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	Advanced Business System Analysis Techniques
	Advanced Business System Analysis Techniques

Course Outline and Objectives
Course Philosophy and Approach

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	3 days

The target audience consists of business analysts, system analysts, business systems analysts and designers who have at least 1-year experience in analyzing, defining, designing, and/or testing information technology solutions for business use.

Business Analysis, Requirements Definition, and Testing Techniques or equivalent

Business Analysis and Requirements Gathering or equivalent

Our instructors have extensive experience in applying these techniques on projects with business experts from a wide variety of fields.

AAI State of the Art Requirements Gathering
AAG Effective Information Gathering
AAQ Finding the Right Questions
AAO Organizing, Structuring and Documenting Requirements
AAM Rules and Requirements Management
AAD Requirements-Driven Design
AAF Where Do You Go from Here?

This interactive workshop focuses on the needs of the experienced business system analyst who already knows how, when, and why to draw data flow diagrams, data models, UML diagrams and so forth. It is designed to bring you up to speed on some of the newest and hottest topics currently being tested in our field that might help you find solutions to problems we have struggled with for years.

Why "Advanced" Business System Analysis?

	quickly determine what is wrong with the way things work today
	easily define what should change to make life easier for our hero, the end user
	improve your ability to understand how business processes, information and technology interact
	maintain your knowledge edge that keeps you ahead of the curve
	empower the information technology organization to fulfill its mission cheaper, better, faster


	What is covered?

	Skills that will move you to the next level in your quest to improve your business analysis deliverables include planning your approach, interviewing subject matter experts, analyzing situations, organizing information, creating appropriate models of the domain, assembling the requirements, communicating the results, and, often, designing a business solution.

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Course Outline and Objectives

State of the Art Requirements Gathering
Module AAI : Duration ~ 2 hours


	Before discussing advanced business analysis techniques, we need to review current business analysis and requirements definition techniques to establish a common ground for all participants. All participants should have some understanding and experience in the use of methodologies, modeling and requirements documentation approaches.

		State of the Art in Business Analysis
		Structured Versus Object Models
		Levels of Abstraction in Requirements

		Reevaluate the Use of Process and Data Models in Modern Systems
		Select the Most Appropriate Modeling Technique For Your Project
		Gain an Overview of the Techniques in Today's Analysts' Bag of Tricks

Effective Information Gathering
Module AAG : Duration ~ 3 hours


	Knowing what to ask is only half the equation. To get the answers, you also have to be good at identifying and asking the right person. From one-on-one to full-blown JAR/JAD sessions, best practices for conducting interviews and documenting the results will prove to be critical to the successful conclusion of your analysis effort.

		5 Critical Phases of an Interview and What To Do in Each
		Personality Profiling Makes Interviews More Effective
		The Silent Interview
		Stakeholder Identification - Roles and Responsibilities

		Schedule, Prepare and Conduct Better Interviews
		Discover How Different Thinking Styles Leads To Different Perspectives
		Use Analysis By Walking Around To Get Answers Without Asking

Finding the Right Questions
Module AAQ : Duration ~ 3 hours


	The single greatest challenge facing today's business analysts at the beginning of a new project is figuring out what to ask. We often fear that we are showing our ignorance when we ask questions. Actually, questions are an indication of interest and demonstrate intelligence and understanding. Any analysis technique that generates questions is manna from heaven for business analysts.

		Cause Effect Chaining To Analyze Problems
		Object Life Histories Uncover Hidden Requirements
		High-Level Versus Detailed Analysis
		Models Help Identify the Important Questions

		Let Business Models Generate the Critical Questions For You
		Develop Drill-Down Questions To Move From the General To the Specific
		Analyze the Information Usage of Your Organization

Organizing, Structuring and Documenting Requirements
Module AAO : Duration ~ 3 hours


	From business to system requirements and on to technical specifications, capturing the information is only the first step. Once captured, you need proven methods for representing the information at the appropriate level of detail. In the end, the knowledge representation will outlive the project. Properly done, it can also serve as a building block for future projects.

		Structured Writing To Document Requirements
		Pseudo-Code Versus Structured English (Uml)
		Mind Mapping and Why Should You Care
		Basic Course of Events Document End-User Interaction Requirements

		Document Requirements As a Natural Byproduct of Doing the Analysis
		Evaluate the Potential of Structured Writing As a Tool
		Clearly Delineate Business From System and Technical Requirements

Rules and Requirements Management
Module AAM : Duration ~ 3 hours


	Managing requirements is a critical component of any successful project, but the best laid plans of mice and business analysts will only succeed if you make your actions match your concepts. Well-managed requirements are the cornerstone of a realistic change management process. Without it, you could be preprogrammed to repeat your mistakes, over and over.

		Requirements Management: a New Doctrine?
		Requirements Change, Then What?
		Risk Analysis Based On Requirement Validation
		Developing Reusable Requirement Packets

		Recognize the Impact of a Proposed Change To a Requirement
		Increase the Reusability of Your Business and System Requirements
		Reduce the Level of Unforeseen Scope Creep On Your Projects

Requirements-Driven Design
Module AAD : Duration ~ 3 hours


	As a business analyst, your primary job is to figure out what's wrong with the current world and then determine what the world should look like. Changing the way the business works is a challenging proposition, but there are concepts that will help you maintain a common thread from the inception of your project to the implementation of the chosen solution.

		The What and How of Business Process Improvement
		Designing Components To Meet Business Needs
		Generating Conversion and Cutover Requirements
		Best Practices, Benchmarking, and Functional Composition

		Assimilate a Random Set of Functions into a Coherent System
		Differentiate Business, Control and Exception-Handling Functions
		Identify Potential Pitfalls with a Proposed Solution Before Developing It

Where Do You Go from Here?
Module AAF : Duration ~ 1 hour


	Once you have had an opportunity to acquire some hands-on experience with proven business analysis techniques, the obvious question arises, "What's next?" In this section, you will work together in groups to identify an action plan that will help you implement some of these new ideas in your organization. Strangely enough, nothing happens until someone does something.

		Which Techniques Will Help You Now?
		Which Will Have the Greatest Long-Term Benefits?
		What Is Holding You Back?
		How Can You Inflict Change in Spite of the Obstacles?

		Create an Action Plan For Changing How You Do What You Do
		Assess Creative Ideas For Getting Things Done in Spite of Opposition
		Develop a Future Vision of Your Business Analysis Efforts

Visit our Business System Analyst Bookstore
for books on the topics covered in this seminar.

	Data Analysis ( Miscellaneous , Data Models , Data Normalization , Data Repository , Entity Relationship Diagrams )
	Methodologies ( Information Engineering , Miscellaneous , Structured System Development , System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) )
	Object Oriented ( Business Objects , Object Oriented Analysis , Object Oriented Design , Object Oriented Modeling , Object Oriented Testing , State Transition Diagrams , Unified Modeling Language (UML) , Use Cases )
	Process Analysis ( Data Flow Diagrams , Decision Tables , Event Response Diagrams , Flowcharts , Miscellaneous , Process Models )
	Related Topics ( Knowledge Management , Philosophies , Request for Proposal (RFP) , Risk Management , Six Sigma , Software Reuse , Strategic Planning )
	Requirements ( Business Rules , Prototyping , Miscellaneous , Requirements Analysis , Requirements Definition , Requirements Documentation , Requirements Elicitation , Requirements Engineering , Requirements Management , Requirements Traceability , System Specifications , User Interfaces )
	Working in Teams ( Conducting Meetings , Facilitation , JAD , Rapid Application Development (RAD) , Miscellaneous )
	Best Practices
	Interviewing Techniques
	Problem Analysis

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