Introduction to Business Analysis
Learn How To
• Define the role of the business analyst throughout the phases of a project
• Explain the range of tasks that a business analyst might perform
• Apply principles of quality assurance and testing
• Explain the importance of requirements definition
• Assess the value of use case analysis and design on your work
• Explain how business process, workflow and data modeling techniques facilitate improved communication
Course Synopsis
The business analyst’s role is key to defining the requirements of a project at its earliest stages, as well as to planning, defining and validating project scope. It’s important to have an understanding of the breadth of knowledge that a business analyst brings to bear in developing business solutions.
This introductory course is designed to give people new to the business analyst role or those who supervise and/or work with business analysts a basic understanding of the benefits, functions and impact of this critical position. You’ll experience how a business analyst supports the project, from establishing its scope in the analysis phase to ensuring the requirements have been met in the testing phase. The course provides a special focus on the business analysis function as it relates to developing information technology solutions, given that such an understanding is essential for project –success.
After completing this course, you’ll understand why and when to involve the business analysis function. Plus, you’ll have a working vocabulary to enable you to communicate effectively with those who perform that role. If you are new to the role of the business analyst and need to pursue more in-depth skill development, you’ll leave this course with the framework necessary to support your future efforts.
Course Topics
1. What is Business Analysis?
• IT business analysis
• Business process improvement
• Challenges of gathering and analyzing requirements
• History and current trends in business analysis
• Role of the business analyst through the project life cycle
2. Defining the Business Problem
• Techniques to determine the underlying business problems
• Understanding the business environment at a high-level
• Relating business "problems" and "processes"
3. Root Causes of Problems
• Business problems and root causes
• Applying modeling to understand root causes (the AS-IS state)
o Workflow modeling
o Use Case analysis
o Data modeling
4. Solution Vision and Scope
• Vision and envisioning
• The key players in setting the vision
• How to determine the product scope
• Quantifying process improvement goals
5. Making the Business Case
• How the business analyst adds insight to business cases
• Estimating the benefits associated with the product
6. Modeling the Future State
• Models and modeling
• Relating models to requirements
• Modeling the information requirements (data modeling)
• Modeling the TO-BE state (process and workflow modeling)
7. Getting Requirements from Models
• The value of Use Cases
• Use Case analysis
• Unified Modeling Language (UML) and object-oriented analysis
8. Requirements Definition and Documentation
• SMART requirements
• Identifying the boundary between requirements and specifications
• Managing changes to the –requirements
9. Quality Assurance and Testing
• The business analyst's role in testing
• Quality assurance activities: checking and testing
• Introduction to test strategies and plans
Logical Data and Process Modeling
Learn How To
• Create more accurate and complete requirements
• Use diagramming to communicate project scope
• Create a data model to define and describe project requirements
• Create and use functional decomposition diagrams, entity relationship diagrams and dataflow diagrams
• Use dataflow diagrams to validate data and process models
Course Synopsis
In today’s complex business environment, integration of multiple functional areas combined with fuzzy requirements is a fact of life—a picture is truly worth a thousand words. The techniques used in logical data and process modeling focus on presenting a complete picture of the important requirements of the business (and the related project) through significant user involvement in the analysis phase.
This course provides techniques for effectively analyzing and modeling any area of your business and creating logical data and process models that show how data flows and work progresses. The approaches taught in this class are designed to focus the attention on the important requirements of the business that are discovered through significant user involvement during the analysis phase.
Participants will learn how to create models without being limited by technology or organizational structure. The course exercises are designed to reinforce the techniques taught in class—entity relationship diagramming, functional decomposition diagramming and dataflow diagramming.
Reminder: Prior to taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in How to Gather and Document User Requirements.
Course Topics
1. Introduction
• System development challenges
• Benefits of modeling
• Components of logical process models: moving from dataflow to process
• Characteristics of essential modeling
2. Approaches to Functional Decomposition
• Concepts of Perfect Technology
• Top down and bottom up approaches
• Event partitioning
• Using functional decomposition diagrams
3. Introduction to Logical Data Modeling
• Purpose and components
• Data redundancy and derived data
• Different levels of data modeling
4. The Conceptual Data Model
• Discovering entities, attributes and relationships
• Analyzing attributes and choosing unique identifiers
• Relationships and cardinality
5. The Logical Data Model
• Super-types and sub-types
• Attributive and associative entities
• Documenting data constraints
6. Normalization and the Physical Data Model
• The physical data model
• The role of the database designer
7. The Process Diagram in Context
• Purpose and components
• Rules and conventions
• Leveled data flow diagrams
8. Verifying and Presenting Models
• Accuracy and completeness
• Internal verification and external validation
• Effective presentation
9. CASE Tools and Transition to OO/UML
• Major functions of CASE tools
• Introduction to Object Orientation (OO) and Unified Modeling Language (UML)
• Impact of OO/UML on the business analyst
Workflow Modeling
Learn How To
• Create workflow diagrams using various proven techniques
• Determine which workflow modeling technique is best suited for your project
• Find opportunities for process improvement using workflow models
• Validate workflow models to ensure their accuracy and completeness
• Use six proven enablers to improve processes
Course Synopsis
To develop a complete picture of the important requirements to support the business, the next critical step is documenting the flow of work, as it currently exists. Only then can you move forward to design the solution to support the business needs. The workflow model defines and diagrams “how” an organization performs its essential business activities.
The workflow model uses the Logical Process Model as the basis for diagramming each process as a workflow. These diagrams explain each activity and its interactions in detail, including how it is triggered, what resources are needed and what deliverables will be created. This knowledge will enable you to discover and address any unstated requirements prior to finalizing the project plan. These workflow diagrams are key to effective analysis and communications.
Participants will learn how to diagram current operating procedures (AS-IS) and look for areas of improvement (TO-BE). You will be prepared to construct and analyze the workflow diagrams, identify opportunities for process improvements and modify workflow to reflect these new improvements.
Reminder: Prior to taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in How to Gather and Document User Requirements and Logical Data and Process Modeling.
Course Topics
1. Introduction to Workflow Modeling
• Concepts of modeling
• Types of models
• AS-IS vs. TO-BE models
• Modeling and the development life cycle
2. Workflow Modeling Basics
• Workflow models
• Relating project deliverables
• Processes, functions and tasks
• Establishing the context of the process
• Identifying the process objectives
3. Workflow Modeling Techniques
• Workflow models and their use
• CASE scenarios
• Workflow diagram components
• Workflow diagramming standards
o ANSI
o IDEF3
o UML
o CASE tools
4. Workflow Modeling Approaches
• Identifying all sources of information
• Necessary levels of detail
• Determining correct approach
5. Analyzing the Models
• Evaluating the value of a business process
• Measure the performance of a business process
• Looking for process improvement opportunities
• Brainstorming techniques
• Creating the TO-BE model from the AS-IS model
6. Verifying and Validating (V&V) the Models
• Sources of information used
• V&V techniques
• Using a walkthrough
• Five questions used to verify models
Use Case Modeling for Business Analysis
Learn How To
• Apply the benefits of use-case analysis throughout your project life cycle
• Describe what use cases can and cannot do for requirements analysis
• Work with end users and use cases to elicit and validate requirements easily
• Define the scope of the system in enough detail to communicate clearly with stakeholders
• Create use-case diagrams, narratives and scenarios
• Utilize use cases beyond the analysis phase
Course Synopsis
It is recognized today that use cases provide a valuable alternative to traditional methods for organizing and describing functional requirements. In particular, use cases allow for more effective communication between the user and technical communities thus helping ensure requirements are universally agreed upon. From the analyst's perspective, use cases are advantageous as they are able to model the entire business process, providing the necessary documentation to identify the system's interactions with the business goals, rules and business-level decisions.
This course frames the process of discovering use cases, beginning with finding the actors, the scope and the various relationships between them. It gives you access to the resourceful nature of the use case by focusing on users' needs and how the system will help satisfy those needs, at the same time providing traceability from requirements to specifications to the product.
You will leave this course prepared to perform the proper tasks to create, document and review use cases to drive systems development. The same discipline can be applied to modeling the business using use cases.
Reminder: Prior to taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in Introduction to Business Analysis and How to Gather and Document User Requirements.
Course Topics
1. Use Case Overview
• What is a use case?
• Business use cases vs. system use cases
• Use case approach
• The Unified Modeling Language™ (UML)
2. Use Case Diagrams
• Use case elements
o Actors
o Diagrams
o Scenarios
o Other notations
• Defining project scope
• Dealing with exceptions
3. Discovering Use Cases
• Use cases and actor's goals
• Brainstorming use cases
• Use case granularity
• Defining use cases
• Dealing with commonality
4. Use Case Documentation
• The basics
• Alternate and exception paths
• Other descriptors
o Business rules
o Non-functional requirements
o Extending use cases
5. Completing the Business Analysis
• Use case document review
o Goals of the review
o Common problems and mistakes
• Completing the Business Requirements Document (BRD)
6. Beyond the Analysis Phase
• Use cases and RUP
• Estimating project size
• Test scenarios
Business Object Oriented Modeling
Learn How To
• Apply many concepts of OO as they relate to business analysis
• Use a step-by-step methodology for applying OO modeling techniques to the activities of a project
• Leverage the value of OO and UML techniques by applying them early in a project
• Investigate and document business process and systems behavior using OO and UML
• Eliminate inconsistencies in the business requirements documentation using inheritance, encapsulation and other UML techniques
Course Synopsis
As projects become more and more complex, they continually push the boundaries of the obscure and the unknown. Object orientation (OO) is not just for programming and coding. At a conceptual level, it is changing the way we look at projects by having us view the project, the product or the process in terms of groups of items and processes that have specific properties, called objects. The chief benefits of an object-oriented view are the ability to generalize processes and properties and to identify specific exceptions of the same processes and properties, or what are known as “use cases” and “scenarios,” respectively. This allows for the design of a business process or new IT system today that will allow for the potential for nearly unlimited expansion.
Business Object Oriented Modeling provides the participant with a solid introduction to the language of object-oriented modeling, known as Unified Modeling Language (UML) and a view of this requirements elicitation technique through the eyes of the business analyst, not the systems analyst. UML is very useful in identifying and documenting the current processes (AS-IS) and the future processes (TO-BE), regardless of whether it is for a manual process or an IT solution. It will also help identify what other roles and systems (actors) and processes may change due to the outcome of the project.
This course enables organizations to fully exploit the potential of object-oriented modeling by using it early in the project life cycle when the analysis of the business, the users, and the who and what are involved is being accomplished. Participants in the course will work on a real-world case study to gain practical experience in all of the techniques and tools required to fill the role of the business analyst, whether they are on OO specific projects or looking for a new way of working with the more complex problems of today.
Course Topics
1. Object-Oriented Paradigm Shift
• Benefits of OO modeling using UML
• Application of OO in identifying and documenting business processes
2. Introduction to Object Orientation
• Classes, objects and actors
• Encapsulation
• Attributes and operations
• Aggregation and composition
• Inheritance
• Association
• Polymorphism
• Using cases and scenarios
3. Analyzing the Project
• OO interviewing and stakeholder workshops
• High-level use of case diagrams
• AS-IS process documentation
• Setting the project boundaries
• Grouping the requirements into use cases
4. Dynamic Analysis
• Finding the changes in an object as it moves through the process
• Best practices in describing the process flow, including normal flow, alternate flow and exceptional flow, along with pre- and post-conditions
• Use of decision tables and decision trees
• Documenting Statechart diagrams
5. Static Analysis
• Questions to ask to uncover:
• Entities and classes
• Business process and multiplicity
• Inheritance, aggregation and composition
• Ways to elicit the requirements through brainstorming, interviews, etc.
• Identifying the properties of an object: attributes and operations
6. Completing the Analysis
• The implementation plan
• Baselining for development Handing off for development
Introduction to Testing for Business Analysts
Learn How To
• Create test cases and test scenarios using data, process and workflow models
• Select the right technique to make testing efficient
• Create testing strategies and test plans for high-order testing based on business and user requirements
• Plan and coordinate usability testing
• Conduct reviews and inspections
• Manage problems in a structured way
Course Synopsis
Test plans should not be left for last!
Failure to develop a plan to test the right things at the right time can result in cost overruns, missed completion dates, undetected errors and dissatisfaction among customers and users.
In this course, you’ll learn the necessary skills to construct effective test strategies and test plans to verify and validate requirements—enabling you to deliver the quality your business demands. You will also be able to communicate the rationale for and value of planning and conducting the various necessary reviews and inspections. You’ll gain an understanding of black box and glass box (white box) testing from a business analyst’s perspective—and you’ll know how to communicate with those who perform the systems analyst function..
NOTE: This course focuses on approaches used in IT from the viewpoint of the business analyst. However, the foundations of these techniques are applicable to other disciplines.
Recommendation: Before taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in How to Gather and Document User Requirements, Logical Data and Process Modeling and Workflow Modeling.
Course Topics
1. Achieving Quality
• Four underlying principles
• Perceived risk
2. The Role of the BA in Testing
• BA involvement in testing and checking
• V-Model of BA involvement
3. Checking the Business Requirements Document (BRD)
• Four major quality attributes of requirements
• Techniques for checking the BRD
• Peer Review technique
• Eliminating common causes of defects
4. Planning for Assessment and Testing
• Components of the test plan
• Three purposes of testing
• Elements of testing strategies
• Elements of test cases and scenarios
5. Black Box Testing
• Equivalence domain partitioning
• Boundary testing
• Condition coverage
• Decision tables
• Entity relationship diagrams
• CRUD testing (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
• Error guessing
6. Glass Box and Automated Testing
• Activity coverage
• Decision coverage
• Condition coverage
• Automated testing
7. Usability Assessment and Testing
• Usability factors
• Achieving usability
• Usability checklists
8. Writing the Test Plan
• Resource planning
• Time considerations
• Test environment considerations
• Human resources considerations
• Test plan documentation
9. Assessing Customer Satisfaction
• Validating customer needs
• Assessment methods
• Scales of measurement
• Post-implementation planning
10. Acceptance Testing
• Ways to capture informal and formal problems
• Formal acceptance vs. user acceptance testing
• Test Readiness Review
How to Gather and Document User Requirements
Learn How To
• Define the role of the business analyst in the requirements process
• Structure a Business Requirements Document
• Effectively document a project's vision and scope
• Identify user classes and define their environment
• Develop a Requirements Analysis Work Plan
• Define, elicit, structure, validate and document business requirements
• Link the Business Requirements Document to a Software Requirements Specification
Course Synopsis
Incomplete requirements are often cited as the number-one reason projects or systems fail. Accurately defining the requirements and staying on course from the beginning is key to success in today’s business world.
This “how-to” course introduces the roles of the business analyst as they relate to the analysis and documentation of requirements. It familiarizes participants with core knowledge and skills required to analyze and document user requirements. It also identifies how these requirements are defined and managed throughout the life cycle.
Recommendation: The material presented in this course provides the foundation necessary for building additional business analyst skills. You should take this course before taking any additional courses in the curriculum.
Course Topics
1. Roles, Definitions and Key Principles
• Critical role of the business analyst
• Creating and adopting a formal documentation strategy
• Roles and mutual expectations among team members
2. Capturing Requirements in a Business Requirements Document
• Identify critical consumers
• Understand the structure of a Business Requirements Document
3. Project Vision and Scope
• How projects are initiated
• Importance of a project scope statement
• Document project vision and scope
4. Identifying Users and Creating a Work Plan
• Project users and characteristics
• The value of creating a work plan
• The elements in a generic work plan
5. Types of Requirements
• Attributes and types of effective requirements
• What is an effective requirement?
6. Elicitation Techniques
• Apply four different question types
• Advantages and disadvantages of several techniques
7. Structuring End-User Requirements
• Techniques used to structure requirements
• Develop a basic Use Case
• The role of modeling
8. Validating User Requirements
• Requirements validation
• Methods used to validate requirements
9. Documenting User Requirements
• The purpose of documenting requirements
• Apply standard principles and techniques
• Organize your requirements descriptions for communication
Learn How To
• Define the role of the business analyst throughout the phases of a project
• Explain the range of tasks that a business analyst might perform
• Apply principles of quality assurance and testing
• Explain the importance of requirements definition
• Assess the value of use case analysis and design on your work
• Explain how business process, workflow and data modeling techniques facilitate improved communication
Course Synopsis
The business analyst’s role is key to defining the requirements of a project at its earliest stages, as well as to planning, defining and validating project scope. It’s important to have an understanding of the breadth of knowledge that a business analyst brings to bear in developing business solutions.
This introductory course is designed to give people new to the business analyst role or those who supervise and/or work with business analysts a basic understanding of the benefits, functions and impact of this critical position. You’ll experience how a business analyst supports the project, from establishing its scope in the analysis phase to ensuring the requirements have been met in the testing phase. The course provides a special focus on the business analysis function as it relates to developing information technology solutions, given that such an understanding is essential for project –success.
After completing this course, you’ll understand why and when to involve the business analysis function. Plus, you’ll have a working vocabulary to enable you to communicate effectively with those who perform that role. If you are new to the role of the business analyst and need to pursue more in-depth skill development, you’ll leave this course with the framework necessary to support your future efforts.
Course Topics
1. What is Business Analysis?
• IT business analysis
• Business process improvement
• Challenges of gathering and analyzing requirements
• History and current trends in business analysis
• Role of the business analyst through the project life cycle
2. Defining the Business Problem
• Techniques to determine the underlying business problems
• Understanding the business environment at a high-level
• Relating business "problems" and "processes"
3. Root Causes of Problems
• Business problems and root causes
• Applying modeling to understand root causes (the AS-IS state)
o Workflow modeling
o Use Case analysis
o Data modeling
4. Solution Vision and Scope
• Vision and envisioning
• The key players in setting the vision
• How to determine the product scope
• Quantifying process improvement goals
5. Making the Business Case
• How the business analyst adds insight to business cases
• Estimating the benefits associated with the product
6. Modeling the Future State
• Models and modeling
• Relating models to requirements
• Modeling the information requirements (data modeling)
• Modeling the TO-BE state (process and workflow modeling)
7. Getting Requirements from Models
• The value of Use Cases
• Use Case analysis
• Unified Modeling Language (UML) and object-oriented analysis
8. Requirements Definition and Documentation
• SMART requirements
• Identifying the boundary between requirements and specifications
• Managing changes to the –requirements
9. Quality Assurance and Testing
• The business analyst's role in testing
• Quality assurance activities: checking and testing
• Introduction to test strategies and plans
Logical Data and Process Modeling
Learn How To
• Create more accurate and complete requirements
• Use diagramming to communicate project scope
• Create a data model to define and describe project requirements
• Create and use functional decomposition diagrams, entity relationship diagrams and dataflow diagrams
• Use dataflow diagrams to validate data and process models
Course Synopsis
In today’s complex business environment, integration of multiple functional areas combined with fuzzy requirements is a fact of life—a picture is truly worth a thousand words. The techniques used in logical data and process modeling focus on presenting a complete picture of the important requirements of the business (and the related project) through significant user involvement in the analysis phase.
This course provides techniques for effectively analyzing and modeling any area of your business and creating logical data and process models that show how data flows and work progresses. The approaches taught in this class are designed to focus the attention on the important requirements of the business that are discovered through significant user involvement during the analysis phase.
Participants will learn how to create models without being limited by technology or organizational structure. The course exercises are designed to reinforce the techniques taught in class—entity relationship diagramming, functional decomposition diagramming and dataflow diagramming.
Reminder: Prior to taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in How to Gather and Document User Requirements.
Course Topics
1. Introduction
• System development challenges
• Benefits of modeling
• Components of logical process models: moving from dataflow to process
• Characteristics of essential modeling
2. Approaches to Functional Decomposition
• Concepts of Perfect Technology
• Top down and bottom up approaches
• Event partitioning
• Using functional decomposition diagrams
3. Introduction to Logical Data Modeling
• Purpose and components
• Data redundancy and derived data
• Different levels of data modeling
4. The Conceptual Data Model
• Discovering entities, attributes and relationships
• Analyzing attributes and choosing unique identifiers
• Relationships and cardinality
5. The Logical Data Model
• Super-types and sub-types
• Attributive and associative entities
• Documenting data constraints
6. Normalization and the Physical Data Model
• The physical data model
• The role of the database designer
7. The Process Diagram in Context
• Purpose and components
• Rules and conventions
• Leveled data flow diagrams
8. Verifying and Presenting Models
• Accuracy and completeness
• Internal verification and external validation
• Effective presentation
9. CASE Tools and Transition to OO/UML
• Major functions of CASE tools
• Introduction to Object Orientation (OO) and Unified Modeling Language (UML)
• Impact of OO/UML on the business analyst
Workflow Modeling
Learn How To
• Create workflow diagrams using various proven techniques
• Determine which workflow modeling technique is best suited for your project
• Find opportunities for process improvement using workflow models
• Validate workflow models to ensure their accuracy and completeness
• Use six proven enablers to improve processes
Course Synopsis
To develop a complete picture of the important requirements to support the business, the next critical step is documenting the flow of work, as it currently exists. Only then can you move forward to design the solution to support the business needs. The workflow model defines and diagrams “how” an organization performs its essential business activities.
The workflow model uses the Logical Process Model as the basis for diagramming each process as a workflow. These diagrams explain each activity and its interactions in detail, including how it is triggered, what resources are needed and what deliverables will be created. This knowledge will enable you to discover and address any unstated requirements prior to finalizing the project plan. These workflow diagrams are key to effective analysis and communications.
Participants will learn how to diagram current operating procedures (AS-IS) and look for areas of improvement (TO-BE). You will be prepared to construct and analyze the workflow diagrams, identify opportunities for process improvements and modify workflow to reflect these new improvements.
Reminder: Prior to taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in How to Gather and Document User Requirements and Logical Data and Process Modeling.
Course Topics
1. Introduction to Workflow Modeling
• Concepts of modeling
• Types of models
• AS-IS vs. TO-BE models
• Modeling and the development life cycle
2. Workflow Modeling Basics
• Workflow models
• Relating project deliverables
• Processes, functions and tasks
• Establishing the context of the process
• Identifying the process objectives
3. Workflow Modeling Techniques
• Workflow models and their use
• CASE scenarios
• Workflow diagram components
• Workflow diagramming standards
o ANSI
o IDEF3
o UML
o CASE tools
4. Workflow Modeling Approaches
• Identifying all sources of information
• Necessary levels of detail
• Determining correct approach
5. Analyzing the Models
• Evaluating the value of a business process
• Measure the performance of a business process
• Looking for process improvement opportunities
• Brainstorming techniques
• Creating the TO-BE model from the AS-IS model
6. Verifying and Validating (V&V) the Models
• Sources of information used
• V&V techniques
• Using a walkthrough
• Five questions used to verify models
Use Case Modeling for Business Analysis
Learn How To
• Apply the benefits of use-case analysis throughout your project life cycle
• Describe what use cases can and cannot do for requirements analysis
• Work with end users and use cases to elicit and validate requirements easily
• Define the scope of the system in enough detail to communicate clearly with stakeholders
• Create use-case diagrams, narratives and scenarios
• Utilize use cases beyond the analysis phase
Course Synopsis
It is recognized today that use cases provide a valuable alternative to traditional methods for organizing and describing functional requirements. In particular, use cases allow for more effective communication between the user and technical communities thus helping ensure requirements are universally agreed upon. From the analyst's perspective, use cases are advantageous as they are able to model the entire business process, providing the necessary documentation to identify the system's interactions with the business goals, rules and business-level decisions.
This course frames the process of discovering use cases, beginning with finding the actors, the scope and the various relationships between them. It gives you access to the resourceful nature of the use case by focusing on users' needs and how the system will help satisfy those needs, at the same time providing traceability from requirements to specifications to the product.
You will leave this course prepared to perform the proper tasks to create, document and review use cases to drive systems development. The same discipline can be applied to modeling the business using use cases.
Reminder: Prior to taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in Introduction to Business Analysis and How to Gather and Document User Requirements.
Course Topics
1. Use Case Overview
• What is a use case?
• Business use cases vs. system use cases
• Use case approach
• The Unified Modeling Language™ (UML)
2. Use Case Diagrams
• Use case elements
o Actors
o Diagrams
o Scenarios
o Other notations
• Defining project scope
• Dealing with exceptions
3. Discovering Use Cases
• Use cases and actor's goals
• Brainstorming use cases
• Use case granularity
• Defining use cases
• Dealing with commonality
4. Use Case Documentation
• The basics
• Alternate and exception paths
• Other descriptors
o Business rules
o Non-functional requirements
o Extending use cases
5. Completing the Business Analysis
• Use case document review
o Goals of the review
o Common problems and mistakes
• Completing the Business Requirements Document (BRD)
6. Beyond the Analysis Phase
• Use cases and RUP
• Estimating project size
• Test scenarios
Business Object Oriented Modeling
Learn How To
• Apply many concepts of OO as they relate to business analysis
• Use a step-by-step methodology for applying OO modeling techniques to the activities of a project
• Leverage the value of OO and UML techniques by applying them early in a project
• Investigate and document business process and systems behavior using OO and UML
• Eliminate inconsistencies in the business requirements documentation using inheritance, encapsulation and other UML techniques
Course Synopsis
As projects become more and more complex, they continually push the boundaries of the obscure and the unknown. Object orientation (OO) is not just for programming and coding. At a conceptual level, it is changing the way we look at projects by having us view the project, the product or the process in terms of groups of items and processes that have specific properties, called objects. The chief benefits of an object-oriented view are the ability to generalize processes and properties and to identify specific exceptions of the same processes and properties, or what are known as “use cases” and “scenarios,” respectively. This allows for the design of a business process or new IT system today that will allow for the potential for nearly unlimited expansion.
Business Object Oriented Modeling provides the participant with a solid introduction to the language of object-oriented modeling, known as Unified Modeling Language (UML) and a view of this requirements elicitation technique through the eyes of the business analyst, not the systems analyst. UML is very useful in identifying and documenting the current processes (AS-IS) and the future processes (TO-BE), regardless of whether it is for a manual process or an IT solution. It will also help identify what other roles and systems (actors) and processes may change due to the outcome of the project.
This course enables organizations to fully exploit the potential of object-oriented modeling by using it early in the project life cycle when the analysis of the business, the users, and the who and what are involved is being accomplished. Participants in the course will work on a real-world case study to gain practical experience in all of the techniques and tools required to fill the role of the business analyst, whether they are on OO specific projects or looking for a new way of working with the more complex problems of today.
Course Topics
1. Object-Oriented Paradigm Shift
• Benefits of OO modeling using UML
• Application of OO in identifying and documenting business processes
2. Introduction to Object Orientation
• Classes, objects and actors
• Encapsulation
• Attributes and operations
• Aggregation and composition
• Inheritance
• Association
• Polymorphism
• Using cases and scenarios
3. Analyzing the Project
• OO interviewing and stakeholder workshops
• High-level use of case diagrams
• AS-IS process documentation
• Setting the project boundaries
• Grouping the requirements into use cases
4. Dynamic Analysis
• Finding the changes in an object as it moves through the process
• Best practices in describing the process flow, including normal flow, alternate flow and exceptional flow, along with pre- and post-conditions
• Use of decision tables and decision trees
• Documenting Statechart diagrams
5. Static Analysis
• Questions to ask to uncover:
• Entities and classes
• Business process and multiplicity
• Inheritance, aggregation and composition
• Ways to elicit the requirements through brainstorming, interviews, etc.
• Identifying the properties of an object: attributes and operations
6. Completing the Analysis
• The implementation plan
• Baselining for development Handing off for development
Introduction to Testing for Business Analysts
Learn How To
• Create test cases and test scenarios using data, process and workflow models
• Select the right technique to make testing efficient
• Create testing strategies and test plans for high-order testing based on business and user requirements
• Plan and coordinate usability testing
• Conduct reviews and inspections
• Manage problems in a structured way
Course Synopsis
Test plans should not be left for last!
Failure to develop a plan to test the right things at the right time can result in cost overruns, missed completion dates, undetected errors and dissatisfaction among customers and users.
In this course, you’ll learn the necessary skills to construct effective test strategies and test plans to verify and validate requirements—enabling you to deliver the quality your business demands. You will also be able to communicate the rationale for and value of planning and conducting the various necessary reviews and inspections. You’ll gain an understanding of black box and glass box (white box) testing from a business analyst’s perspective—and you’ll know how to communicate with those who perform the systems analyst function..
NOTE: This course focuses on approaches used in IT from the viewpoint of the business analyst. However, the foundations of these techniques are applicable to other disciplines.
Recommendation: Before taking this course, you should have acquired the background as taught in How to Gather and Document User Requirements, Logical Data and Process Modeling and Workflow Modeling.
Course Topics
1. Achieving Quality
• Four underlying principles
• Perceived risk
2. The Role of the BA in Testing
• BA involvement in testing and checking
• V-Model of BA involvement
3. Checking the Business Requirements Document (BRD)
• Four major quality attributes of requirements
• Techniques for checking the BRD
• Peer Review technique
• Eliminating common causes of defects
4. Planning for Assessment and Testing
• Components of the test plan
• Three purposes of testing
• Elements of testing strategies
• Elements of test cases and scenarios
5. Black Box Testing
• Equivalence domain partitioning
• Boundary testing
• Condition coverage
• Decision tables
• Entity relationship diagrams
• CRUD testing (Create, Read, Update, Delete)
• Error guessing
6. Glass Box and Automated Testing
• Activity coverage
• Decision coverage
• Condition coverage
• Automated testing
7. Usability Assessment and Testing
• Usability factors
• Achieving usability
• Usability checklists
8. Writing the Test Plan
• Resource planning
• Time considerations
• Test environment considerations
• Human resources considerations
• Test plan documentation
9. Assessing Customer Satisfaction
• Validating customer needs
• Assessment methods
• Scales of measurement
• Post-implementation planning
10. Acceptance Testing
• Ways to capture informal and formal problems
• Formal acceptance vs. user acceptance testing
• Test Readiness Review
How to Gather and Document User Requirements
Learn How To
• Define the role of the business analyst in the requirements process
• Structure a Business Requirements Document
• Effectively document a project's vision and scope
• Identify user classes and define their environment
• Develop a Requirements Analysis Work Plan
• Define, elicit, structure, validate and document business requirements
• Link the Business Requirements Document to a Software Requirements Specification
Course Synopsis
Incomplete requirements are often cited as the number-one reason projects or systems fail. Accurately defining the requirements and staying on course from the beginning is key to success in today’s business world.
This “how-to” course introduces the roles of the business analyst as they relate to the analysis and documentation of requirements. It familiarizes participants with core knowledge and skills required to analyze and document user requirements. It also identifies how these requirements are defined and managed throughout the life cycle.
Recommendation: The material presented in this course provides the foundation necessary for building additional business analyst skills. You should take this course before taking any additional courses in the curriculum.
Course Topics
1. Roles, Definitions and Key Principles
• Critical role of the business analyst
• Creating and adopting a formal documentation strategy
• Roles and mutual expectations among team members
2. Capturing Requirements in a Business Requirements Document
• Identify critical consumers
• Understand the structure of a Business Requirements Document
3. Project Vision and Scope
• How projects are initiated
• Importance of a project scope statement
• Document project vision and scope
4. Identifying Users and Creating a Work Plan
• Project users and characteristics
• The value of creating a work plan
• The elements in a generic work plan
5. Types of Requirements
• Attributes and types of effective requirements
• What is an effective requirement?
6. Elicitation Techniques
• Apply four different question types
• Advantages and disadvantages of several techniques
7. Structuring End-User Requirements
• Techniques used to structure requirements
• Develop a basic Use Case
• The role of modeling
8. Validating User Requirements
• Requirements validation
• Methods used to validate requirements
9. Documenting User Requirements
• The purpose of documenting requirements
• Apply standard principles and techniques
• Organize your requirements descriptions for communication
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