Business Analysis by Karen Colyn

Developing an Excellent Business Analyst

he emergence of the business analysis profession is one of the best things that has happened to business organisations in this decade! Organisations that have nurtured and developed business analysts (BAs) are experiencing huge paybacks for their investments. People with titles as varied as project manager, quality assurance analyst, and consultant possess business analysis skills.

The more analysis tools a BA masters, the more valuable he will be to the organisation.

Regardless of the title, individuals who truly understand how to turn high level corporate objectives into detailed business solutions are extremely valuable resources. Excellent BAs are unique individuals who have the ability to work on details while also understanding how small these details can impact the larger corporate picture. An excellent BA looks upon a “simple” maintenance change to determine if it has a broader impact to the organisation. BAs bring requirements skills to many different types of projects, such as: • selection and implementation of packaged solutions (COTS) • new software development • business process improvement

The excellent BA is aware of his or her organisation’s strategic plans and understands how to implement them at the individual business unit level. Many corporate executives are uncertain where to find these people and how to develop them. Traditional management training is not appropriate for this role. Specific technology or methodology training isn’t the entire solution. And, focusing on a particular technical solution or approach is too narrow to build an effective BA. The skills most highly valued by an organisation are true problem solving skills that are broad enough to allow an individual to see many possible solutions and to think outside or beyond a predetermined solution that may have been presented. An excellent BA looks at each problem as a missing puzzle piece that needs to interlock and work with the other pieces of the organisation. He or she has the ability to examine the problem from multiple perspectives and consider possible solutions with a realistic view of the organisation’s cost vs. benefit. Ideas are easy to generate but a BA challenges, dissects evaluates, and truly “tests” each idea to determine if it fits within the corporate direction while also addressing the specific business problem at hand. Additionally, an excellent BA assesses the impact of a recommended change on the organisation. Is the Excellent BA Born or Developed? Is a BA born or made? We believe both. Individuals selected for this role must have a critical mind and an acute sense of curiosity. They are people who are not satisfied settling for a good solution but are determined to find an excellent one. They intuitively understand continuous process improvement. Once you find a person like this, he or she is eager to learn techniques that make him more capable and effective. Analysis skills that can be acquired through education and practice include critical thinking skills, root cause analysis, process analysis (breaking large things into manageable pieces), and data analysis (organising, categorising, and utilising large volumes of data in a useful way to assist in decision making).

Page 2

Analysis skills that can be acquired through education and practice include critical thinking skills, root cause analysis, process analysis (breaking large things into manageable pieces), and data analysis (organising, categorising, and utilising large volumes of data in a useful way to assist in decision making). BAs learn to improve their communication skills by widening the breadth of their questioning and by fine tuning their ability to listen for true causes of problems, not just symptoms.

Business Analysis Skills

IndigoCube focuses on developing individuals to master business analysis. Our courses and products equip BAs with a full range of complex business analysis skills, techniques, and approaches. The more analysis tools BAs master, the more valuable they will be to the organisation. In many organisations today, projects and problems do not follow a simple 1-2-3 pattern. Most problems are usually more complex than they initially appear, involving a number of interrelated factors. Solutions are not always obvious or easy to build. An excellent BA knows how to get started on a problem/project that may not be clearly defined or understood.

Requirements Planning

An excellent BA is flexible and able to adapt to each unique situation. They possess an inventory of problem solving skills with which they feel comfortable to deploy as needed. They are able to work with many different types of people on many different types of projects. They must be agile. Agility is obtained by having a complete set of skills; and knowing when and how to wield them quickly and efficiently. Regardless of what type of project the BA is working on, having a solid skill set will ensure the BA’s critical value to an organisation.

Workflow Analysis

Communication Skills Facilitation Techniques Use Case Analysis

Prototyping Asking the Right Questions Structured Approaches Documentation Standards

Traceability Requirements Review Requirements Management Note Taking SDLC Knowledge

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cost/Benefit Analysis

Training Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 International Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 South African Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

UAT Planning

Certified Core Courses Essential Skills for Business Analysis™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Business Process Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Detailing Business Data Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Interviewing Techniques

Certified Advanced Courses Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Business Analysis in an Agile Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Specialised Courses Requirements Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Management/Technical Seminars Overview of Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Practitioner Courses Essentials of Rational Unified Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Writing Good Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with U ML 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 BABOK / CCBA / CBAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Requirements Template Roadmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Business Analyst Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 ®

Effective Meetings Presentation Skills

Risk Assessment Dataflow Diagramming Excellent Requirements Process Modeling Elicitation Techniques Software Design Knowledge Change Control Project Management Data Modeling Active Listening Organisational Skills Usability Principles Business Rule Analysis Gap Analysis

IIBA BABOK Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 List of IndigoCube’s Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Page 3

TRAINING OPTIONS

Onsite Training All of our courses may be taught on-site at your facilities, where required, provided that there are six or more delegates. Please contact us to discuss your specific course requirements, group size, and available training dates.

Public Training IndigoCube offers public classes at our offices on the Ground Floor, Victoria Gate South, Hyde Lane, Hyde Park, Sandton. Public classes allow students to meet and learn with business analysts from other companies and industries, offering a broader understanding of the business analysis profession.

Self-study For experienced business analysts, study guides are available for our four core courses. Go to www.b2ttraining.com These study guides are ideal for skilled business analysts who are unable to attend classes but would like to receive the B2T Training Certification.

Customisation Onsite classes can be tailored to address your unique organisational environment and the experience level and interest of the students. The level of customisation required is dependent upon a review of your needs and the outline of our course curriculum. This review will reveal areas that may need more or less focus during training. We will prepare a customised training programme, if needed, which includes topics from existing material that address specific areas of concern. Customisation requiring additional or new course development will incur a fee.

Page 4

TRAINING CURRICULUM Our comprehensive business analysis curriculum is developed and delivered by practicing business analysts. Our mature programme has been proven through the success of our customers resulting in improved requirements. The curriculum is supported by full requirements document templates, a reference manual for posttraining guidance, coaching, and resources. The skills, techniques, and approaches that we teach are not tied to or limited to any particular methodology.

Core Courses

Advanced Courses

Our core training programme is aimed at new or experienced business analysts. These courses comprise a complete curriculum and are written for organisations looking to levelset the business analyst role in their companies and for individuals seeking a solid foundational skill set. Our certification programme is based on these four core courses.

In addition to the four core courses, IndigoCube offers courses that cover more advanced and specialised business analysis topics. These courses are designed for experienced business analysts or to be taken after completing the four core courses.

Core Courses: ■ Essential Skills for Business Analysis ■ Business Process Analysis ■ Detailing Business Data Requirements ■ Use Case Modeling & Solution Requirements

Attend two of the following Advanced Classes for the BA Certified Exam:

■ Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan ■ Business Analysis in an Agile Environment ■ Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis

Specialised Courses We also offer specialised courses designed to assist project managers and business analysts who need an understanding of business analysis practices in the software development environment. ■ Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers ■ Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements ■ Writing Good Use Cases ■ Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases ■ Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis & Design with UML 2.0 ■ Requirements Validation

Management and Technical Seminars: Our management and technical seminars are designed to help those who work with business analysts to gain a better understanding of the business analysis role. ■ Overview of Business Analysis ■ Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis

Page 5

B2T I N T E R N A T I O N A L C E R T I F I C A T I O N TM

Certification

BA Associate

IndigoCube believes that a certified business analyst should exhibit real-world knowledge and experience. Our certification programme tests a business analyst’s ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world circumstances and offers two levels of recognition. Our business analyst certification programme recognises individuals who have proven skills, knowledge, and experience in eliciting, organising, analysing, documenting, communicating, and verifying requirements to facilitate the development or purchase of software applications and/or business process improvement efforts. Our certification programme is based on the essential business analysis skills covered in our four core courses.

The BA Associate is a certificate that recognises business analysts who possess foundational knowledge of business analysis topics and skills taught in our four core courses. It is designed for new and experienced business analysts. Obtaining the BA Associate certificate requires candidates to pass all online proficiency area exams of our four core courses. The cost of each exam is R900 excluding VAT. Candidates wishing to test-out the four core courses may purchase study guides for each of these courses to help prepare for passing the proficiency exams.

BA Certified

After obtaining the BA Associate certificate, candidates are qualified to work toward BA Certified. BA Certified is an elite certification that recognises individuals who possess proven skills, knowledge, and experience in eliciting, organising, analysing, documenting, communicating, and verifying requirements. Becoming BA Certified consists of: ■ earning the BA Associate certificate ■ attending any two of the advanced courses ■ register for the final comprehensive exam ■ receive and review the CBAP Study Guide ■ writing and passing the final comprehensive exam BA Certified business analysts are able to confidently provide their employers or perspective employers with evidence that they possess not only business analysis knowledge, but the ability to apply that knowledge in day-to-day real-world business analysis environments. Cost of the final comprehensive exam is available on request.

Page 6

SOUTH AFRICAN CERTIFICATION

NATIONAL CERTIFICATE: BUSINESS ANALYSIS – NQF 6 SAQA QUALIFICATION ID. 63909 This Qualification consists of 30% instructor-led training and 70% practical implementation, the breakdown of which is as follows: Training Courses: • Essential Skills for Business Analysis™ • Detailing Business Data Requirements • Business Process Analysis • Use Case Modeling & Solution Requirements • Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements • Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan • Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis • Requirements Validation • Essentials of Rational Unified Process V7.0 • Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases • Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with UML 2.0 The option of backdating previous training on any of the above courses for accreditation can be discussed on an individual basis with IndigoCube. Practical Implementation: • Workplace implementation and practice • Assignments – practical implementation of knowledge to skill in the workplace • Prescribed reading • Self-study • Assessments consisting of assignments, compilation of a Portfolio of Evidence, and internal and external examinations

Page 7

B2T C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

4 DAYS

Essential Skills for Business Analysis™

Intended Audience

Overview

This course is designed for business analysts, project managers, business systems analysts, system architects or any other project team member involved with analysis. New practitioners will learn the tasks they are expected to perform and why each task is important. Experienced practitioners will learn new techniques and more structured approaches to improve their requirements activities. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage analysis activities and business stakeholders who need a more in-depth understanding of the requirements process and deliverables.

Regardless of the person’s title, the need for strong business analysis skills is necessary for companies to remain competitive in any economy. Through education and practice business or technical professionals will develop and enhance their analytical skills and provide significant value to projects and the business enterprise.

Prerequisites None

Earn 28 IIBA CDUs B2T Certification This class is a part of the Business Analyst International Certification Program. For more information on this Certification, please refer to Page 6 in this catalogue.

To identify the best solutions for real business needs, this course provides an extensive inventory of tools and techniques for use in business analysis work. The business analysis skill set includes critical thinking skills, elicitation techniques and requirements analysis and management. Equally important are communication and relationship building skills, whether they be in person or virtual environments. Expertise with analysis tools and techniques becomes even more necessary in today’s fast-paced environment. It is further complicated by the use of dispersed or outsourced teams, complex business processes, time-driven business initiatives, new agile software development approaches, and poorly integrated legacy applications.

This course teaches business analysis essentials to both new and experienced practitioners. It supports and expands on the standards outlined in the IIBA® BABOK® Guide V2.0. Mentor-led workshops allow students to practice the techniques as they learn them. Depending on the participant’s skill level, the workshop cases and discussions inspire learning insights for every level of experience. Students are encouraged to bring their own projects to class. Using new techniques on a current project often highlights missing requirements and gives the student specific next steps to follow after class. In this course students will learn to: • Analyse and scope the area of analysis, working with project managers and business sponsors to clarify the level and complexity of the business analysis effort needed for the project • Select the appropriate elicitation technique to efficiently identify critical requirements • Analyse and refine business and functional requirements • Ask the right questions through the use of interviewing templates developed specifically for business analysis elicitation • Identify the five core components necessary to analyse a business area • Plan an approach for analysing, categorising, and managing requirements. Determine the level of formality required and consider options for documenting and packaging requirements based on project type, priorities, and risks • Identify techniques and documentation options appropriate for various software development approaches and project types (COTS, maintenance, business process improvement, new development, etc.) • Define testing objectives and verify requirements are testable • Conduct effective requirements reviews to improve the quality of requirements deliverables • Build strong relationships with project stakeholders • Apply new communication strategies for eliciting and interacting with virtual teams • Anticipate issues, think proactively, and use critical thinking skills to plan stakeholder elicitation sessions

Page 8

B2T C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

3 DAYS Intended Audience This course will be beneficial to any person, in any size organisation, hoping to improve their business processes. The techniques presented can be used without any sophisticated software to quickly identify areas for improvement and fix broken processes

Prerequisites It is recommended that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements, and understanding how process modelling relates to, and is different from, a software development project

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs B2T Certification This class is a part of the Business Analyst International Certification Program. For more information on this Certification, please refer to Page 6 in this catalogue.

Business Process Analysis Overview Did you know the six costliest words in business are “we’ve always done it that way”? In this class you will learn techniques to help your business look at how things are being done and create solution options to improve the business processes. Creating AS IS and TO BE workflows gives the business analyst a strategic view of business architecture which is essential in Agile, SOA, BPM, and any type of process improvement or COTS project. Workflows are also the foundation for documenting Six Sigma, Lean, and Value Stream process maps. Business process analysis is a fundamental activity in defining changes to existing business systems, business process improvement activities, or performing gap analysis for COTS. It provides the analyst an understanding of the core business processes they can use to suggest alternative solutions which meet core business needs and fit with existing IT infrastructure. Management can then evaluate each alternative for its potential return on investment and the cost of implementation. Every business is searching for better ways of getting work done. Improving efficiency, decreasing costs, increasing productivity and customer service are goals that are universal. Evaluating the business process may result in software changes, procedural changes, organizational changes, personnel changes, etc. The best way to improve business operations is to: 1) study the current procedures, 2) find the core or essential work being done, and 3) define how this essential work will be accomplished. This course teaches a proven approach which gives the business analyst the confidence and credibility to offer and promote the right solution to solve the business problem or opportunity. In this course students will learn to:  Identify and document complex business process steps in an easy-to-review diagram using industry standard notation BPMN  Schedule and conduct discovery/elicitation sessions to learn about current business processes (AS IS)  Identify areas for process improvement by reviewing AS IS models  Develop process re-design strategies and present them for approval (TO BE)  Ask detailed questions to get a complete understanding of business procedures, business rules, information use, and events that impact the business processes  Initiate a process modeling effort with clear objectives and an agreed upon goal  Define key terms used by the business domain to improve communications within the business  Decompose complex processes into lower level tasks and sub-processes  Identify the most important business component: Essential Processes  Conduct a review of a process model to assure accuracy Please Note: If students prefer and have experience using MS Visio to draw diagrams, they may bring their laptops with MS Visio to use during some of the workshops. This is not a requirement.

Page 9

B2T C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

Detailing Business Data Requirements 3 DAYS Intended Audience This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts, data administrators, database administrators, or any other project team member involved with business analysis. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts or those who work with the business requirements document and need a more indepth understanding of the process and documentation.

Prerequisites It is recommended that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from subject matter experts, and understand how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort.

Overview Understanding and documenting business data requirements is a critical component in defining complete requirements. Eliciting information needs often uncovers additional processes and business rules. Every business process uses data and almost all business rules are enforced by data. Missing a critical piece of data or incorrectly defining a data element contributes to the majority of maintenance problems and results in systems that do not reflect the business needs. This course teaches students an in-depth approach to data modeling: identifying and defining all necessary data components using both textual templates and an entity relationship diagram. This course teaches business analysis techniques for eliciting, analysing, and documenting data requirements to both new and experienced practitioners. Students will be given data templates with a suggested documentation structure for defining Business Data Requirements. It supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Mentor-led workshops require students to practice the techniques as they learn. Students are encouraged to bring their own projects to class. In this course students will learn to: • Identify core data requirements beginning with project initiation • Identify excellent data requirements at the appropriate level of detail • Detail the data requirements (using a data dictionary and data model) • Detail complex data-related business rules • Assist with the transition of business data to database design • Utilise easy normalisation techniques (without all the mathematical theory) • Validate data requirements with activity (process or use case) requirements Even if your organisation has a data administrator or data warehouse team who is responsible for documenting and managing the organisation’s information needs, every project uses a subset of that enterprise information in its own unique way. Business analysts must understand the importance of data in all of their projects and include data requirements in their business requirements documentation. Failing to document which data elements need to be used in a calculation, or displayed on a report, leaves the developer the responsibility of choosing the correct pieces of business data from hundreds if not thousands of available fields. These missing requirements often lead to expensive and lengthy project delays during the testing phase. “… the data sees the big picture, while the various people and machines and organisations that work on the data see only a portion of what happens. As you go about doing a Structured Analysis, you will find yourself more and more frequently attaching yourself to the data and following it through the operation. I think of this as “interviewing the data.”‘ It is usually more productive than any other single interview.” Tom DeMarco.

P a g e 10

B2T C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

3 DAYS

Intended Audience This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts, or any other project team members responsible for developing functional, nonfunctional, and transition requirements. Students are encouraged to bring examples of their requirements documents to the class for review and feedback. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts. Developers and solution implementers will benefit from an understanding of how functional and non-functional requirements are elicited and analysed.

Prerequisites It is recommended that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from stakeholders, and understanding how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort. It is also recommended that students attend Business Process Analysis before attending this class

Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements Overview Use case modeling is a commonly used analysis technique which results in functional requirements and a framework for test case development. When the solution to a business problem or opportunity involves a software component, the solution team must determine how software will best support the business. This class focuses on the business analysis work which includes defining functional, non-functional, and transition requirements which describe the solution and roll out needs. This course supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Specifically techniques for communicating the business requirements to the solution team, tracing each business requirement to the supporting solution component, assessing the solution applicability and planning for a smooth transition to the solution. Mentor-led workshops require students to practice the techniques as they learn. Students are encouraged to bring their own projects to class. In this course students will learn to: • Use business requirements to identify, evaluate and present alternative design solutions which meet customer needs • Prioritise requirements for inclusion in the software development phase using plan-driven (traditional) and change-driven (iterative and agile) techniques • Elicit analyse, and communicate functional requirements that specify how users will interact with the software and how the software will respond • Deliver consistent, detailed use case descriptions • Incorporate usability principles when developing prototypes • Identify non-functional requirements appropriate for each project • Learn to assess organisational readiness and build a transition or rollout plan to smooth the implementation of new software for the business

P a g e 11

B2T A D V A N C E D C O U R S E

3 DAYS Intended Audience This course is intended for anyone who is interested in learning a practical approach to planning the necessary tasks for their project.

Prerequisites Business analysts registering for this course must have attended Essential Skills for Business Analysis, or have at least 2 years’ experience in requirements elicitation, analysis and documentation using structured techniques. Contact IndigoCube if you would like to discuss an exception being made to these prerequisites. Earn 21 IIBA CDUs

B2T Certification This class is a part of the Business Analyst International Certification Program. For more information on this Certification, please refer to Page 6 in this catalogue.

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan Overview Having trouble getting started with your business analysis work? Unsure about how much time to request from your project manager? Developing a business analysis work plan will prevent major problems by ensuring that all of the appropriate stakeholders are involved and the requirements will be analysed and presented using the most effective communication approaches. This class teaches students to consider all of the project and stakeholder characteristics before deciding on appropriate deliverables and producing a time estimate. The work plan also helps the business analyst develop realistic time estimates based on the chosen deliverables. These estimates provide detailed justification for negotiation with project managers and project sponsors. During class students are presented the Business Analysis Planning Framework™ and are given worksheets to guide their planning efforts. Students are encouraged to bring their own project initiation documentation for a current or past project to the class. During the workshops, students will develop their business analysis work plan. If students do not have a project, a class case study is available and should be reviewed prior to the first day of class. Regardless of when the BA joins a project or the project type, this class will guide planners to deliver an intelligent business analysis work plan to the project manager and have a detailed roadmap upon which they can immediately begin to execute. The business analysis work plan may be a single sheet of brief notes on a small project or a more formal document on larger projects. Regardless of the output produced, an excellent business analyst thinks through the plan before starting work. This course supports and extends the techniques in the IIBA’s BABOK® Guide V2.0. “Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in the wrong direction.” Kenichi Ohmae, Management consultant

P a g e 12

3 DAYS 3 DAYS Intended Audience This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts, product owners, project managers or any other project team member involved with requirements on an agile project. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts and need a more in-depth understanding of the process and skill set a business analyst can bring to an agile project

Prerequisites This is an advanced class. It is recommended students first attend our Core classes or have equivalent experience

B2T Certification This class is a part of the Business Analyst International Certification Program. For more information on this Certification, please refer to Page 6 in this catalogue.

B2T A D V A N C E D C O U R S E

Business Analysis in an Agile Environment Overview Agile environments are causing a shift in how teams are formed and the roles individuals have on their teams. While some agile teams do not have a formal role called Business Analyst, business analysis skills are still needed on agile teams. BAs possess unique skills including clear communication, organization, facilitation, requirements elicitation, critical thinking, and requirements analysis and management skills. This course is designed to show how business analysis fits in an agile environment and highlights the reality that business analysis activities are absolutely necessary. For the Business Analysis practitioner you will understand how the skills you have will help you become a valued agile team member. Students will gain knowledge and skills by practicing techniques and soft skills needed to operate effectively in a requirements-driven agile environment. In this course students will: • Agile approaches, key principles, practices and terminology focusing on Scrum. • How to map traditional skills and tasks of a Business Analyst to agile task and skills. • How a Business Analyst adds value to an agile project. • To develop user stories and specify acceptance criteria to assist the Product Owner and business stakeholders. • How requirements are managed in an agile environment pre and post the product backlog. • How to assist Product Owner and delivery team with four types of agile planning: Strategy and product planning, release planning, Sprint/Iteration Planning, daily planning during the Stand-up Meeting. • To communicate requirements in different ways, adjusting the level of detail and elaborating requirements iteratively as needed while developing just enough documentation. • To prioritise the Product Backlog and handling new requests

P a g e 13

B2T A D V A N C E D C O U R S E

3 DAYS Intended Audience This course is designed for experienced, knowledgeable business analysts or project managers involved with requirements elicitation and analysis. Students are expected to understand the purpose of business and functional requirements.

Prerequisites It is recommended that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from subject matter experts, and understanding how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis Overview The art of bringing people together, face-to-face or remotely, to elicit requirements and gain consensus on solutions is a critical success factor for all business analysis professionals. This course teaches facilitation techniques that can be used for structured sessions and “facilitation-on-the-fly.” This course goes beyond traditional facilitation training by focusing on facilitation techniques specific to eliciting business and functional requirements. This class is limited to 8 students, allowing each student the opportunity to practice facilitating multiple requirements sessions in a “safe” environment with personalised feedback. Students will spend 60% of class time participating in interactive, real-world business case studies and performing each key role in at least one session. The workshops in this course require students to plan the requirements eliciting session, develop the correct questions to ask the group, and facilitate the group to a consensus on the requirements using one of the learned techniques. Students will conduct a requirements workshop for at least one requirement deliverable (i.e. context level dataflow diagram, workflow diagram). This course supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. In this course students will learn to: • Facilitate using proven techniques for eliciting detailed business, functional and nonfunctional requirements • Identify when and how to use each technique • Develop confidence and a skill set to conduct requirements workshops • Actively practice learned skills and techniques • Use a requirements planning session template • Prepare the participants for the requirements session • Perform each facilitation role through role playing each session • Conduct the session to stay focused on the core requirement that was planned as a deliverable • Select which facilitation technique to use for each core requirement being elicited • Complete checklists for managing and conducting the session • Facilitate a requirements workshop

P a g e 14

B2T S P E C I A L I S E D C O U R S E

2 DAYS

Intended Audience This course is designed for business analysts, quality analysts, project managers, or anyone interested in improving and validating the quality of their requirements.

Prerequisites It is recommended that students first attend our 3 core courses (or at a minimum Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements) before enrolling for this course.

Earn 14 IIBA CDUs

Requirements Validation Overview This course takes you through the steps to ensure that business requirements are validated, that the solution is usable and meets the business needs. Validating requirements improves the likelihood of project success, making sure that we are building the right solution. The cost to correct a software defect may be as high as 2900 times the cost to correct a requirement. Finding missing requirements and requirements inconsistencies decreases the overall project length and cost. Business analysis and quality assurance professionals must use risk assessments to prioritise requirements and requirements validation activities. The highest risk areas of the business must be addressed first. This course teaches business and quality analysts to design efficient requirements validation tests to make the best use of limited resources and time. Solution Assessment and Validation is one of the key knowledge areas in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. This course addresses many of the important tasks in the knowledge area along with giving business analysts the ability to design efficient and effective tests to demonstrate that the application solutions meet their user’s needs. This course answers many of the key questions about requirements validation including: • How do we validate requirements? • Which types of validation and verification processes are appropriate for my project? • How does the team ensure that the solution meets the business stakeholder needs? • Where does validation fit in the software development life cycle (SDLC)? • What is software usability? Why is it important? • How does the team correct problems when they are discovered? • How do I work with technical members of the solution team? What do they need from a business analyst to be successful?

P a g e 15

B2T S P E C I A L I S E D C O U R S E

3 DAYS 3 DAYS Intended Audience This course is designed for Project Managers who are responsible for reviewing requirements, managing the business analysis efforts, overseeing the testing efforts, or obtaining sign-off on the business analysis deliverables. For PMs who are also responsible for eliciting the business requirements, it is recommended that they attend all of the core courses on business analysis.

Prerequisites None

Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers Overview The best way to guarantee success of any type of project is to have a strong, experienced Project Manager and a strong, experienced Business Analyst. These two individuals, working together from the beginning of the project, set the stage for success by accurately planning and clearly defining the expected outcomes. Both roles are necessary because they are each responsible for a different set of tasks and they each possess a set of skills that complement each other. The two roles are closely tied, but exactly what are the similarities and differences, and why does a project need both? This course discusses the role of Business Analysts and the business analysis skills that a Project Manager should also possess. The business analysis skill set includes critical thinking skills, elicitation techniques and requirements analysis and management. Experienced project managers may already possess some of these skills, but may apply them differently than BAs. Understanding the complexity of the business analysis role will allow the PM and BA to work seamlessly and increase the project efficiency. Scoping is one of the most critical areas on which the PM and BA should work together. In addition to the project scope, as defined in the PMBOK™, the BA is responsible for defining the scope of business analysis. When these two components of scope are combined they define the entire boundary of the project. In this course, Project Managers will learn how Business Analysts define the scope of the area for which they will be performing analysis. This is just one example of a task with separate roles for the PM and BA. Understanding their unique roles is critical to project success. In this course students will: • Learn to analyse and scope the area of analysis to clarify the level and complexity of the business analysis effort needed for the project • Learn what is an excellent requirement and the difference between business and functional requirements • Learn the five core components necessary to analyse a business area • Be introduced to the most commonly used analysis techniques • Discuss alternatives for traceability of requirements • Plan an approach for analysing, categorising, and managing requirements. Determine the level of formality required and consider options for documenting and packaging requirements based on project type, priorities, and risks • Identify techniques and documentation options appropriate for the various software development approaches and project types (COTS, maintenance, business process improvement, new development, etc.) • Understand how validating requirements impacts the project and the components of software testing • Review business analysis requirements to improve the quality of your deliverables

P a g e 16

B2T S P E C I A L I S E D C O U R S E S

Overview of Business Analysis ½ DAY Intended Audience This seminar is a management overview of business analysis for managers, supervisors, and project managers who work with business analysts.

Prerequisites None

This seminar presents the business analyst role to managers and others who lead and work with business analysts. For the business analyst to be successful, both the IT and business community must embrace the business analysis process. This seminar can be used as a working session to discuss how an organisation will implement the business analysis process and approaches for documenting the requirements. Both large and small organisations are realising the benefits of using business analysts on all of their application development projects. Improving the communication between the business areas and the IT team significantly increases the quality of the systems developed. A business analyst’s main responsibility is to elicit, analyse, and document requirements in a format that is useful to their business stakeholders and the technical developers. Analysis is a very important and time-consuming phase of every project. Business analysts need strong leadership as they elicit and document requirements that are often unclear, inconsistent, and expensive. Business analysts work most effectively when they have clear direction and frequent reviews of progress.

Pricing R1, 200 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:  6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking  11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis 1 DAY Intended Audience This course is designed for software developers, software architects, or any other project team member who will be using requirements documents for their development work. It is useful for both new developers and experienced developers. Developers will learn how business analysts elicit, analyse, and document requirements.

This class provides an overview of the business analyst role and a detailed review of the Requirements Document provided to the development team. To ensure an integrated team, IT developers need to understand the role of the business analyst. They should also be familiar with the requirements that business analysts are eliciting and documenting. This includes understanding categories of requirements, the core requirement components, and the documentation formats used for each type of requirement. IT team members must also understand the testing life cycle and the personnel involved. This course gives students an overview of the role of the business analyst, requirements documentation, and software testing.

Prerequisites None

P a g e | 17

IBM P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

2 DAYS

Essentials of Rational Unified Process V7.0

Intended Audience

Course Description

This is a basic course for: • Process engineers • Technical managers • Project leads • Analysts and designers • Software architects and engineers • Configuration management personnel • Testing and quality-assurance personnel • Individuals who need an overview of the RUP

Explore this introductory course to the Rational Unified Process (RUP). RUP is a knowledge base, containing software engineering practices that represent many of the best practices observed in a successful software development. Get an introduction to iterative development and to the organisation and content of this knowledge base. Emphasise the main principles of iterative software development: phases and their objectives and the mitigation of risks. Also, get an introduction to RUP tailoring choices.

Skills Taught Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to: 

Understand the Key Principles of Business-Driven Development



Be familiar with the guidance RUP provides for iterative development



Be familiar with the structure and navigation facilities of RUP



Be introduced to the content of RUP and its application

Prerequisites



Basic knowledge of software development

Be introduced to RUP tailoring and implementation choices



Have simulated the use of RUP on a project

Topics Covered 

An Introduction to RUP and the Key Principles of Business-Driven Development



RUP Structure and Navigation



Iterative Development



RUP Content



Tailoring RUP



RUP Project Simulation

P a g e | 18

IBM P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

1 DAY

Writing Good Use Cases Intended Audience

Course Description

This is a basic course for team members who are involved in writing use cases

This course is designed to systematically build student skills in writing good use cases. After taking the course, students will be able to define use-case modeling concepts, and apply different writing techniques to write a detailed use case using the recommended Rational Unified Process (RUP) style. Note: This course does not teach requirements management using the RUP. To learn how to manage requirements using the RUP and to write use cases, enrol in Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases.

Prerequisites None

Earn 7 IIBA CDUs

Skills Taught 

Define key use case related terms



Describe the use case writing process



Write a detailed use-case specification

Topics Covered 

Introduction to use-case modeling



Use cases and the requirements management process



The use-case writing process



Finding actors and use cases



Creating use-case diagrams



Outlining a use case



Detailing a use case



Use case writing tips

P a g e 19

IBM P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

3 DAYS Intended Audience

Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases

The course serves two audiences. The primary audience is people who will be actively engaged in the elicitation and definition of software requirements. This includes systems analysts, requirements analysts, and business analysts. The secondary audience would be interested in taking this class because they are consumers of the software requirements and need to under-stand how to read, verify, interpret and plan with the software requirements of the system. This group includes project managers, software analysts and designers, QA designers and testers, and customers and users.

Course Description

Prerequisites

Topics Covered

Students should have an understanding of:  Project management practices  The software development lifecycle

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs

Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases provides training in requirements management and use-case modeling techniques. The course focuses on eliciting and managing the changing requirements of a project; analysing the problem, defining the product vision and feature requirements, defining software requirements with use cases, and requirement attributes, and maintaining traceability, change management, and impact analysis for project scope management. The course shows how use-case modeling and requirements management techniques are used to define and document requirements that meet stakeholder needs. In-class exercises will give students practical experience in developing use cases.

Skills Taught Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:  Apply requirements management techniques to define a clear statement of product requirements.  Capture and document requirements with use-case modeling techniques.  Develop requirements in an iterative process.  Describe a documentation hierarchy and standards for defining levels of requirements for a product.  Use requirement attributes and traceability to help manage scope and change throughout product lifecycle.  Use requirements to drive on-going design, test, and user documentation activities

Best Practices of Software Engineering Introduction to Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases Introduction to Use-Case Modeling  Analyse the Problem o Find the root causes of the problem o Identify the best solution to solve the business problem  Understand Stakeholder Needs o Define the System  Define product features  Find Actors and Use Cases  Manage System Scope o Use requirements attributes to plan and manage scope o Refine the System Definition  Detail the Use Cases  Define Supplementary Specifications o Manage Changing Requirements o Structure the Use-Case Model  Include, extend, use-case, and actor generalisation  Requirements across the Product Lifecycle

P a g e 20

IBM P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

4 DAYS Intended Audience Analysts, designers, and software developers, and other practitioners, who desire an understanding of objectoriented analysis and design concepts and hands-on practical experience applying the techniques within a use-casedriven, architecture-centric, and iterative development process Note: You should be currently involved in analysis and design work or in developing analysis and design models using UML

Prerequisites Understanding of the SDLC

Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with UML 2.0 Course Description Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with Unified Modeling Language (OOAD/UML) 2.0 presents the concepts and techniques necessary to effectively use OO technology and UML through the project life-cycle from understanding the business ‘as is’ process, to the ‘to be’ process to capture and communicate analysis and design decisions. System requirements are captured in use cases to drive the development from an analysis model to a robust design model. In this intensive hands-on workshop, learn to apply UML 2.0 notation to fundamental OOAD concepts, including objects, classes, components, subsystems, stereotypes, relationships, and supporting diagrams. Use UML throughout the project life-cycle to capture and communicate analysis and design decisions. Thus, you learn UML 2.0 notation in the context of an iterative, use case-driven, architecture-centric process. Note: There is no visual modeling toolset training incorporated into this methodology course.

Skills Taught Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:  Apply the OO concepts of abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism  Use UML 2.0 to represent the full SDLC from business process to analysis to design

Topics Covered 

Principles and benefits of modeling



Concepts of object orientation



Business process modeling as a precursor to system development



Requirements overview



Analysis and design overview



Use-case analysis



Identify analysis elements



Identify design elements



Identify design mechanisms



Describe the run-time architecture



Describe distribution



Use-case design



Class design



OO to RDBMS Database design (optional)

P a g e 21

BABOK/CCBA/CBAP

BABOK®

The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK ) is the collection of knowledge within the profession of Business Analysis and reflects current generally accepted practices. As with other professions, the body of knowledge is defined and enhanced by the Business Analysis professionals who apply it in their daily work role. ®

The BABOK Guide describes Business Analysis areas of knowledge, their associated activities and the tasks and skills necessary to be effective in their execution. This Guide is a reference for professional knowledge for Business Analysis and provides ® the basis for the Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP ) Certification.

Prerequisites for CCBA/CBAP Individuals must meet the IIBA’s application requirements to sit for the CCBA /CBAP exams including work experience, areas of expertise, education and professional development, and references. See the requirements listed on the IIBA website at www.theiiba.org for details.

CCBA™ and CBAP® Certifications

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA ) is dedicated to the development and maintenance of standards for the practice of Business Analysis, and for the certification and recognition of practitioners. It is the first organisation to offer formal certification for Business Analysis Professionals. ®

The IIBA has created the Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA™) ® and the Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP ), designations awarded to candidates who have successfully demonstrated their expertise in this field. This is done by detailing hands-on work experience in business analysis through the ® application process, and passing the relevant IIBA examination. For more information on B2T Training’s IIBA® CBAP® Prep Study Guide, go to www.b2ttraining.com. Certified Business Analysis Professionals are experts in identifying the business needs of an organisation in order to determine the best solutions, a role that is increasingly seen as a vital component of any successful project. More and more ® companies are recognising the CBAP designation and the value and expertise that these professionals bring to their organisations. If you are working in the role of business analysis, systems analysis, requirements analysis or management, project management, consulting or process improvement, and have an advanced level of knowledge and experience, you may want to consider ® the many professional benefits of earning the CBAP designation

Requirements Template Roadmap Each project that a business analyst works on is unique and may require different combinations of requirements components. Templates provide a checklist for planning requirements work. The Requirements Template Roadmap helps the business analyst choose appropriate templates to use for each project. To assist business analysts in documenting requirements, we offer a Requirements Package Template that is available on the “Downloads” section of our website. The templates in this package provide business analysts with a structured format for eliciting and documenting requirements. Standard, re-usable templates allow for faster and easier requirements review and approval.

The Requirements Template Roadmap may be used as a companion to B2T Training’s Requirements Package Template. This “Roadmap” serves as a reference tool for business analysts when completing the requirements package based upon the templates. Using this Roadmap as a guideline or “map” for the requirements templates will help business analysts determine what to include in a requirements package, who should prepare package, who should prepare requirements components should be prepared. Additionally, the Roadmap provides examples of complete requirements templates. The Requirements Template Roadmap is available for purchase from IndigoCube. Contact: info@indigocube.co.za

*Students who attend the Essential Skills for Business Analysis™ course will receive a free copy

P a g e 22

Assessing the skills of the Business Analysts in your organisation Developing the skills of an individual Business Analyst is no simple task. An ideal Business Analyst has to have the right aptitude (inborn ability) and the acceptable skill levels for the relevant methodology and techniques used by an organisation. Most Business Analysts will have different skills and abilities while the relevant skills they require might differ from one organisation to the next. Any attempt to improve skills levels to a common level will require some insight into the existing abilities, skills levels and imbalances.

In response, IndigoCube has developed one of the most comprehensive individual assessments to address these challenges. Our assessment consists of several modules that allow tailoring to the specific skills requirements of the organisation before it is executed. We use the output from the individual assessment to tailor training and skills development initiatives for the organisation, as well as for the individual.

What are we testing?

How do we test?

This assessment focuses on two critical components required of a Business Analyst: aptitude and skill.

Aptitude test

The aptitude test determines how closely a person matches the ideal profile of a Business Analyst. A person may undergo ongoing training but, if they don’t have the required aptitude, performance may be insufficient. The skills assessment is a practical test that questions the Business Analyst within all the Knowledge Areas of the BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) and on specific methodologies and techniques.  Enterprise Analysis  Requirements Planning and Management  Requirements Elicitation  Requirements Communication  Requirements Analysis and Documentation  Solution Assessment and Validation  Business Analysis Fundamentals

We make use of the Neethling Brain Instrument (NBITM). By using the NBITM we are able to map a person’s profile and then compare that to the ideal. This not only allows us to determine the suitability of the individual to do Business Analysis but also to identify areas where training and skills development need to receive more attention.

Skills assessment The skills assessment is done using a structured questionnaire that contains four sections: Section 1: A multiple-choice section that tests the individual’s understanding of the Business Analyst’s role.

Section 2: A case study that tests the individual’s analytical skills. Section 3: Scenario-based questions that test the individual’s ability to use specific Business Analysis techniques which are relevant to the organisation.

What is the output? After completion of the assessment, a report is compiled that will indicate the following: 1. The suitability of the individual in the role as a Business Analyst. 2. Confirmation of the individual’s skills levels. 3. Training recommendations specific to the individual.

P a g e | 23

BABAOK ALIGNMENT

IIBA Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® and IndigoCube Courses IndigoCube’s programme is a comprehensive programme that aligns with all areas of the BABOK. The BABOK is a collection of business analysis tasks categorised into like groupings called knowledge areas. The BABOK is not a methodology and does not infer any particular order of performing the activities. IndigoCube’s programme is taught in a series of courses that reflect the order of work and iterative nature of business analysis. This chart illustrates the alignment between the current version of the BABOK and IndigoCube training courses.

Certified Consulting, Training and Software Provider

Office: +27 11 759 5950 Facsimile: +27 11 759 5907 Website: www.indigocube.co.za Email: info@indigocube.co.za