Introduction to Business Analysis:
Defining Successful Projects

What is this course about?

In this course, the emerging role of the "business analyst" is defined as an intermediary managing the interests and needs of both the business/project management and IT communities. You learn a logical framework for conducting key business analysis activities throughout the various phases of the business analysis life cycle. This course provides not only best practices and theory but practical tools and techniques that can be applied immediately within your organization.

What background do I need?

This is an introductory course to business analysis and requires no specific prerequisite technical or business knowledge. However, a familiarity with project management and basic business administration is helpful.

Who will benefit from this course?

This course is valuable for anyone who needs to apply the knowledge and skills of the business analyst role within their organization. New or experienced business analysts, as well as others who regularly team with business analysts including functional managers, project managers, developers and testers, may benefit greatly.

What is business analysis?

By definition, business analysis is a set of tasks, knowledge and techniques required to identify business needs and determine solutions to business problems. In today's organizations, business analysts are often referred to as business analyst, business systems analyst, systems analyst and other titles. No matter the title, the primary role of the business analyst remains the same -- to examine the business needs and recommend an appropriate solution approach to meet those needs.

Although, technically, business analysis is distinct from financial analysis, project management, quality assurance, organizational development, testing, training and documentation development, it is entirely possible that within streamlined organizations the business analyst may perform some of these related functions as well. In any case, the business analyst often works closely with these other functional areas.

Does this course cover business case development?

In this course, you apply a business case template, which provides a broad overview, along with practical experience, in preparing key components of a business case and quantifying potential project benefits and costs.

For exclusive coverage on developing a business case, you may want to consider Course 212, Building an Effective Business Case. Course 212 supplements the knowledge gained in Course 211 and enables you to apply the business analysis skills from Course 211 toward the construction of a business case.

What other templates and practical skills are offered in this course?

This course is designed to offer a broad cross-section of the business analysis discipline. The specific templates, tools and techniques offered in this course are immediately applicable to various aspects of business analysis.

These practical skills and templates include:

• Recommended business analysis framework
• Affinity diagramming technique for gathering and prioritizing business needs
• Stakeholder identification and analysis
• Workflow diagramming
• Writing SMART business objectives
• Business case template

What industry standards are used in this course?

Business analysis is a growing and evolving discipline and is still in the process, through the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA^®), of defining and shaping an industry-wide standard of practices – referred to as the BABOK^®.

Business analysts often rely on both experience and other standards. In this course, leading industry-standards including IEEE, PMBOK, IIBA^® and PRINCE2? are referenced when appropriate to support the course topics.

How much time is spent on each topic?

I am interested in learning modeling techniques. Will this course help?

This course presents an introduction to the foundation concepts of static and dynamic business modeling. For a more in-depth examination of modeling concepts and techniques, consider taking Course 1801, Modern Object-Oriented Software Design: Hands-On, as a follow-on to Course 211.

Will I learn to write detailed requirements?

The writing of a detailed requirements package is an in-depth process that this course does not cover in detail. Relative to detailed requirements development, this course focuses primarily on planning the detailed requirements development process and communicating the requirements package. The five-step methodology for conducting detailed requirements development is reviewed at a high level.

Those interested in learning to actually write well-formed user requirements should take Course 315, Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success. Those who wish to develop user and system requirements specifically in a software development environment should consider Course 218, User and System Requirements for Successful Software Development.

What kind of workshops does this course offer?

Approximately 60 percent of this course is spent on interactive workshops designed to reinforce the business analysis concepts taught and provide you with practical experiences that can be applied as soon as you return to work. These workshops include:

• Analyzing and prioritizing competing business needs using affinity diagramming
• Creating graphical business models
• Writing SMART business objectives
• Developing requirements plan components
• Communicating the detailed requirements package to stakeholders

Is this course applicable toward a Project Management Institute (PMI) certification?

Yes. Though this course is not designed as preparation for an exam, it is beneficial to anyone working toward, or maintaining, a PMI certification. Most PMI certifications require a specific number of PDUs in order to obtain and maintain the credential. Completion of this course provides 17 professional development units (PDUs).

Learning Tree offers several courses that help you prepare for PMI certifications, including Course 276, Preparing for the Project Management Professional (PMP)^® Exam, which prepares you for PMI's most popular certification. For more details on these courses and PMI certifications, please see the Learning Tree PMI Registered Education Provider Q&A.

Is this course endorsed by the IIBA^®?

Yes. Learning Tree is an Endorsed Education Provider (EEP^TM) by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA^®). This course has been approved by the IIBA^® as supporting core concepts and knowledge outlined by IIBA^®'s Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^® (BABOK^®). Completion of this course counts as 17 continuing development units (CDUs) that will assist you in qualifying for or maintaining the Certified Business Analysis Professional^TM (CBAP^®) certification. For more information about CDUs and how to register them with the IIBA^®, please see the Learning Tree IIBA^® EEP^TM Q&A or http://www.theiiba.org.

The IIBA^®, an independent, nonprofit professional association for business analysts, created the BABOK^®, which is a collection of knowledge for professional business analysts. The BABOK^® reflects generally accepted practices and describes business analysis areas of knowledge, their associated activities and tasks, and the skills necessary to be effective in their execution.

How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses?

The following courses can help you expand you skills as a business analyst:

• 901, Introduction to Business Intelligence: Designing a Successful BI Program 
• 447, Introduction to Modeling for Business Analysis 
• 3505, Implementing Business Process Improvement (BPI) in Your Organization 
• 913, Preparing for the IIBA® CBAP® Certification Exam 
• 3503, Preparing for the IIBA® CCBATM Certification Exam 
• 912, Creating a High-Impact Work Plan for Business Analysts 
• 212, Building an Effective Business Case 
• 315, Developing User Requirements: The Key to Project Success 
• 381, Business Process Reengineering for Competitive Advantage 
• 219, Business and Report Writing: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction 

These courses are also very beneficial:

• Course 218, User and System Requirements for Successful Software Development
• Course 292, Communication Skills: Results through Collaboration
• Course 294, Influence Skills: Getting Results without Direct Authority
• Course 284, Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving