Course Description
This training course on Business Analysis Practice introduces you to all the essential skills of business analysis. The emphasis throughout is on practical learning, using real-life case studies to introduce key skills including strategic analysis, stakeholder management, business activity modeling, gap analysis, and making a business case.
Presented to you by one of the expert training consultants pictured below, each member of our Business Analysis (BA) training team brings their professional knowledge and experience of BA projects to this training course.
During this three-day course, you’ll receive all the training you need to prepare for the BCS Business Analysis Practice certificate examination, which is held on the final afternoon of the course. A pass means you’re another step closer to achieving your BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis – the de facto certification for practicing business analysts. This course is also a specialist option for the BCS International Diploma in Solution Development. One last thing this course is also approved as consistent with the IIBA BABoK version 3.0 and enables participants to develop SFIA skills BUAN and REQM.
Pre-requisites
Those wishing to attain the BCS Certificate in Business Analysis Practice.
Performance based objectives
Holders of the BCS Certificate in Business Analysis Practice should be able to:
- Describe how a business strategy is developed
- Apply strategic analysis techniques
- Explain the need for project discipline
- Explain techniques to investigate an organisation’s business systems
- Describe an approach to improving business systems
- Explain the importance of stakeholder management and use a stakeholder analysis technique
- Use techniques for the analysis and conceptual modelling of business systems
- Describe how recommendations for business improvements may be identified
- Describe the contents of a rigorous business case for the development and implementation of business changes
- Identify costs, benefits, impacts and risks for an option in a business case.
Course Content
Business analysis rationale
- The scope of business analysis
- Definition of business analysis
- The development of business analysis
- The business change lifecycle
- Roles in business analysis
Strategic analysis in context
- External analysis – PESTLE, Five Forces Analysis
- Internal analysis – Resource Audit, MOST
- Building a SWOT analysis
- Critical success factors and key performance indicators
- Measuring performance – the Balanced Business Scorecard
A project approach to business analysis
- Initiating a business analysis study
- Defining terms of reference
Understanding business situations
- Review of investigation techniques
- Documenting the business situation:
- Rich pictures
- Mind maps
- Fishbone diagrams
Business perspectives
- Identifying stakeholders
- Analysing stakeholders – Power/Interest Grid, RACI
- Stakeholder management strategies
- Defining business perspectives – CATWOE
Analysing and modelling the business activities
- Types of business activity
- Building a conceptual business activity model
- Consolidating perspectives and building consensus
Identifying potential solutions
- Business events
- Business rules
- Business process models
- Exploring the gap between the current and desired situation
- Identifying areas for business improvement – POP-IT
- Taking a holistic approach to business improvement
Making the business case
- Analysing feasibility
- Contents of a business case
- Options
- Costs and benefits
- Impacts and risks
- Lifecycle for the business case
