Course Overview

This course teaches participants the overall process of Business Analysis and where it fits in the bigger picture of the project life cycle and the business context. The course is interactive and combines discussion, active workshops and demonstrations of techniques. This introductory course provides participants with a basic understanding of the benefits, functions and impact of this critical role. The target audience for this course includes those who are new to the business analyst role or those who supervise and/or work with business analysts. This course provides a special focus on the business analysis function as it relates to developing IT solutions, given that such an understanding is essential for project success. The course discusses the business analysis process as it is applied throughout a project, including the pre-project activities that comprise enterprise analysis. You will learn how a business analyst supports the project throughout the solution development life cycle, from establishing the solution vision and scope in the analysis phase to validating that requirements have been met in the testing phase. After completing this course, you will understand why and when to involve the business analysis function. One goal of this course is to teach participants how to achieve bottom-line results that cut through real-world problems. Other goals include improving operations to develop new systems and products and maximizing results through project performance.

 

Who should attend?

It is important for you to attend if you:

• Work as a business analyst 
• Define and manage requirements through the development life cycle

 

Performance Focus

• Business analysis
• Defining solutions to business problems
• Stakeholder analysis
• Defining the solution scope

 

What You Will Learn

• Identify the roles and responsibilities of the business analyst
• Recognize the importance of managing risk
• Define the solution vision and scope
• Plan the requirements elicitation process
• Recognize the importance of analyzing and documenting requirements
• Explain the role of modeling
• Perform requirements validation and traceability

 

Training Content and Basic Outline of the course

Foundation Concepts

• Defining the business analyst function
• Role of the Business Analyst as change agent
• Business Analyst roles and responsibilities through the knowledge areas
• Business Analyst roles and relationships through the project life cycle

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring: Defining the Process

• Overview
• Business Analysis Planning – roles and responsibilities
• Business Analysis Planning – processes and tools
• Business Analysis Monitoring

Elicitation: Gathering Information 

• Overview of Elicitation
• Requirements Elicitation techniques (targeted, group and physical)

Requirements Management and Communication: Ensuring Stakeholder Involvement

• Overview
• Requirements management
• Requirements relationships
• Requirements communication

Enterprise Analysis: Defining the Problem

• Overview of Enterprise Analysis
• Define the business need (feasibility study)
• Business benefit analysis (value vs. costs)
• Initial phase gate preparation (business case)

Requirements Analysis: Defining the Solution Model

• Overview of requirements
• The Anatomy of a Requirement
• Requirements Analysis task description
• Requirements Analysis techniques

Solution Assessment and Validation: Supporting the Balance of the Product Life Cycle

• Overview
• Design tasks
• Testing tasks
• Implementation and production tasks

Underlying Competencies

• Overview
• Analytical thinking and problem solving
• Key communication and business skills
• Software applications

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