Foundations of Business Analysis

Understand the vital role of the business analyst throughout all the phases of a project.

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Course Overview

The business analyst’s role is pivotal in defining the requirements of a project at its earliest stages, as well as during the stages of planning, defining and scope validation. Foundations of Business Analysis is perfect for those who work with business analysts, who are new to the role, or have no formal training. This course provides an understanding of the ways in which a business analyst drives the knowledge of developing business situations and supports the project; from establishing scope in the analysis phase to ensuring the requirements have been met in the testing phase. You will come away from this course with the knowledge of why and when to involve the business analyst, and a working vocabulary that will enable you to communicate effectively.

Course Topics

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1. Introduction
   1. What is Business Analysis?
   2. Best practices in business analysis
   3. Benefits of business analysis
2. The Role of the Business Analyst
   1. The business analysis process
   2. BA role vs. project manager role
   3. BA competencies
   4. The BA career path
3. Supporting the Project Portfolio
   1. The project portfolio
   2. Strategic enterprise analysis
   3. Solution development life-cycle (SDLC)
4. Developing the Solution Vision and Scope
   1. Defining solution vision & scope
   2. Vision & scope report
   3. Conducting a visioning workshop
   4. Validating solution scope
   5. Traceability
5. Understanding Requirements and Business Rules
   1. Functional, nonfunctional & implementation requirements
   2. Requirements vs. specifications
   3. Requirements vs. business rules
   4. Risk management and risk response strategies
6. Planning and Eliciting Requirements
   1. The Requirements Work Plan (RWP)
   2. Components of the RWP
   3. Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
   4. Elicitation keys to success
   5. Elicitation techniques
   6. Preparing for change
7. Analysing and Documenting Requirements
   1. Analysing requirements
   2. Characteristics of effective requirements
   3. The Business Requirements Document (BRD)
   4. The BRD vs. the technical specifications document
   5. Components of the BRD
   6. BRD validation techniques
8. Modelling Requirements
   1. Modelling requirements
   2. Models vs. diagrams
   3. As-is vs. to-be modelling
   4. Types of models
   5. Models & the BRD
9. Assessing and Validating Requirements
   1. Validation & verification
   2. V-Model of testing
   3. Levels and types of testing
   4. The master test plan
   5. Test scenarios & test cases

“Constructive, engaging and very enjoyable.”

David Woodrow,
Project Manager,
ICAP Ltd