Business Analytics Online Training
Bussiness Analytics Online Training Courses
Introduction - What is Business Analysis?
- A look at different viewpoints
- What is being analyzed?
- What’s the goal?
- Current trends in business analysis
- Key concepts
- Definition
- Reconciled to common understanding within the organization
The Role of the BA
- The relationship of business analysis to project management
- Differentiating between business analysis and other “analyst” roles
- Customer Needs & IT Needs
- The Skill Set Of A BA
- The BA’s Core Knowledge Set
The Practice of Business Analysis
- BA Responsibilities
- Requirements Shepherding
- Analysis Workflow
- Dark Side Of Business Analysis
- What The BA Does Not Do!
- Exercise: What Are Your Challenges?
The Landscape of Requirements
- Requirements, Features And Constraints
- Types Of Requirements – Functional & Non-funtional
- Requirements Source, Audience And Approval
Business Requirements
- Establishing Project Vision And Scope
- Unified Process Vision Documentation
- The Vision Document Problem Statement
- Example: Problem Statement
- Exercise Case Study: Business Requirements
- Exercise: Create A Problem Statement
- Documenting Project Scope
- Example: Scope Statement
- Group Discussion: The Offshore Challenge
Steps in the Project/Product Lifecycle: Description, Duration, Deliverables
- Conduct preliminary study
- Gather requirements
- Generate alternative solutions
- Complete the design
- Create the solution
- Implement the solution
- Evaluate and maintain the solution
- Positioning business analysis (and the business analyst) within the project life cycle
- Examining the role of the BA prior to project initiation (Diagnosing the business environment)
- Group Exercise: Business Requirements Challenge
Software Development Methodologies
- SDLC
- Water Fall Model
- Spiral Methodology
- Agile (more evolved, RAD session: reverse-engineer session)
- RUP (Rational Unified Process)
- Example Case Study
Diagnosing the Business Environment
- Business problem solving
- Understanding the business environment
- Capturing business initiatives across the enterprise
- Diagnosing a business problem or opportunity (i.e.; business initiative)
- Definition of a problem
- Finding and verifying true causes
- The use of the problem statement
- Techniques to identify business problems and causes
- Workflow modeling
- Fishbone Diagrams
- IS—IS NOT analysis
- Example Case Study
- Obtaining stakeholder confirmation
Setting Goals for Business Initiatives
- Using problem statement to create the goal statement
- Quantifying goals – finding the “threshold of pain”
- Key characteristics of well-stated goal statements
- Uses the language of the business
- Is measurable
- Is clear
- Is relevant to the overall strategy of the organization
- An examination of poorly stated goals
Evaluating, Selecting, and Prioritizing Initiatives
- Employing analysis techniques to assess alternatives
- Using a weighted-decision model
- Obtaining stakeholder confirmation
Documenting the Project Scope
- How to determine the product scope
- Outcome oriented development
- Defining product objectives
- Creating solution prototypes
- Working backwards to create the solution
- Specifying critical project elements and deliverables
Building a Model of the Solution
- Developing output mockups or prototypes
- Identifying requirements
- Creating an information model
- Workflow diagrams – How to use MS - Visio
- Uses in the project life-cycle
- Current State (As Is)
- Future State (To Be)
- Establishing solution boundaries
- Constructing context, overview, and detail flow diagrams
- Identifying appropriate detail level
- Example Case Study
- Supporting documentation
- Business rules
- Data requirements
- Use Case analysis
- Confirming with stakeholders
Requirements Definition and Documentation
- Identifying internal and external stakeholders
- Conducting stakeholder analysis
- Selecting requirements development templates
- Producing a requirements development plan
- elicitation
- analysis
- specification
- verification and validation
- change management
- Addressing common challenges
- Recognizing industry standards (IEEE, etc.)
- Analysis of Requirements
- Fact gathering methods
- Interviewing
- Observation
- Questionnaires
- Research
- Organizing the facts
- Determining requirements
- Estimating the useful life of the solution
- Calculating future requirements
- Imposing constraints using value engineering
- Establishing the concept of a solution
- Managing Requirements
- All Users Are Not Equal - User Attributes
- Assigning User Attributes
- Example: User Attributes
- Exercise: Identify User Attributes
- User Surrogates
- When Requirements Collide: Alternative Decision-Making
- Approaches
- How Requirements become Un-Managed
- Requirements Traceability & Change Control
- BA’s role in managing change
- An examination of why people resist change
- Recognizing symptoms of resistance
- Developing coping/diffusing tactics
- Group Exercise: Change Control
- Interviewing Techniques
- Preparation
- Stakeholder Analysis
- Planning the interview
- The art of questioning
- Role of the interviewer - building confidence
- The psychology of interviewing
- Group Exercise: Project Improvement Facilitation
Introduction to Project Documents
- Project Plan/GANTT Chart
- Quality Plan
- MS Excel Spreadsheets
- Business Requirements Document
- Technical Design Document
- Example Case Study: Review of Project Documents
- Introduction to SQL, Use Case Modeling & Unified Modeling Language (UML)
- SQL – Basic & Advanced
- What is a Use Case?
- System
- Basic Flow, Alternate Flows & Exception Flows
- How Use Case Diagrams Show Relationships
- The Use Case Template
- Paths and Scenarios
- Use Case Diagrams
- Class Diagrams
- Sequence Diagrams
- Activity Diagrams
- Introduction to Rational Suite
- Rational Rose
- Rational Requisite Pro
- Rational Clear Case
- Example Case Study: Use Case Review
- Group Exercise: Develop A Class Diagram
Making the Business Case
- Using creativity to create alternate solutions
- Evaluating alternatives to determine feasibility
- The six factors of feasibility: TRELOS
- Technical: is it possible?
- Risk
- Weighing risks vs. benefits
- Using the portfolio approach
- Economic
- Developing cost estimates
- Calculating the return on investment
- Legal: is it against the law?
- Operational: will it work for us?
- Schedule: can we deliver it in time?
Communicating the Solution to Stakeholders
- The proposal structure
- Analysis of current strengths and weaknesses
- Objectives to be achieved
- Description of solution
- Alternatives for implementation
- Explanation of recommended solutions
- Costs and risks
- Schedule (task plan) to achieve benefits
- Supporting appendices
- Preparing and making the presentation
- Establishing your objective
- Doing audience analysis
- Organizing your ideas
- Using visuals
- Rehearsing
Supporting Downstream Development
- Quality Assurance and Testing
- The business analyst's role in testing
- Objectives
- Requirements
- Types of tests
- Use Case vs. Test Case
- Key to successful tests - anticipation and reconciliation
- Procedures
- The need
- A successful style - play script
- Who has responsibility
- Training
- Key to user independence
- Intended results
- Time required
- Who performs it
Evaluation
- How can the solution be evaluated?
- When?
- Who should perform an assessment?
- Establishing ranges of performance
- Eliminating undesirable side-effects
Positioning the Business Analyst within the Organization
- Job Title or role?
- Organization Structure
- Reporting Relationships
- Working Relationships
- Tailoring the business analyst role for different projects
- Getting Started
The Offshore Chal
- Project Management Challenges
- Challenges For The Business Analyst
Project
- For Student Assignment & Evaluation
Miscellaneous
- BA Resume Prep
- Interview Questions & Preparation