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Business Analysis Essentials

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Business Analysis Training with Michigan Technology Services

Michigan Technology Services offers instructor-led Business Analysis Essentials training, as well as other Business Analysis courses, through a partnership with an International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) Endorsed Education provider.

In a pre-Covid world our training would take place at our location in the Farmington Hills/Novi area, 20 miles outside of Detroit, or at your location anywhere around the world. Our Business Analysis workshops are now offered online/virtually, reducing your need to travel.

Private classes for groups or companies are available upon request.

You can enroll in our local Business Analysis Essentials class by filling out the enrollment form located on this page.

For complete Business Analysis Essentials class information or to request a class date contact Michigan Technology Services. 248-489-0408

Who Should Attend

This class is designed for individuals new to the business analyst role, and also those who supervise and/or work with business analysts.
No prerequisites: this course is suitable for both novices and experienced practitioners who need to have a clear and systematic approach to Business Analysis.

Course Objectives

This is an introductory course designed to provide participants with a basic understanding of the benefits, functions and impact a business analyst has within an organization. The course discusses the business analysis process as it is applied throughout a project as well as the pre-project activities that comprise strategy analysis. Participants learn how a business analyst supports the project throughout the solution development life cycle, from defining business needs and solution scope to validating that requirements have been met in the testing phase and ensuring the solution continues to provide value after implementation.

After completing this course, participants will fully understand the characteristics of the business analyst role and the components that comprise the profession of business analysis.  Students will obtain a solid working vocabulary to enable effective communication about business analysis activities and deliverables across the project team.

Learning Objectives

  • Discuss industry standards/resources for obtaining more information about business analysis
  • Acquire a solid understanding of the various tasks/activities that comprises business analysis
  • Recognize the pre and post project business analysis activities
  • Learn how to plan, elicit, analyze, model, and test requirements

Detailed Course Outline

Section 1: Introduction to Business Analysis
  • Business analysis defined
  • The activities that comprise business analysis
  • IIBA/PMI and the goals of a professional association
  • IIBA’s BABOK® Guide and PMI’s Practice Guide in Business Analysis
  • Exercise: Requirements challenges
Section 2: The IIBA™ and the role of the Business Analyst
  • Business analyst defined
  • BA role vs. PM role
  • Importance of communication/collaboration
  • The deliverables produced as part of business analysis
  • The BA career path
  • Exercise: Review case Study
Section 3: Strategy Analysis and Change
  • The definition of Strategy Analysis
  • Components of Strategy Analysis
  • Identifying stakeholders and business needs
  • Exercises:
    • Business Need development
    • RACI Stakeholder Identification
Section 4: Understanding and Defining Solution Scope
  • Defining Solution Scope
  • Project scope vs. product scope
  • Defining a problem statement
  • Techniques for defining scope
  • Exercises:
    • Conduct a brainwriting session
    • Create a context diagram
    • Optional exercise:
    • Create a Use Case Diagram
Section 5: Understanding Requirements
  • Define the term requirement
  • Understand requirement types
  • Present the requirements process
  • Requirements vs. specifications and business rules
  • Exercise: Identify Requirements
Section 6: Planning and Eliciting Requirements
  • The Requirements Work Plan (RWP)
  • Components of the RWP
  • Identifying good questions for elicitation
  • Active listening
  • Categories and types of elicitation techniques
  • Exercise: Planning for elicitation
Section 7: Analyzing and Documenting Requirements
  • Understanding requirements analysis
  • The Business Requirements Document (BRD)
  • The BRD vs. the functional requirements specification
  • BRD components
  • The purpose of packaging requirements
  • Exercise: Analyzing Requirements
Section 8: Elicitation and Process Modeling
  • Why models are created
  • Objectives of modeling
  • What is process management
  • Understanding process modeling
  • Modeling using BPMN
  • AS-IS vs. TO-BE modeling
  • BPMN subclasses
  • BPMN simple structure
  • Prototyping
  • Business Process Modeling case study
  • Exercises:
    • Modeling
    • Create a Prototype of your application
Section 9: Verifying and Validating Requirements
  • The difference between validation and verification
  • Characteristics of good requirements
  • Risks associated with requirements
  • Types of testing approaches
  • Creating a test plan
  • Requirements traceability matrix
  • Verified and validated requirements
  • Exercise: Testing Requirements
Section 10: Additional Resources
  • Helpful links for obtaining additional business analysis information

Student Successes

  • The Certified ScrumMaster and Certified Scrum Developer courses that Michigan Technology Services set up for our organization were great. The instructors (Mark and Angela) were outstanding.

    - SF, Senior Software Developer – Hewlett Packard Enterprise

  • The instructors were top notch and made the courses exciting. I have taken Cisco CCNA, Linux and SQL admin classes and I find myself using the knowledge gained every day. If you value getting quality content that will be relevant for years to come, take these courses with Michigan Technology Services.

    - SP, Detroit Network Team Manager – Global Advertising Company

  • I have taken the Scrum Alliance Certified ScrumMaster and Product Owner classes from Michigan Technology Services and thoroughly enjoyed the class content and instructors. I found the ScrumMaster class particularly engaging and energizing as the instructor was top notch. Both classes fueled my passion for agile project management and team dynamics which I have used to drive change in the way my department executes and thinks about running software development projects. I highly recommend Robert and his company.

    - Daniel King, Senior Project Manager – AAA Michigan – Auto Club Group

  • In February of 2015, the Detroit Housing Commission reached out to Michigan Technology Services to request Microsoft Office Excel training for the staff. Within a few days, Rob was able to set up the services at a very reasonable expense. The trainer was superb, knowledgeable and very patient with the students.  It was one of the best trainings that we have ever had.

    - De’Onna Henderson, Director of Asset Management – Detroit Housing Commission

  • We had an excellent experience working with Rob at Michigan Technology Services. He went above and beyond helping us to design three days of onsite customized SharePoint training for our associates. The trainer was beyond knowledgeable and instrumental in the success of the project. If customized training is what you are looking for, we are confident that you need not look any further than MTS for your business training needs.

    - Brooke F., Business Systems Administrator – Gestamp North America

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