BA212 - Certificate in Applied Business Analysis (Saturdays)
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Course description

BA212: Certificate in Applied Business Analysis is a comprehensive program aimed to equip the business analyst (BA) with the skills and knowledge to perform the BA role effectively throughout the project life cycle. With sessions that run on Saturdays over ten weeks, participants have the opportunity to learn practical tasks and techniques and immediately apply them within the classroom and within their places of work.

The IIBA is an international not-for-profit association for BA professionals. It identifies best practices for the business analyst in six Knowledge Areas. In this program, practical tasks and techniques are presented to equip the BA with the skills and knowledge required to practice all of the Knowledge Areas of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), from identifying potential future projects to validating implemented solutions.

The material in the program is directed at both the novice looking to enter the field and the self-taught veteran looking to fill gaps in his or her skills or knowledge. Participants of the program come from many disciplines such as information technology, health care, telecommunications, financial and retail services.

Key characteristics that differentiate this course from others include:

Mapping to the IIBA Body of Knowledge
Boston University Corporate Education Center (BUCEC) is designated by the IIBA as a Charter Endorsed Education Provider. This course supports understanding and application of tasks and techniques of the following Knowledge Areas and is 100% compliant with IIBA's current Business Analysis Book of Knowledge (BABOK):

• Enterprise Analysis
• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
• Elicitation
• Requirements Analysis
• Requirements Management and Communication
• Solution Assessment and Validation

Experiential Training
Several case studies are integrated into the course to allow participants to view demonstrations of work products and techniques and then apply learned skills within various disciplines and application areas. Much of the class time is devoted to exercises in which participants, typically working in small teams, practice the skills being taught.
Homework assignments allow participants the opportunity to refine their individual skills by applying concepts on a program-long case study, allowing them to build a growing portfolio of business analysis work products based on this case over the course of the ten weeks.

Experience
The program is written and delivered by professionals with extensive experience in business analysis.

Applied Focus
The Participant Guide includes dozens of job aids that are referenced throughout the program and available to the participant after training; these include work product templates and samples, as well as checklists for processes and best practices.

Who should attend

The course is intended to serve several audiences and meet a variety of needs. Individuals who perform business analysis in organizations are known by various titles including business analyst, systems analyst, business/systems analyst, functional analyst, project manager, and tester. Individuals who will benefit from this course include:

• Entry-level business analysts and their managers
• Self-taught business analysts requiring a course that fills in the gaps and puts all the pieces together
• Systems analysts and programmers interested in expanding their roles into the business area
• Quality assurance professionals
• Project managers

What you will achieve

• Describe what the BA does and how the BA interrelates with other roles and responsibilities of the organization.


• Describe the core functions of the business analyst in the context of the BABOK Knowledge Areas: Enterprise Analysis, Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring, Elicitation, Requirements Analysis, Requirements Management and Communication, and Solution Assessment and Validation.


• Describe the BA’s role within a range of lifecycle models including sequential (waterfall), iterative, and agile.


• Describe how the BA contributes to organizational goals and strategic plans via Enterprise Analysis activities including the development of the Business Case.


• Explain the relationships between the business analyst and project manager roles as they pertain to requirements-related responsibilities.


• Identify, describe, and categorize stakeholders involved in requirements activities.


• Assemble, communicate, and obtain approval of a requirements management plan based on stakeholder analysis that defines activities, deliverables, tools, and techniques for requirements processes; aligns with the organizational structure and life cycles employed; provides traceability of requirements throughout the lifecycle; addresses risk; defines change management processes; and addresses product and process quality.


• Conduct formal requirements reviews.


• Measure and report on requirements activity.


• Communicate requirements to diverse stakeholders.


• Describe the process steps, roles, challenges, and benefits of a range of techniques to elicit requirements from stakeholders.


• Elicit requirements from stakeholders using elicitation techniques, including document analysis, observation, interviewing, brainstorming, requirements workshop, prototyping, surveys, focus groups, interface analysis, reverse engineering, and quality function deployment.


• Evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of elicitation techniques in order to develop appropriate strategies for executing them on a project.


• Describe the range of UML 2.0-compliant and other modeling techniques along with their challenges, benefits, and applicability in order to document requirements and enable the analysis of requirements from stakeholders.


• Describe various techniques to analyze, model, and document requirements, and implement several of these techniques, including context diagrams, use case models, use case descriptions, workflow models, user requirements, storyboards, prototypes, data models, class models, business rules, and decision tables.


• Write and verify functional and quality of service requirements using unambiguous and quantifiable, measurable terms.


• Select and prioritize appropriate analysis and document models for implementation that best meet the organization’s needs and adhere to known constraints.


• Understand the BA’s role in Solution Assessment and Validation activities, from reviewing technical design deliverables in design and construction to supporting quality assurance activities and production rollout.

What you will learn

• BABOK Knowledge Areas: tasks, techniques, inputs, and outputs


• Characteristics and applicability of sequential, iterative, and agile development life cycles


• Components of an effective Business Case


• Prerequisite tasks and work products required of requirements planning


• Stakeholder identification, categorization, and analysis


• Requirements risk analysis and response strategies


• Requirements work breakdown structures (WBS)


• Effort, duration, and risks of requirements activities


• Requirements activities and life cycle impact (sequential, iterative, agile)


• Requirements activities and organizational impacts (culture, structures)


• Requirements attributes, traceability, baselines, and metrics


• Change control processes and change request impact assessment - investigation and negotiation


• Requirements communication plan


• Requirements reviews


• Requirements management plan: assembly, communication, and approval


• Requirements elicitation challenges and methods to overcome them


• Communication style assessment


• Impact of communication styles on requirements elicitation activities


• Classifications of requirements


• Requirements quality continuum


• Document analysis


• Observation


• Interview preparation


• Interviewing


• Brainstorming


• Requirements workshop


• Prototyping


• Surveys


• Focus groups


• Interface analysis


• Reverse engineering


• Quality function deployment


• Elicitation technique selection


• Requirements Analysis challenges and methods to overcome them


• Context diagrams


• Use case diagrams


• Use case descriptions and scenarios


• Workflow modeling


• Activity diagrams


• User interface requirements analysis


• Usability requirements


• User interface storyboards


• Data modeling


• Class modeling


• Business rules


• UML standards for analysis models


• Quality of service requirements


• Traceability as it pertains to models


• Model selection criteria


• Requirements reviews


• Quality control and quality assurance activities
  
  Agenda:
  
  Class 1
  Course Roadmap
  Core Concepts of Business Analysis
  Introduction to the IIBA Body of Knowledge
  Overview of Life Cycles
  Enterprise Analysis and the BA Role
  The Business Case
  
  
  Class 2
  Overview of the BA Role in Planning, Management, and Communication
  The Business Analysis and Project Manager Roles
  Preparing for Requirements Planning
  Stakeholder Identification and Analysis
  Requirements Risks
  Requirements WBS
  Requirements Activities and Life Cycle Impact
  Requirements Activities and Organizational Impacts
  
  
  Class 3
  Traceability and Metrics
  Configuration Management and Change Control
  The Change Control Process
  Communications Planning
  Requirements Review
  A Consistent and Complete Requirements Management Plan
  
  
  Class 4
  The Elicitation Knowledge Area
  Communication Styles
  Requirements Definitions
  Elicit Requirements through Document Analysis
  Elicit Requirements through Observation
  Preparing for Interviews
  
  
  Class 5
  Conducting, Closing, and Assessing the Interview
  Facilitating Brainstorming Sessions
  Facilitating Requirements Workshop
  Prototyping to Elicit Requirements
  Conducting Surveys
  
  
  Class 6
  Moderating Focus Groups
  Interface Analysis
  Reverse Engineering
  Elicit and Verify Requirements Using Quality Function Deployment
  Technique Selection Factors
  
  
  Class 7
  Requirements Analysis Techniques
  Overview of Context Diagrams
  Overview of Use Case Modeling
  Use Case Descriptions
  Alternate and Exception Flows
  
  
  Class 8
  Overview of Workflow Models
  The Activity Diagram
  Usability Requirements
  Storyboards and Prototypes (Storyboards)
  
  
  Class 9
  Storyboards and Prototypes (Prototyping)
  Entity Relationship Models
  Class Models
  Overview of Business Rules
  Decision Tables
  
  
  Class 10
  Types of Non-Functional Requirements
  The Role of the Business Analyst in Non-Functional Requirements
  Setting Priorities and Making Trade-Offs
  Solution Assessment and Validation and the BA Role