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At a glance

Advanced Business Analysis

Overview

This course is endorsed by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA™). It provides material and skills relevant to four Business Analysis Body of Knowledge™(BABOK™) knowledge areas.

This is an advanced level course which builds on the knowledge and experience a business analyst will have obtained after some years in the role. It takes the professional analyst to the next level in terms of delivering effective and realistic solutions to real business problems.

Covering important management and leadership aspects of the analysis role, with a focus on value added approaches to the delivery of business systems, this course is a significant building block on the analyst’s career path from practitioner to expert.

Intended For

• Business Analysts with at least three years experiencing wishing to further their training
• Project Managers responsible for managing and leading the analysis activities in their organisation
• Managers or Team Leaders who lead teams of business analysts

Prerequisites

As an advanced level course, the basic concepts of analysis are not covered. Participants are expected to have an understanding of the business analysis role and significant real-world experience in the area.

Participants must have at least three years experience in a business analysis role and must have attended either Software Education’s “Business Systems Analysis” course or received equivalent formal training in this area.

If you are unsure about your eligibility please contact us to discuss your attendance with the course director.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand the communication, facilitation and change leadership responsibilities of the business analyst role
• Creatively influence and lead the delivery of new systems in their organisations
• Build robust financial justifications and feasibility studies for delivery of new systems
• Understand why analyst input is key to delivering strategic value to the organisation through system implementations
• Understand the key differences between business analysis and enterprise analysis.

Content

Day 1

• Introduction and background
• The Business Analysis Body Of Knowledge (BABOK™) – a framework for professionalism
• The Analyst as Project Manager

In many projects the business analyst takes a dual role, responsible for the requirements gathering and for the overall project coordination and management aspects of the project. This component of the course provides a brief introduction to project management tasks and responsibilities, as they relate to software, and discusses ways of reducing the risk associated with the dual role.

• Management of Change
• The analyst as the conduit of the business vision
• Creativity in analysis

Change is the only constant in the work environment today. Therefore, the ability to manage change has become a defining characteristic of successful organisations. This module examines the impacts of poorly managed change on both the organisation and the tasks the Business Analyst is required to achieve. We then discuss some strategies and techniques that can be applied to mitigate the adverse effects of change.

Day 2

• Architecture

There is increasing need for the Business Analyst to have a broader vision of their organisation’s business systems and how they are enabled by technology.

This module examines various aspects of enterprise architecture as they apply to the Business Analyst. It covers:

• The two primary EA frameworks, Zachman and TOGAF
• The structure of an enterprise architecture
• The Business Analyst’s area of influence
• Development of an Information Systems Strategic Plan
• Strategy and Research

Implementation of and changes to business systems are executed in response to strategic direction in the organisation. The senior analyst is expected to provide input to assessing strategic opportunities and ensuring that projects are implemented which align with the organisational goals and objectives.

This module provides the analyst with the tools to research possible solution options, identify new opportunities and present the results in a manner that enables objective assessment of competing projects.

A clear understanding of the differentiation between strategic and tactical initiatives is provided, and the skills needed to approach both effectively.

Day 3

• Vendor relationships – RFP/RFI/COTS implementations

This module presents the key deliverables that are required from the Request for Information and Request for Proposal phases within a project that involves the purchase of a pre-built or outsourced development. It provides tools and techniques for assessing and differentiating between various responses. It will also look at the implications of selecting a Commercial Off-the-Shelf solution for a business system problem.

• Financial Justification/Feasibility Studies

This module examines the financial aspects of systems implementation, looking at the cost justification for project implementation, ways of identifying the value of potential new/changed systems and the important aspects of a feasibility study, looking at business systems as corporate assets with a focus on delivering business value.

Method Used

Lecturing is kept to the minimum necessary. A participative approach is used to enable learning by discovery.

The course contains a comprehensive case study that the participants work through over all three days, applying all the techniques learned to build a complete understanding of the subject.

Being an advanced course, participants are encouraged to share their own experiences and knowledge. This is formalised in the course with a session each day where students are expected to contribute their own thoughts and ideas.

Documentation

Course notes, including guides, templates and checklists. References to Web sites and further reading.

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge™

This course provides materials and skills relevant to the following International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA™) BABOK™ knowledge areas:

• Analysis
• Requirements Planning and Management
• Requirements Communication
• Solution Assessment and Validation

For more details on the IIBA™ and the BABOK™ see http://www.theiiba.org