b2t training course catalog (2010)

www.b2ttraining.com

Mastering Business Analysis

C O U R S E C ATA L O G

2 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

I N T R O D U C T I O N

B2T Training Overview and HistorySince its inception in 2000, B2T Training has focused solelyon providing business analysis training, products, andservices. We bring over 15 years experience in businessanalysis to our offerings. A certified women-ownedbusiness, B2T Training was established to provide thehighest quality business analysis training and to supportthe ongoing development of business analysisprofessionals. Our instructors, mentors, and coursedevelopers are considered industry experts in businessanalysis.

We developed the first comprehensive business analysistraining program in North America and it has been a modelfor other training organizations. In 2002, we established ourBusiness Analyst Certification program which certifies thatindividuals have an understanding of the business analysisknowledge areas and possess the ability to apply theknowledge. We are founding members of the InternationalInstitute of Business Analysis® (IIBA®), an associationdesigned to promote the profession, establish standards,and create an industry certification. We are extensivelyinvolved in the development of the IIBA Business AnalysisBody of Knowledge®, a document of business analysisstandards.

B2T Training is a charter member of the Endorsed EducationProvider program with the IIBA and is a registered educationprovider for the Project Management Institute.

What Makes B2T Training Different?Results Driven Approach to Mastering Business Analysis

Mastering business analysis requires an investment and acommitment to improving your organizational efficienciesand the quality of your business processes. B2T Trainingprovides a proven approach to help your organizationnavigate to your desired level of business analysis expertise.

B2T Training has the resources and support to help in allphases of your journey. The approach begins with anunderstanding of the current maturity level for individualsand the organization. B2T Training has a comprehensivetraining curriculum for any gaps in skills identified.Customizable templates for requirements planning, elicitation,analysis, and validation are available and reinforcedthroughout the training program. Individualized mentoring

is included as a part of each training course and is providedas ongoing professional development. For self study andcontinuing education, a complete library of recommendedresources, an industry specific magazine called the bridge,white papers, a listing of business analysis tools and a BA blog

are available on www.b2ttraining.com for your organization.

Additionally, B2T Training will work with yourorganization to capitalize on your businessanalysis training investment. B2T Traininghas gathered successful approaches, fromour experience and that of our clients, formaximizing business analysis training. As acustomer, an account manager will provideyou with our confidential checklist and workwith you to achieve the highest return foryour investment.

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

B2T Training Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

IIBA® BABOK® Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

� Certified Core CoursesEssential Skills for Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Detailing Business Data Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 10

� Advanced CoursesDeveloping a Business Analysis Work Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Requirements Validation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

� Specialized Courses

Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Business Process Improvement (BPI) using BPMNDiagramming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Overview of Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Self Study Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Mentoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

CBAP® Study Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

B2T Training Curriculum

We provide a cohesive learning experience that takes the extremely complex elements of business analysis and

simplifies them into manageable learning components. All of our courses include hands-on workshops giving students

many opportunities to experience the techniques in class so students can return to their desks with the ability to better

do their job. Students are encouraged to their bring projects to class to help reinforce the concepts being taught. Our

curriculum is developed utilizing business analysis subject matter experts as well as education specialists. This brings

together the knowledge of best practices and techniques, with the emphasis on education and adult learning.

Core Courses

Our core training program is appropriate for new orexperienced business analysts. These courses comprise a complete curriculum and are written for organizationslooking to level-set the business analyst role in theircompanies and for individuals seeking a solidfoundational skill set. Our certification program and study guides are based on these three core courses.

� Essential Skills for Business Analysis—4 days

� Detailing Business Data Requirements—3 days

� Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements—4 days

Advanced Courses

Our advanced courses are designed for students whohave completed the core courses and individuals who are experienced in business analysis.

� Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan —3 days

� Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis —3 days

� Requirements Validation—2 days

Specialized Courses

These courses and seminars are ideal for organizationswith specific training needs, and provide management andtechnical teams an understanding of the business analystrole and review components of a business requirementsdocument.

� Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers —3 days

� Business Process Improvement (BPI) using BPMN Diagramming—3 days

� Overview of Business Analysis—1/2 day

� Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis—1 day

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com 3

T R A I N I N G C U R R I C U L U M

Certification


C E R T I F I C A T I O N

B2T Training believes that a certified business analyst

should exhibit real-world knowledge and experience.

Our certification program 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 program recognizes individuals who have

proven skills, knowledge, and experience in eliciting,

organizing, analyzing, documenting, communicating,

and verifying requirements to facilitate the development

or purchase of software applications and/or business

process improvement efforts. Our certification program

is based on the essential business analysis skills covered

in our three core courses.

BA AssociateTM

The BA Associate is acertificate that recognizesbusiness analysts whopossess foundationalknowledge of businessanalysis topics and skillstaught in our three corecourses. It is designed fornew and experienced

business analysts. Obtaining the BA Associate certificaterequires candidates to pass all three online proficiency areaexams of our three core courses. Candidates wishing totest-out of the three core courses may purchase our studyguides for each of these courses to help prepare forpassing the proficiency exams.

BA CertifiedTM

After obtaining the BAAssociate certificate,candidates are qualified towork toward BA Certified.BA Certified is an elitecertification that recognizesindividuals who possessproven skills, knowledge,and experience in eliciting,

organizing, analyzing, documenting, communicating, andverifying requirements. Becoming BA Certified consists of:

� earning the BA Associate certificate

� possessing two years of business analysis experience

� providing two professional references

� passing a final exam

The case-study-based final exam consists of developingsections of a requirements package and answeringquestions about the requirements.

BA Certified business analysts are able to confidentlyprovide their employers or perspective employers withevidence that they possess not only business analysisknowledge, but the ability to apply that knowledge in day-to-day real-world business analysis environments.

*Test out option available

Essential Skills

for

Business Analysis

4 day class

Pass Proficiency Exam*

Detailing Business

Data Requirements

3 day class

Pass ProficiencyExam*

Detailing Process

and Business Rule

Requirements

4 day class

Pass ProficiencyExam*

ReceiveCertificate

ReceiveCertification

2 Years Business

Analysis Work

Experience

2 Professional

References

CompleteMultiple-Choice

Questions

Case-Study-Based Final Exam

DevelopRequirements

Package

5

IIBA®

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge®

and B2T Training Courses

B A B O K A L I G N M E N T

CORE COURSES ADVANCED COURSESBABOK® Version 2.0 MentoringFramework Tasks Essential Work Requirements and

Skills Data Process Plan Validation Facilitating CoachingBA Planning and MonitoringPlan business analysis approach � �

Conduct stakeholder analysis � � �

Plan business analysis activities � � �

Plan business analysis communications � �

Plan requirements management process � � � � �

Manage business analysis performance � �

ElicitationPrepare for elicitation � � � �

Conduct elicitation activity � � � �

Document elicitation results � � � �

Confirm elicitation results � � � �

Requirements Management and CommunicationManage solution and requirements scope � �

Manage requirements traceability � � �

Maintain requirements for re-use � �

Prepare requirements package � � �

Communicate requirements � � � � � �

Enterprise AnalysisDefine business need � � � �

Assess capability gaps � �

Determine solution approach � �

Define solution scope � �

Develop the business case � �

Requirements AnalysisPrioritize requirements � � � �

Organize requirements � � �

Specify and model requirements � � �

Determine assumptions and constraints � �

Verify requirements � �

Validate requirements � �

Solution Assessment and ValidationAssess proposed solution � � �

Allocate requirements � �

Assess organizational readiness � �

Define transition requirements �

Validate solution � �

Evaluate solution performance � �

Underlying CompetenciesAnalytical thinking and problem solving � � � �

Behavioral characteristics � � �

Business knowledge �

Communication skills � � � � � �

Interaction skills � �

Software applications � � �

Essential Skills for Business Analysis

Intended AudienceThis course is designed for business analysts, projectmanagers, business systems analysts, system architects or any other project team member involved with analysis. Newpractitioners will learn the tasks they are expected to performand why each task is important. Experienced practitioners willlearn new techniques and more structured approaches toimprove their requirements activities. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage analysis activitiesand business stakeholders who need a more in-depthunderstanding of the requirements process and deliverables.

Prerequisites

None

Earn 28 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs

OverviewTo identify the best solutions for real business needs, thiscourse provides an extensive inventory of tools andtechniques for use in business analysis work. The businessanalysis skill set includes critical thinking skills, elicitationtechniques and requirements analysis and management.Equally important are communication and relationshipbuilding skills, whether they be in person or virtualenvironments. Expertise with analysis tools and techniquesbecomes even more necessary in today’s fast-pacedenvironment. It is further complicated by the use ofdispersed or outsourced teams, complex businessprocesses, time-driven business initiatives, new agilesoftware development approaches, and poorly integratedlegacy applications.

Regardless of the person’s title, the need for strongbusiness analysis skills is necessary for companies toremain competitive in any economy. Through education andpractice business or technical professionals will developand enhance their analytical skills and provide significantvalue to projects and the business enterprise.

This course teaches business analysis essentials to bothnew and experienced practitioners. It supports and expandson the standards outlined in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0.Mentor-led workshops allow students to practice thetechniques as they learn them. Depending on theparticipant’s skill level, the workshop cases and discussionsinspire learning insights for every level of experience.Students are requested to bring their own projects to classto use in developing a personal post-class action plan fortaking their project to the next step.

In this course students will learn to:

� Analyze and scope the area of analysis, working withproject managers and business sponsors to clarify thelevel and complexity of the business analysis effortneeded for the project.

� Select the appropriate elicitation technique to efficientlyidentify critical requirements.

� Analyze and refine business and functional requirements.� Ask the right questions through the use of interviewing

templates developed specifically for business analysiselicitation.

� Identify the five core components necessary to analyze abusiness area.

� Plan an approach for analyzing, categorizing, andmanaging requirements. Determine the level of formalityrequired and consider options for documenting andpackaging requirements based on project type, priorities,and risks.

� Identify techniques and documentation optionsappropriate for various software development approachesand project types (COTS, maintenance, business processimprovement, new development, etc).

� Define testing objectives and verify requirements aretestable.

� Conduct effective requirements reviews to improve thequality 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.


CERTIFIED CORE COURSE

4 DAYS

Public Pricing$2,395 per student

Public Class Schedule

Feb 8 – Feb 11, 2010 • Des Moines, IA

Mar 22 – Mar 25, 2010 • Atlanta, GA

May 3 – May 6, 2010 • Orlando, FL

Jun 14 – Jun 17, 2010 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL

Aug 2 – Aug 5, 2010 • Dallas, TX

Sep 20 – Sep 23, 2010 • Atlanta, GA

Oct 18 – Oct 21, 2010 • Las Vegas, NV

Nov 15 – Nov 18, 2010 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL

Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• What is business analysis?• Review the major tasks performed by the

business analyst.• Define the essential skills needed to perform

their tasks.

Project Participants and their Roles – 1hr.• Identify project stakeholders and their roles.• Discuss how the business analyst interacts with

these participants.

Elicitation Techniques – 3 hrs.• Learn to use and determine the appropriate

elicitation technique:•• One-on-one interviews•• Requirements workshops•• Surveys•• Brainstorming•• Document analysis•• Focus group•• Job shadowing/observation•• Competitive analysis•• Interface analysis•• Reverse engineering

• Learn to proactively plan interactions withstakeholders to make the most effective use oftheir time.

Scoping the Project from the Business Analyst’sPerspective – 5.5 hrs.• Understand why the project is being done.

Without this understanding it will be difficult forbusiness analysts to elicit and document theright requirements and focus their businessanalysis work in the appropriate areas. Get anintroduction to Enterprise Analysis.

• Understand the organizational environment.Identify the business stakeholders who will beinvolved in the project and how they will impactbusiness analysis.

• Learn to ask probing questions about therequirements scope and facilitate a discussionwith project stakeholders using visualrepresentations of the requirements boundaries.

• Learn the context level dataflow diagramtechnique to identify and scope “what is" and,more importantly, "what is not" to be analyzed.Analyze interfaces with people, otherorganizations, existing systems, and othersoftware applications.

• Discuss how a business analyst should collect,organize, and maintain requirements for efficientanalysis and reuse on future projects.

• Workshop - Scope the class case study project.• Workshop - Reinforce the analysis techniques

on a current project. Students will leave classwith a draft visual representation of their currentbusiness area along with a list of follow upquestions.

Defining and Detailing Requirements – 4 hrs.• What is a requirement? Why is it important to

gather and document requirements? What are

the criteria used to judge the quality of“excellent” requirements?

• Learn how software developers use requirements• Understand the difference between analysis and

design or “business” vs. “technological”requirements. Why is it necessary to understandthe problem before deciding on a solution?

• Learn the 5 core requirement components, whatthey describe, and why they are important.•• Entity•• Attribute•• Process (use case)•• External Agent (actor)•• Business Rule

Requirements Analysis Techniques – 5 hrs.• Learn the recommended approach to categorizing

requirements. Why should requirements becategorized? Who uses each category? Why is itdifficult to create distinct categories?•• Business Requirements•• Functional Requirements•• Non-functional Requirements•• Technical Requirements

• Learn the concept of traceability of requirements.• Discuss the most commonly used analysis

techniques to organize and refine requirements.Business analysts should have expertise inmany analysis techniques to be able to adapt todifferent types of projects and businesses.

• Structured textual templates (process descriptions,data descriptions, business rules, use cases)•• Entity relationship diagram•• Decomposition diagram•• User stories, use case diagram and use case

descriptions•• Workflow diagram (UML, BPMN, ANSI, swim

lane)•• Prototyping

• Consider options and level of formality forpackaging requirements and choosing theappropriate documentation techniques for eachproject.

• Review currently available software tools thatcan be used for requirements management.

• Workshop - Put into practice several of theanalysis techniques on the course case studyrequirements.

Conducting a Requirements Review – 2 hrs.• Learn how to conduct a requirements review:

Who should participate? What are the requiredsteps? How is a session conducted? What arethe common challenges?

• Workshop - Review a sample requirementspackage.•• Identify missing or incomplete requirements.•• Identify potential test cases.•• Document issues and develop an approach

for going forward.

Validate the Requirements – 2 hrs.• Understand the role of business analysis in

validating requirements and software testing.

• Introduction to software testing: Why is testingimportant? What is the business analyst’s role intesting? What is the primary objective of testing?What are the phases and types of testing?

• Learn to verify that the business requirementsare complete by identifying test cases.

• Practice identifying test cases and refiningrequirements based on quality assuranceprinciples.

Analysis Communication Skills – 2.5 hrs.• Learn the importance of building strong

relationships with project stakeholders. Howshould business analysts communicate withusers? How should business analystscommunicate with the technical team?

• Improve your ability to develop in-depth,detailed questions for stakeholders byidentifying the appropriate source ofinformation, deciding on an approach, and usingclear, consistent language.

• Review selected analysis techniques to framequestions driving stakeholders to reveal coreneeds and problems. Ask the right questionsthrough the use of interviewing templatesdeveloped specifically for business analysis.

• Recognize active listening as the most powerfulelicitation communication skill, learn to listen forkey phrases that reveal specific types ofrequirements.

• Improve listening skills by recognizing commonbarriers to listening, understanding verbal andnonverbal messages, acknowledging the message,and responding with appropriate feedback.

• Learn to effectively plan communications andfacilitate groups to consensus.

• Workshop - Practice active listening and receivefeedback from the instructors and other students.

Working with Virtual Teams – Optional• Understand what constitutes a virtual team.• Learn about virtual team structures and

terminology.• Learn about technology requirements for virtual

teams• Consider business analysis process changes for

virtual team work•• Set policies for the team.•• Utilize the Six Thinking Hats® technique.

• Effectively utilize the people on the virtual team•• Understand the critical success characteristics.•• Tips for conducting virtual meetings successfully.•• Choose the appropriate elicitation techniques

for virtual teams.

Develop Your Action Plan / Course Summary – 2 hrs.• Review Business Analysts tasks and skills.• Workshop - Draft an initial Business Analysis

Communications Plan for a CRM project.• Develop an Action Plan with next steps on the

student’s current project.• Student questions/discussion topics.


This class is a part of the B2T Training Business Analyst Certification Program. For more information on the program, see page 4.

Detailing Business Data Requirements

Intended AudienceThis course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts,data administrators, database administrators, or any otherproject team member involved with business analysis. Thiscourse may also be appropriate for individuals who managebusiness analysts or those who work with the businessrequirements document and need a more indepthunderstanding of the process and documentation.

Prerequisites

We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills forBusiness Analysis class or have experience in project scopedefinition, gathering requirements from subject matter experts,and understand how business requirements fit into the entiresystems development effort.


OverviewUnderstanding and documenting business datarequirements is a critical component in defining completerequirements. Eliciting information needs often uncoversadditional processes and business rules. Every businessprocess uses data and almost all business rules areenforced by data. Missing a critical piece of data orincorrectly defining a data element contributes to themajority of maintenance problems and results in systemsthat do not reflect the business needs. This course teachesstudents an in-depth approach to data modeling: identifyingand defining all necessary data components using bothtextual templates and an entity relationship diagram. Thiscourse teaches business analysis techniques for eliciting,analyzing, and documenting data requirements to both newand experienced practitioners. Students will be given datatemplates with a suggested documentation structure fordefining Business Data Requirements. It supports andexpands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0.Mentor-led workshops require students to practice thetechniques as they learn. Students are encouraged to bringtheir own projects to class.


� Identify core data requirements beginning with projectinitiation.

� Identify excellent data requirements at the appropriatelevel of detail.

� Detail the data requirements (using a data dictionary anddata model).

� Detail complex data related business rules.� Assist with the transition of business data to database

design.� Utilize easy normalization techniques (without all the

mathematical theory).� Validate data requirements with activity (process or use

case) requirements.

Even if your organization has a data administrator or datawarehouse team who is responsible for documenting andmanaging the organization's information needs, everyproject uses a subset of that enterprise information in itsown unique way. Business analysts must understand theimportance of data in all of their projects and include datarequirements in their business requirementsdocumentation. Failing to document which data elementsneed to be used in a calculation, or displayed on a report,leaves the developer the responsibility of choosing thecorrect pieces of business data from hundreds if notthousands of available fields. These missing requirementsoften lead to expensive and lengthy project delays duringthe testing phase.



3 DAYS



Mar 8 – Mar 10, 2010 • Dallas, TX

Mar 15 – Mar 17, 2010 • Des Moines, IA

May 10 – May 12, 2010 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL

Jul 19 – Jul 21, 2010 • Atlanta, GA

Aug 17 – Aug 19, 2010 • Louisville, KY

Dec 6 – Dec 8, 2010 • Irvine, CA


“... the data sees the big picture, while the various peopleand machines and organizations that work on the data seeonly a portion of what happens. As you go about doing aStructured Analysis, you will find yourself more and morefrequently attaching yourself to the data and following itthrough the operation. I think of this as “interviewingthe data.”’ It is usually more productive than any othersingle interview.”

Tom DeMarco

Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• What is a business data requirement? Why are

these requirements important?• Review requirements categories and

classifications.• What is the difference between business data

and database design?• Review the 7 characteristics of “excellent”

requirements.• Review the core requirements components.

Entities and Attributes – 5 hrs.• Review the components of excellent project

initiation and scope analysis.• Learn to use the context level dataflow diagram

as a starting point for identifying datarequirements.

• Entity types are the basic building blocks of thebusiness data. This section defines entities,gives suggested naming guidelines, teaches theimportance of entity definitions, gives criteria toevaluate potential entities, describes entityunique identifiers, and has students identify anddocument entities from the case study.

• Attribute types are characteristics of entitytypes. This section defines attributes, a datadictionary, gives suggested naming guidelinesand class words, gives criteria to evaluateattributes, and has students identify anddocument attributes from the case study.

• Templates for analyzing and documenting datarequirements are provided.

Entity Relationships and DiagrammingConventions – 4 hrs.• Learn how business data requirements are

displayed in an entity relationship diagram.• Relationships are data associations that define

the business rules of the project as they relateto data. This section defines relationships andbusiness rules, gives suggested namingguidelines, teaches relationship cardinalities,and has students identify and documentrelationships from the case study.

• Review common diagram notations for datarelated business rules.

Detailing the Data Requirements – 5 hrs.• Detailing repeating data elements. Repeating

attributes must be broken down into theircomponents, properly named, and clearlydocumented with example data values. Studentswill refine their requirements document basedon additional business requirements.

• Detailing complex business rules. Complexbusiness rules (many-to-many relationships)should be properly named and clearlydocumented with example data values. Studentswill refine their requirements document basedon additional business requirements.

• Detailing sub-category entities. Some businessdata naturally falls into sub-categories andshould be documented as such.

Transition from Business Data to a PhysicalDesign – 2 hrs.• Learn how to link the data and process elements

to identify missing or incomplete requirements.Each essential process must use data, and eachdata element must be used by at least oneessential process.

• How does business data become a databasedesign? Review the data requirements forcompleteness, understand how logicalcomponents are translated to physicalcomponents, and develop a strategy formaintaining the business requirements.

• Introduction to database design.• Scope the design area using subject areas.• What is de-normalization? Why de-normalize a

database design?

Workshop - Identify and document datarequirements for the case study – 4 hrs.• Identify and document entities.• Identify and document attributes.• Identify and document data related business

rules.

Appendix - Data Normalization – Optional• What is data normalization and why is it

important?• What are the rules of normalization?



Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements

Intended AudienceThis course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts,or any other project team members responsible for elicitingand documenting business requirements and designingfunctional requirements. Students are encouraged to bringexamples of their requirements documents to the class forreview and feedback. This course may also be appropriate forindividuals who manage business analysts or those who workwith the business requirements document and need a more in-depth understanding of the process and documentation.

Prerequisites

We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills forBusiness Analysis class or have experience in project scopedefinition and gathering requirements from subject matterexperts.


OverviewUnderstanding business processes provides thefoundational element of every business solution. Thiscourse focuses on the skills of elicitation and businessanalysis by defining the essential processes and businessrules. The most effective approach to ensure businesssuccess is to understand the business environment and usethis understanding to elicit and document business andfunctional requirements. Students are taught proventechniques to identify and define the essential businessprocesses within the scope of the project and then detailthem into functional requirements. These techniquesinclude AS IS and TO BE modeling, workflow modeling,functional decomposition diagrams, use cases, andprototypes. Students will learn how and when to effectivelyuse these techniques at the appropriate level of detail forvarying audiences. Business rule analysis is also a key skillpresented in this course. Business analysts are uniquelyqualified to elicit and document process and business rulerequirements because of their understanding of thebusiness needs and the user's work environment. Businessanalysts are expected to analyze and understand businessproblems and present solution recommendations to thebusiness stakeholders. Business process modeling addsvalue to projects by ensuring the technology solution willmeet the business needs. This course supports and expandson the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Mentor-led workshops require students to practice the techniquesas they learn. Students are encouraged to bring their ownprojects to class.


� Understand and document the business environmentusing industry best practices.

� Use provided templates to elicit and document processesand business rules.

� Look beyond the current technology or procedures todiscover the true nature of the business activity.

� Ask the right questions to identify the core businessprocesses and analyze the business rules that control orguide them.

� Document functional requirements that specify how userswill interact with the software and how the software willrespond.

� Deliver consistent, detailed use case descriptions.� Use several diagrams including the decomposition

diagram, use case diagram, and workflow diagrams.� Look at the business area objectively after business

requirements are documented and organized to presentalternative design solutions that meet the customerneeds.

� Validate business processes against data requirements.� Consider usability when developing prototypes.



4 DAYS



Feb 22 – Feb 25, 2010 • Dallas, TX

Apr 26 – Apr 29, 2010 • Atlanta, GA

May 24 – May 27, 2010 • Des Moines, IA

Jun 21 – Jun 24, 2010 • Irvine, CA

Aug 23 – Aug 26, 2010 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL

Oct 25 – Oct 28, 2010 • Orlando, FL


Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• What are business requirements? Why are they

important?• Review requirements categories and

classifications.• What are the differences between business and

functional requirements?• Review the 7 characteristics of “excellent”

requirements.• Review the core requirements components.

Identifying and Defining Essential BusinessProcesses – 3 hrs.• Learn to identify essential business processes.

An essential business process is a corerequirement of the business area necessary toprovide the right solution deliverable. Eachbusiness process must be clearly defined,consistently named, and completelydecomposed.

• Students are given a template to document thisdetailed information and learn to identifyessential processes from a case study.

• Learn to extract essential processes from real-world, detailed user description interview notes.

• Learn to use the process template as both aninterviewing and documentation tool. Capturemetrics and key performance indicators foreach process.

• Learn to look for redundant or reusableprocesses.

Process Analysis – 3 hrs.• Learn to organize essential business processes

in a process outline and functionaldecomposition diagram.

• Learn 3 major business process identificationapproaches and the situations in which eachwould work most effectively.

• Students will use each approach to identifydetailed processes from a case study.•• Top down•• Bottom up•• Events (and tie events back to the scope

model)

Documenting Business Rules – 2.5 hrs.• Learn about types of business rules (structural

and operational) and why each one should bedocumented.

• Review data-related business rules as they aredocumented in an entity relationship diagram.

• Learn to detail business rules that involve bothdata and process components.

• Learn several techniques for documentingbusiness rules.

• Learn to extract business rules from differentsources.

Finalizing the Business Requirements – 2.5 hrs.• Learn to link the data and process elements to

identify missing or incomplete requirements.Each essential process must use data, and eachdata element must be used by at least oneessential process.

• Learn how test cases can help solidifyrequirements.

• Review a requirements completeness checklist.• Obtain approval signoffs from appropriate

stakeholders.

Translating Business Requirements to FunctionalRequirements – 3.5 hrs.• Define the solution scope model. Once the

analysis is complete and the businessrequirements have been documented, theproject team defines and allocates the solutioncomponents that will support each businessprocess.

• Learn a six-step approach to defining the designarea scope:•• Document the functional design of each

process.•• Document business priority.•• Document technical priority and estimated

cost.•• Break project into phases.•• Workshop: Create a scope model using a use

case diagram:• Define actors involved with the application.• Identify actor interactions.• Learn multiple techniques to derive use

cases from essential business processes.•• Obtain signoff.

Utilizing Workflow Analysis – 3hrs.• Learn to create detailed process models in

workflow diagrams using a number of techniques:•• ANSI standard flowchart•• Swimlane diagram•• BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation)•• UML activity diagram

• Understand the benefits of each diagram totarget each technique to a specific audienceand need.

• Document AS IS and TO BE scenarios withresponsibilities, decision points, and metrics.

Documenting System Functionality – 3 hrs.• Learn to identify use cases.• Outline each use case for a high-level

understanding of broad behavior.• Identify primary path, alternate path, and

exception paths.• Decompose large use cases into smaller sub-

sets, identifying reusable use cases wherepossible.

• Learn how and where to document system usermessages.

• Learn 8 steps for excellent use case generation.• Learn to create detailed use case descriptions.• Workshop: Learn to document detailed use case

descriptions using the B2T template.

Designing User Interfaces – 2 hrs.• Learn to use completed documentation to

identify where prototypes are necessary.• Learn to document report requirements,

including ad-hoc and predefined.• Create and document prototypes.• Learn to use provided templates to document

field edits and screen functionality.• Review usability considerations.

Documenting Non-Functional Requirements – 1 hr.• Identify requirements not previously addressed

by business, functional, or technical requirementcategories:•• Performance requirements•• Security requirements•• Quality requirements•• Scalability

• Discuss the business analyst role in thedocumentation of these requirements.

Workshop - Maintenance Case Study – 3 hrs.• Identify essential processes and build a

decomposition diagram.• Determine the design area scope.• Write a use case description.• Document functional requirements for an online

screen, report, and manual procedure.

Course Summary – 1 hr.• Review techniques appropriate for each project

using real-world scenarios.• Pull it all together; review the complete steps to

business analysis.



Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan

Intended AudienceThis course is intended for anyone who is interested in learninga practical approach to planning the necessary businessanalysis tasks for their project.

Prerequisites

Business analysts registering for this course must haveattended Essential Skills for Business Analysis, or have at least2 years experience in requirements elicitation, analysis, anddocumentation using structured techniques. Contact B2TTraining if you would like to pass out of these prerequisites.


OverviewHaving trouble getting started with your business analysiswork? Unsure about how much time to request from yourproject manager?

Developing a business analysis work plan will preventmajor problems by ensuring that all of the appropriatestakeholders are involved and the requirements will beanalyzed and presented using the most effectivecommunication approaches. This class teaches students to consider all of the project and stakeholder characteristicsbefore deciding on appropriate deliverables and producinga time estimate. The work plan also helps the businessanalyst develop realistic time estimates based on thechosen deliverables. These estimates provide detailedjustification for negotiation with project managers andproject sponsors. During class students are presented theBusiness Analysis Planning Framework™ and are givenworksheets to guide their planning efforts.

Students are encouraged to bring their own projectinitiation documentation for a current or past project to theclass. During the workshops, students will develop theirbusiness analysis work plan. If students do not have aproject, a class case study is available and should bereviewed prior to the first day of class. Regardless of whenthe BA joins a project or the project type, this class willguide planners to deliver an intelligent business analysiswork plan to the project manager and have a detailedroadmap upon which they can immediately begin toexecute. The business analysis work plan may be a singlesheet of brief notes on a small project or a more formaldocument on larger projects. Regardless of the outputproduced, an excellent business analyst thinks through theplan before starting work. This course supports and extendsthe techniques in the IIBA's BABOK® Guide V2.0.

“Rowing harder doesn’t help if the boat is headed in thewrong direction.”

- Kenichi Ohmae, management consultant


ADVANCED COURSE

3 DAYS



Mar 8 – Mar 10, 2010 • Atlanta, GA

Sep 27 – Sep 29, 2010 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL


Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• Business analysis planning.

•• Overview of business analysis planning activities.

•• Discuss the relationship of the project manager and the business analyst in planning.

• Use of the BA Planning Framework™ approachto planning.•• Project - Understanding the project

characteristics.•• People - Identifying stakeholders and planning

for communications.•• Process - Planning the analysis activities.

• Root cause analysis and the fishbone diagram.• The business analysis work plan.

Planning for Different Types of Projects – 4 hrs.• Introduce the concepts of plan driven vs.

change driven approaches to projects.• Planning around unique project characteristics:

•• A large development project.•• Enhancement or maintenance projects.•• A COTS (commercial off-the-shelf software)

project.•• A reporting or data warehouse project.•• A process improvement or re-engineering

effort.•• An infrastructure upgrade (getting a new

e-mail or operating system).• Planning around methodology and process

characteristics:•• An outsourced or off-shore development

project.•• Iterative style development methodology.•• Agile style development process.

• Group workshop: Discuss planningconsiderations for case study projects

Project - Understanding the ProjectCharacteristics – 4 hrs.• Let’s get started - A checklist to assess the

current state of the project and to help getstarted.

• The Project Overview Worksheet - Is the projectclearly defined?•• Business objectives•• Problems/opportunities•• Requirements scope•• High-level business processes

• The Business Impact Worksheet - What is therelative importance of the project to theorganization?•• Size (number of stakeholders, number of

business processes involved, number of business rules).

•• Importance (estimated cost, potential benefits,criticality of business area, level of key stakeholders).

•• Risk analysis (project, business, technology).• Enterprise analysis - Understanding how this

project fits into the organization's overall strategy.• Group workshop - Assess the project and score

the business impact of a sample project.

People - Stakeholder Analysis and theCommunication Plan – 4 hrs.• Why plan for stakeholder interactions?• Assess the project sponsor• Identify both primary and secondary

stakeholders:•• Searching for all stakeholders, not just the

obvious ones•• Understanding each stakeholder’s area of

concern•• Documenting stakeholder’s needs•• Consider the characteristics of each

stakeholder group• Determine effective communication practices

for each stakeholder group:•• Is this group providing requirements, using

requirements, or supporting the project work?•• Which elicitation technique(s) will be most

effective?•• What requirement presentation format will be

most comfortable for this group?• The Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet

•• When and where will communications with each stakeholder be most effective?

•• What are the best communication techniques for each stakeholder?

• Group workshop - Identify and analyze thestakeholder groups for an example project andidentify the appropriate communicationtechniques

Process - Planning the Analysis Activities – 3.5 hrs.• Plan the analysis activities

•• Step one - Assess which requirements components are needed?

•• Step two - Determine which deliverables are needed using the Deliverable List Worksheet

•• Step three - Develop an approach for creating each deliverable using The Deliverable Worksheet

• Consult with organizational standards/methodologies for required deliverables.

Creating the Business Analysis Work Plan – 3 hrs.• Step one - Create the business analysis task list• Step two - Estimate analysis time

•• Using historical and expert data to estimate•• Tracking actual time to estimate

• Step three - Finalize the business analysis workplan

• Group workshop - develop a task list of analysisand requirements activities for a sample project.

• Intelligent negotiation skills.• Getting signoff on the plan.• Base lining the plan and initiating change

control.

Ongoing Requirements Management – 1 hr.• What is Requirements Management?

•• Using a requirements repository•• Develop a requirements management plan•• Reusing existing requirements•• Reusing existing data•• Identifying requirements attributes

• Plan for requirements traceability•• Learn about traceability matrices and

requirements links•• Understand the purpose of forward and

backward traceability•• Determine which requirements should be

“traced”•• Determine the appropriate approach for

managing traceability•• Exercise: Perform impact analysis using

traceability

Course Summary – 0.5 hr.• Final thoughts• Planning Worksheet Map• Optional Exercises

Appendix - Advanced Project InitiationRequirements – Optional• Advanced project initiation requirements:• Learn techniques to identify strong project

objectives.• Learn a technique to help subject matter experts

scope a project with unclear boundaries.• Group workshop - scope an unclear project.

Appendix - Advanced Topics – Optional• Developing a cost/benefit analysis for a

business case• Evaluating software applications for purchase

(COTS)


Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis

Intended AudienceThis course is designed for experienced, knowledgeablebusiness analysts or project mangers involved withrequirements elicitation and analysis. Students are expected tounderstand the purpose of business and functionalrequirements.

Prerequisites

We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills forBusiness Analysis class or have experience in project scopedefinition, eliciting requirements from subject matter experts,and understanding how business requirements fit into theentire systems development effort.


OverviewThe art of bringing people together, face-to-face orremotely, to elicit requirements and gain consensus onsolutions is a critical success factor for all business analysisprofessionals. This course teaches facilitation techniquesthat can be used for structured sessions and “facilitation-on-the-fly.” This course goes beyond traditional facilitationtraining by focusing on facilitation techniques specific togathering business and functional requirements.

This class is limited to 8 students, allowing each student theopportunity to practice facilitating multiple requirementssessions in a “safe” environment with personalizedfeedback. Students will spend 60% of class timeparticipating in interactive, real-world business case studiesand performing each key role in at least one session.

The workshops in this course require students to plan therequirements workshop, develop the correct questions toask the group, and facilitate the group to a consensus onthe requirements using one of the learned techniques.Students will conduct a requirements workshop for at leastone requirement deliverable (i.e., context level dataflowdiagram, workflow diagram). This course supports andexpands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK™ v2.0.


� Facilitate using proven techniques for eliciting detailedbusiness, functional and non-functional 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 gathered.� Complete checklists for managing and conducting the

session.� Facilitate a requirements workshop.


ADVANCED COURSE

3 DAYS



Apr 19 – Apr 21, 2010 • Las Vegas, NV

Oct 4 – Oct 6, 2010 • Atlanta, GA


Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• Learn guidelines for requirements facilitators.• Set session rules and manage the session.• Learn reactive techniques to use during the

session:•• Encourage participation.•• Manage group focus.•• Manage group conflict.•• Consider remote facilitation techniques.

Student Workshop – 1.5 hrs.• Conduct a mini-requirements workshop.• Practice techniques used for requirements

workshops.

Session Feasibility – 1 hr.• Determine when requirements workshops are

appropriate:•• Determine need/requirements deliverable

desired.•• Determine commitment level.•• Determine risks.

• Practice determining session need using real-world scenarios.

• Review the core requirements components anddiscuss how they are best gathered.

• Learn when not to use requirements workshops.

Planning and Preparing for a Facilitated Session– 4 hrs.• Plan the session:

•• Determine the number session(s) needed and the length of the session(s).

•• Document the purpose of the session.•• Identify potential participants.•• Define session requirements deliverables.•• Document the plan using session planning

templates.• Prepare for a session:

•• Outline the goals and requirements deliverables.

•• Select session participants and determine if pre-session interviews are appropriate.

• Learn facilitation techniques:•• Brainstorming•• Consensus building•• Flowcharting•• Force field analysis•• Hip pocket techniques•• Nominal group•• Root cause analysis•• Storyboarding•• Facilitating across distance

• Develop focused questions to gatherrequirements:•• Direct•• Open-ended•• Clarifying•• Leading•• Re-focusing

• Create a detailed agenda for the facilitationteam.

• Learn group-oriented facilitation techniques.• Create a formal agenda for the session

participant.• Orient the facilitation team.• Prepare the facilities.

Student Workshop – 3.5 hrs.• Each student will practice elicitation techniques

in a requirements workshop.• Personal feedback will be provided to drive skill

development.

Conducting the Session – 1 hr.• Learn the stages of group

development/productivity.• Facilitate decision making – work toward

consensus.• Conducting the session:

•• Introducing the session.•• Managing the session.•• Creating a follow-up action plan.

• Review/approve requirements deliverables.

Student Workshop – 8 hrs.• Plan and conduct a requirements workshop.• Use one or more of the learned facilitation

techniques.• Produce the requirements deliverable using one

of the facilitation techniques.• Personal feedback will be provided to drive skill

development.

Session Follow-Up – 1 hr.• Produce the final requirements document.• Share session feedback.• Determine the next steps to finalize the

requirements.


Requirements Validation

Intended AudienceThis course is designed for business analysts, quality analysts,project managers, or anyone interested in improving andvalidating the quality of their requirements.

Prerequisites

We recommend that the Business Analyst has already attendedour 3 core courses (or at a minimum Detailing Process andBusiness Rule Requirements) before enrolling for this course.


OverviewThis course takes you through the steps to ensure thatbusiness requirements are validated, that the solution isusable and meets the business needs. Validatingrequirements 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 2900times the cost to correct a requirement. Finding missingrequirements and requirements inconsistencies decreasesthe overall length and cost of the project.

Business analysis and quality assurance professionals mustuse risk assessments to prioritize requirements andrequirements validation activities. The highest risk areas of the business must be addressed first. This course teachesbusiness and quality analysts to design efficientrequirements validation tests to make the best use oflimited resources and time.

Solution Assessment and Validation is one of the keyknowledge areas in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Thiscourse addresses many of the important tasks in theknowledge area along with giving business analysts theability to design efficient and effective tests to demonstratethat the application solutions meets 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 BA to be successful?


ADVANCED COURSE

2 DAYS

Public PricingNo public classes currently scheduled.

Public Class ScheduleNo public classes currently scheduled.


Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• What are requirements?• Understand the value of acceptance and

evaluation criteria• How do we validate requirements?• When should requirements be validated?• Who validates requirements?

Validating and Testing Requirements – 3 hrs.• What does it mean to validate requirements?

•• Conducting effective structured walkthroughs of requirements.

• Review guidelines.• Examine a sample review invitation and results

form.• Review question checklists.• How do reviews improve future projects?• Workshop: validate requirements using a formal

review•• Introduction to usability testing.•• Effective user acceptance testing (UAT).•• Conduct a post implementation user

assessment to identify lessons learned.• How to correct problems that are discovered

during requirements validation?•• Use a consistent problem tracking procedure.•• Track defect/problem types to improve

requirements on future projects.•• Assess each problem for its type, severity, and

status.

Usability Testing – 2 hrs.• Learn the principles of usability.• Learn how usability testing differs from

traditional testing.• Discuss methods of usability testing.• Learn to use requirements to design usability

tests.• Workshop: Conduct a usability test.

Working with IT Stakeholders – 3 hrs.• Communicating with IT development

stakeholders.•• Verifying requirements or specification.

• Unit testing.• Integration testing.• Systems testing.• Evaluate solution performance - validate non

functional requirements.• Validate solution against requirements.• Business requirements.• Functional requirements.• Technical requirements.• Regression testing - re-testing after a change.

•• Testing environments.•• Common IT testing methods.

• White box and black box testing.• Positive and negative testing.• Choosing data values for testing.• Working with QA stakeholders.

•• Software quality assurance (SQA) planning and structure.

•• Utilizing SQA personnel throughout the SDLC.

Documenting Requirements ValidationDeliverables – 3 hrs.• Designing a requirements validation plan

•• IEEE testing templates.•• What is a test design, test case, test

procedure?•• Identifying tests from requirements

documentation.•• Using use case descriptions to develop testing

procedures.•• Tracking test cases.

• Workshop: Validating requirements using testcases.

• Tracing test cases to requirements - crosschecking the solution.

• Designing a requirements validation plan.•• Planning considerations:

• Who will validate requirements?• How will this be accomplished?• Where are the highest risks?• Where will tests be conducted?• Who will conduct testing?• Who will review test results?• What test data will be used?

Solution Assessment and Validation BABOKKnowledge Area – 2 hrs.• Understanding the tasks in the IIBA BABOK -

Solution Assessment and Validation.•• Assess the proposed solution•• Allocate requirements.•• Assess Organizational Readiness.•• Define Transition Requirements.•• Validate Solution.•• Evaluate Solution Performance.


Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers

Intended AudienceThis course is designed for Project Managers who areresponsible for reviewing requirements, managing the businessanalysis efforts, overseeing the testing efforts, or obtainingsign-off on the business analysis deliverables. For PMs who arealso responsible for gathering the business requirements, werecommend that they attend all of the core courses on businessanalysis.

Prerequisites

None

OverviewThe best way to guarantee success of any type of project isto have a strong, experienced Project Manager and strong,experienced Business Analyst. These two individuals,working together from the beginning of the project, set thestage for success by accurately planning and clearly definingthe expected outcomes. Both roles are necessary becausethey are each responsible for a different set of tasks and theyeach possess a set of skills that complement each other. Thetwo roles are closely tied, but exactly what are the similaritiesand differences, and why does a project need both?

This course discusses the role of Business Analysts and thebusiness analysis skills that a Project Manager should alsopossess. The business analysis skill set includes criticalthinking skills, elicitation techniques and requirementsanalysis and management. Experienced project managersmay already possess some of these skills, but may applythem differently than BAs. Understanding the complexity ofthe business analysis role will allow the PM and BA to workseamlessly and increase the project efficiency.

Scoping is one of the most critical areas on which the PMand BA should work together. In addition to the projectscope, as defined in the PMBOK™, the BA is responsible fordefining the scope of business analysis. When these twocomponents of scope are combined they define the entireboundary of the project. In this course, Project Managers willlearn how Business Analysts define the scope of the area forwhich they will be performing analysis. This is just oneexample 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 analyze and scope the area of analysis to clarifythe level and complexity of the business analysis effortneeded for the project.

� Learn what is an excellent requirement and the differencebetween business and functional requirements.

� Learn the five core components necessary to analyze abusiness area.

� Be introduced to the most commonly used analysistechniques.

� Discuss alternatives for traceability of requirements.� Plan an approach for analyzing, categorizing, and

managing requirements. Determine the level of formalityrequired and consider options for documenting andpackaging requirements based on project type, priorities,and risks.

� Identify techniques and documentation optionsappropriate for the various software development.approaches and project types (COTS, maintenance,business process improvement, new development, etc).

� Understand how validating requirements impacts theproject and the components of software testing.

� Review business analysis requirements to improve thequality of your deliverables.


SPECIALIZED COURSE

3 DAYS




Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• What is business analysis?• Review the major tasks performed by a business

analyst.• Define the essential skills needed to perform

these tasks.

Project Participants and their Roles – 1 hr.• Identify typical project stakeholders and their

roles.• Discuss how the business analyst interacts with

these participants.

Scoping the Project from the Business Analyst'sPerspective – 4.5 hrs.• Understand why the project is being done.

Without this understanding it will be difficult forbusiness analysts to elicit and document theright requirements and focus their businessanalysis work in the appropriate areas. Get anintroduction to Enterprise Analysis.

• Understand the organizational environment.Identify the business stakeholders who will beinvolved in the project and how they will impactbusiness analysis.

• Learn to ask probing questions about therequirements scope and facilitate a discussionwith project stakeholders using visualrepresentations of the requirements boundaries.

• Learn the context level dataflow diagramtechnique to identify and scope “what is” and,more importantly, “what is not” to be analyzed.Analyze interfaces with people, otherorganizations, existing systems, and othersoftware applications.

• Discuss how a business analyst should collect,organize, and maintain requirements for efficientanalysis and reuse on future projects.

• Workshop - Scope the class case study project.

Defining and Detailing Requirements – 4 hrs.• What is a requirement? Why is it important to

gather and document requirements? What arethe criteria used to judge the quality of“excellent” requirements?

• Learn how software developers userequirements.

• Understand the difference between analysis ofthe business and design of the solutions or“business” vs. “technological” requirements.Why is it necessary to understand the businessproblem before deciding on a solution?

• Learn the 5 core requirement components, whatthey describe, and why they are important.•• Entity•• Attribute•• Process (Use Case)•• External Agent (actor)•• Business Rule

Requirements Analysis Techniques – 5 hrs.• Learn the recommended approach to

categorizing requirements. Why shouldrequirements be categorized? Who uses eachcategory? Why is it difficult to create distinctcategories?•• Business Requirements•• Functional Requirements•• Technical Requirements

• Learn the concept of traceability ofrequirements.

• Discuss the most commonly used analysistechniques to organize and refine requirements.Business analysts should have expertise inmany analysis techniques to be able to adapt todifferent types of projects and businesses.•• Structured textual templates (process

descriptions, data descriptions, business rules, use cases)

•• Entity relationship diagram•• Decomposition diagram•• User stories, use case diagram and use case

descriptions•• Workflow diagram (UML, BPMN, ANSI, swim

lane)•• Prototyping

• Consider options and level of formality forpackaging requirements and choosing theappropriate documentation techniques for eachproject.

• Review currently available software tools thatcan be used for requirements management.

• Workshop – Put into practice several of theanalysis techniques on the course case studyrequirements.

Conducting a Requirements Review – 2 hrs.• Learn how to conduct a requirements review:

Who should participate? What are the requiredsteps? How is a session conducted? What arethe common challenges?

• Workshop - Review a sample requirementspackage.•• Identify missing or incomplete requirements.•• Identify potential test cases.•• Document issues and develop an approach for

going forward.

Validate the Requirements – 2 hrs.• Understand the role of business analysis in

validating requirements and software testing.• Introduction to software testing: Why is testing

important? What is the business analyst's role intesting? What is the primary objective oftesting? What are the phases and types oftesting?


• Practice identifying test cases and refiningrequirements based on quality assuranceprinciples.

Course Summary – 1.5 hrs.• Review business analysis tasks and skills.• Workshop – Draft an initial Business Analysis

Communications Plan for a CRM project.• Develop an Action Plan with next steps on the

student’s current project.• Student questions/discussion topics.

Appendix - Overview of Application DevelopmentProcesses and Standards – Optional - as timeallows• Discuss various methodologies for application

development.• Learn which models are used in each approach:

•• Waterfall•• Information Engineering•• IDEF•• RAD•• Iterative/Agile•• BPMN•• Object Oriented - UML•• Spiral/RUP


Business Process Improvement (BPI) using BPMN

Diagramming

Intended AudienceThis course will be beneficial to any person, in any sizeorganization, hoping to improve their business processes. Thetechniques presented can be used without any sophisticatedsoftware to quickly identify areas for improvement and fixbroken processes.

Prerequisites

None

OverviewEvery business is searching for better ways of getting workdone. Improving efficiency, decreasing costs, increasingproductivity and customer service are goals that areuniversal. The best way to identify process improvements is to: 1) study the current procedures, 2) find the core oressential work being done, and 3) re-design the way thisessential work is accomplished. This course teaches anapproach to these three steps that is very structured and has proven successful in thousands of organizations.

Process improvements may include procedural changes,software changes, organizational changes, personnelchanges, etc. When the analyst understands the corebusiness processes they can suggest alternative solutionswhich meet core business needs while improving the waythat work gets done. Management can then evaluate eachalternative for its potential improvement and the cost ofimplementation.

BPMN (Business Process Modeling Notation) is quicklybecoming the standard modeling notation for presentingprocess models. It is a structured approach to representingbusiness processes in an easy to review format that can beread and understood by business stakeholders along withtechnical stakeholders. This common "language" makesbusiness process re-design much easier to develop andcommunicate.


� Start a BPI project with clear objectives and an agreedupon goal.

� Define key terms used by the business domain to improvecommunications within the business.

� Identify and document complex business process steps inan easy to review diagram using industry standardnotation.

� Schedule and conduct discovery/elicitation sessions tolearn about current business processes.

� Ask detailed questions to get a complete understanding ofbusiness procedures, business rules, information use andevents that impact the business process.

� Identify the most important business component:Essential Processes.

� Decompose complex processes into lower level tasks andsub-processes.

� Conduct a formal review of a process model to assureaccuracy.

� Identify areas for process improvement by reviewing ASIS models.

� Develop process re-design strategies and present themfor approval.


SPECIALIZED COURSE

3 DAYS




Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• Discuss the definition of business process

improvement.• Formulate strong project objectives and goals.• Learn the importance of the glossary to process

modeling.

AS IS Workflow Analysis – 5 hrs.• Utilize workflow analysis to understand the

current business process (AS IS).•• Discuss key terms in process modeling and

their subtle differences (process, sub-process,function, activity, essential process, task, procedure).

• Learn to create detailed Business ProcessDiagrams (BPD) using BPMN workflowmodeling.•• Identify and define process participants using

Pools and Lanes.•• Learn the key BPMN symbols and their usage

(tasks, connections, events, gateways).•• Discover and analyze tasks in the business

domain.•• Identify events within the business process

including delays, communications, and triggers.

•• Decompose complex processes into sub-processes and create related diagrams.

•• Use data artifacts to collect and analyze information currently used by the business.

•• Collect metrics or measurements for business tasks to use for process improvement prioritization.

• Learn to capture business rules during analysisand document them in a useful fashion.

• Learn to review a business process modellooking for process improvement opportunities.

• Learn an approach to managing your workloadon a large business process modeling project.

• Workshop: Create an AS IS Business ProcessModel for the course case study and present itto the class.

Essential Business Process Modeling – 3 hrs.• Learn to identify essential business processes.

An essential business process is a corerequirement of the business area necessary tore-design the process for improvement. Eachprocess must be clearly defined, consistentlynamed, and completely described.

• Learn to extract essential processes fromdetailed user descriptions and the AS ISprocess models.

• Learn to identify redundant and reusableprocesses.

• Use an interviewing template to documentbusiness narratives for each essential process.

Process Analysis – 3 hrs.• Learn to organize essential business processes

in a process outline or decomposition diagram.• Learn to decompose business processes into

sub-processes and tasks.• Workshop: Identify and present essential

processes for the class case study.

Conducting a Requirements Review – 1-2 hrs.• The best way to verify that business process

models are correct is to conduct a formalreview. Learn how to conduct a requirementsreview: Who should participate? What are therequired steps to ensure success? How is asession conducted? What are the commonchallenges?

• Workshop: Review a business process model (acase study will be provided or students maybring a project to class for review).

TO BE Workflow Analysis – 5 hrs.• Review BPMN AS IS Models and transition to a

TO BE Model.•• Identify areas for improvement from the AS IS

Models.• Review current process metrics.• Examine handoffs and communications

between process participants.•• Prioritize areas for improvement.•• Brainstorm on TO BE alternatives.•• Create TO BE models with a re-design or the

business procedures supporting the essential processes.

• Use Root Cause Analysis to find the true reasonfor each problem.

• Involve all stakeholders in developing alternativesolutions and evaluating each one.

• Perform gap analysis to analyze gaps betweenthe AS IS Process and the recommended TO BEProcess.

• Workshop: Create a TO BE Business ProcessModel for the course case study and present itto the class.

Elicitation Techniques – 2-3 hrs.• Learn to use and determine the appropriate

elicitation techniques for gathering processinformation:•• One-on-one interviews•• Requirements workshops•• Surveys•• Brainstorming•• Document analysis•• Focus Group•• Job shadowing/observation•• Competitive analysis•• Interface analysis•• Prototyping•• Reverse engineering


Overview of Business Analysis

Course OutlineIntroduction – 0.5 hr.• What is the role of a business analyst?• Review the major tasks performed by the

business analyst.• Define the essential skills needed to perform

their tasks.• Identify other project participants and their roles.• Discuss how the business analyst interacts with

these participants.

Managing Project Scope – 0.5 hr.• What are the key components of a project

initiation document?• Business analysts must understand why the

project is being done so that they can focustheir analysis work in the appropriate areas.BAs should be involved in the development ofproject scope.

• Manage the change control process to ensurethat once the scope of the project has beenapproved, all project participants will operatewithin the scope or formally approve any scopechanges.

• Keep your business analyst within the scope ofthe project.

Documenting Requirements – 1 hr.• Understand what is a requirement and why is it

important to gather and document requirements.• Learn the recommended approach to categorizing

requirements. Why should requirements becategorized? Who uses each category? Why is itdifficult to create distinct categories?•• Business requirements•• Functional requirements•• Technical requirements

• Understand the difference between analysis anddesign or “business” vs. “technological”requirements. Why is it necessary to understandthe business problem before deciding on asolution?

• The requirements package. Review thecomponents of the requirements package andlook at a sample of the structured text,diagrams, and format.

• Overview of the core requirements components:data, process, externals, business rules. Why isit important for business analysts to documenteach component?

Planning the Analysis Work – 1 hr.• Assist business analysts with identifying the

sources of information, scheduling informationgathering sessions, getting user commitment,scheduling requirements reviews.

• Discuss how a business analyst should collect,organize, and maintain project information.

• Determine the project type and whichrequirements are appropriate.

• Assist business analysts in deciding theappropriate requirements format for the project.

• Use the project scope documentation toestimate the time required to complete businessanalysis.

• Understand the project and business risks tohelp keep business analysts focused in the rightareas.

• Understand the user and stakeholder viewpointsand goals for the project.

• Make analysis tools available for the businessanalyst.

Managing the Requirements Process – 0.5 hr.• Supporting the requirements gathering process.• Resolve project issues and problems by working

with the project sponsor.• Assisting the business analyst with complex

requirements.• The importance of formal requirements peer

reviews.• Project success factors.

Current Industry Trends – 0.5 hr.• Application development project trends.

•• Why do 80% of all projects fail to meet the business unit’s original objectives?

•• Analysis and testing are the most resource intensive activities - make the best use of these resources.

•• What happened to methodology?•• Working with fewer IT personnel, off shore

and contract programmers, outsourcing companies.

•• Globalization causes the rate of change in business to increase.

• Introduction to the business rules approach.• Current status of UML and the Object Oriented

approach.• The importance of enterprise systems and

reusability.• Where do business analysts come from? Who

makes a great business analyst?

This course is customized for each organization’s unique environment to maximize the effectiveness of the business analysispractice.

OverviewThis seminar presents the business analyst role tomanagers and others who lead and work with businessanalysts. In order for the business analyst to be successful,both the IT and business community must embrace thebusiness analysis process. The seminar can be used as aworking session to discuss how your organization willimplement the business analysis process and approachesfor documenting the requirements.

Both large and small organizations are realizing the benefitsof using Business Analysts on all of their applicationdevelopment projects. A business analyst acts as a liaisonbetween business people who have a business problem and

technology people who know how to create automatedsolutions. Improving the communication between yourbusiness areas and your IT team significantly increases thequality of the systems developed.

A business analyst’s main responsibility is to elicit, analyze, andcommunicate requirements in a format that is useful to theirbusiness stakeholders and the technical developers. Analysis isa very important and time-consuming phase of every project.Business analysts need strong leadership as they elicit, analyze,and document requirements that are often unclear, inconsistent,and expensive. Business Analysts work most effectively whenthey have clear direction and frequent reviews of progress.


SPECIALIZED COURSE

0.5 DAYS

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis

Course OutlineIntroduction – 1 hr.• What is the role of a business analyst?• Review the major tasks performed by the

business analyst.• Define the skills needed to perform their tasks.

Project Participants and their Roles – 0.5 hr.• Identify project participants and their roles• Discuss how the business analyst interacts with

these participants.

Defining and Detailing Requirements – 1.5 hrs.• What is a requirement? Why is it important to

gather and document requirements? What arethe criteria used to judge the quality of“excellent” requirements?

• Understand the difference between analysis anddesign or “business” vs. “technological”requirements. Why is it necessary to understandthe business problem before deciding on asolution?

• Learn the 5 core requirement components, whatthey describe, and why they are important.•• Entity•• Attribute•• Process (Use Case)•• External Agent (Actor)•• Business Rule

Documenting Requirements – 2 hrs.• Learn the recommended approach to

categorizing requirements. Why shouldrequirements be categorized? Who uses eachcategory? Why is it difficult to create distinctcategories?•• Business requirements•• Functional requirements•• Technical requirements

• Review a sample requirements packageincluding:•• Textual templates•• Entity relationship diagram•• Decomposition diagram•• Use case diagram and scenarios•• Workflow diagram•• Prototyping

Validate the Requirements – 1 hr.• Introduction to software testing: Why is testing

important? What is the business analyst’s role intesting? What is the primary objective oftesting? What are the phases and types oftesting?

• Learn the two main testing documents: testplans, test cases.


This course is customized for each organization’s unique environment to maximize the effectiveness of the business analysispractice.

OverviewThis class provides an overview of the Business Analyst roleand a detailed review of the Requirements Documentprovided to the development team. To ensure an integratedteam, IT developers need to understand the role of theBusiness Analyst. They should also be familiar with therequirements that Business Analysts are gathering anddocumenting. This includes understanding categories of

requirements, the core requirement components, and thedocumentation formats used for each type of requirement.IT team members must also understand the testing lifecycle and the personnel involved. This course givesstudents an overview of the role of the Business Analyst,requirements documentation, and software testing.

SPECIALIZED COURSE

1 DAY


Study Guides

B2T Training offers study guides for experienced businessanalysts who would like to obtain certification. The studyguides, like our certification program, are based on ourthree core courses.

The study guides help business analysts practice andreview material to validate their understanding of businessanalysis techniques and approaches. Additionally, thesestudy guides are appropriate for business analysts who areconsidering pursuing training, but are not sure at whatlevel they should begin training. These study guides willhelp identify areas where business analysts may need tostrengthen their knowledge.

Each study guide includes an initial online assessment testand two online practice exams consisting of multiple choicequestions that test a business analyst’s knowledge regardingeach proficiency area. Feedback provided for each responseto the questions gives further assistance and insight forstudying.

Additionally, each study guide consists of a textual file thatincludes high-level content review for each course’sproficiency area, a case study with analysis exercises, anda list of recommended additional study resources. This filewill be made available for use to download as a “pdf.”

To purchase a study guide visit www.b2ttraining.com.

Self Study Options

Requirements Template Roadmap

Each project that a business analyst works on is unique andmay require different combinations of requirementscomponents. Templates provide a checklist for planningrequirements work. The Requirements TemplateRoadmap helps the businessanalyst choose appropriatetemplates to use for each project.To assist business analysts indocumenting requirements, weoffer a Requirements PackageTemplate that is available on the “Downloads” section of our website. The templates in this package provide businessanalysts with a structured formatfor eliciting and documenting

requirements. Standard, re-usabletemplates allow for faster and easier requirements reviewand approval.

The Requirements Template Roadmap may be used as a companion to B2T Training’s Requirements PackageTemplate. This “Roadmap” serves as a reference tool forbusiness analysts when completing the requirementspackage based upon the templates. Using this Roadmap asa guideline or “map” for the requirements templates will

help business analysts determine whatto include in a requirements

package, who should preparewhich sections of the package,and when and why therequirements components

should be prepared. Additionally,the Roadmap provides examples of

complete requirements templates.

The Requirements Template Roadmap is available for

purchase at www.b2ttraining.com.

$99each

A “must have”reference tool

$19.95

S E L F S T U D Y O P T I O N S



S E L F S T U D Y O P T I O N S

“Barbara Carkenord has put together an excellent ‘How to’ manual to help BAs deliver on the value of business analysis to their organizations. The step-by-step instructions provide apractical guide to the practicing BA, translating her experience andinsight to show you what it takes to be a great BA.”

- Kathleen Barret

President, IIBA

“Seven Steps to Mastering Business Analysis has gone beyondwhat we discuss in the BABOK™ to address the real challengesbusiness analysts face in the workplace. I wish this book had beenavailable years ago, but I’m glad that BAs have the opportunity tobenefit from it today!”

- Kevin Brennan, CBAP®

Vice President,

Body of Knowledge, IIBA

Now Available at www.b2ttraining.comand all major booksellers

Education is ongoing.

Go beyond the classroom with easy-to-access online resources!

B2T Training Web Site

� BA Blog

� Downloadable templates

� Library

� BA tools

� CBAP Study Guide

� the bridge archives

Online Communities

� Business Analysis Times (www.batimes.com)

� LinkedIn BA groups (www.linkedin.com)

� BA Collective (www.bacollective.com)

� Business Rules Community (www.brcommunity.org)

� Business Process Management (www.bpm.com)

� International Institute of Business Analysis (www.theiiba.org)

� Modern Analyst (www.modernanalyst.com)

� Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org)

� Requirements Networking Group (www.requirementsnetwork.org)Follow us on Twitterhttp://twitter.com/B2T_Training

Business Analysis MentoringOur classes include one hour of after class businessanalysis mentoring for each student. Students lovehaving the opportunity to work with an industry expertto apply techniques learned in class to their uniquesituations during a one-on-one session.

In the current economic climate, organizations need tomaximize the capabilities of their existing businessanalysis practitioners. Effective business analysistraining and mentoring can help companies raiseemployee results. Proper business analysis mentoringcan give access to new ideas, tips and strategies thatwill help you build upon the team’s current skills andstrengths to give you a competitive edge.Learn how to drive more revenue by leveraging yourbusiness analysts.

Mentoring is available additionally as an on-demandservice to jump start a new project, a new skilldevelopment effort, and to reinforce concepts ortechniques. This real time service is provided by ourexperts at B2T Training onsite or virtually. Virtualmentoring can be purchased online.

Examples of mentoring assistance provided:� Guidance for selecting the appropriate deliverables for

your project

� Assistance in determining and estimating businessanalysis activities

� Strategies for effectively engaging all stakeholdersand project team members

� Coaching you to become a more agile BA

� Provide direction for adapting and customizing templates

� Help with roles, career paths and skill developmentidentification

� Direction for building and sustaining a Community ofPractice or Center of Excellence


M E N T O R I N G

Contact us at 866.675.2125 or email [email protected] for more information.


CBAP® Study Guide v2.0The CBAP Study guide is the “nucleus” of studying forthe exam. This study guide provides tips, suggestionsand other guidance needed to help prepare individualsfor the CBAP exam.

Get prepared for the CBAP exam at your own pace by:

� Answering questions in each knowledge area toassess where your experience requires more development.

� Learning valuable tips for exam prep and exercises tostrengthen your memory skills

� Practicing over 450 sample CBAP exam questions written by CBAPs

� Understanding why an answer is correct or incorrectto reveal areas that may need more targeted conditioning

� Focusing on key BABOK® concepts to maximize yourstudy effects

“After many years of no formal study, I found it almostimpossible to concentrate on subject matter that Ibelieved I already knew and had been practicing foryears. Your study guide is not an alternative to theBABOK. It led me to read the BABOK several times; eachtime with an inquiring mind to examine how theauthors’ views differed from mine.

High marks on the choice of the 450 questions. The‘practice exam’ format perfectly prepared me tocomfortably pace myself in the exam that I had ampletime to recheck my answers.”

C B A P S T U D Y G U I D E

Purchase our CBAP Exam Prep

Study Guide v2.0 on our website for

only $149!

11675 Rainwater Drive, Suite 325Alpharetta, GA 30009www.b2ttraining.com

B2T Training’s public classesCore Courses

Essential Skills for Business Analysis - 4 Days

Detailing Business Data Requirements - 3 Days

Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements - 4 Days

Advanced Courses

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan - 3 Days

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis - 3 Days

Locations

Atlanta, GA • Chicago, IL • Dallas, TX • Des Moines, IA • Hartford, CT • Irvine, CA •Las Vegas, NV • Louisville, KY • Orlando, FL

RECEIVE A 10% DISCOUNT!

1. When you register and pay for three courses.

2. When groups of 3 or more employees from the same company

register and pay for one course.

Visit www.b2ttraining.com for the latest public class schedule,

pricing information, and to register.

B2T TrainingInternationalPartners

Canadian Partner

Visit www.achieveblue.comfor more information.

South African Partner

Visit www.indigocube.ca.zafor more information.

Australia Partner

Visit www.pmworks.au for more information.

Contact [email protected] you would like to become aninternational partner.

b2t training course catalog (2010)

Documents

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