Demystifying the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge Central Iowa IIBA Chapter December 7, 2005

Objectives  Understand the BA BOK ◘ Key Knowledge Areas ◘ Core BA skills  Status of the IIBA BOK Guide ◘ IIBA Committee ◘ Feedback to the guide ◘ Relationship to professional certification

What is the BA BOK? Business Analysis is the set of tasks, knowledge & techniques required to identify business needs & determine solutions to business problems The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge  Captures the sum of knowledge within the profession of Business Analysis ◘ Areas of knowledge ◘ Associated activities & tasks ◘ Skills necessary to be effective  Reflects what is currently accepted practices  Owned & enhanced by the professionals who apply it

Guide to Business Analysis Body of Knowledge  Fundamentals ◘ Introduction (Chapter 1) ◘ Underlying Fundamentals (Chapter 8) ◘ Glossary (Chapter 9)  Knowledge Areas ◘ Enterprise Analysis (Chapter 2) ◘ Requirements Planning & Management (Chapter 3) ◘ Requirements Gathering (Chapter 4) ◘ Requirements Analysis & Documentation (Chapter 5) ◘ Requirements Communication (Chapter 6) ◘ Requirements Implementation (Chapter 7)

1. Required table stakes 2. Directly related to typical project or solutions development lifecycles 3. Business Architecture Knowledge Area Relationships Enterprise Analysis Requirements Planning and Management Requirements Communication Requirements Gathering Requirements Analysis & Documentation Requirements Implementation Underlying Fundamentals Glossary

Business Analysis Skills  Analyze & solve problems  Understand the business  Communicate effectively (written & spoken)  Manage client relationships  Facilitate discussions  Negotiate & build consensus  Model data & processes  Plan & manage activities  Facilitate & develop business strategy  Understand & manage organizational change

Fundamentals  Ensuring an effective Business Analysis resource ◘ Defines the general competencies, skills, techniques or knowledge needed to effectively perform business analysis but is not unique to business analysis  Value ◘ Articulates non-specific professional skills that are necessary in order for a Business Analysis professional to be successful in performing his/her role ◙Communication Skills ◙Leadership Skills ◙Problem Solving Skills ◙Business Knowledge ◙IT Knowledge

Enterprise Analysis  Understanding the Big Picture ◘ Pre-project / early project activities and approaches ◘ Captures the view of the business to provide context to the requirements ◘ Supports initiatives & long-term planning ◘ Creates the business architecture ◘ Includes process, workflow & entity relationship diagramming, cost / benefit analysis, feasibility studies  Value ◘ Provides understanding of the organizational environment ◘ Provides a context / foundation on which to evaluate all future issues & challenges ◘ Scoping and identifying new business opportunities

Enterprise Analysis 1.Creating and maintaining the business architecture 2.Conducting feasibility studies 3.Identifying new business opportunities 4.Scoping and defining the new business opportunities 5.Preparing the business case 6.Conducting the initial risk assessment 7.Proposing new project opportunities 8.Support project management ◘ Launching new projects ◘ Tracking project benefits

Enterprise Analysis - Skills  Analyze & solve problems  Understand the business  Communicate effectively (written & spoken)  Facilitate & develop business strategy

Requirements Planning & Management  Defining the Plan ◘ Specifies requirements activities to be performed on a specific project ◘ Identifies the deliverables to be produced ◘ Describes how changes will be controlled & managed  Value ◘ Identifies set of requirements activities most appropriate to the unique circumstances of the project ◘ Coordinates requirements with other project work ◘ Ensures a common understanding across the requirements team ◘ Allows for monitoring & addressing of requirements challenges ◘ Specifies tools, resources & contributors & ensures availability ◘ Ensures changes are captured correctly and consistently

Requirements Planning & Management 1.Understand team roles 2.Identify stakeholders 3.Define Business Analyst work division strategy 4.Define requirements risk approach 5.Determine planning considerations 6.Select requirements activities 7.Estimate requirements activities 8.Manage requirements scope 9.Measure & report on requirements activity 10.Manage requirements change

Requirements Planning & Management - Skills  Analyze & solve problems  Plan & manage activities  Communicate effectively (write & speak)  Manage client relationships

Requirements Gathering  Executing the plan ◘ Identifies the tasks, knowledge & techniques for collecting the requirements ◘ Defines standard techniques used to collect requirements for the system  Value ◘ Defines the broad classifications of requirements (e.g., functional, usability, non-functional, constraints) ◘ Describes the various techniques used to gather requirements ◘ Identifies the appropriate collecting method based on the applicability of a technique’s process, key features, strengths and weaknesses

Requirements Gathering Standard techniques ◘ Brainstorming ◘ Document Analysis (review existing documentation) ◘ Focus Groups ◘ Interface Analysis (External Interface Analysis) ◘ Interviews ◘ Job Shadowing (Observation) ◘ Prototyping/Storyboarding (including personas and usage scenarios) ◘ Requirements Workshop (Elicitation workshop; Facilitated workshop; Joint Application Development (JAD)) ◘ Reverse Engineering ◘ Survey / Questionnaire ◘ User Task Analysis (Workflow Analysis)

Requirements Gathering - Skills  Analyze & solve problems  Facilitate discussions  Negotiate & build consensus  Communicate effectively (write & speak)  Manage client relationships  Understand the business

Requirements Analysis & Documentation  Analyzing the data ◘ Defines the methods, tools & techniques used to structure the raw data collected during requirements gathering ◘ Identifies gaps in the information ◘ Defines the capabilities of the solution  Value ◘ Transforms the business need into clearly described capabilities ◘ Provides the foundation for selecting the best alternative among the solution options ◘ Provides requirements that can be clearly communicated to the customer, users and stakeholders, and to the project team

Requirements Analysis & Documentation 1.Define Solution Model 2.Analyze Functional Requirements 3.Define supplemental (non-functional) requirements 4.Describe Assumptions and Constraints 5.Determine requirements attributes 6.Structure requirements for traceability 7.Create Requirements Specification 8.Validate requirements

Requirements Analysis & Documentation - Skills  Analyze & solve problems  Model data & processes  Communicate effectively (write & speak)

Requirements Implementation  Delivering the best solution ◘ Ensures the solution meets the stakeholder objectives while supporting the needs of the developers ◘ Guides detailed specifications & development of the solution, testing & implementation ◘ Establishes ways to assess the project success after implementation  Value ◘ Articulates how the Business Analysis professional should work with the other project team members to produce the solution design ◘ Identifies the approach to evaluating alternative solutions once requirements have been formally signed off ◘ Ensures that the solution is implemented smoothly ◘ Verifies that the solution is thoroughly tested

Requirements Implementation 1.Develop alternate solutions 2.Evaluate technology options 3.Facilitate the selection of a solution 4.Design a usable application 5.Support the Quality Assurance process 6.Support the solution implementation 7.Communicate the solution impacts

Requirements Implementation - Skills  Analyze & solve problems  Negotiate & build consensus  Communicate effectively (write & speak)  Understand the business  Understand & manage organizational change

Requirements Communications  Communicating the outcome ◘ Presents & communicates requirements to all stakeholders & implementers of the project ◘ Brings the group to consensus & gets approval ◘ On-going, iterative process throughout life of project  Value ◘ Presents the requirements in a format & structure that is appropriate for all intended audience(s) ◘ Brings the various stakeholders to a common understanding ◘ Formalizes agreement

Requirements Communications 1.Determine appropriate requirements presentation format 2.Create requirements package 3.Present requirements 4.Conduct a formal requirements review 5.Obtain consensus and signoff of requirements

Requirements Communications - Skills  Communicate effectively (write & speak)  Facilitate Discussion  Negotiate & build consensus  Understand & manage organizational change  Manage client relationships  Understand the business

Status of the IIBA BOK  Who maintains the guide to the BA BOK? ◘ IIBA committee of Business Analysis professionals ◘ Drafts will continue to be posted on the web site  Feedback to the guide ◘ Volunteer for committee ◘ Send comments to committee  Relationship to Professional Certification ◘ Basis for determining professional knowledge ◘ Experience in 4 out of 6 Knowledge Areas ◘ Experience in 3 out of 5 of the underlying fundamentals