Introduction

Business Analysis Key Concepts

Key Concepts
Knowledge Areas
Purpose
Description
Inputs
Elements
Guidelines/Tools
Techniques
Stakeholders
Outputs

Tasks

Underlying Competencies
Techniques
Perspectives

The Business Analysis Core Concept Model

Key Terms

Requirements Classification Schema

Change
Need
Solution
Stakeholder
Value
Context
Business Analysis
Business Analysis Information
Design
Enterprise
Organization
Plan
Requirement
Risk
Business requirements:
Stakeholder requirements:
Solution requirements
Transition requirements

Stakeholders
Requirements and Designs

functional requirements:
non-functional requirements

S.No

Tasks

Purpose

how to select an approach to

performing business analysis,
which stakeholders need to be
involved in the decision,
who will be consulted regarding and
informed of the approach, and
the rationale for using it

Plan Business Analysis

Approach

identification of stakeholders who

may be affected by a proposed
initiative or who share a common
business need,
Conduct Stakeholder Analysis identifying appropriate stakeholders
for the project or project phase,
determining stakeholder influence
and/or authority regarding the
approval of project deliverables.

Plan BA Activities

Determine the activities that must

be performed
Deliverables that must be produced,
Estimate the effort required to
perform that work,
Identify the management tools
required to measure the progress of
those activities and deliverables

Plan BA Communication

describes the proposed structure

schedule for communications
regarding business analysis activities.
Record and organize the activities to
provide a basis for setting
expectations for business analysis
work, meetings, walkthroughs, and
other communications.

Plan Requirement
Management Process

Approve requirements for

implementation and manage changes
to the solution or requirements scope

Plan Requirement
Management Process

Approve requirements for

implementation and manage changes
to the solution or requirements scope

Manage BA Performance

manage the performance of business

analysis activities to ensure that they
are executed as effectively as
possible

Description

Input

Elements
Plan-driven approaches
Change-driven approaches

Waterfall approach , agile

techniques
Understand needs and
objectives of Organization

Timing of Business Analysis Work

Formality And Level Of Detail Of
Business Analysis Deliverables
Business Need
Requirements Prioritization
Expert Judgment
Change Management
Organizational Process Assets
Business Analysis Planning
Process
Communication With Stakeholders
Requirements Analysis and
Management Tools
Project Complexity

Identification
Complexity of Stakeholder Group
- Number and variety of direct end
users
- Number of interfacing business
processes and automated systems
Attitude and Influence
Attitude towards The business goals,
objectives, and solution approach
Stakeholders may be grouped
Attitude towards business analysis:
Business Need
into categories that reflect their
Attitude towards collaboration:
Enterprise Architecture
involvement or interest in the
Attitude towards the sponsor:
Organizational Process Assets
initiative
Attitude towards team members
Influence on the project.
Influence in the organization.
Influence needed for the good of the
project.
Influence with other stakeholders.
Authority Levels For Business
Analysis Work

Geographic Distribution of
Stakeholders
Collocated
Dispersed
Type of Project or Initiative
Feasibility studies
Process improvement
Identify business analysis
New software development (indeliverables
house)
Determine the scope of work Business Analysis Approach
Software package selection
for the business analysis
Business Analysis
Business Analysis Deliverables
activities
Performance Assessment
Interviews or facilitated sessions with
Determine which activities the Organizational Process Assets key stakeholders
business analyst will perform Stakeholder List, Roles, and
Review project documentation
and when
Responsibilities
Review organizational process assets
Develop estimates for business
Determine Business Analysis
analysis work
Activities
WBS - Work Breakdown Structure
Activity list
- Unique Number
- Activity Description
Assumptions
Dependencies
Milestones

Geography
Culture
Relationship to time
Relationship to task completion
Relationship to contracts
Relationship to formal and informal
how best to receive, distribute,
authority
access, update, and escalate Business Analysis Approach
Project Type
information from project
Business Analysis Plan(s)
A new, customized in-house software
stakeholders, and
Organizational Process Assets development project
determining how best to
Stakeholder List, Roles, and
Upgrading the technology or
communicate with each
Responsibilities
infrastructure of a current system
stakeholder.
Change in a business process or new
data for an existing application
Purchase of a software package
Short, focused, agile style iterations
of software development
Communication Frequency
Communications Formality

Repository
Traceability
Select Requirements Attributes
- Absolute reference
- Author of the requirement
- Complexity
- Ownership
- Priority
- Risks
- Source of the requirement
- Stability
- Status
- Urgency
- cost, resource assignment, and
revision number, traced-from and
traced-to
Determining the process for
Requirements Prioritization Process
requirements change,
- Formality
which stakeholders need to
- Establishing The Process
approve change,
AndTechnique
who will be consulted or
- Plan The Participation
informed of changes, and by
Business Analysis Approach
Change Management
extension,
Business Analysis Plan
- Determine the process
who does not need to be
Organizational Process Assets for requesting changes
involved.
- Determine who will
Assessing the need for
authorize changes
requirements traceability and
- Impact Analysis
determining which
- Plan the wording of the request
requirements attributes will be
- Cost and time estimates
captured.
of change
- Benefits and risks of the change
- Recommended course of
action for change
- Coordinate Prioritization
Of Change
- Change-Driven Methods
- Tailoring the Requirements
Management Process
- Organizational culture
- Stakeholder preferences
- Complexity of project, project
phase, or product (product,
service, or result) being
delivered.
- Organizational maturity
- Availability of resources

which stakeholders need to

approve change,
who will be consulted or
informed of changes, and by
Business Analysis Approach
extension,
Business Analysis Plan
who does not need to be
Organizational Process Assets
involved.
Assessing the need for
requirements traceability and
determining which
requirements attributes will be
captured.

determining which metrics will

be used to measure the work
performed by the business
Business Analysis
analyst
Performance Metrics
how to track, assess, and
Business Analysis Plan
report on the quality of the work Organizational Performance
and take steps to correct any Standards
problems
Requirements Management
how organizational process
Plan
assets governing business
analysis activities are managed
and updated

- Establishing The Process

AndTechnique
- Plan The Participation
Change Management
- Determine the process
for requesting changes
- Determine who will
authorize changes
- Impact Analysis
- Plan the wording of the request
- Cost and time estimates
of change
- Benefits and risks of the change
- Recommended course of
action for change
- Coordinate Prioritization
Of Change
- Change-Driven Methods
- Tailoring the Requirements
Management Process
- Organizational culture
- Stakeholder preferences
- Complexity of project, project
phase, or product (product,
service, or result) being
delivered.
- Organizational maturity
- Availability of resources

Performance Measures
Performance Reporting
Preventive And Corrective Action

Techniques

Stakeholders

Decision Analysis
Process Modeling
Structured Walkthrough

Customer, Domain SME, End

User or Supplier
Implementation SME
Project Manager
Tester
Regulator
Sponsor

General Techniques
Acceptance and Evaluation
Criteria Definition
Brainstorming
Interviews
Organization Modeling
Process Modeling
Requirements Workshops
Risk Analysis
Scenarios and Use Cases and
User Stories
Scope Modeling
Survey/Questionnaire
RACI Matrix
Responsible
Accountable
Consulted
Informed
Stakeholder Map
Matrix Mapping
Onion Diagram

Domain SME
Implementation SME
Project Manager
Tester
Regulator
Sponsor

Output

Business Analysis
Approach

Stakeholder List, Roles,

and Responsibilities

Estimation
Functional Decomposition
Risk Analysis

Customer, Domain SME, End

User, and Supplier:
Implementation SME:
Operational Support:
Project Manager:
Tester
Sponsor

Business Analysis
Plan(s)

Structured Walkthrough

Customer and Supplier

Domain SME
End User
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Tester
Regulator
Sponsor

Business Analysis
Communication Plan

Decision Analysis
Problem Tracking
Risk Analysis

Domain SME
End User
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Tester
Sponsor

Requirements
Management Plan

Decision Analysis
Problem Tracking
Risk Analysis

Domain SME
End User
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Tester
Sponsor

Requirements
Management Plan

General Techniques
Interviews
Lessons Learned Process
Metrics and Key Performance
Indicators
Problem Tracking
Process Modeling
Root Cause Analysis
Survey/Questionnaire
Variance Analysis

Domain SME and End User

Implementation SME,
Operational Support, and
Tester
Project Manager
Sponsor

Business Analysis
Performance
Assessment
Business Analysis
Process Assets

S.No

Tasks

Purpose

Define Business Need

why a change to organizational

systems or capabilities is required

Assess Capability Gaps

To identify new capabilities required

by the enterprise to meet the
business need

To determine the most viable solution

approach to meet the business need
Determine Solution Approach in enough detail to allow for definition
of solution scope and prepare the
business case.

Define Solution Scope

To define which new capabilities a

project or iteration will deliver.

Define Business Case

To determine if an organization can

justify the investment required to
deliver a proposed solution

Description

From the top down

From the bottom up
From middle management
From external drivers

Input

Business Goals and Objectives

Requirements [Stated]

Business Goals and Objectives

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Relevant
T - Time-bounded
Business Problem or Opportunity
Adverse Impacts
Expected Benefits
Quickness of problem resolved
Source of Problem
Desired Outcome
should address problem or
opportunity

Business Need
Enterprise Architecture
Solution Performance
Assessment

Current Capability Analysis

Assessment of New Capability
Requirements
Assumptions

Utilize additional capabilities of

existing software/hardware
Purchase or lease
software/hardware from a
Business Need
supplier
Organizational Process Assets
Change the business
Required Capabilities
procedures/processes
Partner with other
organizations, or outsource
work to suppliers
The scope of analysis
The capabilities supported by
solution components,
The capabilities to be
supported by individual
releases
The enabling capabilities

Elements

Assumptions and Constraints

Business Need
Required Capabilities
Solution Approach

Alternative Generation
Assumptions and Constraints
Ranking and Selection of Approaches

Solution Scope Definition

Implementation Approach
Dependencies

Justify the cost to develop the

project to value it brings

Assumptions and Constraints

Business Need
Solution Scope
Stakeholder Concerns

Benefits
Costs
Risk Assessment
Results Measurement

Techniques

Stakeholders

Output

Benchmarking
Brainstorming
Business Rules Analysis
Focus Groups
Functional Decomposition
Root Cause Analysis

Customer or Supplier
Domain SME and End User
Implementation SME
Regulator
Sponsor

Business Need

Document Analysis
SWOT Analysis

Customer and Supplier

Domain SME, End User,
Implementation SME, and
Sponsor

Required
Capabilities

Customer, Domain SME, End

User and Supplier
Implementation SME
Sponsor

Solution Approach

Domain SME
Implementation SME
Project Manager
Sponsor

Solution Scope

General Techniques
Benchmarking
Brainstorming
Decision Analysis
Estimation
SWOT Analysis
Feasibility Analysis

General Techniques
Functional Decomposition
Interface Analysis
Scope Modeling
User Stories
Problem or Vision
Statement

Decision Analysis
Estimation
Metrics and Key
Performance Indicators
Risk Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Vendor Assessment

Sponsor
Domain SME
Implementation SME
Project Manager

Business Case

S.No

Tasks

Purpose

Prioritize Requirements

Ensures that analysis and

implementation efforts focus on the
most critical requirements.

Organize Requirements

create a set of views of the

requirements for the new business
solution that are comprehensive,
complete, consistent, and understood
from all stakeholder perspectives.

Specify and Model

Requirements

analyze expressed stakeholder

desires and/or the current state of the
organization using a combination of
textual statements, matrices,
diagrams and formal models

Define Assumptions and

Constraints

Identify factors other than

requirements that may affect which
solutions are viable

Verify Requirements

ensures that requirements

specifications and models meet the
necessary standard of quality to allow
them to be used effectively to guide
further work.

Validate Requirements

ensure that all requirements support

the delivery of value to the business,
fulfill its goals and objectives, and
meet a stakeholder need.

Description

Input

Elements

Business Case
Business Need
Determine the relative
Requirements
importance of requirements,
Requirements Management
based on their relative value,
Plan
risk, difficulty of implementation
Stakeholder List, Roles, and
Responsibilities

Basis for Prioritization

Business Value
Business or Technical Risk
Implementation Difficulty
Likelihood of Success
Regulatory or Policy Compliance
Relationship to Other Requirements
Stakeholder Agreement
Urgency
Challenges
Non-negotiable Demands
Unrealistic Tradeoffs

Understand which models are

appropriate for the business
Organizational Process Assets
domain and solution scope
Requirements [Stated]
Identify model
Solution Scope
interrelationships and
dependencies

Levels of Abstraction
Model Selection
User Classes, Profiles, or Roles
Concepts and Relationships
Events
Processes
Rules

analyze the functioning of an

organization and provide
insight into opportunities for
improvement
development and
implementation of solutions,
facilitating communication
among stakeholders,
supporting training activities
and knowledge management,
Ensuring compliance with
contracts and regulations

Requirements [Stated]
Requirements Structure

Text
Matrix Documentation
Models
- Modeling Formats
- Notations
- Formal versus Informal Models
- semantics and iconography
Capture Requirements Attributes
Improvement Opportunities
- Automate Or Simplify The Work
People Perform
- Improve Access To Information
- Reduce Complexity Of Interfaces
- Increase Consistency Of Behavior
- Eliminate Redundancy

Stakeholder Concerns

Assumptions
Business Constraints
- budgetary restrictions,
- time restrictions,
- limits on the number of resources
available,
- restrictions based on the skills of
the project team and the
stakeholders,
- a requirement that certain
stakeholders not be affected by the
implementation of the solution, or
any other organizational restriction.
Technical Constraints

Assumptions are factors that

are believed to be true, but
have not been confirmed
Constraints are defined as
restrictions or limitations on
possible solutions.

ready for formal review and

validation by the customers
and users
Requirements [Any Except
provide all the information
Stated]
needed for further work based
on the requirements to be
performed

Characteristics of Requirements
Quality
- Cohesive
- Complete
- Consistent
- Correct
- Feasible
- Modifiable
- Unambiguous
- Testable
Verification activities

ensure that stakeholder,

solution, and transition
requirements align to the
business requirements

Business Case
Stakeholder, Solution, or
Transition Requirements
[Verified]:

Identify Assumptions
Define Measurable Evaluation
Criteria
Determine Business Value
Determine Dependencies for Benefits
Realization
Evaluate Alignment with Business
Case and Opportunity Cost

Techniques

Stakeholders

Output

General Techniques
Decision Analysis
Risk Analysis
MoSCoW Analysis
Must
Should
Could
Won't
Timeboxing/Budgeting
All In
All Out
Selective
Voting

Domain SME
Implementation SME
Project Manager
Sponsor

Requirements
[Prioritized]

Business Rules Analysis

Data Flow Diagrams
Data Modeling
Functional Decomposition
Organization Modeling
Process Modeling
Scenarios and Use Cases
Scope Modeling
User Stories

Domain SME, End User,

Implementation SME, and
Sponsor
Project Manager

Requirements Structure

General Techniques
Acceptance and Evaluation
Criteria Definition
Business Rules Analysis
Data Dictionary and Glossary
Data Flow Diagrams
Data Modeling
Functional Decomposition
Interface Analysis
Metrics and Key Performance
Indicators
Non-functional Requirements
Analysis
Organization Modeling
Process Modeling
Prototyping
Scenarios and Use Cases
Sequence Diagrams
State Diagrams
User Stories

Any Stakeholder

Requirements [Analyzed]

Problem Tracking
Risk Analysis

Implementation SME
Project Manager
All Stakeholders

Assumptions and
Constraints

General Techniques
- Acceptance and Evaluation
Criteria Definition
- Problem Tracking
- Structured Walkthrough
Checklists

All Stakeholders

Requirements [Verified]

Acceptance and Evaluation

Criteria Definition
Metrics and Key Performance
Indicators
Prototyping
Risk Analysis
Structured Walkthrough

All Stakeholders

Requirements [Validated]

S.No

Tasks

Purpose

Manage Solution Scope and

Requirements

Obtain and maintain consensus

among Key stake holders over
solution scope and the requirements
that will be implemented

Manage Requirements
Traceability

Create and maintain relationships

between
Business Objectives
Requirements
solution components

Maintain Requirements for

Re-use

Manage requirements knowledge

after their implementation

Prepare Requirements
Package

Select and structure requirements for

-effective communication
-understandable
-usable

Communicate Requirements

Bringing Stakeholders to a common

understanding of requirements

Description
Securing apporval of
requirements from authorized
stake holders
Manage issues during
elicitation and analysis.
Approval can be requested
either at the end of project or
during the intervals.
Requirements are baselined
after approval.
Change Control Process - any
changes after requirements
baselined and it also requires
approval.
Solution scope determines
whether the proposed
requirements supports
business goals and objectives

Input

Elements

Requirements Management
Plan
Solution Scope - is also a
requirement
Stakeholder List, Roles and
Responsibilities.
Stakeholder, solution and
Transition Requirements
[Communicated or Traced]
Requirements Lifecycle
[Stated,specified and
modeled, verified, validated]

Solution Scope Management

Conflict and Issue Management
Presenting Requirements for Review
Approval

Tracing - ability to look at the

requirement and others to
which it is related
Forward Traceability allocation
Backward Traceability Derivation
Helps in
Scope mangement,
Requirements
Risk Management,
Requirements Management
Time Management,
Plan
Cost Management
Communication Management
Goal is to ensure
requirements are linked back
to business objective
Impact Analysis
Requirements Coverage
Requirements Allocation

Relationships
- Necessity
- Effort
- Subset
- Cover
- Value
Impact Analysis
Configuration Management System

Long term usage

on-going basis
stored in repository

Organizational Process Asset

Requirements

Ongoing Requirements
- contractual obligations
- quality standards
- SLA
- business rules
- business processess
Satisfied Requirements

Clear, concise, accurate and

appropriate level of detailing
Goal is to convey
information clearly and in
understandable fashion
Formal Documentation
Presentation
Models

Business Analysis
Communication Plan
Organizational Process Asset
Requirements
Requirements Structure

Work Product and Deliverables

- Work Product
- Deliverables
Format
Additional considerations for
Requirement Documentation

Conversations, notes,
documents and presentations
Soft skill
- communication
technical skill - requirement

Business Analysis
Communication Plan
Requirements
Requirements Package

General Communication
Presentations
- Formal
- Informal

Techniques

Stakeholders

Output

Problem Tracking
Baselining
Signoff

Domain SME
Implementation SME
Project Manager
Sponsor

Requirements
[Approved]

Coverage Matrix

Implementation SME
Project Manager
Tester

Requirements
[Traced]

N/A

Business Analyst
Domain SME
Implementation SME

Requirements
[Maintained and
Reusable]

Requirements Documentation
- Business Requirement Doc
- Product Roadmap
- Software/System
Requirement Specification
- Supplementary
Requirements Specification
- Vision Document
Requirements for Vendor
Selection
- RFI - Request for
Information
- RFQ - Request for Quote
- RFP - Request for Proposal
Evaluation Criteria implementation cost
weighting Criteria - how
proposed solution meets
requirements

Domain SMEs and End Users

Implementation SMEs
Project Managers
Requirements Package
Regulators
Sponsors
Testers

Requirements Workshop
Structured Walkthrough

All

Communicated
Requirements

S.No

Tasks

Purpose

Assess Proposed Solution

determine how closely they meet

stakeholder and solution
requirements.

Allocate Requirements

Allocate stakeholder and solution

requirements among solution
components and releases

Assess Organizational
Readiness

Assess whether the organization is

ready to make effective use of a new
solution.

Define Transition
Requirements

define requirements for capabilities

needed to transition from an existing
solution to a new solution

Validate Solution

Validate that a solution meets the

business need and
determine the most appropriate
response to identified defects.

Evaluate Solution
Performance

understand the value they deliver and

identify opportunities for
improvement.

Description
single solution or to compare
multiple proposed solutions.

Input
Assumptions and Constraints
Requirements
[Prioritized and Approved]
Solution Options

Elements
Ranking of Solution Options
- scoring system for complex
decision problems
Identification of Additional Potential
Capabilities

assessing the tradeoffs

between alternatives in order to
maximize benefits and
Solution Components
minimize costs.
- Available resources
objective of allocation is to
Requirements [Prioritized and - Constraints on the solution
maximize the business value.
Approved]
- Dependencies between
Requirements may be
Solution [Designed]
requirements
allocated between Solution Scope
Release Planning
organizational units,
- Org constraints like freeze period
between job functions, between
for implementation
people and software, software
application components or
releases of a solution

effect a new solution will have

on an organization and
Organizational readiness

Enterprise Architecture
Solution Scope
Solution [Designed]
Stakeholder Concerns

Cultural Assessment
- Assess the beliefs, attitudes and
feelings, willingness common to
key stakeholder groups
Operational or Technical Assessment
Stakeholder Impact Analysis
- Functions
- Location
- Tasks
- Concerns

transition period (the time when

both the old and new solutions
are operational)
Organizational Readiness
enterprise may need to operate Assessment
both solutions in parallel
Requirements [Stated]
move information between the Solution [Deployed] (existing)
new and old solution
Solution [Designed]
conduct training to enable
stakeholders

Data
Ongoing Work
Organizational Change

delivered solution meets the

business needs on an ongoing
basis
Problems will be reported and
prioritized for resolution

Solution
[Constructed]
Requirements
[Prioritized and Validated]

Investigate Defective Solution

Outputs
Assess Defects and Issues

Business Requirements
Identified Defects
Solution Performance Metrics
- Quantitative
- Qualitative
Solution [Deployed]

Understand Value Delivered By

Solution
- actual metrics
Validate Solution Metrics
Solution Replacement or Elimination
- Ongoing Cost versus Initial
Investment
- Opportunity Cost
- Necessity
- Sunk Cost - money already
committed to initiative

investigating how a solution is

actually used after it is
deployed
assessing the effect (Positive
and Negative)
post-implementation
assessment

Techniques

Stakeholders

Output

Acceptance and Evaluation

Criteria Definition
Decision Analysis
Vendor Assessment

Domain SME
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Supplier
Sponsor

Assessment of Proposed
Solution

Acceptance and Evaluation

Criteria Definition
Business Rules Analysis
Decision Analysis
Functional Decomposition
Process Modeling
Scenarios and Use Cases

Customers and Suppliers

Domain SME
End User
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Tester
Sponsor

Requirements [Allocated]

General Techniques
- Acceptance and Evaluation
Criteria Definition
- Data Flow Diagrams and
Process Models
- Focus Groups,
Interviews and
Survey/Questionnaire
- Organization Modeling
- Problem Tracking
- Risk Analysis
- SWOT Analysis
Force Field Analysis
- graphical representation
- identifying the forces that
support and oppose a
change

Domain SME
Implementation SME
- Organizational Change
Management SMEs
- Usability SMEs
- Training SMEs
Operational Support
Project Manager
Sponsor

Organizational
Readiness Assessment

Business Rules Analysis

Data Flow Diagrams ,
Process Modeling
Organization Modeling
Data Modeling

Customer
Domain SME
End User
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Regulator
Tester
Sponsor

Transition Requirements

Acceptance and Evaluation

Criteria Definition
Problem Tracking
Root Cause Analysis

Domain SME
End User
Implementation SME
Operational Support
Project Manager
Tester
Regulator
Sponsor

Identified Defects
Mitigating Actions
Solution Validation
Assessment

Decision Analysis
- Cost/benefit analysis
Focus Groups
Observation
Survey/Questionnaire

Customer, Domain SME, and

Supplier
End User
Operational Support
Regulator
Sponsor

Solution Performance
Assessment