analysis
No, silly, we’re not analyzing the city of Moscow. This technique is more of a standard or guideline, and helps to categorize requirements into four different groups. It uses the capital letters in MoSCoW to designate each type of requirement priority. Note that not all the letters of MoSCoW are part of the meaning, but it makes for a good mnemonic.

M – Must have: must be present in the solution to be successful.

S – Should have: high-priority requirements that will probably appear in the final product, but may be deferred in a crunch.

C – Could have: lower priority requirements, but still desirable. These may appear in the final product if enough time or budget, but will likely be deferred until after the higher priority ones are complete.

W – Won’t have: agreed-on that a requirement may have value, but won’t be included in a current iteration/release. These may be the infamous “version 2” requirements that continually get deferred. Or, these may be viewed as “out of scope” and may or may not ever make it back in scope.

The Moscow Analysis technique won’t necessarily help with these stakeholders who need everything to be a “Must have.” It isn’t all that different from an A-B-C-D type of scheme, either. But, the mnemonic is memorable, and may just be a way to get your stakeholders to think differently about their priorities. Or, you may want to use it in conjunction with one of the following techniques. Read more about the MoSCoW method on Wikipedia.

Timeboxing/Budgeting

This technique helps prioritize requirements based on a fixed resource, either time or cost, and is used when the solution approach has been chosen.

• Timeboxing– fits work into a fixed “box” of time, such as 2 weeks or 90 days. Requirements are then prioritized based on the most important requirements that can be accomplished in the time box. Change-driven approaches like Scrum use this method to good advantage. See Wikipedia for more information on timeboxing.
• Budgeting – chooses work based on a budget or a fixed deadline, including regular software package upgrades. Requirements are prioritized based on what can be accomplished with the available resources, using one of three general approaches:

1. All in – Starts with all the requirements and estimates for duration and cost. Requirements are dropped until the remaining ones can be met within schedule or budget.
2. All Out – Add in requirements until the budget or schedule capacity has been reached.
3. Selective – Identify high-priority requirements and add or remove them until the budget or schedule capacity has been reached.

Voting

Various facilitation methods employ voting techniques that can help in prioritizing requirements. Voting with a show of hands, using stars on a white board, play money, secret ballots, etc. are all viable ways of selecting the highest priority requirements to be analyzed and implemented first.

Summary

Prioritizing requirements is challenging. Using one of the techniques can help you reduce the frustration and increase your odds of avoiding the “everything is an A” dilemma. If you are studying for the CBAP® or CCBA™ exam, these are good things to know as you do your prep work.

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To learn more…

1)       Get a copy of the BABOK®  by downloading it from the IIBA.

2)      View the Wikipedia examples cited above.

3)      Read about all the task-specific techniques in our CBAP Certification Study Guide.

4)      Take our CBAP Certification Preparation training course.

Task-Specific BABOK® Techniques to Know for the CBAP Exam: Part 6 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

1. Not enough study time. A major mistake is not studying enough. According to our research, successful CBAP® candidates spent an average of around 100 hours studying for their CBAP®. Give yourself at least several weeks and spread that time out before you take your exam.
2. Applying too soon. You have one year to take the exam after your CBAP®/CCBA™ application is approved. If you are not sure, you might want to apply for the exam after you have 50 hours of study time completed. A student of mine waited until two weeks before her one-year deadline to take a class and to begin studying in earnest. Needless to say, she did not pass.
3. Using only one Method of Study. A prime cause of stress over the CBAP® that I have observed is relying on one primary method of study. In my case, I relied solely on the BABOK®, and only read it once at that. During my CBAP® exam there were several questions I felt completely unprepared for and more than once wished I had studied using more than my one method.  
4. Relying on the Wrong Method of Study. There is no one study formula that works for everyone. Rely on the study methods that fit your learning style. If you like data and facts, then read (and re-read the BABOK®). If you are a “get to the point” and practical learner, focus on practice exam questions. If you are an interactive or reflective learner, you will do best with classes and study groups. Using non-compatible methods (such as re-reading the BABOK® for a practical learner) will tend to de-motivate you and may even prevent you from finishing your certification.
5. Not Answering Enough Practice Questions. It may sound like a sales pitch, but it is essential to practice answering as many sample exam questions as possible. (Full disclosure: we offer a CBAP®/CCBA™ Online Study Exam.) One person I know who failed the CBAP® exam only answered one set of 150 practice questions before her exam. People who passed the exam report they practiced answering 10 times that number or more.
6. Trying to Reconcile the BABOK® with Your Work Experience. I have seen many people stress out over comparing the BABOK® with their “real life” experience. A discussion of how the BABOK® differs from “real life” has happened in every CBAP® Prep class I have taught. My advice: set your personal experience aside and concentrate on mastering the content in the BABOK®, which is what the CBAP® and CCBA™ exams are based on.
7. Answering Questions Based on Your Work Experience. A related mistake is to take your experience into the exam and use it to answer questions. The CBAP® exam won’t test your individual experience, but will test you on the “generally accepted practice of business analysis.” If you don’t answer accordingly, it will be a mistake that could cause you to incorrectly answer questions and worst of all, fail the exam.
8. Trying to Memorize the BABOK®. True, it is helpful to commit to memory some of the key BABOK® concepts and terms. But, you will need to apply them to situational questions in the CBAP® exam. There will be many problem-solving types of questions on the CBAP® exam and you will be asked to apply your knowledge to answer these types of questions, not just regurgitate it.
9. Not Starting. I know several people who have said they want to get their CBAP® or CCBA™ certification, but, they will never receive the benefits of certification if they don’t start. Benefits people tell me they have gotten from their CBAP® credential include: personal satisfaction, greater credibility, selection on better and higher-profile projects, getting hired as employees and consultants, and higher pay. 
10. Not Finishing. I know other people who have started the CBAP® certification process, but have stalled out because of time pressures at home or work. The key is to not lose sight of your goal and keep at it when you do have time. It is a lot of work, but then it would not mean as much if were easy, right? The results and sense of accomplishment are well worth the effort.

Hopefully, reading about these mistakes will help you to avoid making them yourself. If you know of other tips to avoid, I’d like to hear them and share them with others. Please post them here or write me at Richard.Larson@WatermarkLearning.com with your ideas and tips.

For more information on this topic:

• Visit our CBAP®/CCBA™ Exam Prep Resources webpage.
• See our course called CBAP® Certification Preparation.
• See our course called CCBA™ Certification Preparation.
• Read our Foolproof Plan for Passing the CBAP® Exam article.

Top 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Earning your CBAP® or CCBA™ was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Problem or Vision Statement and Feasibility Analysis

This week I’m writing about two specialized and powerful techniques that are useful not only for business analysis, but project management and other disciplines. These two come up in context of Enterprise Analysis, which deals with understanding business needs, devising proposed solutions for those needs, and building a business case for getting it done. I’m writing about BABOK® techniques not only to help people pass the CBAP® or CCBA™ exam, but because they are useful on the job, too.

Problem or Vision Statement

This technique is more of a standard or guideline. It helps us to clarify a business need, identifies stakeholders, and projects the potential benefits of a proposed solution to address the business need. A typical problem statement consists of:

                  Figure from CBAP Certification Study Guide by the author

 I use the problem statement technique to help understand the real business need, and not just the stated solution. How many times do you hear stakeholders say “We need to install package XYZ…tomorrow!” or “Please add field ABC to the Order table so I can see it on my daily report.”? The problem statement helps to define critical aspects of a request to help define the underlying need.

Problem statement may be too limiting, so the synonym “Vision Statement” makes it suitable for “opportunity–type” requests.

Following the BABOK®, if you define a business need, then figure out the gap in internal capabilities to meet that need, an enduring solution can be then determined. Rather than “jump to a solution” as so often happens in business, the BABOK® points out that appropriate solutions come best from addressing the need first, analyzing the gap next, and determining solutions to fill the gap.

For small and simple situations, individual or small-group analysis often is appropriate to determine a feasible approach. For larger efforts, a feasibility study is often performed. A feasibility study is an initial study to determine whether a project/solution provides the expected benefit to accomplish a business need.

The intent of this technique is to understand the business drivers behind an initiative. Informally, we often call this “what problem are we trying to solve?” Ideally, the team working on the initiative will document concise, measurable objectives for the proposed solution to meet. These objectives can form the basis for evaluating recommendations to meet the business need.

For example, a business need might be to process loan applications in hours instead of days. An obvious objective in this case would be the time a proposed solution would take to process applications. If possible, defining business benefits from a solution (e.g., money saved or increased customer satisfaction) would be useful for evaluating possible solutions.

In many cases, a feasibility study is a project in itself. In other cases, it is wrapped into the front end of a project. The BABOK® mentions that feasibility analysis is used for major business initiatives, such as adding new lines of business, performing acquisitions, new product development, etc. It also mentions shorter studies are appropriate for lower-investment situations.

Check out Wikipedia’s page on Feasibility Study. For more fun, they have a reference to an episode of The Outer Limits called “A Feasibility Study.” Who knew?

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To learn more…

1)       Get a copy of the BABOK by downloading it from the IIBA.

2)      View the examples cited above.

3)      Read about all the task-specific techniques in our CBAP Certification Study Guide.

4)      Take our CBAP Certification Preparation training course.

Task-Specific BABOK Techniques for the CBAP and CCBA Exams: Part 5 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Here are two more task-specific techniques featured in the BABOK® Guide. These two are part of Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring. They are useful techniques in their own right and knowing about them will help you pass the CBAP® or CCBA™ exams.

Stakeholder Map

A stakeholder map is a visual diagram showing relationships between stakeholders and the solution. The BABOK mentions there are several types of maps and highlights two types. Chances are you won’t be tested on the details of either, so we refer you to examples found online.

•     Stakeholder Influence vs. Interest. View more about this example. (Found on ChangingMinds.org).

  •     Onion Diagram showing involvement with the solution. Read about this type of diagram.(Found on Wikipedia.org). 

 Variance Analysis

This technique helps in understanding the difference between planned and actual results of any activity, and can be applied to business analysis performance. If something happens according to plan, there is said to be no variance. When planned and actual results differ, then variance occurs. Variances could be in the form of time, cost, schedule, scope, etc.

For example, suppose a BA plan called for documenting five use cases that would take 50 hours, but 10 were documented and it took 150 hours. A variance of 100 hours would be the result. A cost variance could be determined by attaching hourly rates.

Besides the magnitude of the variance, the cause could and should be found. Using root cause analysis, it may be possible to discover corrective or preventive actions for the current or future projects.

These two techniques are useful and apply to Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring. Make sure you know them when preparing for your CBAP or CCBA exam.

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To learn more…

1)       Get a copy of the BABOK by downloading it from the IIBA.

2)      View the examples cited above.

3)      Read about all the task-specific techniques in our CBAP Certification Study Guide.

4)      Take our CBAP Certification Preparation training course.

Task-Specific BABOK Techniques to Know for the CBAP Exam: Part 4 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

• The qualifications for the CCBA and CBAP are largely the same except that the CCBA requires 3750 demonstrated BA project hours, while the CBAP requires 7500 of similar hours. This lower threshold will open certification to a wider group of eligible and motivated BAs. The other difference is that CCBA candidates need 900 hours on only two of the six core knowledge areas as opposed to CBAP candidates needing four out of six.
    
• Fees for the CCBA and CBAP are similar. The application requires a $125 USD non-refundable fee, and the exam costs $325 USD for IIBA members and $450 USD for non-members. Membership more than pays for the exam fee savings.
    
• The CCBA exam contains 150 multiple-choice questions and is based on the BABOK®, or Business Analysis Body of Knowledge.  The exam draws questions from BABOK Knowledge Areas in roughly the same percentages as does the CBAP exam, although IIBA has stated the questions are more fundamental in nature.  For that reason, Watermark Learning has decided to modify its successful CBAP preparation materials, and provide separate products where it makes a difference for candidates. The exception is that IIBA has mandated that EEPs provide separate courses for CBAP and CCBA preparation.
    
• Applications. Applicants can apply soon. See the IIBA web site for a CCBA Application Handbook and for availability of the online application for the CCBA. We will hold a webinar outlining the CCBA credential soon, and offer tips to completing your application for it.
    

Special Promotion   

The IIBA has also announced a special promotion to assist applicants who were rejected for the CBAP. It will waive the CCBA application fee if you meet all the following criteria:   

• If you submitted a CBAP application and fee prior to Nov. 29, 2010.
• If your CBAP application was declined because you failed to meet either the 7500 hours of work experience or the 900 hours in four knowledge area requirement.  
• Complete a CCBA application from scratch (i.e. not re-use your CBAP application).

Stay tuned. The promotion will end as of Nov. 28 just before the IIBA makes the CCBA application available.   The official date for CCBA applications to be available is Nov. 29, 2010.

• Visit our web site for FAQs about IIBA certification.
• Check out our resources for CBAP/CCBA certification.
• Subscribe to our ProjectBrief eNewsletter for news of our webinars and updates from IIBA.

CCBA™ Exam to Launch Soon was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog

Coverage Matrix, Requirements for Vendor Selection, Requirements Documentation

Picking up where I left off on BABOK techniques, let’s cover three more task-specific techniques. Or, what might be considered outputs, or have been combined with other techniques. But, I’m editorializing again.

Coverage Matrix

Somewhere along the line, the good old fashioned traceability matrix was renamed as a Coverage Matrix. You didn’t get the memo, you say? Neither did I. But, it illustrates an important point about preparing for the CBAP exam: use the BABOK terminology even if it disagrees with what you are familiar with.

A coverage matrix does for all intents and purposes what a traceability matrix does. It is a table that cross-references requirements with attributes to be traced. Examples are: who supplied a requirement, who owns it, the status, dependencies, how it is allocated, etc. Here is an example:

This technique is from task 4.2- Manage Requirements Traceability.

Requirements for Vendor Selection

Requirements must frequently be packaged in a form that can assist in selecting a vendor for all or part of a solution. The BABOK mentions RFI, RFQ, and RFP as the three types. Below is a table that explains each.

 The BABOK mentions several details regarding these, which I won’t repeat. If you are preparing for the CBAP exam, you should know the meanings of the three, when each would be used, and that they are common ways to package and communicate requirements.

This technique supports BABOK task 4.4- Prepare Requirements Package.

Requirements Documentation

Now, this is another output that is listed instead as a technique. Curious. Granted, there are multiple formats of requirements documentation that business analysts use. I get that. But, it’s kind of odd that this is listed as a technique.

What you need to know are that BAs frequently use templates for documentation, and that various types of documentation styles exist, including Business Requirements Document, Product Roadmap, Software Requirements Specification, and Supplementary Requirements Specification.

You could refer to task 4.4- Prepare Requirements Package, but you won’t need to.

To recap, these are all important techniques, even if I editorialize about whether they should be outputs or not. If you are studying for the CBAP exam, you should be familiar with them all, at least at a high level. My guess is you will be tested on at least one of them.

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To learn more…

1) Get a copy of the BABOK by downloading it from the IIBA.

2) Read about all the task-specific techniques in our CBAP Certification Study Guide.

3) Take our CBAP Certification Preparation training course.

4) Studying for the CCBA exam? Our CBAP products are just what you need. Contact us for more information.

Task-Specific BABOK Techniques for the CBAP Exam: Part 3 was posted at ProjectBrief Blog. | http://www.watermarklearning.com/blog