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Introduction to Business Analysis (IIBA - ECBA)

6. Business Analysis Knowledge Areas

Business Analysis Knowledge Areas After completing this topic, you should be able to recognise the business analysis knowledge areas. This graphic illustrates the relationship between the various business analysis knowledge areas. Now, a knowledge area represents a category of expertise that includes tasks and activities that a business analyst would perform. Each knowledge area has a specific purpose, inputs, outputs, and techniques associated with it. As you can see from the diagram, the knowledge areas are not sequential, but there is a logic in their application. It's about what a business analyst does, not how to do it so.In other words, it's not how to do it. For any given initiative, a business analyst may use one, but most likely all, of the knowledge areas. Business analysis, planning, and monitoring are about creating a plan of action. One key task to take note of is the stakeholder analysis task. Doing so ensures that we identify groups or individuals or departments that are impacted by the change. This ensures that you have identified all the groups, and therefore you are more likely to identify all of the needs and requirements, resulting in a complete requirements package. You use business analysis, planning, and monitoring tasks and activities to plan for elicitation and collaboration with stakeholders. Business Analysis, Planning, and Monitoring Business analysis is illustrated by a diagram with six interrelated knowledge areas Business Analysis, Planning, andMonitoring Elicitation and collaboration requirements Lifecycle Management Strategy, Analysis, and Requirements Analysis and Design Definition solution Evaluation has a cyclic relationship while business analysis, planning, monitoring, elicitation, collaboration, and requirements Lifecycle management is connected to the cycle at different points. Business analysis, planning, and monitoring are all linked to reputation as well as collaboration and requirements. lifecycle management Requirements Lifecycle Guidelines Life Managing Requirements changes will be entered into your plan so that both the project manager and your stakeholders understand how requirements are going to be matched. Information gathered during elicitation needs to be analysed and designed. Hence the close connection between business analysis, planning, and monitoring and requirements analysis and definition. The plan will give you the guidelines, the techniques, and how you will analyse and communicate the design. The plan also ensures that you are aligning the requirements with the strategy. Hence, the connection to strategy analyses, elicitationand Collaboration describes the task that business analysts will undertake to engage with stakeholders and to obtain information. There are a number of steps. One is to prepare. The other is to actually conduct the elicitation activity, which could consist of workshops, interviews, and document analyses. The results from the elicitation activity need to be managed and communicated. The knowledge area has a strong relationship to business analysis, planning, and monitoring. It also has a strong relationship to strategy analysis. This is important for elicitation activities as these are the activities needed to identify the business need and ensure that it's defined. Actually, business analysts are continually eliciting information, even when they are engaged in solution evaluation activities. Collaboration is critical to business analysts' success. Stakeholders may not participate in or support business analysis activities if relationships are not nurtured or the requirements plan is not communicated. Lifecycle management is comprised of tracing, maintaining priorities, and approving requirements. Requirements can't be traced or maintained without first being verified, which is a task in requirements analysis and design definition. Strategy analysis is directly linked to lifecycle management as risk assessment is one component of prioritising requirements. The business analyst approach to the task in lifecycle management is documented in plans specific to anyone's initiative, hence the link to business analysis, planning, and monitoring. Strategy analysis is central, as you can see in the diagram. This indicates that strategy analysis is important as the current and future state of the area under analysis are pivotal. It produces the business requirements, objectives, and description of the future state. It has a relationship with all other knowledge areas. In this knowledge area, you assess enterprise limitations and recommend solutions. Tasking and solution evaluation rely on strategy analysis. You have to know the current state in order to evaluate it. The future state helps you manage stakeholder collaboration. Strategy analysis also has a strong relationship with requirements analysis and design definition. You have to analyse all requirements for potential value that aligns with the strategy. Requirements analysis and design definition are also central to what the business analyst does and therefore have relationships with all other knowledge areas. As you can see, it is also central in the diagram. To complete the task in the knowledge area, your business analysis plan will outline the information management approach. The elicitation results are needed before a business analyst can analyse and design a solution. During the lifecycle of requirements, they have to be approved, but the task is to verify. Requirements analysis must be conducted first, which is a task in requirements analysis and design definition. Knowledge area validation is the process of ensuring requirements are aligned to the business need for any solution to be implemented, hence its connection to strategy analysis. Any changes to the validation requirements are addressed in strategy analysis as well. Solution evaluation needs input from Strategy Analyzes' knowledge area in order to measure, analyze, assess enterprise limitations, evaluate the solution, and recommend an action. The recommended actions from the solution evaluation will assist in managing stakeholder collaboration. The knowledge area is about ensuring a solution meets the expected value, hence its connection to strategy analysis. Stakeholder impact analysis, reviewing potential organisational structure changes, and other operational assessments determine whether the enterprise is able to adapt to any new changes in its current state or not.

7. Business Analysis Key Terms

Business Analysis After completing this topic, you should be able to match key terms used in business analysis with their definitions. As with any profession, business analysis uses specific terminology to communicate concepts and activities. It's important to have an understanding of these tops. This will help you utilise the knowledge areas in the Body of Knowledge Guide and mitigate any misunderstanding. This topic covers a few of the key terms that you will need to understand. They include information requirements, design, plan, risk, organization, and enterprise. Business Analyzes Information refers to the broad and diverse sets of information that business analysts analyze, transform, and report. Elicitation results include notes taken by the business analyst during requirements discovery sessions. It also includes the documented requirements and designs. A List of Stakeholders a list of stakeholders with a description explaining the makeup of the stakeholder group's contact information and their role in the business analytics process. The requirements plan itself is also a business analysis of information. This outlines the activities and how the business analyst will approach the project or initiative. A record of any changes made to the requirements through the change request process is also considered. Business analyses information. business Analysis Key Terms Business analysts' key terms to communicate concepts and activities include information requirements, design, plan, risk, organization, and enterprise. A requirement is a usable representation of a need and should provide something of value to the stakeholders. For example, there may be a need to collect customer information. This could be accomplished by storing the information on paper and putting it in a file or folder or using customer relationship management software. Product requirements need to be decomposed and constraints identified in order to provide the best solution. There may be a time constraint, so the customer relationship management software should be provided with standard terminology for easy access and recording requirements in an organisation to address needs such as completing a transaction to process a payment, the need to collect revenue, and quality attributes related to time and accuracy. The result of the transaction may integrate with other systems, such as finance; a design is a usable representation of a solution. It represents how value is realised from a solution. Designs can be represented in various ways. A prototype of the customer-relationship management software and the screens used by the salesperson is a design. The processes the sales reps will follow are also designed in the form of a process processes the salA requirement can be defined as a usable representation of a need. A requirement defines value and can take various as a usable rA design can be defined as a usable representation of a solution. Design represents how value is realised from a solution and can be represented in various ways. A plan is a proposal. The business analyst should plan tasks, activities, and the sequence of those events. For example, a business analyst will plan to meet with a senior manager to understand his or her vision of the future, but before that, he or she will review documentation. This will help the business analyst prepare for the meeting. Once the vision is understood, the business analyst may schedule the requirements workshop with subject matter experts. Resources need to be considered. For example, to conduct a requirements workshop, the business analyst will need a room, whiteboards, flipcharts, sticky notes, and a projector. The effect of uncertainty on the value of a change, a solution, or enterprise risk on the financial return or assessing the risk that may cost the organization, such as uncertainty around selecting a solution with cutting-edge technology, is referred to as risk. This technology may not integrate well with its infrastructure, resulting in downtime or the need for additional time to ensure the solution box. Operational risks include financial losses due to stakeholders, resistance to change, and not adopting the solution or processes that do not meet regulatory constraints. A business analyst assesses risk to the solution and may include tangible impacts, such as regulatory fines for noncompliance, or nontangible impacts resulting from noncompliance that could affect the company's reputation in the marketing plan. A plan is a proposal that describes events and tasks, lays out a sequence of events, and includes required resources. Risk can be defined as the effect of uncertainty on the value of a change, a solution, or the enterprise. The likelihood of risk can be managed, and the effect of risk may be financial, operational, tangible, or nontangible. An enterprise is comprised of departments or business units. In essence, it is a company that includes solutions such as processes, technology, policy, information, and business rules. An enterprise operates to meet shared goals. Goals are broken down into objectives, which are measurable. Goals are central in business analysis and, once understood by the business analyst, should be communicated to stakeholders. The domain under analysis is the area that will experience changes due to business analysis activities. Some changes are enterprise-wide and are typically considered strategic. An organisation is a group of people who are managed and have common goals that must be met in order to meet the goals and the enterprise strategy. The organisation is often referred to as the organisational level of the enterprise. Tactical business analysis activities often occur in the organization, such as modifications to the processes and enhancements to the technology. Enterprise: an enterprise is a system of organisations and solutions with shared goals and boundaries defined relative to change. An organisation is a group of people under management with common objectives that pursue continuous operation. The same organisational hierarchy chart can be used as the one used for enterprises with different levels. The department manager section of the chart is highlighted with a level organisation added below it.

8. Business Analysis Core Concepts

Business Analysis Core Concepts After completing this topic, you should be able to recognise the meaning of six core concepts within the context of business. Business Analysis The business analysis framework, called ConceptModel, is a framework for business analysis. It provides a common approach, no matter the scope, domain, or approach the business analyst chooses. As you can see, it's an interconnected concept, with one influencing or supporting another. Changes are brought about via solutions that are carried out within the context of the organisation responding to the needs of stakeholders and what signifies value to them. Change is transformation. It can be large or small, complex or simple. Change in an organisation is predicated on a need. I was a consultant on a large enterprisewide implementation of an ERP system. The need stemmed from the retirement of older systems. Changes don't always include improvement, but they should, even if the change relates to a regulatory need. In the case of the enterprise-wide system I worked on, the improvement included better communication through reporting and linkages between data from various organisational operations. A project typically controls the activities of change and is deliberate because a project must be approved and funded. The Baccm The Baccm is presented as an astar-shaped diagram showing the relationship among six core concepts: needs, changes, solutions, context, value, and stakeholders. Each concept represents a point of the star and is connected to all the other points of the star. Change is a transformation and a response to a need. It improves performance and is brought about by deliberate and controlled activities. A "need" is a problem or opportunity. Incorrect data and key performance indicators not being met are just two examples of a need. Opportunities include new products and new markets, among others. needs to spawn the activities necessary to make improvements. The greater a company's risk or level of adversity, the greater the need and, typically, the less time allocated for a solution. These are prioritised during project and programme allocation. The need for an enterprise-wide change was necessitated by the retirement of older systems, the failure of which would have been catastrophic. But because the risk was assessed and the time was available to appropriately review possible solutions, the opportunity to make improvements to many areas of the company presented itself. The solution should ultimately satisfy the need. The resolution of a problem is only as good as the measures taken. Using key performance indicators, stakeholders' perceptions of how the problem is resolved may differ depending on their position in the organisation and how the problem affects them. A solution to a problem takes many forms. Each stakeholder holds a piece of the puzzle, providing information on the respective needs that help formulate the overall solution, which should be investigated against those requirements. A need is a problem or opportunity that motivates action for improvement and can be caused by changes or adverse events. Solution: A solution satisfies the need, resolves the problem, and enables the exploitation of opportunities. Stakeholders have a vested interest in the outcome. They are often subject-matter experts and decisionmakers who will have influence over the outcome. Other stakeholders, like the end user of a solution, typically have less influence and are prone to resist the change. The stakeholders are grouped based on the solution and the impact on their level in the organization. When implementing the enterprise-wide system, constant communication requiring feedback from them included training meetings and announcements that continue to stress the importance of the change and that they would be supported throughout. This helped lessen resistance. Value is what stakeholders find worthwhile. What's in it for me? The system implemented in my earlier example provided timely reports that were accurate, which was of great value to the stakeholders because it saved time. Often, the change is communicated as urgent or needed by senior executives. Then the importance of it adds value. When a solution is useful, it's considered valuable. The reports provided by the new system were very useful as they provided a snapshot of current operations with quick reference to troubled areas. Stakeholders have vested interests. They can impact and influence, and they are grouped based on needs, solutions, and changes. Value is what stakeholders find worthwhile, important, and useful and can be tangible or intangible and absolute or relative develop.A solution can be tangible, such as saving money, or intangible, such as increasing a person's or company's status. When value is absolute, there is no disputing its value, such as a way for stakeholders to manage their own customer profiles, save the customer time, remove the need for an administrator or salesperson to be engaged, free up resources, and likely increase the validity of customer data, saving time and money. Relative value is in the eye of the beholder. all the management love. The new system that was implemented because of the reporting by the end user wasn't keen on changing the way they operated. Context is circumstances that surround the change. It is what influences and affects the change, but it is not necessarily the change itself. The environment under which the solution would operate includes the attitude and beliefs about change, or the culture of the organization. This should always be taken into consideration whenchoosing a solution as well as the demographics. The project I mentioned earlier has a demographic of 30% of staff retiring in five years, which makes change a bit more challenging. Context concerns the circumstances around the change, everything relevant in the environment, and includes attitudes and beliefs about change, culture and demographics, processes, and infrastructure and technology If processes are immature, consideration needs to be given to the amount of change needed. And like my earlier example, the infrastructure for this organisation impacted offices around the world and various supporting infrastructures. For example, some offices have limited access to the Internet. Technology has a big part to play and should always be examined, even when making process changes. The likelihood of an impact on the software application is quite high when new ways of completing work are introduced. Produced.

9. Exercise: Business Analysis Key Terms and Concepts

So back to business analyses, key terms, and concepts. This time, after completing this topic, you should be able to demonstrate your understanding of the business analysis knowledge areas, key terms, and core concepts. Understanding the business analysis knowledge areas, key terms, and core concepts involves several tasks: recognising the business analysis knowledge areas, matching key terms used in business analysis with their definitions, and recognising the meaning of six core concepts within the context of business analysis. Let's start with the first question. There are several knowledge areas in business analysis. What is the correct definition of knowledge areas? You have? Here the options are areas of specific business analysis expertise that encompass several tasks and techniques, logically related categories of business analysis expertise that occur in a particular sequence, and lastly, categories of implementation strategies that are generally accepted by practitioners and are available for business analysts to use. Here, you have the answer. Option One: This is the correct option. A knowledge area represents a specific category of expertise that includes tasks and activities a business analyst performs. Each knowledge area has the purpose, inputs, outputs, and techniques associated with it. There are six knowledge areas in business analysis. Option Two: This option is incorrect. A knowledge area is a category of expertise for a business analyst. However, the knowledge areas are not sequential in their application. Option Three: This option is incorrect. A knowledge area describes the knowledge, skills, and processes that the business analyst requires to perform tasks associated with the knowledge area competently. It does not dictate which tasks and activities should be implemented. That simple. Now let's see a different question. Each business analyses knowledge areas that comprise different tasks and activities. Which knowledge area involves identifying the project stakeholders, business analysis, planning and monitoring, elicitation, and collaboration requirements lifecycleManagement Strategy Analyzes Requirements analysis and design definition or solution evaluation? Let's see the answer. Option One: This is the correct option. Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring involves creating a plan of action and identifying the project stakeholders, such as the individuals, teams, or departments that are affected by the project. Option Two: This option is incorrect. Solicitation and collaboration involve the tasks and activities used to engage with stakeholders to determine their underlying needs. Option Three: This option is incorrect. Requirements lifecycle Management involves monitoring, maintaining, and approving project requirements. Option Four: This option is incorrect. Strategy analysis involves evaluating the current state in terms of its limitations and recommending solutions. Option Five: This option is incorrect. Verifying and validating requirements to ensure that they remain aligned with business needs is part of the requirements, analyses, and design definition process. Option six, and the last one This option is also incorrect. Solution evaluation describes the process of selecting the best solution through measurement and analysis. Business analysis uses specific terminology to communicate concepts and activities. Match the business analysis terms to the corresponding definitions. Here are the options Information Requirement. Design. Risk. Plan. Organization, and here we have the target data that the business analyst analyzes. transforms and reports a usable representation of a solution to the effects of uncertainty on the value of a change. A solution or an enterprise creates a proposal that outlines the task and event in a specific order and identifies a group of people under management who share common goals. and here you have the answer. "Business analyses information" refers to the broad and diverse sets of information that business analysts analyze, transform, and report. A requirement is a usable representation of a need and provides value to stakeholders. For example, a need to collect employee information could be achieved by storing the information on paper or electronically. A design is a usable representation of a solution. It represents how value can be achieved from a solution. Designs can be represented in various ways, for example as prototypes or models. Risk can include both tangible and nontangible effects. For example, a regulatory fine for noncompliance is a tangible risk, whereas the impact of noncompliance on the company's reputation is an example of a non-tangible risk. The term plan refers to the proposed tasks and activities and the sequence in which they should occur. An organisation is a group of people with shared objectives that need to be met in order to meet the enterprise strategy. An organisation is often referred to as organisational level of the enterprise." The Business Analysis Core Concept Model is a framework for business analysis in which statements correctly describe the core concepts. Here are the options Change is a controlled transformation in response to a need. Need is a problem or opportunity that motivates action for improvement. A solution is a means of satisfying a need or providing a resolution to a problem. Stakeholders are individuals or groups who are actively involved in implementing a project. Value is a usable representation of a solution. And finally, context is the geographic location within which the enterprise is situated. and here you have the answer. Option One: This is the correct option. In the BACCM model, change refers to a simple or complex transformation in response to a need. Change activities are planned and managed as part of a project. Option Two: This option is also correct and is either a problem, such as incorrect data or key performance indicators not being met, or an opportunity, such as a new product that needs motivation to make improvements. Option Three: This option is correct. Solutions satisfy the needs that are identified. A solution to a problem can take many forms, and all relevant stakeholders can contribute to the overall solution. Option Four: This option is incorrect. Stakeholders include all individuals and groups who have expressed interest in the outcome, not only those who are involved in the implementation of the project. Stakeholders include subject matter experts and decisionmakers as well as end users. Option Five: This option is incorrect. In business analysis, a design is a usable representation of a solution. Value is defined as something that stakeholders can consider worthwhile, important, or useful. Option six, and the final one This is an incorrect option. Context refers to the circumstances that surround the change, rather than just the physical location. Context can include the beliefs and attitudes about the change, organizational culture, infrastructure, and technology. the business analysis. A core concept model identifies six core concepts. Identify the statements that accurately describe the core concepts of business analysis. Here are the options Change is an unstructured and accidental transformation in response to stakeholder needs. What is needed is a specific way of satisfying stakeholders. A solution is a proposal that lays out the tasks and events in sequence. Stakeholders are individuals or groups who have a vested interest in the outcome and can impact the outcome. Value is what stakeholders find worthwhile, important, or useful. And finally, context refers to the environment around a change and includes attitudes, culture, and technology. and here you have the answer. Option One. This option is incorrect. While change is a transformation in response to stakeholder needs, the activities that bring about the change are intentional and controlled through a project. Option Two: This option is incorrect. A need is a problem or opportunity that has potential value to a stakeholder. The specific means of satisfying a need is the solution. Option Three: This option is incorrect. A solution in business analysis is the specific way in which stakeholder needs are satisfied. It does not lay out the task and events in the required sequence. This is done in the project plan. Option Four: This option is correct. Stakeholders include all individuals and groups who have a vested interest in the outcome. Subject matter experts and decisionmakers are examples of stakeholders who provide feedback on the solution. The end users of a solution are also stakeholders but typically have less influence and are often resistant to change. Option Five: This option is correct. Values are defined as something that stakeholders consider more useful. The value of a solution can be tangible, such as increasing profits, or intangible, such as employee morale. Value can also be absolute or relative. Option Six: This option is correct. Context refers to the circumstances within which a change occurs. This can include stakeholder beliefs and attitudes about the change, the organizational culture, infrastructure, and technology.

10. Stakeholders Within a Project Team

stakeholders within a project team. After completing this topic, you should be able to identify examples of project team stakeholders. The sponsor is a driving force in defining the overall goals and objectives for the organisation and the development of the solution. He or she controls the budget and therefore the resources allocated to initiatives and projects. The sponsor is usually someone who is an executive or senior manager. As the project sponsor, he or she will have a vested interest in the outcome of the project. The business analyst is responsible for the activities and tasks needed to describe the solution within a project. He or she is accountable for the execution of the requirements phase of a project based on availability. He or she may also take on additional responsibilities such as software tester and trainer. The project manager oversees the completion of the work required to deliver the solution. The project manager is responsible for meeting project objectives outlined in the project charter. He or she manages constraints such as delivering those elements of the solution that will meet stakeholders' needs within the allocated time and budget. They are planning a schedule in order to meet the allocated time and budget. Obtaining and managing the resources needed to deliver the solution and the quality delivered by the project team in the form of a solution that meets the acceptance criteria outlined by the analyst The sponsor is a driving force in defining needs and developing solutions. It controls resources, and its roles include executive and project sponsor. the BusinessAnalyst A business analyst assumes responsibility for activities and tasks, is accountable for business analytics and execution, and may take on other stakeholder roles. The Project Manager The project manager oversees work and is responsible for meeting project objectives and managing constraints including scope, budget, schedule, resources, quality, and risk. The project manager is constantly identifying, monitoring, and mitigating risk to ensure project success. A domain subject matter expert is often referred to as an SME. This person has in-depth knowledge of the current state and the needs of the operation. This can be anyone in the organisation or an end user of the existing solution who knows the ins and outs of the current issue. Managers who need data and reports in order to run day-to-day operations Source process Owners who are responsible for the key performance indicators for a process—legal and regulatory experts—are critical when defining constraints imposed by the law. Often, consultants are brought in to give their expertise in a specific domain. implementation Subject matter experts are responsible for the implementation of the described solution. These roles are typically assigned to a project and use the requirements to implement the solution according to the specifications and acceptance criteria outlined by the business analyst. The Domain Subject Matter Expert A domain-subject matter expert has in-depth knowledge of the need or solution. Their roles include end user manager, process owner, legal staff member, and consultant. Implementation Subject Matter Expert The implementation subject matter expert specialises in solution implementation. Their roles include project librarian, change manager, process owner, configuration manager, solution architect, developer, database administrator, information architect, usability analyst, trainer, and organisational change consultant. The tester's role is to verify the solution and ensure it meets the specification. He or she will create test casesaligned to ensure that the processes andsoftware performs according to the specification. He or she makes sure that the outcome is of high quality and therefore reduces risk and effects, which is the primary concern of a tester. The tester verifies the solution's effectiveness, performance, process, and result verification, ensures quality standards, and reduces risk and defects.

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