Cover image for Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide

Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide

Author Project Management Institute
Release Date: 2015/01/01
ISBN: 9781628250794
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Book Description

Recent research has shown that organizations continue to experience project issues associated with the poor performance of requirements-related activities—a core task for the practice of business analysis. In fact, poor requirements practices are often cited as a leading cause of project failure in PMI’s Pulse of the Profession™ surveys. Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide provides practical resources to tackle the project-related issues associated with requirements and business analysis—and addresses a critical need in the industry for more guidance in this area. The practice guide begins by describing the work of business analysis. It identifies the tasks that are performed, in addition to the essential knowledge and skills needed to effectively perform business analysis on programs and projects.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Notice
  5. Table of Contents
  6. List of Tables and Figures
  7. Preface
  8. 1. Introduction
    1. 1.1. Purpose of this Practice Guide
    2. 1.2. Need for this Practice Guide
    3. 1.3. PMI's Increased Focus on Business Analysis
    4. 1.4. Intended Audience for the Guide
    5. 1.5. What is Business Analysis?
    6. 1.6. Who Performs Business Analysis?
      1. 1.6.1. Skillset and Expertise Needed for the Business Analysis Role
      2. 1.6.2. How Organizations Implement Business Analysis
      3. 1.6.3. The Relationship between the Project Manager, Business Analyst, and other Roles
      4. 1.6.4. The Need to Build the Relationships
    7. 1.7. Definition of Requirement
      1. 1.7.1. Who has the Responsibility for the Requirements?
      2. 1.7.2. Requirement Types
    8. 1.8. The Structure of the Practice Guide
      1. 1.8.1. Section 2 on Needs Assessment
      2. 1.8.2. Section 3 on Business Analysis Planning
      3. 1.8.3. Section 4 on Requirements Elicitation and Analysis
      4. 1.8.4. Section 5 on Traceability and Monitoring
      5. 1.8.5. Section 6 on Solution Evaluation
  9. 2. Needs Assessment
    1. 2.1. Overview of this Section
    2. 2.2. Why Perform Needs Assessments
    3. 2.3. Identify Problem or Opportunity
      1. 2.3.1. Identify Stakeholders
      2. 2.3.2. Investigate the Problem or Opportunity
      3. 2.3.3. Gather Relevant Data to Evaluate the Situation
      4. 2.3.4. Draft the Situation Statement
      5. 2.3.5. Obtain Stakeholder Approval for the Situation Statement
    4. 2.4. Assess Current State of the Organization
      1. 2.4.1. Assess Organizational Goals and Objectives
        1. 2.4.1.1. Goals and Objectives
        2. 2.4.1.2. SMART Goals and Objectives
      2. 2.4.2. SWOT Analysis
      3. 2.4.3. Relevant Criteria
      4. 2.4.4. Perform Root Cause Analysis on the Situation
        1. 2.4.4.1. Five Whys
        2. 2.4.4.2. Cause-And-Effect Diagrams
      5. 2.4.5. Determine Required Capabilities Needed to Address the Situation
        1. 2.4.5.1. Capability Table
        2. 2.4.5.2. Affinity Diagram
        3. 2.4.5.3. Benchmarking
      6. 2.4.6. Assess Current Capabilities of the Organization
      7. 2.4.7. Identify Gaps in Organizational Capabilities
    5. 2.5. Recommend Action to Address Business Needs
      1. 2.5.1. Include a High-Level Approach for Adding Capabilities
      2. 2.5.2. Provide Alternative Options for Satisfying the Business Need
      3. 2.5.3. Identify Constraints, Assumptions, and Risks for Each Option
        1. 2.5.3.1. Constraints
        2. 2.5.3.2. Assumptions
        3. 2.5.3.3. Risks
      4. 2.5.4. Assess Feasibility and Organizational Impacts of Each Option
        1. 2.5.4.1. Operational Feasibility
        2. 2.5.4.2. Technology/System Feasibility
        3. 2.5.4.3. Cost-Effectiveness Feasibility
        4. 2.5.4.4. Time Feasibility
        5. 2.5.4.5. Assess Factors
      5. 2.5.5. Recommend the Most Viable Option
        1. 2.5.5.1. Weighted Ranking
      6. 2.5.6. Conduct Cost-Benefit Analysis for Recommended Option
        1. 2.5.6.1. Payback Period (PBP)
        2. 2.5.6.2. Return on Investment (ROI)
        3. 2.5.6.3. Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
        4. 2.5.6.4. Net Present Value (NPV)
    6. 2.6. Assemble the Business Case
      1. 2.6.1. Value of the Business Case
  10. 3. Business Analysis Planning
    1. 3.1. Overview of this Section
    2. 3.2. The Importance of Business Analysis Planning
      1. 3.2.1. Rationale
      2. 3.2.2. Business Analysis Planning and Project Management Planning
    3. 3.3. Conduct or Refine the Stakeholder Analysis
      1. 3.3.1. Techniques for Identifying Stakeholders
        1. 3.3.1.1. Brainstorming
        2. 3.3.1.2. Organizational Charts
      2. 3.3.2. Determine Stakeholder Characteristics
        1. 3.3.2.1. Attitude
        2. 3.3.2.2. Complexity
        3. 3.3.2.3. Culture
        4. 3.3.2.4. Experience
        5. 3.3.2.5. Level of Influence
        6. 3.3.2.6. Location and Availability
      3. 3.3.3. Techniques for Grouping or Analyzing Stakeholders
        1. 3.3.3.1. Job Analysis
        2. 3.3.3.2. Persona Analysis
      4. 3.3.4. Assemble the Stakeholder Analysis Results
    4. 3.4. Create the Business Analysis Plan
      1. 3.4.1. Business Analysis Plan vs. Requirements Management Plan
      2. 3.4.2. What to Include in the Business Analysis Plan
        1. 3.4.2.1. Determining the Proper Level of Detail
      3. 3.4.3. Understand the Project Context
      4. 3.4.4. Understand how the Project Life Cycle Influences Planning Decisions
      5. 3.4.5. Ensure the Team is Trained on the Project Life Cycle
      6. 3.4.6. Leverage Past Experiences when Planning
        1. 3.4.6.1. Lessons Learned
        2. 3.4.6.2. Retrospectives
      7. 3.4.7. Plan for Elicitation
        1. 3.4.7.1. Strategies for Sequencing Elicitation Activities
      8. 3.4.8. Plan for Analysis
      9. 3.4.9. Define the Requirements Prioritization Process
      10. 3.4.10. Define the Traceability Approach
      11. 3.4.11. Define the Communication Approach
      12. 3.4.12. Define the Decision-Making Process
      13. 3.4.13. Define the Requirements Verification and Validation Processes
      14. 3.4.14. Define the Requirements Change Process
      15. 3.4.15. Define the Solution Evaluation Process
    5. 3.5. Plan the Business Analysis Work
      1. 3.5.1. Determine who Plans the Business Analysis Effort
      2. 3.5.2. Build the Business Analysis Work Plan
        1. 3.5.2.1. Identify the Deliverables
        2. 3.5.2.2. Determine the Tasks and Activities
        3. 3.5.2.3. Determine the Timing and Sequencing of Tasks
        4. 3.5.2.4. Determine the Roles and Responsibilities
        5. 3.5.2.5. Identifying the Resources
        6. 3.5.2.6. Estimate the Work
      3. 3.5.3. Assemble the Business Analysis Work Plan
      4. 3.5.4. Document the Rationale for the Business Analysis Approach
      5. 3.5.5. Review the Business Analysis Plan with Key Stakeholders
      6. 3.5.6. Obtain Approval of the Business Analysis Plan
  11. 4. Requirements Elicitation and Analysis
    1. 4.1. Purpose of this Section
    2. 4.2. What it Means to Elicit Information
      1. 4.2.1. Elicitation is More than Requirements Collection or Gathering
      2. 4.2.2. Importance of Eliciting Information
    3. 4.3. Plan for Elicitation
      1. 4.3.1. Develop the Elicitation Plan
        1. 4.3.1.1. Finding Information
        2. 4.3.1.2. Techniques for Eliciting Information
        3. 4.3.1.3. Sequencing the Elicitation Activities
    4. 4.4. Prepare for Elicitation
      1. 4.4.1. Determine the Objectives
      2. 4.4.2. Determine the Participants
      3. 4.4.3. Determine the Questions for the Session
    5. 4.5. Conduct Elicitation Activities
      1. 4.5.1. Introduction
      2. 4.5.2. Body
        1. 4.5.2.1. Types of Questions
        2. 4.5.2.2. How to Ask the “Right” Questions
        3. 4.5.2.3. Listening
      3. 4.5.3. Close
      4. 4.5.4. Follow-Up
      5. 4.5.5. Elicitation Techniques
        1. 4.5.5.1. Brainstorming
        2. 4.5.5.2. Document Analysis
        3. 4.5.5.3. Facilitated Workshops
        4. 4.5.5.4. Focus Groups
        5. 4.5.5.5. Interviews
        6. 4.5.5.6. Observation
        7. 4.5.5.7. Prototyping
        8. 4.5.5.8. Questionnaires and Surveys
    6. 4.6. Document Outputs from Elicitation Activities
    7. 4.7. Complete Elicitation
    8. 4.8. Elicitation Issues and Challenges
    9. 4.9. Analyze Requirements
      1. 4.9.1. Plan for Analysis
        1. 4.9.1.1. Analysis Defined
        2. 4.9.1.2. Thinking Ahead about Analysis
        3. 4.9.1.3. What to Analyze
    10. 4.10. Model and Refine Requirements
      1. 4.10.1. Description of Models
      2. 4.10.2. Purpose of Models
      3. 4.10.3. Categories of Models
      4. 4.10.4. Selection of Models
      5. 4.10.5. Use Models to Refine Requirements
      6. 4.10.6. Modeling Languages
      7. 4.10.7. Scope Models
        1. 4.10.7.1. Goal Model and Business Objective Model
        2. 4.10.7.2. Ecosystem Map
        3. 4.10.7.3. Context Diagram
        4. 4.10.7.4. Feature Model
        5. 4.10.7.5. Use Case Diagram
      8. 4.10.8. Process Models
        1. 4.10.8.1. Process Flow
        2. 4.10.8.2. Use Case
        3. 4.10.8.3. User Story
      9. 4.10.9. Rule Models
        1. 4.10.9.1. Business Rules Catalog
        2. 4.10.9.2. Decision Tree and Decision Table
      10. 4.10.10. Data Models
        1. 4.10.10.1. Entity Relationship Diagram
        2. 4.10.10.2. Data Flow Diagrams
        3. 4.10.10.3. Data Dictionary
        4. 4.10.10.4. State Table and State Diagram
      11. 4.10.11. Interface Models
        1. 4.10.11.1. Report Table
        2. 4.10.11.2. System Interface Table
        3. 4.10.11.3. User Interface Flow
        4. 4.10.11.4. Wireframes and Display-Action-Response
    11. 4.11. Document the Solution Requirements
      1. 4.11.1. Why Documentation is Important
      2. 4.11.2. Business Requirements Document
      3. 4.11.3. The Solution Documentation
        1. 4.11.3.1. Requirements
        2. 4.11.3.2. Categorization
      4. 4.11.4. Requirements Specification
        1. 4.11.4.1. Documenting Assumptions
        2. 4.11.4.2. Documenting Constraints
      5. 4.11.5. Guidelines for Writing Requirements
        1. 4.11.5.1. Functional Requirements
      6. 4.11.6. Prioritizing Requirements
        1. 4.11.6.1. Prioritization Schemes
      7. 4.11.7. Technical Requirements Specification
      8. 4.11.8. Documenting with use Cases
      9. 4.11.9. Documenting with user Stories
      10. 4.11.10. Backlog Items
    12. 4.12. Validate Requirements
      1. 4.12.1. The Concept of Continual Confirmation
      2. 4.12.2. Requirements Walkthrough
    13. 4.13. Verify Requirements
      1. 4.13.1. Peer Review
      2. 4.13.2. Inspection
    14. 4.14. Approval Sessions
    15. 4.15. Resolve Requirements-Related Conflicts
      1. 4.15.1. Delphi
      2. 4.15.2. Multivoting
      3. 4.15.3. Weighted Ranking
  12. 5. Traceability and Monitoring
    1. 5.1. Overview of this Section
    2. 5.2. Traceability
      1. 5.2.1. What is Traceability?
      2. 5.2.2. Benefits of Tracing Requirements
      3. 5.2.3. The Traceability Matrix
        1. 5.2.3.1. Requirements Attributes
        2. 5.2.3.2. Traceability Matrix Hierarchy
    3. 5.3. Relationships and Dependencies
      1. 5.3.1. Subsets
      2. 5.3.2. Implementation Dependency
      3. 5.3.3. Benefit or Value Dependency
    4. 5.4. Approving Requirements
      1. 5.4.1. Work Authorization System
      2. 5.4.2. Approval Levels
    5. 5.5. Baselining Approved Requirements
      1. 5.5.1. What is a Requirements Baseline?
      2. 5.5.2. Relationship of Requirements Baseline, Product Scope, and Project Scope
      3. 5.5.3. Maintaining the Product Backlog
    6. 5.6. Monitoring Requirements using a Traceability Matrix
      1. 5.6.1. Benefits of using Traceability to Monitor Requirements
    7. 5.7. The Requirements Life Cycle
    8. 5.8. Managing Changes to Requirements
      1. 5.8.1. Change Management as it Relates to Business Analysis
      2. 5.8.2. Change Control Tools and Techniques
        1. 5.8.2.1. Configuration Management System (CMS)
        2. 5.8.2.2. Version Control System (VCS)
      3. 5.8.3. Impact Analysis
        1. 5.8.3.1. Impact on the Requirements Baseline
        2. 5.8.3.2. Impact on whether a Proposed Change Conflicts with other Requirements
        3. 5.8.3.3. Impact on Business Analysis
        4. 5.8.3.4. Impact on Project Management
        5. 5.8.3.5. Recommending a Course of Action
      4. 5.8.4. Controlling Changes Related to Defects
  13. 6. Solution Evaluation
    1. 6.1. Overview of this Section
    2. 6.2. Purpose of Solution Evaluation
    3. 6.3. Recommended Mindset for Evaluation
      1. 6.3.1. Evaluate Early and Often
      2. 6.3.2. Treat Requirements Analysis, Traceability, Testing, and Evaluation as Complementary Activities
      3. 6.3.3. Evaluate with the Context of usage and Value in Mind
      4. 6.3.4. Confirm Expected Values for Software Solutions
    4. 6.4. Plan for Evaluation of the Solution
    5. 6.5. Determine what to Evaluate
      1. 6.5.1. Consider the Business Goals and Objectives
      2. 6.5.2. Consider Key Performance Indicators
      3. 6.5.3. Consider Additional Evaluation Metrics and Evaluation Acceptance Criteria
        1. 6.5.3.1. Project Metrics as Input to the Evaluation of the Solution
        2. 6.5.3.2. Customer Metrics
        3. 6.5.3.3. Sales and Marketing Metrics
        4. 6.5.3.4. Operational Metrics and Assessments
        5. 6.5.3.5. Functionality
      4. 6.5.4. Confirm that the Organization can Continue with Evaluation
    6. 6.6. When and how to Validate Solution Results
      1. 6.6.1. Surveys and Focus Groups
      2. 6.6.2. Results from Exploratory Testing and user Acceptance Testing
      3. 6.6.3. Results from Day-In-The-Life (DITL) Testing
      4. 6.6.4. Results from Integration Testing
      5. 6.6.5. Expected vs. Actual Results for Functionality
      6. 6.6.6. Expected vs. Actual Results for Nonfunctional Requirements
      7. 6.6.7. Outcome Measurements and Financial Calculation of Benefits
    7. 6.7. Evaluate Acceptance Criteria and Address Defects
      1. 6.7.1. Comparison of Expected vs. Actual Results
      2. 6.7.2. Examine Tolerance Ranges and Exact Numbers
      3. 6.7.3. Log and Address Defects
    8. 6.8. Facilitate the Go/No-Go Decision
    9. 6.9. Obtain Signoff of the Solution
    10. 6.10. Evaluate the Long-Term Performance of the Solution
      1. 6.10.1. Determine Metrics
      2. 6.10.2. Obtain Metrics/Measure Performance
      3. 6.10.3. Analyze Results
      4. 6.10.4. Assess Limitations of the Solution and Organization
      5. 6.10.5. Recommend Approach to Improve Solution Performance
    11. 6.11. Solution Replacement/Phase Out
  14. Appendix X1
  15. Appendix X2
  16. Glossary
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