B2T Training Course Catalog (2011)

We Get it. We’ll Help You Get it Too.

Training

Course Catalog

i n t r o d u ct i o n

Results Driven Approach – A Complete Solution B2T Training’s approach leads your organization to your desired level of business analysis expertise. With the right level of investment and commitment you can fundamentally transform your organization’s business analysis practice in order to meet your company’s goals. Our goal is to ensure your staff has the nec essary skills to be confident and credible to provide positive impact to your business. The program begins with an assessment of your needs by understanding the gap between where you are today and your end goal.

GETTING STARTED Assessment

CORE COURSES

ADVANCED COURSES

mentoring, on-demand learning modules, and business analysis consulting.

Our relationship with you is a long term partnership and we will work with you to capitalize on your business analysis development investment.

B2T Training Overview and History Since its inception in 2000, B2T Training has focused solely on providing business analysis training and professional development. We bring over 25 years experience in business analysis to our offerings. A certified women-owned business, B2T Training was established to provide the highest quality business analysis training and support for ongoing development of business analysis professionals. n We developed the first comprehensive business analysis

ON-GOING EDUCATION AND SUPPORT

training program in North America.

BA On-Demand Modules

Mentoring

Consulting

Online Resources

n We have instructors, mentors, and course developers that

are business analysis experts.

In order to realize the full value of business analysis in your organization and achieve improved project success and customer satisfaction, management needs to understand how they can support the business analysis discipline. We offer seminars for your management group to discuss the role of business analysis and specifics for incorporating the discipline into your organization.

n We are founding members of the International Institute of

Our core and advanced courses combined, provide a comprehensive training curriculum for the skills needed to be an excellent BA. The transformation does not stop in the classroom. To support students in their transition from the classroom to their projects we provide individualized

We get it. We’ll help you get it too.

tab l e o f c ont e nts B2T Training Curriculum.......................................................................... 3 Certification............................................................................................... 4

Business Analysis (IIBA®).

As experts in the field, B2T Training continues to shape the Business Analysis discipline and the careers of BA professionals in major corporations across the globe through its high impact training sessions and valuable resources.

n Specialized Courses

Overview of Business Analysis............................................................ 20

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

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis................................. 22

n Core Courses

Requirements Validation........................................................................ 26

Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers.........................24

Essential Skills for Business Analysis................................................... 6 Business Process Analysis......................................................................8

Self Study Options.................................................................................. 28

Detailing Business Data Requirements.............................................. 10

Mentoring ................................................................................................ 29

Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements............................... 12

CBAP® Study Guide .............................................................................. 30

n Advanced Courses

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan....................................... 14 Business Analysis in an Agile Environment........................................16 Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis.............................. 18 2

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

training curriculum

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 bring their 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 or experienced business analysts. These courses are written for organizations looking to level-set the business analyst role in their companies and for individuals seeking a solid foundational skill set. Our BA Associate program and study guides are based on these courses.

Advanced Courses Our advanced courses are designed for students who have completed the core courses and/or individuals who are experienced in business analysis.

n Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan – 3 days n Business Analysis in an Agile Environment – 2 days n Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis – 3 days

n Essential Skills for Business Analysis – 4 days n Business Process Analysis – 3 days n Detailing Business Data Requirements – 3 days n Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements – 3 days

Specialized Courses These courses and seminars are ideal for organizations with specific training needs, and provide management and technical teams an understanding of the business analysis role. n Overview of Business Analysis – ½ day n Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis – 1 day n Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers –

3 days

n Requirements Validation – 2 days

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3

c e r t i f i cat i o n

Certification B2T Training’s certification program validates an individual’s knowledge of critical analytical concepts and skills necessary to perform their role as a business analyst. This certificate is an independent expert verification of your knowledge and skills. Our program has proven to be a valuable measurement of business analysis performance across organizations.

The certification program consists of two levels of certification. n The first level, BA Associate, covers the core or

foundational concepts and skills for business analysis. n The highest level, BA Certified, includes more advanced

concepts and techniques which require knowledge and years of experience to master. An individual achieving BA Certified will be prepared to complete the IIBA® CBAP® certification.

The cost of obtaining BA Associate and BA Certified is included in the cost of attending training. A test out option is available for the core classes. The graphic below illustrates our certification process.

Essential Skills for Business Analysis 4 days

Pass Proficiency Exam

Business Process Analysis 3 days

Pass Proficiency Exam

Detailing Business Data Requirements 3 days

Pass Proficiency Exam

Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements 3 days

Pass Proficiency Exam

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis

Business Analysis in an Agile Environment

Complete Performance Based Activity

Complete Performance Based Activity

Complete Performance Based Activity

3 days

2 days

Pass Final Comprehensive Exam

4

The BA Associate is a certificate program that recognizes business analysts who possess foundational knowledge of business analysis topics and skills taught in our core courses. It is designed for both new and experienced business analysts “to raise the level of core competencies”.

Obtaining the BA Associate certificate requires students to pass all online proficiency exams for our core courses.

Upon completion of the core courses and exams you will receive a certificate recognizing your achievement and, with your permission, you will be listed on our Web site in the certification directory.

BA Certified™ After obtaining the BA Associate certificate, students are required to attend 2 of the advanced courses.

BA Certified is awarded upon successfully demonstrating their skills through the completion of class specific activities, such as facilitating a session or preparing a BA work plan, and passing a comprehensive final exam. The BA Certified exam covers all topics in the B2T Training curriculum and is aligned with the IIBA CBAP. Completing the BA Certified exam will help prepare students for the CCBA® and CBAP® exams. Students will receive the B2T Training CBAP Study Guide as a resource to prepare for the BA Certified and IIBA® exams.

The cost of obtaining BA Associate and BA Certified is included in the cost of attending training. Being BA Certified entitles recipients the use of the BA Certified logo and the ability to use our organization as a reference. With a student’s permission, certification can also be easily verified on our Web site through the certification directory.

Attend 2 of the Advanced Classes

3 days

BA Associate™

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

bab o k a l i g n m e n t

IIBA® Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® and B2T Training Courses CORE COURSES

ADVANCED COURSES

IIBA BABOK – Version 2.0 Business Framework Tasks Essential Process Data

Use Cases and Work Plan Agile Facilitating

Skills Analysis Solution Reqts

BA Planning and Monitoring Plan business analysis approach 3 3 Conduct stakeholder analysis 3 3 3 3 Plan business analysis activities 3 3 3 3 Plan business analysis communications 3 3 Estimate requirements activities 3 3 Plan requirements management process 3 3 Manage business analysis performance 3 Elicitation Prepare for elicitation Conduct elicitation activity Document elicitation results Confirm elicitation results

3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3

Requirements Management and Communication Manage solution and requirements scope Manage requirements traceability Maintain requirements for re-use Prepare requirements package Communicate requirements

3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Enterprise Analysis Define business need 3 3 3 3 3 Assess capability gaps 3 3 3 Determine solution approach 3 3 3 Define solution scope 3 3 3 Develop the business case 3 3 Requirements Analysis Prioritize requirements Organize requirements Specify and model requirements Determine assumptions and constraints Verify requirements Validate requirements

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

3

Solution Assessment and Validation Assess proposed solution 3 3 Allocate requirements 3 3 Assess organizational readiness 3 3 Define transition requirements 3 3 Validate solution 3 Evaluate solution performance 3 Underlying Competencies Analytical thinking and problem solving Behavioral characteristics Business knowledge Communication skills Interaction skills Software applications

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

5

4 days

core course

Essential Skills for Business Analysis Overview

In this course students will learn to:

To identify the best solutions for real business needs, this course provides an extensive inventory of tools and techniques for use in business analysis work. The business analysis skill set includes critical thinking skills, elicitation techniques and requirements analysis and management. Equally important are communication and relationship building skills, whether they be in person or virtual environments. Expertise with analysis tools and techniques becomes even more necessary in today’s fastpaced environment. It is further complicated by the use of dispersed or outsourced teams, complex business processes, time-driven business initiatives, new agile software development approaches, and poorly integrated legacy applications.

n Analyze and scope the area of analysis, working with

Regardless of the person’s title, the need for strong business analysis skills is necessary for companies to remain competitive in any economy. Through education and practice business or technical professionals will develop and enhance their analytical skills and provide significant value to projects and the business enterprise.

This course teaches business analysis essentials to both new and experienced practitioners. It supports and expands on the standards outlined in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Mentor-led workshops allow students to practice the techniques as they learn them. Depending on the participant’s skill level, the workshop cases and discussions inspire learning insights for every level of experience.

Students are requested to bring their own projects to class to use in developing a personal post-class action plan for taking their project to the next step.

project managers and business sponsors to clarify the level and complexity of the business analysis effort needed for the project. n Select the appropriate elicitation technique to efficiently

identify critical requirements. n Analyze and refine business and functional requirements. n Ask the right questions through the use of interviewing

templates developed specifically for business analysis elicitation. n Identify the five core components necessary to analyze a

business area. n Plan an approach for analyzing, categorizing, and

managing requirements. Determine the level of formality required and consider options for documenting and packaging requirements based on project type, priorities, and risks. n Identify techniques and documentation options

appropriate for various software development approaches and project types (COTS, maintenance, business process improvement, new development, etc). n Define testing objectives and verify requirements are

testable. n Conduct effective requirements reviews to improve the

quality of requirements deliverables. n Build strong relationships with project stakeholders. n Apply new communication strategies for eliciting and

interacting with virtual teams. n Anticipate issues, think proactively, and use critical

thinking skills to plan stakeholder elicitation sessions.

Intended audience: This course is designed for business analysts, project managers, business systems analysts, system architects or any other project team member involved with analysis. New practitioners will learn the tasks they are expected to perform and why each task is important. Experienced practitioners will learn new techniques and more structured approaches to improve their requirements activities. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage analysis activities and business stakeholders who need a more in-depth understanding of the requirements process and deliverables.

Prerequisites: None

Earn 28 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs

6

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

Public Class Pricing: $2395 Public Class Schedule: Feb 28 – Mar 3, 2011 • Dallas, TX Mar 14 – Mar 17, 2011 • Louisville, KY Apr 11 – Apr 14, 2011 • Atlanta May 16 – May 19, 2011 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL Jun 20 – Jun 23, 2011 • Orlando, FL Aug 1 – Aug 4, 2011 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL Oct 17 – Oct 20, 2011 • Las Vegas, NV Dec 5 – Dec 8, 2011 • Atlanta Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

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

Course Outline Introduction - 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 Role - 1 hr • 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: o One-on-one interviews o Requirements workshops o Surveys o Brainstorming o Document analysis o Focus group o Job shadowing/observation o Competitive analysis o Interface analysis o Reverse engineering • Learn to proactively plan interactions with stakeholders to make the most effective use of their time.

Scoping the Project from the Business Analyst’s Perspective - 5.5 hrs • Understand why the project is being done.

Without this understanding it will be difficult for business analysts to elicit and document the right requirements and focus their business analysis work in the appropriate areas. Get an introduction to Enterprise Analysis.

• Understand the organizational environment. Identify the business stakeholders who will be involved in the project and how they will impact business analysis.

• Learn to ask probing questions about the requirements scope and facilitate a discussion with project stakeholders using visual representations of the requirements boundaries.

• Learn the context level dataflow diagram technique to identify and scope “what is” and, more importantly, “what is not” to be analyzed. Analyze interfaces with people, other organizations, existing systems, and other software applications.

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

• Workshop - Scope the class case study project.

• Workshop - Reinforce the analysis techniques on a current project. Students will leave class with a draft visual representation of their current business area along with a list of follow up questions.

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 understand the business problem before deciding on a solution?

• Learn the 5 core requirement components, what they describe, and why they are important. o Entity o Attribute o Process (use case) o External Agent (actor) o Business Rule Requirements Analysis Techniques - 5 hrs • Learn the recommended approach to categorizing requirements. Why should requirements be categorized? Who uses each category? Why is it difficult to create distinct categories? o Business Requirements o Functional Requirements o Non-functional Requirements o 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 in many analysis techniques to be able to adapt to different types of projects and businesses. o Structured textual templates (process descriptions, data descriptions, business rules, use cases) o Entity relationship diagram o Decomposition diagram o User stories, use case diagram and use case descriptions o Workflow diagram (UML, BPMN, ANSI, swim lane) o Prototyping • Consider options and level of formality for packaging requirements and choosing the appropriate documentation techniques for each project.

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

• Workshop - Put into practice several of the analysis techniques on the course case study requirements.

Conducting a Requirements Review - 2 hrs • Learn how to conduct a requirements review: Who should participate? What are the required steps?

How is a session conducted? What are the common challenges?

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

Validate the Requirements - 2hrs • 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 in testing? What is the primary objective of testing?

What are the phases and types of testing?

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

• Practice identifying test cases and refining requirements based on quality assurance principles.

Analysis Communication Skills - 2.5 hrs • Learn the importance of building strong relationships with project stakeholders. How should business analysts communicate with users? How should business analysts communicate with the technical team?

• Improve your ability to develop in-depth, detailed questions for stakeholders by identifying the appropriate source of information, deciding on an approach, and using clear, consistent language.

• Review selected analysis techniques to frame questions driving stakeholders to reveal core needs and problems. Ask the right questions through the use of interviewing templates developed specifically for business analysis.

• Recognize active listening as the most powerful elicitation communication skill, learn to listen for key phrases that reveal specific types of requirements.

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

• Learn to effectively plan communications and facilitate groups to consensus.

• Workshop - Practice active listening and receive feedback 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 o Define Webinars, web conferencing, webcasting. o Understand the uses for collaboration tools.

• Consider business analysis process changes for virtual team work o Set policies for the team. o Utilize the Six Thinking Hats® technique.

• Effectively utilize the people on the virtual team o Understand the critical success characteristics. o Tips for conducting virtual meetings successfully. o 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.

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

7

3 days

core course

Business Process Analysis Overview Did you know the six costliest words in business are “we’ve always done it that way”? In this class you will learn techniques to help your business look at how things are being done and create solution options to improve the business processes. Creating AS IS and TO BE workflows gives the business analyst a strategic view of business architecture which is essential in Agile, SOA, BPM, and any type of process improvement or COTS project. Workflows are also the foundation for documenting Six Sigma, Lean, and Value Stream process maps.

In this course students will learn to: n Identify and document complex business process steps in an easy-to-review diagram using industry standard notation, BPMN. n Schedule and conduct discovery/elicitation sessions to

learn about current business processes (AS IS). n Identify areas for process improvement by reviewing AS

IS models. n Develop process re-design strategies and present them for

approval (TO BE).

Business process analysis is a fundamental activity in defining changes to existing business systems, business process improvement activities, or performing gap analysis for COTS. It provides the analyst an understanding of the core business processes they can use to suggest alternative solutions which meet core business needs and fit with existing IT infrastructure. Management can then evaluate each alternative for its potential return on investment and the cost of implementation. Every business is searching for better ways of getting work done. Improving efficiency, decreasing costs, increasing productivity and customer service are goals that are universal.

n Ask detailed questions to get a complete understanding of

Evaluating the business process may result in software changes, procedural changes, organizational changes, personnel changes, etc. The best way to improve business operations is to: 1) study the current procedures, 2) find the core or essential work being done, and 3) define how this essential work will be accomplished. This course teaches a proven approach which gives the business analyst the confidence and credibility to offer and promote the right solution to solve the business problem or opportunity.

n Conduct a review of a process model to assure accuracy.

Intended audience: This course will be beneficial to any person, in any size organization, hoping to improve their business processes. The techniques presented can be used without any sophisticated software to quickly identify areas for improvement and fix broken processes.

Prerequisites: We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from subject matter experts, and understanding how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs

8

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

business procedures, business rules, information use, and events that impact the business processes. n Initiate a process modeling effort with clear objectives and

an agreed upon goal. n Define key terms used by the business domain to improve

communications within the business. n Decompose complex processes into lower level tasks and

sub-processes. n Identify the most important business component:

Essential Processes.

Please Note: If students prefer and have experience using MS Visio to draw diagrams, they may bring their laptops with MS Visio to use during some of the workshops. This is not a requirement.

Public Class Pricing: $1995 Public Class Schedule: Mar 21 – Mar 23, 2011 • Orlando, FL May 16 – May 18, 2011 • Louisville, KY Nov 14 – Nov 16, 2011 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

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

Course Outline Introduction - 1 hr • Introduction to Business Process Analysis • Define student learning objectives.

• Define business process analysis.

• Solidify 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). o Discuss key terms in process modeling and their subtle differences (process, sub-process, function, activity, essential process, task, procedure). o Discuss the reasons for creating AS IS diagrams and models.

• Learn to create detailed Business Process Models. o Learn the key BPMN symbols and their usage (tasks, connections, events, gateways). o Discover and analyze tasks in the business domain. o Identify events within the business process including delays, communications, and triggers. o Decompose complex processes into sub processes and create related diagrams. o Use data artifacts to collect and analyze information currently used by the business o Collect metrics or measurements to establish the business process baseline.

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

• Learn to review a business process model looking for process improvement opportunities.

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

• Workshop: Create an AS IS Business Process Model for the course case study and present it to the class.

Essential Business Process Modeling - 3 hrs • Learn to identify essential business processes. An essential business process is a core requirement of the business area necessary to re-design the process for improvement. Each process must be clearly defined, consistently named, and completely described.

• Learn to extract essential processes from detailed user descriptions and the AS IS process models.

• Learn to identify redundant and reusable processes.

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

Process Analysis - 3 hrs • Learn to organize and communicate essential business processes using a process outline or a decomposition diagram.

• Learn to decompose business processes into subprocesses and tasks.

• Workshop: Identify and present essential processes for the class case study.

TO BE Workflow Analysis - 5 hrs • Review AS IS Models and transition to a TO BE Model. o Evaluate the business value of each process step following the principles of Six Sigma, Lean, Value Stream Mapping, etc. o Identify areas for improvement from the AS IS Models.

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

• Review current process metrics.

• Examine handoffs and communications between process participants. o Prioritize areas for improvement. o Brainstorm on TO BE alternatives. o Create TO BE models with a re-design of the business procedures supporting the essential processes.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to develop alternative solutions and evaluating each one.

• Perform gap analysis to analyze gaps between the AS IS Process and the recommended TO BE Process.

• Identify transition requirements.

• Workshop: Create a TO BE Business Process Model for the course case study and present it to the class.

Develop Your Action Plan / Course Summary - 1 hr • Develop an Action Plan with next steps on the student’s current project.

• Student questions/discussion topics.

Discovering Business Rules - 3 hrs • Learn to listen for business rules when eliciting business process requirements.

• Learn to ask detailed questions to clarify business rules.

• Consider several approaches to organizing, documenting and getting confirmation on business rules.

• Use decision tables to represent complex business rules.

• Workshop: Identify business rules from case study.

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

9

3 days

core course

Detailing Business Data Requirements Overview Understanding and documenting business data requirements is a critical component in defining complete requirements.

Eliciting information needs often uncovers additional processes and business rules. Every business process uses data and almost all business rules are enforced by data.

Missing a critical piece of data or incorrectly defining a data element contributes to the majority of maintenance problems and results in systems that do not reflect the business needs. This course teaches students an in-depth approach to data modeling: identifying and defining all necessary data components using both textual templates and an entity relationship diagram. This course teaches business analysis techniques for eliciting, analyzing, and documenting data requirements to both new and experienced practitioners.

Students will be given data templates with a suggested documentation structure for defining Business Data Requirements. It supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Mentor-led workshops require students to practice the techniques as they learn. Students are encouraged to bring their own projects to class.

“... the data sees the big picture, while the various people and machines and organizations that work on the data see only a portion of what happens. As you go about doing a Structured Analysis, you will find yourself more and more frequently attaching yourself to the data and following it through the operation. I think of this as “interviewing the data.”’ It is usually more productive than any other single interview.”

The course provides business analysts the knowledge to: n Identify core data requirements beginning with project

initiation. n Identify excellent data requirements at the appropriate

level of detail. n Detail the data requirements (using a data dictionary and

data model). n Detail complex data related business rules. n Assist with the transition of business data to database

design. n Utilize easy normalization techniques (without all the

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

case) requirements.

Even if your organization has a data administrator or data warehouse team who is responsible for documenting and managing the organization’s information needs, every project uses a subset of that enterprise information in its own unique way. Business analysts must understand the importance of data in all of their projects and include data requirements in their business requirements documentation.

Failing to document which data elements need to be used in a calculation, or displayed on a report, leaves the developer the responsibility of choosing the correct pieces of business data from hundreds if not thousands of available fields.

These missing requirements often lead to expensive and lengthy project delays during the testing phase.

Tom DeMarco

Intended audience: This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts, data administrators, database administrators, or any other project team member involved with business analysis. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts or those who work with 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 for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, gathering requirements from subject matter experts, and understand how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs 10 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

Public Class Pricing: $1995 Public Class Schedule: Mar 7 – Mar 9, 2011 • Atlanta Jul 18 – Jul 20, 2011 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL Oct 11 – Oct 13, 2011 • Atlanta Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

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

Course Outline Introduction - 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 data requirements.

• Entity types are the basic building blocks of the business data. This section defines entities, gives suggested naming guidelines, teaches the importance of entity definitions, gives criteria to evaluate potential entities, describes entity unique identifiers, and has students identify and document entities from the case study.

• Attribute types are characteristics of entity types.

This section defines attributes, a data dictionary, gives suggested naming guidelines and class words, gives criteria to evaluate attributes, and has students identify and document attributes from the case study.

• Templates for analyzing and documenting data requirements are provided.

Entity Relationships and Diagramming Conventions - 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 relate to data.

This section defines relationships and business rules, gives suggested naming guidelines, teaches relationship cardinalities, and has students identify and document relationships from the case study.

• Review common diagram notations for data related business rules.

• Learn about an alternative model: the class diagram.

Detailing the Data Requirements - 5 hrs • Detailing repeating data elements. Repeating attributes must be broken down into their components, properly named, and clearly documented with example data values. Students will refine their requirements document based on additional business requirements.

• Detailing complex business rules. Complex business rules (many-to-many relationships) should be properly named and clearly documented with example data values. Students will refine their requirements document based on additional business requirements.

• Detailing sub-category entities. Some business data naturally falls into sub-categories and should be documented as such.

• Review techniques for documenting data conversion, interface requirements and perform gap analysis.

Transition from Business Data to a Physical Design - 2 hrs • Learn how to link the data and process elements to identify missing or incomplete requirements. Each essential process must use data, and each data element must be used by at least one essential process.

• How does business data become a database design? Review the data requirements for completeness, understand how logical components are translated to physical components, and develop a strategy for maintaining 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 data requirements 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?

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

11

3 days

core course

Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements Overview Use case modeling is a commonly used analysis technique which results in functional requirements and a framework for test case development. When the solution to a business problem or opportunity involves a software component, the solution team must determine how software will best support the business. This class focuses on the business analysis work which includes defining functional, nonfunctional, and transition requirements which describe the solution and roll out needs.

This course supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. Specifically techniques for communicating the business requirements to the solution team, tracing each business requirement to the supporting solution component, assessing the solution applicability and planning for a smooth transition to the solution.

In this course students will learn to: n Use business requirements to identify, evaluate and

present alternative design solutions which meet customer needs. n Prioritize requirements for inclusion in the software

development phase using plan-driven (traditional) and change-driven (iterative and agile) techniques. n Elicit, analyze, and communicate functional requirements

that specify how users will interact with the software and how the software will respond. n Deliver consistent, detailed use case descriptions. n Incorporate usability principals when developing

prototypes. n Identify non-functional requirements appropriate for each

project.

Mentor-led workshops require students to practice the techniques as they learn. Students are encouraged to bring their own projects to class.

n Learn to assess organizational readiness and build a

Intended audience: This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts, or any other project team members responsible for developing functional, non-functional, and transition requirements. Students are encouraged to bring examples of their requirements documents to the class for review and feedback. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts. Developers and solution implementers will benefit from an understanding of how functional and non-functional requirements are elicited and analyzed.

Public Class Pricing: $1995

Prerequisites: We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from stakeholders, and understanding how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort. We also recommend that students attend Business Process Analysis before attending this class.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs 12 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

transition or rollout plan to smooth the implementation of new software for the business.

Public Class Schedule: Jul 11 – Jul 13, 2011 • Louisville, KY Jul 25 – Jul 27, 2011 • Atlanta Sep 12 – Sep 14, 2011 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

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

Course Outline Introduction - 1 hr • Define students learning objectives.

• What are solution requirements? What are transition requirements?

• Review requirements categories and classifications.

• What are the differences between business and functional requirements?

• Discuss requirements implications based on the type of solution being developed (COTS, in house development, maintenance, BI) • Learn about the software development approaches used by the team (change driven vs. plan driven) as it relates to solution requirements.

Determine the Solution Scope - 4 hrs • Define the solution scope model. Use approved business requirements to define a solution and allocate the solution components to each requirement (traceability).

• Learn a six-step approach to bringing the business domain stakeholders and implementation stakeholders to consensus about the definition of the solution scope: o Determine the functionality desired. o Elicit the business priority of each function. o Assess technical priority and estimated cost of the desired functionality. o Break project into phases or iterations. o Create a scope model using a use case diagram: • Define actors involved with the application.

• Identify actor interactions.

• Determine use cases within each phase or iteration. o Obtain approval.

• Review the backlog and learn the change driven approach to iteration planning • Allocate the requirements to the solution components.

Defining Functional Requirements - 4 hrs • Learn to elicit user stories and scenarios.

• 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 where possible.

• Learn how and where to document system user messages.

• Learn to create detailed use case descriptions.

Designing User Interfaces - 2 hrs • Learn to identify where prototypes are necessary.

• Create and document prototypes.

• Learn to document report requirements, including ad-hoc and predefined. Learn the definition of business intelligence.

• Learn to document field edits and screen functionality.

• Incorporate usability principals into user interfaces.

Analyze Interface Requirements - 3 hrs • Identify required interfaces based on the phase/ iteration plan.

• Determine how each interface is affected by the solution design.

• Write interface requirements for each interface.

Develop Transition Requirements - 3 hrs • Identify requirements for a smooth rollout of the solution to the business • Consider scheduling and timing issues • Determine the timing of interface transition and data conversion • Consider parallel operations vs. cutover • Develop an implementation plan Develop Action Plan/Course Summary Workshop 2 hrs • Review Business Analysis tasks and skills learned.

• Workshop: What would you do? Determine analysis approach based on case study.

• Develop an Action Plan with next steps on the student’s current project.

Identifying Non-Functional Requirements - 2 hrs • Identify requirements not previously addressed by business, functional, or technical requirement categories: • Performance requirements • Security requirements • Quality requirements • Scalability • Consider which non-functional requirement types are important for your project.

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

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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3 days

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Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan Overview Having trouble getting started with your business analysis work? Unsure about how much time to request from your project manager?

Developing a business analysis work plan will prevent major problems by ensuring that all of the appropriate stakeholders are involved and the requirements will be analyzed and presented using the most effective communication approaches. This class teaches students to consider all of the project and stakeholder characteristics before deciding on appropriate deliverables and producing a time estimate.

The work plan also helps the business analyst develop realistic time estimates based on the chosen deliverables.

These estimates provide detailed justification for negotiation with project managers and project sponsors. During class students are presented the Business Analysis Planning Framework™ and are given worksheets to guide their planning efforts.

Regardless of when the BA joins a project or the project type, this class will guide planners to deliver an intelligent business analysis work plan to the project manager and have a detailed roadmap upon which they can immediately begin to execute. The business analysis work plan may be a single sheet of brief notes on a small project or a more formal document on larger projects. Regardless of the output produced, an excellent business analyst thinks through the plan before starting work.

This course supports and extends the techniques in the IIBA’s BABOK® Guide V2.0.

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

- Kenichi Ohmae, management consultant

Students are encouraged to bring their own project initiation documentation for a current or past project to the class.

During the workshops, students will develop their business analysis work plan. If students do not have a project, a class case study is available and should be reviewed prior to the first day of class.

Intended audience: This course is intended for anyone who is interested in learning a practical approach to planning the necessary business analysis tasks for their project.

Prerequisites: Business analysts registering for this course must have attended Essential Skills for Business Analysis, or have at least 2 years experience in requirements elicitation, analysis, and documentation using structured techniques. Contact B2T Training if you would like to pass out of these prerequisites.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs

14 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

Public Class Pricing: $1995 Public Class Schedule: May 2 – May 4, 2011 • Atlanta Nov 7 – Nov 9, 2011 • Dallas, TX Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

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

Course Outline Introduction - 1 hr • Business analysis planning. o Overview of business analysis planning activities. o Discuss the relationship of the project manager and the business analyst in planning.

• Use of the BA Planning Framework™ approach to planning. o Project - Understanding the project characteristics. o People - Identifying stakeholders and planning for communications. o 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: o A large development project. o Enhancement or maintenance projects. o A COTS (commercial off-the-shelf software) project. o A reporting or data warehouse project. o A process improvement or re-engineering effort. o An infrastructure upgrade (getting a new e-mail or operating system).

• Planning around methodology and process characteristics: o An outsourced or off-shore development project. o Iterative style development methodology. o Agile style development process.

• Group workshop: Discuss planning considerations for case study projects.

Project - Understanding the Project Characteristics - 4 hrs • Let’s get started - A checklist to assess the current state of the project and to help get started.

• The Project Overview Worksheet - Is the project clearly defined? o Business objectives o Problems/opportunities o Requirements scope o High-level business processes • The Business Impact Worksheet - What is the relative importance of the project to the organization? o Size (number of stakeholders, number of business processes involved, number of business rules). o Importance (estimated cost, potential benefits, criticality of business area, level of key stakeholders). o 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 the Communication Plan - 4 hrs • Why plan for stakeholder interactions?

• Assess the project sponsor • Identify both primary and secondary stakeholders: o Searching for all stakeholders, not just the obvious ones o Understanding each stakeholder’s area of concern o Documenting stakeholder’s needs o Consider the characteristics of each stakeholder group • Determine effective communication practices for each stakeholder group: o Is this group providing requirements, using requirements, or supporting the project work? o Which elicitation technique(s) will be most effective? o What requirement presentation format will be most comfortable for this group?

• The Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet o When and where will communications with each stakeholder be most effective? o What are the best communication techniques for each stakeholder?

• Group workshop - Identify and analyze the stakeholder groups for an example project and identify the appropriate communication techniques.

Process - Planning the Analysis Activities - 3.5 hrs • Plan the analysis activities o Step one - Assess which requirements components are needed? o Step two - Determine which deliverables are needed using the Deliverable List Worksheet o Step three - Develop an approach for creating each deliverable using The Deliverable Worksheet • Consult with organizational standards/ methodologies for required deliverables.

Ongoing Requirements Management - 1 hr • What is Requirements Management? o Using a requirements repository o Develop a requirements management plan o Reusing existing requirements o Reusing existing data o Identifying requirements attributes • Plan for requirements traceability o Learn about traceability matrices and requirements links o Understand the purpose of forward and backward traceability o Determine which requirements should be “traced” o Determine the appropriate approach for managing traceability o Exercise: Perform impact analysis using traceability Course Summary - 0.5 hr • Final thoughts • Planning Worksheet Map • Optional Exercises Appendix - Advanced Project Initiation Requirements - 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)

Creating the Business Analysis Work Plan - 3 hrs • Step one - Create the business analysis task list • Step two - Estimate analysis time o Using historical and expert data to estimate o Tracking actual time to estimate • Step three - Finalize the business analysis work plan • Group workshop - develop a task list of analysis and requirements activities for a sample project.

• Intelligent negotiation skills.

• Getting signoff on the plan.

• Base lining the plan and initiating change control.

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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2 days

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Business Analysis in an Agile Environment Overview Agile environments are causing a shift in how teams are formed and the roles individuals have on their teams.

While some agile teams do not have a formal role called Business Analyst, business analysis skills are still needed on agile teams. BAs possess unique skills including clear communication, organization, facilitation, requirements elicitation, critical thinking, and requirements analysis and management skills.

This course is designed to show how business analysis fits in an agile environment and highlights the reality that business analysis activities are absolutely necessary. For the Business Analysis practitioner you will understand how the skills you have will help you become a valued agile team member.

Students will gain knowledge and skills by practicing techniques and soft skills needed to operate effectively in a requirements-driven agile environment.

Students will learn: n Agile approaches, key principles, practices and

terminology focusing on Scrum. n How to map traditional skills and tasks of a Business

Analyst to agile task and skills. n How a Business Analyst adds value to an agile project. n To develop user stories and specify acceptance criteria to

assist the Product Owner and business stakeholders. n How requirements are managed in an agile environment

pre and post the product backlog. n How to assist Product Owner and delivery team with four

types of agile planning: Strategy and product planning, release planning, Sprint/Iteration Planning, daily planning during the Stand-up Meeting. n To communicate requirements in different ways, adjusting

the level of detail and elaborating requirements iteratively as needed while developing just enough documentation. n To prioritize the Product Backlog and handling new

requests.

Intended audience: This course is designed for business analysts, systems analysts, product owners, project managers or any other project team member involved with requirements on an agile project. This course may also be appropriate for individuals who manage business analysts and need a more in-depth understanding of the process and skill set a business analyst can bring to an agile project.

Prerequisites: This is an advanced class. We recommend students first attend our Core classes or have equivalent experience.

Earn 14 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs

16 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

Public Class Pricing: No public classes currently scheduled.

Public Class Schedule: No public classes currently scheduled.

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

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

Course Outline Introduction - 1 hr • Define students learning objectives.

• Understand students knowledge of business analysis techniques and agile.

The Agile Environment - 3 hrs • Learn how plan- driven (traditional) vs. changedriven (iterative, agile) development approaches impact business analysis tasks and priorities.

• Overview of agile principles, methodologies and terminology. Learn values and principles from Agile Manifesto.

• Discuss business and IT benefits for using a light agile framework versus traditional development approach.

• Workshop: Create list of challenges moving from a traditional environment to an agile environment.

Business Analysis Skills for Agile Projects - 3 hrs • Review the major tasks and skills needed by BA professionals for traditional and agile projects.

• Discuss alignment with the IIBA® BABOK®.

• Discuss the BA’s relationship with the other project members.

• Learn to transfer BA skills from traditional methodologies to an agile approach.

• Workshop: Create a Product Vision.

Requirements on an Agile Project - 4 hrs • Define the levels of Agile planning- The focus will be exploring how the BA will assist with Product and Release Planning.

• Develop a Product and Sprint Backlog.

• Learn how to replace formal requirements documents with face-to-face communication where appropriate. Learn how to use informal models.

Don’t strive for requirements perfection.

• Writing User Stories at the appropriate level of detail following guidelines of 3 Cs (cardconversation –confirmation)- and INVEST techniques.

• Learn good story writing tips and what to avoid.

• Workshop: Breakdown one item on a product backlog into user stories.

Develop Your Action Plan - 1 hr • Discuss role adaptation you will have to make to be successful in an agile environment.

• Discuss your skill development opportunities(Cross functional, Project Management, technical skills, etc.).

• Develop an Action Plan with next steps on the student’s current project.

Business Analysis Roles - 2 hrs • Understand what activities are performed by a Business Analysis Practitioner in an Agile environment • Learn how the BA supports the Product Owner.

• Workshop: Create list of ideas how you can best be utilized on an agile project.

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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3 days

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Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis Overview The art of bringing people together, face-to-face or remotely, to elicit requirements and gain consensus on solutions is a critical success factor for all business analysis professionals.

This course teaches facilitation techniques that can be used for structured sessions and “facilitation-on-the-fly.”

This course goes beyond traditional facilitation training by focusing on facilitation techniques specific to gathering business and functional requirements.

This class is limited to 8 students, allowing each student the opportunity to practice facilitating multiple requirements sessions in a “safe” environment with personalized feedback. Students will spend 60% of class time participating in interactive, real-world business case studies and performing each key role in at least one session.

In this course students will learn to: n Facilitate using proven techniques for eliciting detailed

business, functional and non-functional requirements. n Identify when and how to use each technique. n Develop confidence and a skill set to conduct

requirements workshops. n Actively practice learned skills and techniques. n Use a requirements planning session template. n Prepare the participants for the requirements session. n Perform each facilitation role through role playing each

session. n Conduct the session to stay focused on the core

requirement that was planned as a deliverable.

The workshops in this course require students to plan the requirements workshop, develop the correct questions to ask the group, and facilitate the group to a consensus on the requirements using one of the learned techniques. Students will conduct a requirements workshop for at least one requirement deliverable (i.e., context level dataflow diagram, workflow diagram). This course supports and expands on the techniques in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0.

n Select which facilitation technique to use for each core

Intended audience: This course is designed for experienced, knowledgeable business analysts involved with requirements elicitation and analysis. Students are expected to understand the purpose of business and functional requirements.

Public Class Pricing: $1995

Prerequisites: We recommend that students first attend our Essential Skills for Business Analysis class or have experience in project scope definition, eliciting requirements from subject matter experts, and understanding how business requirements fit into the entire systems development effort.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs and PMI PDUs

18 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

requirement being gathered. n Complete checklists for managing and conducting the

session. n Facilitate a requirements workshop.

Public Class Schedule: Apr 18 – Apr 20, 2011 • Chicago-Oakbrook, IL Sep 19 – Sep 21, 2011 • Atlanta Visit www.b2ttraining.com for other dates and to register!

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

Course Outline Introduction - 1 hr • Learn guidelines for requirements facilitators.

• Set session rules and manage the session.

• Learn reactive techniques to use during the session: o Encourage participation. o Manage group focus. o Manage group conflict. o 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: o Determine need/requirements deliverable desired. o Determine commitment level. o Determine risks.

• Practice determining session need using real-world scenarios.

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

• Learn when not to use requirements workshops.

Planning and Preparing for a Facilitated Session 4 hrs • Plan the session: o Determine the number session(s) needed and the length of the session(s). o Document the purpose of the session. o Identify potential participants. o Define session requirements deliverables. o Document the plan using session planning templates.

• Prepare for a session: o Outline the goals and requirements deliverables. o Select session participants and determine if pre- session interviews are appropriate.

• Learn facilitation techniques: o Brainstorming o Consensus building o Flowcharting o Force field analysis o Hip pocket techniques o Nominal group o Root cause analysis o Storyboarding o Facilitating across distance • Develop focused questions to gather requirements: o Direct o Open-ended o Clarifying o Leading o Re-focusing • Create a detailed agenda for the facilitation team.

• 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: o Introducing the session. o Managing the session. o 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.

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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Overview of Business Analysis Overview In order for business analysis to be successful in organizations, both the IT and business community must embrace the business analysis process. This seminar presents the business analysis role to managers and others who lead and work with business analyst professionals.

The seminar can be used as a working session to discuss how your organization will implement the business analysis process and approaches for eliciting, analyzing and communicating requirements.

Both large and small organizations are realizing the benefits of using business analysis professionals on all of their application development projects. A business analysis professional acts as a liaison between business people who have a business problem and technology people who know how to create automated solutions. Improving the communication between your business areas and your IT team significantly increases the quality of the systems developed.

Intended audience: This seminar is a management overview of business analysis for managers, supervisors, and project managers who work with business analysis professionals.

Prerequisites: None

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

20 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

By understanding business analysis you will be able to maximize the impact your individual business analysis professionals and overall business analysis practice will have on your organization.

Course Outline Introduction - 1 hr • Group Exercise: Identify problems and opportunities that can be addressed by business analysis practices.

• Discuss positive impacts good business analysis practices have on organizations.

Business Analysis Role - 1.5 hrs • Learn the scope of the business analysis role.

• Understand how the role is used in the industry.

• Discuss the key characteristics of a successful business analysis professional.

Tips for Managing Business Analysis Professionals - 0.5 hr • Support the requirements elicitation process.

• Understand the most productive BA work environments.

• Learn the importance of requirements reviews and collaboration.

Current Industry Trends - 0.5 hr • Provide overview of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®).

• Learn the Project Manager and Business Analysis partnership framework.

• Discuss considerations for the PM/BA combined role.

• Understand Agile development approaches and the impact on business analysis.

Develop Your Action Plan / Course Summary - 0.5 hr • Develop an Action Plan with next steps to improve your BA practice.

• Student questions/discussion topics.

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis Overview This class provides an overview of the Business Analyst role and a detailed review of the Requirements Document provided to the development team. To ensure an integrated team, IT developers need to understand the role of the Business Analyst. They should also be familiar with the requirements that Business Analysts are gathering and documenting. This includes understanding categories of requirements, the core requirement components, and the documentation formats used for each type of requirement.

IT team members must also understand the testing life cycle and the personnel involved. This course gives students an overview of the role of the Business Analyst, requirements documentation, and software testing.

Intended audience: This course is designed for software developers, software architects, or any other project team member who will be using requirements documents for their development work. It is useful for both new developers and experienced developers.

Developers will learn how Business Analysts gather, analyze, and document requirements.

Prerequisites: None

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

22 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

Course Outline Introduction - 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 hr • 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?

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

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

Documenting Requirements - 2 hrs • Learn the recommended approach to categorizing requirements. Why should requirements be categorized? Who uses each category? Why is it difficult to create distinct categories? o Business requirements o Functional requirements o Technical requirements • Review a sample requirements package including: o Textual templates o Entity relationship diagram o Decomposition diagram o Use case diagram and scenarios o Workflow diagram o Prototyping Validate the Requirements - 1 hr • Introduction to software testing: Why is testing important? What is the business analyst’s role in testing? What is the primary objective of testing?

What are the phases and types of testing?

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

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

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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Business Analysis Essentials for Project Managers Overview The best way to guarantee success of any type of project is to have a strong, experienced Project Manager and strong, experienced Business Analyst. These two individuals, working together from the beginning of the project, set the stage for success by accurately planning and clearly defining the expected outcomes. Both roles are necessary because they are each responsible for a different set of tasks and they each possess a set of skills that complement each other. The two roles are closely tied, but exactly what are the similarities and differences, and why does a project need both?

In this course students will: n Learn to analyze and scope the area of analysis to clarify

the level and complexity of the business analysis effort needed for the project. n Learn what is an excellent requirement and the difference

between business and functional requirements. n Learn the five core components necessary to analyze a

business area. n Be introduced to the most commonly used analysis

techniques. n Discuss alternatives for traceability of requirements.

This course discusses the role of Business Analysts and the business analysis skills that a Project Manager should also possess. The business analysis skill set includes critical thinking skills, elicitation techniques and requirements analysis and management. Experienced project managers may already possess some of these skills, but may apply them differently than BAs. Understanding the complexity of the business analysis role will allow the PM and BA to work seamlessly and increase the project efficiency.

n Plan an approach for analyzing, categorizing, and

Scoping is one of the most critical areas on which the PM and BA should work together. In addition to the project scope, as defined in the PMBOK™, the BA is responsible for defining the scope of business analysis. When these two components of scope are combined they define the entire boundary of the project. In this course, Project Managers will learn how Business Analysts define the scope of the area for which they will be performing analysis. This is just one example of a task with separate roles for the PM and BA. Understanding their unique roles is critical to project success.

n Understand how validating requirements impacts the

Intended audience: This course is designed for Project Managers who are responsible for reviewing requirements, managing the business analysis efforts, overseeing the testing efforts, or obtaining sign-off on the business analysis deliverables. For PMs who are also responsible for gathering the business requirements, we recommend that they attend all of the core courses on business analysis.

Public Class Pricing: No public classes currently scheduled.

Prerequisites: None

24 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

managing requirements. Determine the level of formality required and consider options for documenting and packaging requirements based on project type, priorities, and risks. n Identify techniques and documentation options

appropriate for the various software development. approaches and project types (COTS, maintenance, business process improvement, new development, etc). project and the components of software testing. n Review business analysis requirements to improve the

quality of your deliverables.

Public Class Schedule: No public classes currently scheduled.

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

Course Outline Introduction - 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 Role - 1 hr • Identify project stakeholders and their roles.

• Discuss how the business analyst interacts with these participants.

Scoping the Project from the Business Analyst’s Perspective - 4.5 hrs • Understand why the project is being done.

Without this understanding it will be difficult for business analysts to elicit and document the right requirements and focus their business analysis work in the appropriate areas. Get an introduction to Enterprise Analysis.

• Understand the organizational environment. Identify the business stakeholders who will be involved in the project and how they will impact business analysis.

• Learn to ask probing questions about the requirements scope and facilitate a discussion with project stakeholders using visual representations of the requirements boundaries.

• Learn the context level dataflow diagram technique to identify and scope “what is” and, more importantly, “what is not” to be analyzed. Analyze interfaces with people, other organizations, existing systems, and other software applications.

• Discuss how a business analyst should collect, organize, and maintain requirements for efficient analysis 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 are the criteria used to judge the quality of “excellent” requirements?

• Learn how software developers use requirements.

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

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

Requirements Analysis Techniques - 5 hrs • Learn the recommended approach to categorizing requirements. Why should requirements be categorized? Who uses each category? Why is it difficult to create distinct categories? o Business Requirements o Functional Requirements o Non-functional Requirements o 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 in many analysis techniques to be able to adapt to different types of projects and businesses. o Structured textual templates (process descriptions, data descriptions, business rules, use cases) o Entity relationship diagram o Decomposition diagram o User stories, use case diagram and use case descriptions o Workflow diagram (UML, BPMN, ANSI, swim lane) o Prototyping • Consider options and level of formality for packaging requirements and choosing the appropriate documentation techniques for each project.

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

• Workshop - Put into practice several of the analysis techniques on the course case study requirements.

Conducting a Requirements Review - 2 hrs • Learn how to conduct a requirements review: Who should participate? What are the required steps?

How is a session conducted? What are the common challenges?

• Workshop - Review a sample requirements package. o Identify missing or incomplete requirements. o Identify potential test cases. o 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 in testing? What is the primary objective of testing?

What are the phases and types of testing?

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

• Practice identifying test cases and refining requirements based on quality assurance principles.

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.

Appendix - Overview of Application Development Processes and Standards - Optional - as time allows • Discuss various methodologies for application development.

• Learn which models are used in each methodology: o Waterfall o Information Engineering o IDEF o RAD o Iterative/Agile o BPMN o Object Oriented - UML o Spiral/RUP

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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Requirements Validation Overview This course takes you through the steps to ensure that business requirements are validated, that the solution is usable and meets the business needs. Validating requirements 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 2900 times the cost to correct a requirement. Finding missing requirements and requirements inconsistencies decreases the overall length and cost of the project.

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

This course answers many of the key questions about requirements validation including: n How do we validate requirements? n Which types of validation and verification processes are

appropriate for my project? n How does the team ensure that the solution meets the

business stakeholder needs? n Where does validation fit in the software development life

cycle (SDLC)? n What is software usability? Why is it important? n How does the team correct problems when they are

discovered? n How do I work with technical members of the solution

team? What do they need from a BA to be successful?

Solution Assessment and Validation is one of the key knowledge areas in the IIBA BABOK® Guide V2.0. This course addresses many of the important tasks in the knowledge area along with giving business analysts the ability to design efficient and effective tests to demonstrate that the application solutions meets their user’s needs.

Intended audience: This course is designed for business analysts, quality analysts, project managers, or anyone interested in improving and validating the quality of their requirements.

Prerequisites: We recommend that the Business Analyst has already attended our 4 core courses (or at a minimum Business Process Analysis and Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements) before enrolling for this course.

26 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

Public Class Pricing: No public classes currently scheduled.

Public Class Schedule: No public classes currently scheduled.

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

Course Outline Introduction - 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? o 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 o Introduction to usability testing. o Effective user acceptance testing (UAT). o Conduct a post implementation user assessment to identify lessons learned.

• How to correct problems that are discovered during requirements validation? o Use a consistent problem tracking procedure. o Track defect/problem types to improve requirements on future projects. o 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. o 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. o Testing environments. o Common IT testing methods.

• White box and black box testing.

• Positive and negative testing.

• Choosing data values for testing.

• Working with QA stakeholders. o Software quality assurance (SQA) planning and structure. o Utilizing SQA personnel throughout the SDLC.

Solution Assessment and Validation BABOK Knowledge Area - 2 hrs • Understanding the tasks in the IIBA BABOK Solution Assessment and Validation. o Assess the proposed solution o Allocate requirements. o Assess Organizational Readiness. o Define Transition Requirements. o Validate Solution. o Evaluate Solution Performance.

Documenting Requirements Validation Deliverables - 3 hrs • Designing a requirements validation plan o IEEE testing templates. o What is a test design, test case, test procedure? o Identifying tests from requirements documentation. o Using use case descriptions to develop testing procedures. o Tracking test cases.

• Workshop: Validating requirements using test cases.

• Tracing test cases to requirements - cross checking the solution.

• Designing a requirements validation plan. o 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?

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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s e l f st u d y o pt i o n s

Self Study Options Study Guides B2T Training offers study guides for experienced business analysts who would like to obtain certification.

The study guides help business analysts practice and review material to validate their understanding of business analysis techniques and approaches. Additionally, these study guides are appropriate for business analysts who are considering pursuing training, but are not sure at what level they should begin training. These study guides will help identify areas where business analysts may need to strengthen their knowledge.

Additionally, each study guide consists of a textual file that includes high-level content review for each course’s proficiency area, a case study with analysis exercises, and a list of recommended additional study resources. This file will be made available for use to download as a “pdf.”

Each study guide includes an initial online assessment test and two online practice exams consisting of multiple choice questions that test a business analyst’s knowledge regarding each proficiency area. Feedback provided for each response to the questions gives further assistance and insight for studying.

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

Requirements Template Roadmap Each project that a business analyst works on is unique and may require different combinations of requirements components. Templates provide a checklist for planning requirements work. The Requirements Template Roadmap helps the business analyst choose appropriate templates to use for each project. To assist business analysts in documenting requirements, we offer a Requirements Package Template that is available on the “Downloads” section of our website. The templates in this package provide business analysts with a structured format for eliciting and documenting requirements. Standard, re-usable templates allow for faster and easier requirements review and approval.

28 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

The Requirements Template Roadmap may be used as a companion to B2T Training’s Requirements Package Template. This “Roadmap” serves as a reference tool for business analysts when completing the requirements package based upon the templates. Using this Roadmap as a guideline or “map” for the requirements templates will help business analysts determine what to include in a requirements package, who A “must have” should prepare which sections reference tool of the package, and when $19.95 and why the requirements 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.

s e l f st u d y o pt i o n s

Education is on going.

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

B2T Training Web Site n BA Blog n Downloadable templates n Library n BA tools n CBAP Study Guide n the bridge archives

Online Communities n Business Analysis Times (www.batimes.com) n LinkedIn BA groups (www.linkedin.com) n BA Collective (www.bacollective.com) n Business Rules Community (www.brcommunity.org) n Business Process Management (www.bpm.com) n International Institute of Business Analysis (www.theiiba.org) n Modern Analyst (www.modernanalyst.com) n Project Management Institute (www.pmi.org) n Requirements Networking Group (www.requirementsnetwork.org)

Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/B2T_Training

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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mentoring

Business Analysis Mentoring Our classes include one hour of after class business analysis mentoring for each student. Students love having the opportunity to work with an industry expert to apply techniques learned in class to their unique situations during a one-on-one session.

Effective business analysis training and mentoring can help companies raise employee results. Proper business analysis mentoring can give access to new ideas, tips and strategies that will help you build upon the team’s current skills and strengths to give you a competitive edge. Learn how to drive more revenue by leveraging your business analysts.

Mentoring is available additionally as an on-demand service to jump start a new project, a new skill development effort, and to reinforce concepts or techniques. This real time service is provided by our experts at B2T Training onsite or virtually. Virtual mentoring can be purchased online.

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

your project n Assistance in determining and estimating business

analysis activities n Strategies for effectively engaging all stakeholders and

project team members n Coaching you to become a more agile BA n Provide direction for adapting and customizing templates n Help with roles, career paths and skill development

identification n Direction for building and sustaining a Community of

Practice or Center of Excellence

Contact us at 866.675.2125 or email sales@b2ttraining.com for more information.

30 B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

CBAP Study guide

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

Get prepared for the CBAP exam at your own pace by: n Answering questions in each knowledge area to assess

where your experience requires more development. n Learning valuable tips for exam prep and exercises to

strengthen your memory skills n Practicing over 450 sample CBAP exam questions written

by CBAPs n Understanding why an answer is correct or incorrect to

reveal areas that may need more targeted conditioning n Focusing on key BABOK® concepts to maximize your

study effects “After many years of no formal study, I found it almost impossible to concentrate on subject matter that I believed I already knew and had been practicing for years. Your study guide is not an alternative to the BABOK. It led me to read the BABOK several times; each time with an inquiring mind to examine how the authors’ views differed from mine.

Purchase our CBAP Exam Prep Study Guide v2.0 on our website for only $149!

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

B2T Training • 866.675.2125 • www.b2ttraining.com

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B2T Training International Partners Interdual Brazilian partner Visit www.interdual.com.br for more information.

Netmind Spanish partner Visit www.netmind.es for more information.

B2T Training’s Public Classes Core Courses Essential Skills for Business Analysis – 4 days Business Process Analysis – 3 days Detailing Business Data Requirements – 3 days Use Case Modeling and Solution Requirements – 3 days Advanced Courses Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan – 3 days Business Analysis in an Agile Environment – 2 days Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis – 3 days

IndigoCube South African Partner Visit www.indigocube.ca.za for more information.

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

PMWorks Australia Partner Visit www.pmworks.au for more information.

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.

Contact sales@b2ttraining.com if you would like to become an international partner.

Visit www.b2ttraining.com for the latest public class schedule, pricing information, and to register.

11675 Rainwater Drive, Suite 325 Alpharetta, GA 30009 678.366.1363 • fax 678.366.1983