Business Analysis Foundations

Business Analysis Foundations

Whether you are new to business analysis, or are experienced and want a more formal approach, it’s essential to know and practice the “basics.” This course provides you with the foundational skills you need to deliver value to your stakeholders and organization. You will learn how to help your business clients articulate their business problem or opportunity, plan business analysis activities, as well as learn the basics of eliciting, analyzing, documenting, managing, and communicating requirements through the life cycle of the project. By grasping these foundational skills, you can contribute significantly to the success of your organization’s projects.

Objectives

• Understand the 5 different types of requirements
• Increase project success by better defining the business need
• Plan the requirements effort to ensure optimal productivity
• Identify and analyze stakeholders
• Articulate the key activities and artifacts of a business analyst
• Document “good” requirements by writing them clearly and completely using simple templates
• Learn how to trace and prioritize requirements to ensure they link to business value
• Manage the requirements throughout the project

Length and Learning Modes

Live or Virtual Classes: 2 days; Discounts available for teams and for private offerings.

Format

Live: To help assimilate the tools and techniques learned, there is a mixture of individual and team exercises throughout the course. A lively role play, workshops, and case study help reinforce concepts learned. Students should be prepared for a high level of participation. Each participant will receive a comprehensive student guide complete with examples and handouts for future reference.

Virtual Classroom: 2 days of web-based eLearning with a live instructor. All the same practical exercises and workshops as in the live class. This includes 6 months digital access to all training materials.

Video-On-Demand: Video-on-demand with online training portal, and community interaction. This includes 6-months digital access to all training materials.

Development Units

PDUs: 14 CDUs: 14 CEUs: 1.4

Audience

New business analysts, people that have project experience but have not had formal BA training, or experienced BAs and project managers who want a more formal and industry-standard business analysis approach will gain new skills and methods from this course.

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have worked on at least one project prior to taking this course.

Certificate Programs

• BA Boot Camp Certificate
• Business Analysis Certificate

Outline

• Business analysis Overview
  • Business analysis defined
  • Business analyst role
  • Business analysis framework
  • Business analysis competencies
• Requirements Overview
  • Requirements defined
  • 5 types of requirements
  • Requirements alignment
  • Requirements or design
• Business Rules Overview
  • Business rules defined
  • Business rules examples
  • Requirements vs. business rules
• Define the Business Need
  • Understanding business and project context
  • Identify and document the business need
  • Business need questions
  • Determine the business requirements
• Determine the Business Requirements
  • Business goals vs objectives
  • Documenting business goals and objectives
  • Business requirements questions
• Plan for Business Analysis
  • Business analysis planning considerations
  • Plan BA approach
  • Identify stakeholders
  • Plan stakeholder communication
  • Plan BA activities and techniques
• Elicit Requirements
  • Elicitation framework
  • Common elicitation techniques
  • Types of questions to ask
  • Document and confirm results
• Analyze, Document and Model Requirements
  • Characteristics of a good requirement
  • Documenting requirements
  • Packaged software considerations
  • Validation and verification checklists
  • Requirements modeling overview
• Manage Requirements
  • Requirements management activities
  • Trace & prioritize requirements
  • Review & approve requirements
  • Assess requirement changes
  • Maintain req. documentation
• Evaluate Solution or Solution Component
  • Evaluate solution overview
• Handouts
  • Case Study
  • 101 Questions
  • Requirements package template
  • Workshop solution set

Testimonials