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Mastering ECBA® 

V3
ECBA®  V3

All rights reserved.

IIBA®, BABOK®, CBAP® are registered Trademarks of International

Institute of Business Analysis, Canada.

All trademarks of copyrights mentioned herein are the possession

of their respective owners. We make no claim of ownership by the


t he

mention of products that contain these marks.

Contents of this document should not be disclosed to any

unauthorized person. This document may not, in whole or in part,

be reduced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, translated,


translated,

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical.

TM
This publication may be used in assisting aspirants for ECBA

examination.
examination. It does not warrant that use of this publication will
TM
ensure passing the ECBA  examination.

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As the book title suggests, this book is a guidebook for the


TM
aspirants of the ECBA examination from IIBA®, Canada. We value

your time and hence the book is designed


d esigned to be extremely specific

– Help you pass the certification examination with least possible

effort.

This book is authored by qualified CBAP® trainers who have helped


TM
many other participants clear the ECBA  examination in the very

first attempt. They are also regular trainers for CBAP®, CCBA®  and
TM
ECBA  preparation in both corporate and open-hose workshops and

have trained participants across the world – USA, Australia,

Middle East, South East Asia, Europe and Africa.

TM
Now ECBA examination is based on BABOK® v3.0 and so is this book.

This book presents BABOK® concepts in a tabular format which is

easy to understand. This book will soon be followed by an audio

book and elearning to further assist participants.

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We will be glad and thankful if you


y ou can share your feedbacks and

suggestions on the book. Please send your feedbacks and

suggestions to Info@AdaptiveUS.com
Info@AdaptiveUS.com.
.

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Copyright notice ....................................


.................. .............................
........... 1

Introduction .........................
..... .......................................
..........................
....... 2

Feedbacks and suggestions


su ggestions on the book ....................
..........................
...... 2

Unique benefits
be nefits of working
worki ng with us ...................
.............................
.......... 7

Our key clients ..................................


................ ................................
.............. 7

Adaptive workshops catalogue


catalogu e ...................
...................................
................ 8

1. Preface and Introduction


Introduct ion ....................
...................................
............... 10

1.1 What is business


busi ness analysis?
ana lysis? ................................ 10

1.2 What is IIBA®?  ..................................


 ................ ............................
.......... 13
TM
1.3 What and Why of ECBA  .................................
 ............... ......................
.... 15

1.4 Underlying
Under lying competencies
c ompetencies ...................................
....................... ............ 24

2. BA key concepts ...................


......................................
.........................
...... 25

2.1 Key terms ....................................


.................. ...............................
............. 25

2.2 Requirement
Requi rement Classification
Classificat ion ....................
................................
............ 26

2.3 Stakeholders
Stake holders ....................................
.................. ............................
.......... 27

3. BA planning and monitoring .....................


.................................
............ 29

3.1 Plan BA approach


appr oach ..........................................
.............................. ............ 32

3.2 Plan stakeholder engagement ...............................


............................. .. 39

3.3 Plan BA governance


gove rnance ........................................
............................ ............ 45

3.4 Plan BA information


info rmation management ............................ 49

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3.5 Identify BA performance


performance improvements ..........
..................
............
.... 56

4. Elicitation and collaboration


collaborati on ..............................
.................. ............ 60

4.1 Prepare
Prepa re for elicitation ...................................
....................... ............ 63

4.2 Conduct
Condu ct elicitation
eli citation .......................................
........................... ............ 67

4.3 Confirm
Confi rm elicitation
elic itation result ................................ 70

4.4 Communicate
Commu nicate BA information
infor mation ................................ 72

4.5 Manage
Manag e stakeholder
stake holder collaborati
c ollaboration
on .....................
..........................
..... 76

5. Requirements
Requirements life cycle management
management .................
.........................
........ 79

5.1 Trace Requirements


Requirement s .....................................
.................. ......................
... 84

5.2 Maintain
Maint ain Requirements
Req uirements .....................................
......................... ............ 87

5.3 Prioritize
Prior itize Requirements
R equirements ...................................
....................... ............ 89

5.4 Assess
Asses s Requirements
Requi rements Changes ............................... 93

5.5 Approve
Appro ve Requirements
Requ irements ......................................
.......................... ............ 96

6. Strategy analysis ....................


.......................................
......................
... 98

6.1 Analyze
Analy ze current
curr ent state
stat e ...................
....................................
................. 103

6.2 Define
Defin e future
futur e state ......................................
..................... ................. 108

6.3 Assess
Asses s risks .................................
............... ..............................
............ 113

6.4 Define
Defin e change
chang e strategy
strate gy ................................... 117

7. Requirements analysis and design definition ............... 121

7.1 Specify and model requirements ...........


....................
................
....... 124

7.2 Verify
Verif y requirements
requi rements ......................................
........................... ........... 128

7.3 Validate
Valid ate requirements
req uirements ....................................
......................... ........... 130
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7.4 Define
Defin e Requirements
Requi rements architecture
architectu re .....................
.........................
.... 133

7.5 Define
Defin e Design
Desig n options
option s ...................
....................................
................. 136

7.6 Analyze Potential value and Recommend Solution ...........


........... 139

8. Solution evaluation .....................................


.................. .....................
.. 142

8.1 Measure
Measu re Solution
Sol ution Performance
Per formance ............................. 144

8.2 Analyze
Analy ze Performance
Perf ormance Measures ............................. 147

8.3 Assess
Asses s Solution
Solut ion limitations
limi tations .............................. 149

8.4 Assess
Asses s enterprise
enter prise limitations
li mitations ............................ 152

8.5 Recommend actions to increase solution value


v alue .............
............. 156

9. Underlying Competencies
Competenci es .....................
...................................
.............. 159

9.1 Analytical
Analy tical Thinking
T hinking and Problem
P roblem Solving .................. 159

9.2 Behavioral
Behav ioral Characterist
C haracteristics
ics ....................
...............................
........... 161

9.3 Business
Busin ess Knowledge
Kno wledge .......................................
............................ ........... 163

9.4 Communication
Commu nication Skills .....................................
.......................... ........... 164

9.5 Interaction
Inter action Skills .......................................
............................ ........... 166

9.6 Tools and Technology


Te chnology .....................................
.......................... ........... 167

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 Consulting,
Consulting, training,
Adaptive US Inc. is a leading
staffing and products for
global player helping its clients
BA and requirements
improve their BA and requirements
requirements
engineering.
engineering
engineering capabilities and
 200+ person-years
practices.
consulting
consulting experience.

 200+ Clients across the

globe.

 10+ Fortune 500 clients.

 200+ workshops in India,

US, Thailand, Philippines,

Malaysia.

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Govern

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Business analysis Certified Business analyst Professional

(CBAP® ) (Endorsed by IIBA® , Canada)

Business analysis Certification


Certification of Capability in BA

(CCBA) (Endorsed by IIBA®,


IIBA® , Canada)

Business analysis Entry Certificate in BA (ECBA)

(Endorsed by IIBA®,
IIBA® , Canada)

Please note that we modify course catalog based on changing

business needs. For the latest information, always refer to our

web-site, www.AdaptiveUS.com.
www.AdaptiveUS.com.

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BABOK® definition: BA is the practice of

enabling change in an enterprise by defining

 and
 and recommending solutions 
needs   that
 that deliver

value to stakeholders.
stakeholders.

BA enables an enterprise to articulate its

needs, rationale for change and to design and

describe solutions that can deliver value.

BA can be performed within a project or across

the enterprise. It can be used to understand


u nderstand

the current state, Define future state and

determine activities required for transition.

BA can be performed from various perspectives

like agile, business intelligence, information

technology, business architecture, business

process management etc.

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A person who performs BA tasks mentioned in

BABOK® is considered a Business analyst

irrespective
irrespective of his job title or organization

role.

Business analysts elicit actual needs of

stakeholders,
stakeholders, not simply capture expressed

desires. They are also responsible for

discovering and analysing information from

various sources.

Common job titles for BAs are business

architect, system analyst, requirements

engineer, process analyst, management

consultant, product manager etc.

Business analysts help organizations define

the optimal solutions for their needs, given

the set of constraints (including


(including time,

budget, regulations and others).

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Key activities BAs perform are:

Understand problems and goals of the


enterprise

Analyze needs and solutions

Devise strat
strategies
egies

Drive change

Facilitate stakeholder collaboration

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International
International Institute of BA (IIBA® ) was

founded in Toronto, Canada in October of 2003

to support the BA community by:

 Creating and developing awareness and

recognition
recognition of the value and contribution

of the business analyst.

 Defining the BA body of knowledge

(BABOK®).

 Providing
Providing a forum for knowledge sharing

and contribution to the BA profession.

 Publicly recognizing and certifying

qualified
qualified practitioners
practitioners through an

internationally
internationally acknowledged certification

program.

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BABOK® contains a description of generally

accepted practices in the field of business

analysis. It gives a guidance on the skills

and knowledge that a business analyst must

possess. Contents of BABOK® have been verified

thoroughly by practitioners.

BABOK®
BABOK® does not mandate that practices

described should be followed under all

circumstances.

Any set of practices MUST be tailored to the

specific BA conditions.

The goal of revising BABOK® v2.0 and coming up

with the new version v3.0 are as follows:

 Incorporate
Incorporate new concepts and practices

 Address the evolving scope of the

profession

 Incorporate lessons learnt form

practitioners

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 Enhance readability
readability and usability of the

guide and consistency and quality of

texts and illustrations

 Improve consistency with other generally

accepted BA standards

TM
ECBA stands for Entry Certificate in Business

Analysis, 1st level certification provided by

International
International Institute of Business Analysis

(IIBA®), Canada (www.IIBA®


( www.IIBA® .org).
.org ).

Following are some of the benefits of becoming


TM
a ECBA :

 Be recognized for your competency in

business analysis.

 Business analysis is the fastest growing

career opportunity for IT professionals.

 People with domain experience can move into

IT sector by becoming a business analyst.

 Better job prospects.

 Better salary.

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Target Audience for

ECBA examination targets the following


audience:
 Individuals
Individuals entering the BA profession:
 Students enrolled in BA academic programs
 New graduates
 Professionals
Professionals transitioni
t ransitioning
ng careers
 Functional
Functional managers who are not BAs
B As but
manage them

Eligibility for

 High school (i.e., 12 years of education is

required.
required. In India, this will be higher

secondary
secondary school) and above.

 Prior business analysis-related


analysis-related work is not

required.

 Professional
Professional development: 21 hours of

verifiable
verifiable BABOK® coursework in the last 4

years. Adaptive US Inc. is an authorized

EEP of IIBA®, its trainings provide desired

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PDUs for the ECBA® certification

examination.

 References:
References: Not required.

 Prior knowledge area expertise is not

required.

 Signed code of conduct is required.

 This will be a knowledge based examination.


 Basic multiple choice questions
 50 questions
 Testing knowledge
 1.5 hours

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Business Analysis & the BA


Professional 2.5%

Underlying
Underlying Competencies 5%

Business Analysis Key 5%


Concepts
Techniques 12.5%

Business Analysis Planning


5%
and Monitoring

Elicitation
Elicitation and 20%

Collaboration

Requirements
Requirements Life Cycle 20%

Management

Strategy Analysis 5%

Requirements
Requirements Analysis and 24%

Design Definition

Solution Evaluation 1%

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 Application
Application expires within 1 year from
approval
 3 exams can be taken within a year without
requiring
requiring any waiting time in between

 Become an IIBA® member at www.IIBA® .org.


.org .

 Benefits include free, unlimited access to

the BABOK® and 500+ online books, local,

national and international networking

opportunities
opportunities and ability to influence the

growth and direction of the BA profession.

 Take required training from an IIBA® EEP,

such as Adaptive US Inc.

(www.AdaptiveUS.com).

 Download BABOK® and start reading.

 Join a study group, or start one.

 Begin preparing for the application.

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 Begin the application at least 2 weeks

before you plan to apply.

 It can take anywhere from 6-10 hours to

complete.

 Download and use Adaptive BA experience

calculator.

 Apply within 6 months of when you plan to

write.

 You can download the CBAP® handbook for a

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detailed application
application process at IIBA® web -

site.

 Please keep it in your mind that CBAP® is a

test on your knowledge of BABOK®, not your

knowledge
knowledge on BA practice as you may be

following
following in your workplace.

 Answers need to be as per BABOK®,


BABOK ®, not
what you may think appropriate.

 Questions
Questions are pretty much straight forward.

 No long descriptive questions. However,

there are questions with diagrams.

 No long answers. All questions had single

statement
statement answers.

 Avoid answers which are prescriptive.

BABOK® does not provide any specific level

of rigor to be adopted in any activity.

 Be careful with answers which say something

should be 100% or 0%  - It’s very hard

to find such digital options in life.

 Avoid terms which are not mentioned in

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BABOK®.
BABOK®. Such a term can be technically

correct, for example a specific company may

have a Wok Breakdown System – however

BABOK® does not have any such term. BABOK®

term is Work breakdown structure.

 Multiple options can be technically

correct; choose the BEST option.

 Do not trust long lists.

Knowledge areas represent areas of specific BA

expertise.

There are 6 knowledge area in BABoK:

1. BA planning and monitoring

2. elicitation and collaboration


collaboration

3. Requirements life cycle management

4. Strategy analysis

5.Requirements
5.Requirements analysis and design definition

6. Solution evaluation

BA planning and Tasks BAs perform to organize and coordinate

monitoring efforts of BAs and stakeholders

Elicitation
Elicitation and
and Tasks BAs carry
carry out to Prepare
Prepare f
for
or elicitation,
elicitation,

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collaboration
collaboration Conduct elicitation activities, confirm results,

communicate
communicate and collaborate with stakeholders

Requirements Tasks BAs perform to manage and maintain

life cycle requirements


requirements and design information from start

management till end

Strategy Tasks BAs perform to identify a need of

analysis strategic
strategic or tactical importance, how to

collaborate
collaborate and enable stakeholders to address

that need etc.

Requirements Tasks BAs carry out to organize elicited

analysis and requirements,


requirements, model them, validate
v alidate and verify

design them and identify and estimate Potential value

definition of solution options

Solution Tasks BAs perform to assess the performance and

evaluation value delivered by a solution

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Diagram below depicts the relationships between different

knowledge areas:

A task is an essential piece of work


w ork to be

performed as part of business analysis. Each

task should be performed

during most BA initiatives. There is no upper

limit to the number of times any task may be

performed. Tasks may be performed at any scale

– from few minutes to few months.

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In this book, tasks are structured in the

following manner:

 Short description as to why a BA performs a task and the

value derived from it

This section lists This section lists This section lists

the inputs for a stakeholders


stakeholders who are the results produced

task which will likely to participate by performing a task

lead to outputs in a task

This section lists resources which are

required to transform input into output.

 This section lists the techniques that can be used to

perform the BA task

Underlying competencies
competencies are skills, knowledge

and personal characteristics that support

effective performance
performance of business analysis.

This is discussed in detail in Chapter 8.

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Business The practice of bringing about change within an

analysis enterprise
enterprise by identifying
i dentifying needs and coming up

with solutions that deliver value to stakeholders


stakeholders

BA Broad and diverse set of information at any level

information of detail which are analysed,


a nalysed, transformed and

reported by BAs. Eg: elicitation results,

requirements,
requirements, solution options etc.
et c.

Design A usable representation


representati on of a solution which

focuses on understanding the value which might be

realized by a solution

Enterprise
Enterprise A system of one or more organizations and the

solutions
solutions they use to pursue a shared set of

common goals

Organization
Organization An autonomous group of people
people which work
work towards

achieving
achieving common goals and objectives. It is

typically
typically under the management of a single

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individual
individual or board
b oard

Plan Proposal for doing or achieving something

Requirement
Requirement Usable representation
representation of a need. Generally

represented by means of documents

Risk Effect of uncertainty on the value of a change,

solution or enterprise. BAs identify, prioritize

and mitigate risks by collaborating with

stakeholders.

Business Goals, objectives and outcomes which indicate the


requirements reason for initiating a change
Stakeholder Stakeholder
Stakeholder needs which must be met to achieve
requirements business requirements
Solution Capabilities
Capabilities and qualities of a solution that meets
requirements stakeholder
stakeholder requirements. Broadly
B roadly classified into:
1. Functional requirements
2. Non-functional
Non-functional requirements or quality of
service requirements

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Transition Capabilities
Capabilities that the solution must possess inorder
requirements to facilitate transition from current state to
future state

Stakeholders
Stakeholders are individuals or groups with

which BAs interact directly or indirectly.

They can be a source of requirements,

assumptions
assumptions or constraints.
constraints. Stakeholders

listed in BABOK® V3.0 are mentioned below:

Business Inherently
Inherently a stakeholder in all BA activities

analyst

Customer Has contractual rights. May use products or

services produced by enterprise

Domain subject People with in-depth knowledge of a topic

matter expert relevant to business need or Solution scope.

(SME) Examples:
Examples: Managers, process owners,

consultants
consultants etc.

End user Those who directly use the product or solution

Implementation Has specialized knowledge pertaining to

SME implementation of solution components.

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Examples:
Examples: change manager, solution architect,
architect,

information
information architect etc.

Operational Responsible
Responsible for managing and maintaining the

support system or product on a daily basis

Project manager Ensures project objectives are met considering


considering

several project factors. They manage the work

required to deliver a project

Regulator
Regulator Responsible
Responsible for defining and enforcing

standards

Sponsor Authorizes
Authorizes work to be done and controls the

budget and scope of the initiative

Supplier Provides products or services to the

organization
organization and may have contractual

obligations.
obligations. They are outside the boundary of

the organization

Tester Carries out verification process and

determines
determines whether the solution meets

requirements
requirements and quality standards.

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This knowledge area describes following tasks:

Plan stakeholder Plan BA


Plan BA approach
engagement Governance

Identify BA Plan BA
 performance information
improvements management

1. Performance 1. Plan BA approach 1. BA approach

objectives 2. Plan stakeholder 2. Stakeholder

(external) engagement engagement

2. Needs 3. Plan BA governance approach

4. Plan BA information
i nformation 3. Governance

management approach

5. Identify BA 4. Information

performance management

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improvements approach

5. BA performance

assessment

BA performance Provides results of previous assessments

assessment that can be used for further planning.

Business policies Defines limits within which decisions must

be made.

Change strategy Plan to transition from the current state

to the future state and achieve the

desired business outcomes. Business

analysts must assess the change strategy

to understand risks associated with the

change.

Current state Provides context within which the work


w ork

description needs to be completed. Can also be used to

determine
determine risks associated with the

current state.

Expert judgment Expertise


Expertise available from different sources

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such as stakeholders, Organizational

centers of excellence, consultants,

associations
associations and industry groups.

Information Tools to store, retrieve and share BA

management tools information.


information. Can be as simple as a

whiteboard,
whiteboard, or as complex as a global wiki

or requirements management

tool.

Legal / Regulatory
R egulatory Legislative rules or regulations that must

information be followed.

Methodologies
Methodologies and Predetermined set of models and

frameworks relationships
relationships between the models, to be

used to represent different viewpoints.

Organizational BA performance metrics or expectations

performance mandated by the organization.

standards

Stakeholder Collaboration
Collaboration and
a nd communication approach
a pproach

engagement approach to engage with stakeholders.

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 To define an appropriate method to conduct BA

activities
activities (Tasks, Schedule, Responsibilities and Techniques).

Needs Sponsor, Domain SME, BA approach (Strangely

Regulator, PM this is NOT used for KA

5 and 7)

BA performance assessment, Business

policies , Expert judgment, Methodologies and frameworks,

Stakeholder
Stakeholder engagement approach.

Brainstorming, Business cases, Document analysis,

Estimation,
Estimation, Financial analysis, Functional decompositi
d ecomposition,
on,

Interviews,
Interviews, Item tracking, Lessons learned, Process modelling,

Reviews, Risk analysis and management, Scope modelling, Survey

or questionnaire, Workshops.

Set of techniques identified initially can


change over time.

BA approach may be defined by organizational


standards
standards or by a methodology. Organizations
Organizations

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usually have formal or informal standards


regarding
regarding how to conduct BA and how it fits
into project and other activities.

Review existing organizational process assets


and tailoring aspects relating to the
initiative.
initiative. These may suggest or mandate the
BA approach. If no standards exist, work with
appropriate
appropriate stakeholders to determine the BA
approach. Work with the Project manager
m anager and
project team, to ensure that the BA approach
is suitable.

If a change is implemented through a project


approach,
approach, BA approach is defined during
project planning phase.

1. Align with the goals of the change,

2. Coordinate the BA tasks with the


activities and deliverables of the overall
change,

3. Have risk mitigation tasks for risks which


affect task efficiency,

4. Make use of proven tools and techniques,

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5. Meet organizational process needs and


objectives for the initiative.

One may tailor standard BA approaches for


the initiative as per organizational process
tailoring
tailoring guidelines.
guidelines.

BA approach is often based on or related to


the project approach, but can also be
independent.
independent. For example, one can use
u se a
plan-driven approach
approach to define its business
processes
processes and then use a change-driven
approach to build the supporting software
applications.

Factors determining selection of BA approach

are

1. Prior experience,

2. Organization
Organization standards,

3. Tolerance
Tolerance for uncertainly,

4. Complexity
Complexity and risk of change,

5. Regulation
Regulation pertaining to the industry,

6. Geographic distribution of stakeholders,

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7. Staff experience level and turnover,

8. Contractual
Contractual needs,

9. Intent to re-use BA information etc.

Plans should be revised based on changing business conditions.

Focus Minimize upfront Rapid delivery in short


risk,maximize
risk,maximize control iterations
Planning Heavily loaded in Distributed over
planning phase iterations
Authority to Sponsor Designated person
approve
Applicable Complex, high cost of Low cost of failure,
situation failure, well defined requirements
requirements amorphous
requirements
requirements ahead of
implementation is
possible,
possible, challenging
stakeholder
interactions
Model Water-fall Agile / Iterative
Level of High Low
detail
Change Formal process through Through prioritized
management standardized
standardized template product backlog, time box
Accept change only when driven

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justified

Communication Formal Informal Verbal Model


DocumentedPeriodic based Frequent
Documentation Formal Through interactions and
Prior to implementation flexible
Formal documentation post
implementation for
maintenance
Emphasis on Low High
requirements
priotization
Task planning Identified
Identified first, then Deliverables
Deliverables first, then
divided into tasks related tasks are
identified
Timing Performed
Performed in specific Performed iteratively
phases
Solution Prior to In iterations
definition implementations
Activities Needed for deliverables Deliverables divided
broken to tasks among iterations and
tasks identified for
iterations

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BA approach drives BA activities.


activities. Decompose BA

activities
activities into tasks for each deliverable,

their iterations.

BA approach, resource availability,

priority/urgency
priority/urgency of initiative, legal

constraints
constraints affect timing of
o f BA activities.

Factors affecting the complexity are

1. Size of the change,

2. Number of stakeholders,

3. Culture and geography,

4. Number of affected business areas/systems,


areas/systems,

5. Technological
Technological competencies,
competencies,

6. Risks etc.

Factors impacting the risks of BA effort

include:

1. BA experience level and domain knowledge,


kn owledge,

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2. Stakeholders
Stakeholders experience level in

communicating
communicating requirements,
requirements,

3. Stakeholders
Stakeholders attitude of towards change and

business analysis,

4. Time allocated to BA activities,

5. Chosen BA framework, methodology, tools and

techniques,

6. Cultural norms and practices etc.

identifies
identifies BA approach and

activities,
activities, specifies team roles,

deliverables,
deliverables, analysis techniques, timing and

sequencing
sequencing of work, deliverables produced,

frequency
frequency of stakeholder interactions and

other elements of BA process.

A methodology is a formalized and repeatable


approach.

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