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K N O W L E D G E S K I L L B E H A V I O U R ______________________________________ Mastering Business Analysis ______________________________________ C A T A L O G U E

Mastering Business Analysis

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Page 1: Mastering Business Analysis

K N O W L E D G E S K I L L B E H A V I O U R

______________________________________

Mastering Business Analysis

______________________________________

C A T A L O G U E

Page 2: Mastering Business Analysis

C A T

Developing an Excellent Business Analyst

T he emergence of the business analysis profession is

one of the best things that has happened to business

organisations in this decade! Organisations that have

nurtured and developed business analysts (BAs) are

experiencing huge paybacks for their investments.

People with titles as varied as project manager,

quality assurance analyst, and consultant

broader impact to the organisation. BAs bring requirements

skills to many different types of projects, such as:

• selection and implementation of packaged solutions (COTS)

• new software development

• business process improvement

The excellent BA is aware of his or her organisation’s strategic

plans and understands how to

implement them at the individual

business unit level.

Many corporate executives are

uncertain where to find these

people and how to develop them.

Traditional management training is

not appropriate for this role.

Specific technology or methodology

training isn’t the entire solution.

And, focusing on a particular

technical solution or approach is

too narrow to build an effective BA.

The skills most highly valued by

an organisation are true problem

solving skills that are broad enough

to allow an individual to see many

possible solutions and to think

outside or beyond a predetermined

solution that may have been

presented. An excellent BA looks at

each problem as a missing puzzle

piece that needs to interlock and

work with the other pieces of the

organisation. He or she has the

ability to examine the problem from

multiple perspectives and consider

possible solutions with a realistic

view of the organisation’s cost vs.

benefit. Ideas are easy to generate

but a BA challenges, dissects,

The more analysis tools a BA masters, the more valuable he will be to the organisation.

evaluates, and truly “tests” each idea

to determine if it fits within the

corporate direction while also

addressing the specific business

possess business analysis skills. Regardless of the title, individuals

who truly understand how to turn high-level corporate objectives

into detailed business solutions are extremely valuable resources.

Excellent BAs are unique individuals who have the ability to

work on details while also understanding how small these details

can impact the larger corporate picture. An excellent BA looks

upon a “simple” maintenance change to determine if it has a

Page 2 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

problem at hand. Additionally, an excellent BA assesses the

impact of a recommended change on the organisation.

Is the Excellent BA Born or Developed?

Is a BA born or made? We believe both. Individuals selected for

this role must have a critical mind and an acute sense of curiosity.

They are people who are not satisfied settling for a good solution

Page 3: Mastering Business Analysis

but are determined to find an excellent one. They intuitively understand

continuous process improvement. Once you find a person like this, he or she is

eager to learn techniques that make him more capable and effective. Analysis skills

that can be acquired through education and practice include critical thinking

skills, root cause analysis, process analysis (breaking large things into manageable

pieces), and data analysis (organising, categorising, and utilising large volumes of

data in a useful way to assist in decision making). BAs learn to improve their

communication skills by widening the breadth of their questioning and by fine

tuning their ability to listen for true causes of problems, not just symptoms.

IndigoCube focuses on developing individuals to master business analysis.

Our courses and products equip BAs with a full range of complex business

analysis skills, techniques, and approaches. The more analysis tools a BA

masters, the more valuable he will be to the organisation. In many organisations

today, projects and problems do not follow a simple 1-2-3 pattern. Most

problems are usually more complex than they initially appear, involving a

number of interrelated factors. Solutions are not always obvious or easy to build.

An excellent BA knows how to get started on a problem/project that may not be

clearly defined or understood.

An excellent BA is flexible and able to adapt to each unique situation. They

possess an inventory of problem solving skills with which they feel comfortable

to deploy as needed. They are able to work with many different types of people

on many different types of projects. They must be agile. Agility is obtained by

having a complete set of skills; and knowing when and how to wield them

quickly and efficiently. Regardless of what type of project the BA is working on,

having a solid skill set will ensure the BA’s critical value to an organisation.

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

Training Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Management/Technical Seminars

Business Analysis Skills

Communication Skills

Facilitation Techniques

Use Case Analysis

Requirements Planning

Prototyping

Asking the Right Questions

Structured Approaches

Documentation Standards

Workflow Analysis

Traceability

Requirements Review

Requirements Management

Note Taking

SDLC Knowledge

Cost/Benefit Analysis

UAT Planning

Effective Meetings

Presentation Skills

Interviewing Techniques

Risk Assessment

Dataflow Diagramming

Excellent Requirements

Process Modeling

Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Certification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

IIBATM

BABOKTM

Alignment . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Certified Core Courses

Essential Skills for

Business Analysis™ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

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

Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements . . . . . . . . .12 Advanced and Specialised Courses

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Requirements Validation . . . . . . . . . . . .18

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

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Practitioner Courses

Writing Good Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

Analysis using UML 2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases . . . . . . . . .23

BABOK / CBAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Requirements Template Roadmap . . . . 24

Business Analyst Assessments . . . . . . . 25

List of IndigoCube’s Courses . . . . . . . . 26

Elicitation Techniques

Software Design Knowledge

Change Control

Project Management

Data Modeling

Active Listening

Organisational Skills

Usability Principles

Business Rule Analysis

Gap Analysis

IndigoCube •011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 3

Page 4: Mastering Business Analysis

T R A I N I N G O P T I O N S

Onsite Training All of our courses may be taught

onsite at your facilities, where

required, provided that there are

six or more delegates.

Please contact us to discuss

your specific course requirements,

group size, and available training

dates.

Customisation

Public Training IndigoCube offers public classes at

our offices on the Ground Floor,

Victoria Gate South, Hyde Lane,

Hyde Park, Sandton.

Public classes allow students to meet

and learn with business analysts

from other companies and industries,

offering a broader understanding

of the business analysis profession.

Self-study For experienced business analysts, study

guides are available for our three core

courses. Additionally, for business analysts

who are wishing to sit for the CBAP

certification exam, a CBAP Prep Study

Guide is available. These study guides are

ideal for business analysts who are unable

to attend classes but would like to receive

either the B2T Training Certification or

CBAP certification.

All onsite classes will be tailored to address your unique organisational environment and the experience level and interest

of the students. The level of customisation required is dependent upon a review of your needs and the outline of our course

curriculum. This review will reveal areas that may need more or less focus during training. We will prepare a customised

training programme, if needed, which includes topics from existing material that address specific areas of concern.

Customisation requiring additional or new course development will incur a fee.

Course Level 2009 Essential Skills for Business Analysis™ Core Skills 07-10 Dec

Detailing Business Data Requirements Core Skills 30 Nov-02 Dec

Course Level 2010

Essential Skills for Business Analysis™ Core Skills 18-21 Jan 8-11 Feb 8-11 Mar

12-15 Apr 3-6 May 7-10 June

Detailing Business Data Requirements Core Skills 25-27 Jan 15-17 Feb 15-17 Mar

10-12 May

Detailing Process & Business Rule Req. Core Skills 12-15 Jan 01-04 Feb 01-04 Mar

19-22 Apr 21-24 June

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan Advanced

03-05 May

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis Advanced ON DEMAND

Requirements Validation Advanced ON DEMAND

Writing Good Use Cases Practitioner ON DEMAND

Analysis using UML 2 Practitioner ON DEMAND

Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases Practitioner ON DEMAND

Overview of Business Analysis Business Management

ON DEMAND

Developer's Introduction to Business Analysis Dev/Tech ON DEMAND

IndigoCube reserves the right to reschedule courses.

For bookings and information: [email protected]

Page 4 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 5: Mastering Business Analysis

IndigoCube’s Curriculum

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

Our comprehensive business analysis curriculum is developed and delivered by practicing business analysts.

Our mature programme has been proven through the success of our customers resulting in improved requirements.

The curriculum is supported by full requirements document templates, a reference manual for post-training guidance,

coaching, and resources. The skills, techniques, and approaches that we teach are not tied to or limited to any

particular methodology.

Three Core Courses Our three consecutive core courses cover

essential business analysis skills within

the industry that most business analysts

are expected to perform. These courses

teach students how to elicit requirements

and detail them in a business requirements

document including detailed data, process,

and business rule requirements.

Our certification programme, outlined in

the next section, is built upon our

three core courses.

Three Core Courses:

■ Essential Skills for Business Analysis™

- 4 days

■ Detailing Business Data Requirements

- 3 days

■ Detailing Process and Business Rule

Requirements - 4 days

Advanced and Specialised Courses In addition to the three core courses, IndigoCube

offers courses that cover more advanced and

specialised business analysis topics. These courses

are designed for experienced business analysts or

to be taken after completing the three core courses.

Advanced and Specialised Courses:

■ Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan

- 3 days

■ Facilitating Requirements for Business

Analysis - 3 days

■ Requirements Validation - 2 days

Seminars and Practitioner Courses We also offer management and technical seminars

designed to help those who work with business

analysts gain a better understanding of the business

analysis role.

Management and Technical Seminars:

■ Overview of Business Analysis -1/2 day

■ Developer’s Introduction to Business

Analysis - 1 day

In addition, we offer practitioner courses designed to assist business analysts who have an understanding of business analysis and project management practices in the software development environment.

Practitioner Courses:

■ Writing Good Use Cases - 1 day

■ Analysis using UML 2.0 - 3 days

■ Mastering Requirements Management

with Use Cases - 3 days

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 5

Page 6: Mastering Business Analysis

=

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

Certification IndigoCube believes that a certified business analyst

should exhibit real-world knowledge and experience.

Our certification programme tests a business analyst’s ability

to apply knowledge and skills in real-world circumstances

and offers two levels of recognition. Our business analyst

certification programme recognises individuals who have

proven skills, knowledge, and experience in eliciting,

organising, analysing, documenting, communicating,

BA AssociateTM

The BA Associate is a

certificate that recognises

business analysts who

possess foundational

knowledge of business

analysis topics and skills

taught in our three core

courses. It is designed for

new and experienced

and verifying requirements to facilitate the development

or purchase of software applications and/or business

process improvement efforts. Our certification programme

is based on the essential business analysis skills covered

in our three core courses.

business analysts. Obtaining the BA Associate certificate

requires candidates to pass all three online proficiency area

exams of our three core courses. The cost of each exam is

R900 excluding VAT. Candidates wishing to test-out the

three core courses may purchase study guides for each of

these courses to help prepare for passing the proficiency exams.

BA CertifiedTM

After obtaining the BA

Associate certificate,

candidates are qualified

Exam*

to work toward BA

Certified. BA Certified is

an elite certification that

recognises individuals

who possess proven

skills, knowledge, and

experience in eliciting, organising, analysing, documenting,

communicating, and verifying requirements.

Becoming BA Certified consists of:

■ earning the BA Associate certificate

■ possessing two years of business analysis experience

■ providing two professional references

■ passing a final exam

The case-study-based final exam consists of developing

sections of a requirements package and answering

questions about the requirements. Cost of this exam is

available on request.

BA Certified business analysts are able to confidently

provide their employers or perspective employers with

evidence that they possess not only business analysis

knowledge, but the ability to apply that knowledge in

day-to-day real-world business analysis environments.

Page 6 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 7: Mastering Business Analysis

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

IIBA Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® and IndigoCube Courses

IndigoCube’s programme is a comprehensive programme that aligns with all areas of the BABOK. The BABOK is a collection of business analysis tasks categorised into like groupings called knowledge areas. The BABOK is not a methodology and does not infer any particular order of performing the activities. IndigoCube’s programme is taught in a series of courses that reflect the order of work and iterative nature of business analysis. This chart illustrates the alignment between the current version of the BABOK and IndigoCube training courses.

BABOK®

Version 2 .0

Framework Tasks

CORE COURSES ADVANCED COURSES Mentoring and

Coaching Essential

Skills Data Process

Work Plan

Requirements Validation

Facilitating

BA Planning and Monitoring

Plan business analysis approach Conduct stakeholder analysis Plan business analysis activities Plan business analysis communications Plan requirements management process Manage business analysis performance

Elicitation

Prepare for elicitation Conduct elicitation activity Document elicitation results Confirm elicitation results

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

Enterprise Analysis

Define business need Assess capability gaps Determine solution approach Define solution scope Develop the business case

Requirements Analysis

Prioritise requirements Organise requirements Specify and model requirements Determine assumptions and constraints Verify requirements Validate requirements

Solution Assessment and Validation

Assess proposed solution Allocate requirements Assess organisational readiness Define transition requirements Validate solution Evaluate solution performance

Underlying Competencies

Analytical thinking and problem solving Behavioural characteristics Business knowledge Communication skills Interaction skills Software applications

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 7

Page 8: Mastering Business Analysis

4 DAYS UPDATED

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

C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

Essential Skills for Business Analysis™

Overview

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 fast-paced 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.

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 encouraged to bring their

own projects to class. Using new techniques on a current project often highlights missing

requirements and gives the student specific next steps to follow after class.

In this course students will learn to:

• Analyse and scope the area of analysis, working with project managers and business

sponsors to clarify the level and complexity of the business analysis effort needed for

the project.

• Select the appropriate elicitation technique to efficiently identify critical requirements.

• Analyse and refine business and functional requirements.

• Ask the right questions through the use of interviewing templates developed specifically

for business analysis elicitation.

• Identify the five core components necessary to analyse a business area.

• Plan an approach for analysing, categorising, and managing requirements. Determine

the level of formality required and consider options for documenting and packaging

requirements based on project type, priorities, and risks.

• Identify techniques and documentation options appropriate for various software

development approaches and project types (COTS, maintenance, business process

improvement, new development, etc).

• Define testing objectives and verify requirements are testable.

• Conduct effective requirements reviews to improve the quality of requirements

deliverables.

• Build strong relationships with project stakeholders.

• Apply new communication strategies for eliciting and interacting with virtual teams.

• Anticipate issues, think proactively, and use critical thinking skills to plan stakeholder

elicitation sessions.

Pricing

R9,650 excluding VAT per Student Proficiency Exam: R900 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

• 6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

• 11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 8 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 9: Mastering Business Analysis

Course Outline

Introduction – 1 hr.

• What is the role of a business analyst?

• Review the major tasks performed by the business analyst

• Define the essential skills needed to perform

their tasks

Project Participants and Their Roles – 1 hr.

• Identify project participants and their roles

• Discuss how the business analyst interacts

with these participants

Elicitation Techniques – 2.5 hrs.

• Learn to use and determine the appropriate

elicitation technique:

• One-on-one interviews • Requirements workshops

• Surveys

• Brainstorming • Document analysis

• Focus group

• Job shadowing/observation • Competitive analysis

• Interface analysis

• Reverse engineering • Learn to proactively plan interactions with

stakeholders to make the most effective use

of their time

Scoping the Project from the Business Analyst’s

Perspective – 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 organisational 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 analysed.

Analyse interfaces with people, other

organisations, existing systems, and other software applications

• Discuss how a business analyst should collect,

organise, 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:

• Entity

• Attribute • Process (use case)

• External Agent (actor)

• Business Rule Requirements Analysis Techniques – 5 hrs.

• Learn a recommended approach to

categorising requirements. Why should

requirements be categorised? Who uses each

category? Why is it difficult to create distinct categories?

• Business Requirements

• Functional Requirements • Non-functional Requirements

• Technical Requirements

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

techniques to organise and refine requirements.

Business analysts should have expertise in many analysis techniques to be able to adapt

to different types of projects and businesses:

• Structured textual templates (process descriptions, data descriptions, business

rules, use cases)

• Entity relationship diagram • Decomposition diagram

• User stories, use case diagram and use case

descriptions • Workflow diagram (UML, BPMN, ANSI,

swimlane

• Prototyping • Consider options for packaging requirements

and choosing the appropriate documentation

techniques for each project • Review currently available software tools that

can be used to document requirements • 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:

• Identify missing or incomplete requirements • Identify potential test cases

• Document issues and develop an approach

for going forward

Validate the Requirements – 2 hrs.

• Understand the role of business analysis in

validating requirements and software testing

• Introduction to software testing: Why is testing

important? What is the business analyst’s role 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 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 use

of interviewing templates developed specifically for business analysis

• Recognise 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 recognising 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 instructor and other students.

Working with Virtual Teams – 2 hrs. • Understand what constitutes a virtual team • Learn about virtual team structures and terminology

• Learn about technology requirements for virtual

teams: • Define Webinars, web conferencing, webcasting

• Understand the uses for collaboration tools

• Consider business analysis process changes for virtual team work:

• Set policies for the team

• Utilise the Six Thinking Hats® technique • Effectively utilise the people on the virtual team

• Understand the critical success characteristics

• Tips for conducting virtual meetings successfully • Choose the appropriate elicitation techniques

for virtual teams

Course Summary – 1.5 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 Methodologies

- Optional

• Discuss various methodologies for application development

• Learn which models are used in each methodology:

• Waterfall • Information Engineering

• IDEF

• RAD

• Iterative/Agile

• BPMN

• Object Oriented - UML

• Spiral/RUP

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 9

Page 10: Mastering Business Analysis

3 DAYS

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 the Business Analyst 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

C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

Detailing Business Data Requirements

Overview Understanding and documenting business data requirements is a critical

component in defining complete requirements. Every 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 identify and define all necessary

data components using both textual templates and an entity relationship

diagram.

Students will be given data templates with a suggested documentation structure

for defining business data requirements. In addition students will be shown how to

document data using an entity relationship diagram to produce a logical data

model in combination with the supporting detailed templates.

Even if your organisation has a data administrator or data warehouse team who

is responsible for documenting and managing the organisation’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.

In this course students will learn to:

• Identify core data requirements beginning with project initiation.

• Identify excellent data requirements at the appropriate level of detail.

• Detail the data requirements (using a suggested documentation structure and

templates in Microsoft Word format or using an entity relationship diagram).

• Identify and detail attributive, associative, and subtype and supertype entities.

• Detail complex data-related business rules.

• Discriminate between business data (logical data) and database design

(physical data).

• Assist with the transition of business data to database design.

• Utilise easy normalisation techniques (without all the mathematical theory).

• Validate data requirements with activity (process or use case) requirements.

Pricing

R7,200 excluding VAT per Student Proficiency Exam: R900 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 10 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 11: Mastering Business Analysis

Course Outline

Introduction – 1 hr.

• What is a business data requirement? Why are

these requirements important?

• Review the requirements package

• What is the difference between business data

and database design?

• Review the 7 characteristics of “excellent”

requirements

• Review the 5 core requirements components

Entities and Attributes – 5 hrs.

• Review the components included in the project

initiation section of the requirements package

• 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 asks students to

identify and document entities from the case

study

• Attribute types are characteristics of entity

types. This section defines attributes, gives

suggested naming guidelines and class words,

teaches attribute cardinalities, gives criteria to

evaluate attributes, and ask students to identify

and document attributes from the case study

• Understand the difference between logical

unique identifiers and primary keys

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

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. These entities

must be properly named, and be related to the

supertype entity. The sub-category is defined

as either exclusive or inclusive and a

discriminating attribute is created

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-normalisation? Why de-normalise a

database design?

Workshop - e-commerce case study – 4 hrs.

• Identify and document entities

• Identify and document attributes

• Identify and document data related business

rules

Appendix - Data Normalisation

• What is data normalisation and why is it

important?

• What are the rules of normalisation?

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 11

Page 12: Mastering Business Analysis

4 DAYS

Intended Audience This course is designed for

business analysts, systems

analysts, or any other project

team members responsible for

gathering and documenting

business requirements and

designing functional

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

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 the Business Analyst 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. We also recommend that

students attend Detailing

Business Data Requirements

before attending this class.

Earn 28 IIBA CDUs

C E R T I F I E D C O R E C O U R S E

Detailing Process and

Business Rule Requirements

Overview Business process requirements provide the foundational element of any project.

This course continues the development of the requirements package by defining

the essential processes and business rules. The most effective approach to

ensure success is to understand the business environment and use this

understanding to elicit and document business and functional requirements.

Students are taught proven techniques to identify and define the essential

business processes within the scope of the project and then detail them into

functional requirements. These techniques include AS IS and TO BE modeling,

workflow modeling, process decomposition diagrams, use cases, and prototypes.

Students will learn how and when to effectively use these techniques at the

appropriate level of detail for varying audiences.

Business analysts are uniquely qualified to elicit and document process and

business rule requirements because of their understanding of the business needs

and the user’s work environment. Business analysts are expected to analyse and

understand business problems and present solution recommendations to the

business stakeholders. Business process modeling adds value to projects by

ensuring the technology solution will meet the business needs.

In this course students will learn to:

• Understand and document the business environment using industry best practices.

• Use provided templates to elicit and document processes and business rules.

• Look beyond the current technology or procedures to discover the true nature

of the business activity.

• Ask the right questions to identify the core business processes and the

business rules that control or guide them.

• Document functional requirements that specify how users will interact with the

software and how the software will respond.

• Deliver consistent, detailed use case descriptions.

• Use several diagrams including the decomposition diagram, use case diagram,

and workflow diagrams.

• Look at the business area objectively after business requirements are

documented and organised to present alternative design solutions that meet

the customer needs.

• Validate business processes against data requirements.

• Consider usability when developing prototypes.

Pricing R9,600 excluding VAT per Student Proficiency Exam: R900 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 12 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 13: Mastering Business Analysis

Course Outline

Introduction – 1 hr.

• What are business requirements? Why are

they important?

• Review the requirements package

• What are the differences between business

and functional requirements?

• Review the 7 characteristics of “excellent”

requirements

• Review the 5 core requirements components

Identifying and Defining Essential Business

Processes – 3 hrs.

• Learn to identify essential business processes

An essential business process is a core

requirement of the business area necessary to

provide the right solution deliverable. Each

business process must be clearly defined,

consistently named, and completely

decomposed

• Students are given a template to document this

detailed information and learn to identify

essential processes from a case study

• Learn to extract essential processes from real-

world, detailed user description interview

notes

• Learn to use the process template as both an

interviewing and documentation tool

• Learn to look for redundant or reusable

processes

Processes Analysis – 3 hrs.

• Learn to organise essential business processes

in a process outline and decomposition

diagram

• Learn 3 major business process identification

approaches and the situations in which each

would work most effectively

• Students will use each approach to identify

detailed processes from a case study

• Top down

• Bottom up

• Event partitioning

Documenting Business Rules – 2.5 hrs.

• Learn the major types of business rules and

why each one should be documented

• Review data-related business rules as they are

documented in an entity relationship diagram

• Learn to detail business rules that involve both

data and process components

• Learn several techniques for documenting

business rules

• Learn to extract business rules from different

sources

Finalising the Business Requirements – 2 hrs.

• Learn 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

• Learn how test cases can help solidify

requirements

• Review a requirements completeness

checklist

• Obtain approval signoffs from appropriate

stakeholders

Translating Business Requirements to

Functional Requirements – 3.5 hrs.

• Define the design area scope. Once the

analysis is complete and the business

requirements have been documented, the

project team must decide which business

processes will be automated

• Learn a six-step approach to defining the

design area scope:

• Document the functional design of each

process

• Document business priority

• Document technical priority and estimated

cost

• Break project into phases

• Document design area using a use case

diagram:

- Define actors involved with the application

- Identify actor interactions

- Learn multiple techniques to derive use

cases from essential business processes

• Obtain signoff

Utilising Workflow Analysis – 3 hrs.

• Learn to create detailed workflow diagrams

using a number of techniques:

• ANSI standard flowchart

• Swimlane diagram

• Geographic diagram

• UML activity diagram

• Understand the benefits of each diagram to

target each technique to a specific audience

and need

• Documenting AS IS vs. TO BE scenarios

Documenting System Functionality – 3 hrs.

• Learn to identify use cases

• Outline each use case for a high-level

understanding of broad behaviour

• 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 8 steps for excellent use case

generation

• Learn to create detailed use case descriptions

• Students are given a template to document the

detailed use case descriptions

Designing User Interfaces – 2 hrs.

• Learn to use completed documentation to

identify where prototypes are necessary

• Learn to document report requirements,

including ad-hoc and predefined

• Create and document prototypes

• Learn to use provided templates to document

field edits and screen functionality

• Review usability considerations

Documenting Additional Functional

Requirements – 1 hr.

• Identify requirements not previously addressed

by business, functional, or technical

requirement categories:

• Performance requirements

• Security requirements

• Quality requirements

• Scalability

• Discuss the business analyst role in the

documentation of these requirements

Workshop - Maintenance Case Study – 3 hrs.

• Identify essential processes and build a

decomposition diagram

• Determine the design area scope

• Write a use case description

• Document functional requirements for an

online screen, report, and manual procedure

Course Summary – 1 hr.

• Review techniques appropriate for each

project using real-world scenarios

• Pull it all together; review the complete steps

to business analysis

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 13

Page 14: Mastering Business Analysis

3 DAYS

Intended Audience This course is intended for

anyone who is interested in

learning a practical approach to

NEW

A D V A N C E D A N D S P E C I A L I S E D C O U R S E

Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan

Overview planning the necessary business

analysis tasks for their project.

Prerequisites Business analysts registering for

this course must have attended

Essential Skills for the Business

Analyst, or have at least 2 years

experience in requirements

elicitation, analysis and

documentation using structured

techniques. Contact IndigoCube

if you would like to discuss an

exception being made to

these prerequisites.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs

This course leads students through the development of a structured business

analysis plan. With a business analysis plan the business analyst is less likely to

miss major requirements or stakeholder areas, or to go down the wrong path and

build the wrong solution for the business problem. There are many things that a

business analyst should consider at the beginning of a project to ensure the

project’s success. An excellent business analyst develops a work plan at the

beginning of each assignment to make sure that the work will be done properly

and completely. 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. Planning is constantly reconsidered and revised as

the business analyst learns more and more about the project.

The business analyst may sometimes be assigned to a project after a project

manager has already scoped and planned the project. Sometimes they are

assigned before the project has been clearly defined and approved. The business

analyst must first assess his or her assignment to determine what has already

been done and plan the business analysis work from that point.

The course will help business analysts plan for and estimate the business

analysis effort for various types of projects and situations including:

• Projects using an agile development approach.

• Stakeholders who are geographically dispersed.

• Projects that have not been clearly defined.

• Projects with high business impact and risks.

Pricing R8,400 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 14 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 15: Mastering Business Analysis

Course Outline

Introduction – 1 hr.

• Business analysis planning

• Overview of business analysis planning

activities

• Discuss the relationship of the project

manager and the business analyst in

planning

• Use of the BA Planning Framework™

approach to planning

• Project - Understanding the project

characteristics

• People - Identifying stakeholders and

planning for communications

• Process - Planning the analysis activities

• The business analysis work plan

Planning for Different Types of Projects – 4 hrs.

• Planning a large development project

• Planning for enhancement or maintenance

projects

• Planning for a COTS (commercial of the

shelf software) project

• Planning for an outsourced or off-shore

development project

• Planning for a project using a RUP Style/

Iterative style development methodology

• Planning for an Agile style development process

• Planning for a reporting or data warehouse

project

• Planning for a process improvement effort

• Planning for an infrastructure upgrade

(getting a new email system or operating

system like VISTA)

• 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?

• Business objectives

• Problems/opportunities

• Requirements scope

• High level business processes

• The Business Impact Worksheet – What is

the relative importance of the project to the

organisation?

• Size (number of stakeholders, number of

business processes involved, number of

business rules)

• Importance (estimated cost, potential

benefits, criticality of business area, level

of key stakeholders)

• Risk (project, business, technology)

• High-level business processes

• Enterprise analysis - Understanding how

this project fits into the organisation's

overall strategy

• Group Workshop - Assess the project and

score the business impact of a sample project

People – Stakeholder Analysis and the Stake Holder

Analysis and the Communication Plan – 4 hrs.

• Why plan for stakeholder interactions?

• Assess the project sponsor

• Identify both primary and secondary

stakeholders:

• Searching for all stakeholders, not just the

obvious ones

• Understanding each stakeholder’s area of

concern

• Documenting stakeholder’s needs

• Consider the characteristics of each

stakeholder group

• Determine effective communication practices

for each stakeholder group:

• Is this group providing requirements, using

requirements, or supporting the project

work?

• Which elicitation technique(s) will be most

effective?

• What requirement presentation format will

be most comfortable for this group?

• The Stakeholder Analysis Worksheet:

• When and where will communications with

each stakeholder be most effective?

• What are the best communication

techniques for each stakeholder?

• Group Workshop - identify and analyse the

stakeholder groups for an example project

and develop the communication plan

Process - Planning the Analysis Activities – 3.5 hrs.

• Plan the analysis activities

• Step one – Assess which requirements

components are needed

• Step two – Determine which deliverables

are needed using the Deliverable List

Worksheet

• Step three – Develop an approach for

creating each deliverable using the

Deliverable Worksheet

• Consult with organisational standards/

methodologies for required deliverables

Creating the Business Analysis Work Plan – 4 hrs.

• Step one – Create the business analysis

task list

• Step two – Estimate analysis time

• using historical data to estimate

• tracking actual time to estimate

• Step three – Finalise the business analysis

work plan

• Group workshop – Develop a task list of

analysis and requirements activities for a

sample project

• Intelligent negotiation skills

• Getting sign off on the plan

• Base-lining the plan and initiating change

control

Course Summary – 0.5 hr.

• Final thoughts

•Planning Worksheet Map

•Optional exercises

Appendix – Ongoing Requirements Management

- Optional

• What is Requirements Management?

• Using a requirements repository

• Develop a requirements management plan

• Reusing existing requirements

• Reusing existing data

• Identifying requirements attributes

• Plan for requirements traceability:

• Learn about traceability matrices and

requirements links

• Understand the purpose of forward and

backward traceability

• Determine which requirements should be

“traced”

• Determine the appropriate approach for

managing traceability

• Exercise: Perform impact analysis using

traceability

Appendix – Project Cost/Benefit Analysis - Optional

• Learn the purpose of cost/benefit analysis

• Learn to use SWOT analysis

• Learn to use the requirements package to

estimate project costs and benefits

Appendix – Enterprise Analysis - Optional

• Learn to use root cause analysis

• Learn to use SWOT analysis

• Learn to create a high-level Six Sigma

SIPOC process map

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

• Gap Analysis

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 15

Page 16: Mastering Business Analysis

3 DAYS

Intended Audience This course is designed for

experienced, knowledgeable

business analysts involved

with requirements gathering.

Students are expected to

understand the purpose of

business and functional

requirements.

Prerequisites We recommend that students

first attend our Essential Skills

for the Business Analyst class

or have experience in project

scope definition, gathering

requirements from subject

matter experts, and

understanding how business

requirements fit into the entire

systems development effort.

Earn 21 IIBA CDUs

A D V A N C E D A N D S P E C I A L I S E D C O U R S E

Facilitating Requirements for Business Analysis

Overview The art of bringing people together, face-to-face or remotely, to gather

requirements and gain consensus on solutions is a critical success factor for all

business analysts. 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 gathering sessions in a “safe”

environment with personalised 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.

The workshops in this course require students to plan the requirements gathering

session, 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 gathering session for at least one

requirement deliverable (i.e. context level dataflow diagram, workflow diagram).

In this course students will learn to:

• Facilitate using proven techniques for business requirements gathering.

• Identify when and how to use each technique.

• Develop confidence and a skill set to conduct facilitated sessions.

• Actively practice learned skills and techniques.

• Use a requirements planning session template.

• Prepare the participants for the requirements gathering session.

• Perform each facilitation role through role playing each session.

• Conduct the session to stay focused on the core requirement that was planned

as a deliverable.

• Select which facilitation technique to use for each core requirement being

gathered.

• Complete checklists for managing and conducting the session.

• Facilitate a requirements gathering session.

Pricing R8,400 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 16 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 17: Mastering Business Analysis

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:

• Encourage participation

• Manage group focus

• Manage group conflict

• Consider remote facilitation techniques

Student Workshop – 1.5 hrs.

• Conduct a mini facilitated session.

• Practice techniques used for facilitated

sessions.

Session Feasibility – 1 hr.

• Determine when facilitated sessions are

appropriate:

• Determine need/requirements deliverable

desired.

• Determine commitment level.

• Determine risks.

• Practice determining session need using real-

world scenarios.

• Review the core requirements components and

discuss how they are best gathered.

• Learn when not to use facilitated sessions.

Planning and Preparing for a Facilitated

Session – 4 hrs.

• Plan the session:

• Determine the number session(s) needed

and the length of the session(s)

• Document the purpose of the session

• Identify potential participants

• Define session requirements deliverables

• Document the plan using session planning

templates

• Prepare for a session:

• Outline the goals and requirements

deliverables

• Select session participants and determine if

pre-session interviews are appropriate

• Learn facilitation techniques:

- Brainstorming

- Consensus building

- Flowcharting

- Force field analysis

- Hip pocket techniques

- Nominal group

- Root cause analysis

- Storyboarding

- Facilitating across distance

• Develop focused questions to gather

requirements:

- Direct

- Open-ended

- Clarifying

- Leading

- 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 facilitated session

• Personal feedback will be provided to drive

skill development

Conducting the Session – 1 hr.

• Learn the stages of group

development/productivity

• Facilitate decision making – work toward

consensus

• Conducting the session:

• Introducing the session

• Managing the session

• Creating a follow-up action plan

• Review/approve requirements deliverables

Student Workshop – 8 hrs.

• Plan and conduct a requirements gathering

facilitated session

• 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 finalise the

requirements

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 17

Page 18: Mastering Business Analysis

2 DAYS

Intended Audience This course is designed for

business analysts or anyone

interested in improving and

validating the quality of their

requirements.

Prerequisites We recommend that students

first attend our 3 core courses

(or at a minimum Detailing

Process and Business Rule

Requirements) before enrolling

for this course.

Earn 14 IIBA CDUs

A D V A N C E D A N D S P E C I A L I S E D C O U R S E

Requirements Validation

Overview This course takes you through the steps to ensure that business requirements are

validated and 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 project length and cost.

Business analysts must use risk assessments to prioritise requirements and

requirements validation activities. The highest risk areas of the business must be

addressed first. This course teaches business analysts to design efficient

requirements validation tests to make the best use of limited resources and time.

Solution Assessment and Validation is one of the key knowledge areas in the

BABOK. This course addresses many of the important tasks in the knowledge

area and equips business analysts to design efficient and effective tests to

demonstrate that the application solutions meet their user’s needs.

This course answers many of the key questions about requirements validation

including:

• How do we validate requirements?

• Which types of validation and verification processes are appropriate for my

project?

• How does the team ensure that the solution meets the business stakeholder

needs?

• What is software usability? Why is it important?

• How does the team correct problems when they are discovered?

• How do I work with technical members of the solution team? What do they

need from a business analyst to be successful?

Pricing R5,600 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 18 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 19: Mastering Business Analysis

Course Outline

Introduction to Requirements Validation – 1 hr.

• What are requirements?

• Why do we validate requirements?

• How do we validate requirements?

• When should requirements be validated?

• Who validates requirements?

Validating and Testing Requirements – 3 hrs.

• What does it mean to validate requirements?

• Conducting effective requirements reviews:

• Review guidelines

• Sample review invitation and results form.

• Review question checklists

• How do reviews improve future projects?

• Workshop: validate requirements using a

formal review

• Introduction to usability testing

• Effective user acceptance testing (UAT)

• Post implementation user assessment

• How to correct problems that are discovered

during requirements validation?

• Use a consistent defect reporting procedure

• Track defect types to improve requirements

on future projects

• Assess defect type, severity, and status

Usability Testing – 2 hrs.

• Learn the principles of usability

• Learn how usability testing differs from

traditional testing

• Discuss methods of usability testing

• Learn to use requirements to design

usability tests

• Workshop: conduct a usability test

Working with IT Stakeholders – 3 hrs.

• Communicating with IT development

stakeholders.

• Verifying requirements or specification:

• Unit testing

• Integration testing

• Systems testing

• Testing business requirements

• Testing functional requirements

• Testing technical requirements

• Regression testing - re-testing after a

change

• Testing environments

• Common IT testing methods:

• White box and black box testing

• Positive and negative testing

• Choosing data values for testing

• Working with QA stakeholders:

• Software quality assurance (SQA) planning

and structure

• Utilising SQA personnel throughout the SDLC

Documenting Requirements Validation

Deliverables – 3 hrs.

• Designing a requirements validation plan:

• IEEE testing templates

• What is a test design, test case, and test

procedure?

• Identifying tests from requirements

documentation

• Using use case descriptions to develop

testing procedures

• Tracking test cases

• Workshop: validating requirements using test

cases

• Tracing test cases to requirements - cross

checking the solution

• Designing a requirements validation plan

• Planning considerations:

• Who will validate requirements?

• How will this be accomplished?

• Where are the highest risks?

• Where will tests be conducted?

• Who will conduct testing?

• Who will review test results?

• What test data will be used?

Solution Assessment and Validation BABOK

Knowledge Area – 2 hrs.

• Understanding the tasks in the IIBA BABOK -

Solution Assessment and Validation

• Develop alternate solutions

• Ensure the usability of the solution

• Support the QA process

• Support the implementation/deployment of

the solution

• Communicate the solution impacts

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 19

Page 20: Mastering Business Analysis

1/2 DAY

Intended Audience This seminar is a management

overview of business analysis

for managers, supervisors, and

project managers who work

with business analysts.

Prerequisites None.

1 DAY

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,

analyse, and document

requirements.

Prerequisites None.

M A N A G E M E N T / T E C H N I C A L S E M I N A R S

Overview of Business Analysis This seminar presents the business analyst role to managers and others who lead

and work with business analysts. For the business analyst to be successful, both the

IT and business community must embrace the business analysis process. This seminar

can be used as a working session to discuss how an organisation will implement

the business analysis process and approaches for documenting the requirements.

Both large and small organisations are realising the benefits of using business

analysts on all of their application development projects. Improving the

communication between the business areas and the IT team significantly increases

the quality of the systems developed.

A business analyst’s main responsibility is to elicit, analyse, and document

requirements in a format that is useful to their business stakeholders and the

technical developers. Analysis is a very important and time-consuming phase of

every project. Business analysts need strong leadership as they gather and

document requirements that are often unclear, inconsistent, and expensive.

Business analysts work most effectively when they have clear direction and

frequent reviews of progress.

Pricing R2,000 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis 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.

Pricing R2,800 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 20 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 21: Mastering Business Analysis

1 DAY

Intended Audience This is a basic course for

team members who are

involved in writing use cases.

Prerequisites None

P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

WRITING GOOD USE CASES

Course Description

This course is designed to systematically build student skills in writing good use

cases. After taking the course, students will be able to define use-case modeling

concepts, and apply different writing techniques to write a detailed use case

using the recommended Rational Unified Process (RUP) style.

Note: This course does not teach requirements management using the RUP.

To learn how to manage requirements using the RUP and to write use cases,

enrol in Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases.

Skills Taught

Define key use case related terms

Describe the use case writing process

Write a detailed use-case specification

Topics Covered

Introduction to use-case modeling

Use cases and the requirements management process

The use-case writing process

Finding actors and use cases

Creating use-case diagrams

Outlining a use case

Detailing a use case

Use case writing tips

Pricing R2,400 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 21

Page 22: Mastering Business Analysis

3 DAYS

Intended Audience Practitioners who desire an

understanding of business/

systems analysis and concepts

using UML modelling, as

well as hands-on practical

experience applying the

techniques within a use-

case-driven and iterative

development process, and

who are involved in writing

use cases.

Prerequisites Students should be familiar

with:

Analysis Tasks

Note: This course is a combination

of the following Courses:

• Essentials of Visual

Modeling with UML 2.0

• Mastering Object-Oriented

Analysis (excluding Design)

with UML 2.0

• Business Modeling with UML

• Writing Good Use Cases

Course Overviews for each of the

above are available on request.

P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

ANALYSIS USING UML 2.0

Course Description

Business/Systems Analysis using Unified Modeling Language (OOA/UML 2.0)

presents the concepts and techniques necessary to effectively use diagrams and system

requirements captured in use cases to drive the development of a robust analysis model.

In this intensive, hands-on workshop, learn to apply UML throughout the project

life-cycle to capture and communicate analysis decisions. Thus, you learn UML 2.0

notation in the context of an iterative, use case-driven, process.

In addition, the course is designed to systematically build student skills in writing good

use cases. After taking the course, students will be able to define use-case modeling

concepts, and apply different writing techniques to write a detailed use case using the

recommended Rational Unified Process (RUP) style.

Skills Taught

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Apply an iterative, use case-driven, process to the development of a robust

analysis model

Use UML 2.0 to represent the analysis model

Define key use case related terms

Describe the use case writing process

Write a detailed use-case specification

Topics Covered

Modeling the as-is and to-be business process as a pre-cursor to systems analysis

Overview of requirements activities and artifacts

Use case analysis

Basic Principles of object-oriented analyis

Domain modeling and other UML diagrams

Introduction to use-case modeling

Use cases and the requirements management process

The use case writing process

Finding actors and use cases

Creating use case diagrams

Outlining a use case

Detailing a use case

Use case writing tips

Pricing R7,200 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

Page 22 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 23: Mastering Business Analysis

3 DAYS

Intended Audience The course serves two audiences.

The primary audience is people

who will be actively engaged in

the elicitation and definition of

software requirements. This

includes systems analysts,

requirements analysts, and

business analysts. The secondary

audience would be interested in

taking this class because they are

consumers of the software

requirements and need to under-

stand how to read, verify, interpret

and plan with the software

requirements of the system. This

group includes project managers,

software analysts and designers,

QA designers and testers, and

customers and users.

Prerequisites Students should have an

understanding of:

Project management practices

The software development

lifecycle

P R A C T I T I O N E R C O U R S E

MASTERING REQUIREMENTS MANAGEMENT WITH USE CASES

Course Description Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases provides training in requirements

management and use-case modeling techniques. The course focuses on eliciting and

managing the changing requirements of a project; analysing the problem, defining the

product vision and feature requirements, defining software requirements with use cases,

and requirement attributes, and maintaining traceability, change management, and impact

analysis for project scope management. The course shows how use-case modeling and

requirements management techniques are used to define and document requirements

that meet stakeholder needs. In-class exercises will give students practical experience

in developing use cases.

Skills Taught Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Apply requirements management techniques to define a clear statement of

product requirements.

Capture and document requirements with use-case modeling techniques.

Develop requirements in an iterative process.

Describe a documentation hierarchy and standards for defining levels of

requirements for a product.

Use requirement attributes and traceability to help manage scope and change

throughout product lifecycle.

Use requirements to drive ongoing design, test, and user documentation

activities

Topics Covered Best Practices of Software Engineering

Introduction to Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases

Introduction to Use-Case Modeling

Analyse the Problem

o Find the root causes of the problem

o Identify the best solution to solve the business problem

Understand Stakeholder Needs

o Define the System

Define product features

Find Actors and Use Cases

Manage System Scope

o Use requirements attributes to plan and manage scope

o Refine the System Definition

Detail the Use Cases

Define Supplementary Specifications

o Manage Changing Requirements

o Structure the Use-Case Model

include, extend, use-case, and actor generalisation

Requirements across the Product Lifecycle

Pricing R7,200 excluding VAT per Student Assessment: R500 excluding VAT per Student The following discounts apply to the above pricing:

6-10 candidates per scheduled course: 7% discount on total course booking

11+ candidates per scheduled course: 14% discount on total course booking

IndigoCube • 011759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 23

Page 24: Mastering Business Analysis

Prerequisites for CBAP

Individuals must meet

the IIBA’s application

requirements to sit for

the CBAP exam including

work experience, areas

of expertise, education

and professional

development, and

references. See the

requirements listed on

the IIBA website at

www.theiiba.org

for details.

B A B O K / C B A P

BABOK®

The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge®

(BABOK®

) is the collection of knowledge

within the profession of Business Analysis and reflects current generally accepted practices.

As with other professions, the body of knowledge is defined and enhanced by the Business

Analysis professionals who apply it in their daily work role.

The BABOK®

Guide describes Business Analysis areas of knowledge, their associated

activities and the tasks and skills necessary to be effective in their execution. This Guide

is a reference for professional knowledge for Business Analysis and provides the basis

for the Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) Certification.

CBAP® Certification

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) is dedicated to the development

and maintenance of standards for the practice of Business Analysis, and for the certification

and recognition of practitioners. It is the first organisation to offer formal certification for

Business Analysis Professionals.

The IIBA® has created the Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP

®), a

designation awarded to candidates who have successfully demonstrated their expertise

in this field. This is done by detailing hands-on work experience in business analysis

through the CBAP® application process, and passing the IIBA

® CBAP

® examination.

Certified Business Analysis Professionals are experts in identifying the business needs

of an organisation in order to determine the best solutions, a role that is increasingly

seen as a vital component of any successful project. More and more companies are

recognising the CBAP® designation and the value and expertise that these professionals

bring to their organisations.

If you are working in the role of business analysis, systems analysis, requirements

analysis or management, project management, consulting or process improvement,

and have an advanced level of knowledge and experience, you may want to consider

the many professional benefits of earning the CBAP® designation.

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

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 should prepare

A “must have” which sections of the package,

offer a Requirements Package

Template that is available on

the “Downloads” section of

our website.

The templates in this package

reference tool R250 ex VAT*

and when and why the

requirements components

should be prepared. Additionally,

the Roadmap provides examples of

complete requirements templates.

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.

The Requirements Template Roadmap is available for

purchase from IndigoCube. Contact: [email protected]

*Students who attend the Essential Skills for

Business Analysis™ course will receive a free copy.

.

Page 24 IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za

Page 25: Mastering Business Analysis

IndigoCube • 011 759 5950 • www.indigocube.co.za Page 25

Developing the skills of an individual Business Analyst is no simple task. An

ideal Business Analyst has to have the right aptitude (inborn ability) and the

acceptable skill levels for the relevant methodology and techniques used by an

organisation.

Most Business Analysts will have different skills and abilities while the relevant

skills they require might differ from one organisation to the next. Any attempt

to improve skills levels to a common level will require some insight into the

existing abilities, skills levels and imbalances.

In response, IndigoCube has developed one of the most comprehensive

individual assessments to address these challenges.

Our assessment consists of several modules that allow tailoring to the specific skills requirements of the organisation before it

is executed. We use the output from the individual assessment to tailor training and skills development initiatives for the

organisation, as well as for the individual.

What are we testing?

This assessment focuses on two critical components required

of a Business Analyst: aptitude and skill.

The aptitude test determines how closely a person matches

the ideal profile of a Business Analyst. A

person may undergo ongoing training but, if they don’t have

the required aptitude, performance may be

insufficient.

The skills assessment is a practical test that questions the

Business Analyst within all the Knowledge Areas of the

BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) and on

specific methodologies and techniques.

Enterprise Analysis

Requirements Planning and Management

Requirements Elicitation

Requirements Communication

Requirements Analysis and Documentation

Solution Assessment and Validation

Business Analysis Fundamentals

How do we test?

Aptitude test

We make use of the Neethling Brain Instrument (NBITM). By

using the NBITM we are able to map a

person’s profile and then compare that to the ideal. This not

only allows us to determine the suitability of the individual

to do Business Analysis but also to identify areas where

training and skills development need to receive more

attention.

Skills assessment

The skills assessment is done using a structured

questionnaire that contains three sections:

Section 1: A multiple-choice section that tests the

individual’s understanding of the Business

Analyst’s role.

Section 2: A case study that tests the individual’s

analytical skills.

Section 3: Scenario-based questions that test the

individual’s ability to use specific Business

Analysis techniques which are relevant to the

organisation.

What is the output?

After completion of the assessment, a report is

compiled that will indicate the following:

1. The suitability of the individual in the role as a

Business Analyst.

2. Confirmation of the individual’s skills levels.

3. Training recommendations specific to the individual.

Assessing the skills of the Business Analysts

in your organisation

Page 26: Mastering Business Analysis

ID Name Days Prices

ex VAT Project, Process and Portfolio Management

RP401 Essentials of Rational Unified Process V7.0 2 R 4,800.00

RP601 Mastering the Management of Iterative Development 2 R 5,600.00

RP215 Basic Method Authoring with IBM Rational Method Composer V7.5 2 R 6,000.00

Software Architecture Management

RD601 Mastering Object-Oriented Analysis and Design with UML 2.0 4 R 7,900.00

RD565 Essentials of Modeling with Rational Software Architect V7.5 2 R 5,600.00

RD270 UML Model Reporting with Rational Software Architect and BIRT 2 R 6,000.00

RA902 Architecting Services with IBM Rational Software Architect V7 2 R 6,000.00

RD406 Essentials of IBM Rational Asset Management V7.1.1 1 R 3,000.00

Construction and Assembly Management

JA355 Introduction to Java SE 5 Using Eclipse 3.2 5 R 5,500.00

RD810 Mastering Servlet and JSP Development with Rational Application Developer V7.5 5 R 14,500.00

RD815 Mastering Web Application Development with Rational Application Developer V7.5 5 R 14,500.00

RD795 Mastering JSF Development with IBM Rational Application Developer V7 3 R 9,800.00

RD793 Mastering EJB Development with Rational Application Developer V7 5 R 14,500.00

WD505 Web Services Dev’t for WebSphere Application Server V6.1 with IBM RAD V7 5 R 14,500.00

WD501 Using Struts for Web Application Development with WebSphere Studio 3 R9,800.00

RS800 Essentials of IBM Rational Team Concert V2.0 1 R 3,000.00

RD195 Essentials of IBM Rational Software Analyser V7.0 1 R 3,000.00

Business Analysis / Requirements Definition and Management

B2T101 Essential Skills for Business Analysis™ 4 R 9,650.00

B2T102 Detailing Business Data Requirements 3 R 7,200.00

B2T103 Detailing Process and Business Rule Requirements 4 R 9,600.00

B2T201 Facilitating Requirements for Analysis 3 R 8,400.00

B2T202 Requirements Validation 2 R 5,600.00

B2T203 Developing a Business Analysis Work Plan 3 R 8,400.00

B2T301 Overview of Business Analysis ½ R 2,000.00

B2T302 Developers Introduction to Business Analysis 1 R 2,800.00

IC601 Analysis using UML 2.0 3 R 7,200.00

RR621BPMN Business Modeling with the UML and BPMN 1 R 2,800.00

WB284 IBM WebSphere Business Modeler V6.2: Process Mapping and Analysis 3 R 9,000.00

RR611 Mastering Requirements Management with Use Cases 3 R 7,200.00

RR631 Writing Good Use Cases 1 R 2,400.00

RR350 Essentials of IBM Rational Requirements Composer V1.0 1 R 3,000.00

RR331 Essentials of IBM Rational RequisitePro V7.0 1 R 2,400.00

RD561 Essentials of IBM Rational Software Modeler v7.0 1 R 3,000.00

Change, Build and Release Management

RS204 Essentials of IBM Rational ClearQuest V7.1 1 R 3,000.00

RS524 Essentials of IBM Rational ClearCase UCM for Windows V7.1 1 R 3,000.00

RS319 Essentials of IBM Rational ClearCase UCM using CC Remote Client V7.1 1 R 3,000.00

RS404 Essentials of Configuration Management with IBM Rational ClearCase UCM V7.1 2 R 6,000.00

RS602 Mastering IBM Rational ClearCase Administration for Windows V7.0 2 R 6,000.00

RS633 Mastering Rational ClearQuest Administration V7.1 3 R 9,000.00

RS544 Essentials of IBM Rational Build Forge V7.1 2 R 7,000.00

QG126 Efficient Document Production with IBM Rational Publishing Engine V1.1 1 R 3,000.00

Quality Management

RT101 Principles of Software Testing for Testers 2 R 5,600.00

RT270 Essentials of Test Management with IBM Rational Quality Manager V1.0.1 1 R 3,000.00

RT280 Essentials of Manual Testing with IBM Rational Quality Manager V1.1 1 R 3,000.00

RT545 Essentials of IBM Rational Functional Tester, Java Scripting V8.0 2 R 6,000.00

RT546 Essentials of IBM Rational Functional Tester, .NET 2005 Scripting V8.0 2 R 6,000.00

RT522 Essentials of IBM Rational Performance Tester V7.0 2 R 6,000.00

RT550 Essentials of Functional Testing with IBM Rational Tester for SOA Quality V7.0.1 1 R 3,000.00

Web-site Security and Compliance Management

RT355 Essentials of IBM Rational AppScan Enterprise Edition V5.4 2 R 6,000.00

RT350 Essentials of IBM Rational AppScan Standard Edition V7.7 2 R 6,000.00

RT360 Essentials of IBM Rational Policy Tester V5.4 2 R 6,000.00

Nov 2009

IndigoCube (Pty) Ltd Victoria Gate South P O Box 408 Hyde Lane GALLO MANOR Hyde Park, Sandton 2052

email: [email protected] / Tel: 011 759 5950 / Fax: 011 759 5907