2379 - Foundations of

Business Analysis
Module 1: Introduction to Business Analysis

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Acknowledgment
The University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies developed this
course using the guidelines and principles prescribed by the
International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA.) Every attempt has
been made by the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies,
and the instructors, to have the contents of these documents provide
accurate information for the learner. Materials herein contained are
also based on the course textbooks, A Guide to the Business
Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide) V3, 2019, and the
Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide, V2, 2018.

We strive to infuse the principles of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in

everything we do. In using the standards of the profession, and publications,
and to accurately quote others, we have retained their terms and language.
We are mindful that language and words matter, and we are continuously
engaging in important dialogue and learning in this regard.

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 Instructor: Intro

Name
 Elaine Marans
– 20+ years in Business Analysis and Project Management
– Product and Process Design
– Product Management
– Engineering, R&D, Quality Management

Education
– Masters of Arts in Education
– Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering
– CBAP
– PMP
– PMI-PBA
– Certificate in Marketing (Technical)
– Certificate in Agricultural Management

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 Course Plan
Module Topic

1 Current Focus: Introduction to Business Analysis

2 Skillset 1 – BA Governance
3 Skillset 2 – Requirements Management: Elicitation, Analysis &
Documentation
4 Skillset 2 – Requirements Management: Verification & Validation
5 Skillset 3 – Agile: Principles, Frameworks, Mindset & Teams
6 Skillset 3 – Agile: Scrum & Techniques
7 Skillset 4 – Process Modeling
8 Skillset 5 – Decision Modeling
9 Skillset 6 – Software Testing
10 Skillset 7 – Business Case
11 Skillset 8 – Core Competencies
12 Latest Trends, Q&A

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 Learning Outcomes For This Module

• Identify key project terms and definitions

• Describe the role and responsibilities of a Business

Analyst in a project team

• Identify and explain what a requirement is,

common categories and key characteristics

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 Topics for this Module and Required
Readings
1.1 Course Overview
1.2 Project Terms and Definitions
1.3 Business Analyst Role and Responsibilities (Chapter 1)
1.4 Requirements (Chapter 2)
1.5 Introduction to Business Analysis Techniques (Chapter 10:
skim)

BABOK® Guide v3

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Course Navigation Icons
Your time is valuable so we’ve created some course navigation icons so
you can quickly identify key content, references and activities.

Learning Outcomes Module/Course Assessments Tools/Resources

Topics Available online

Discussion BABOK 3 Agile Extension 2

References References

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 Introductions

Discussion Board
– Name
– Title/Function/Industry
– Objectives for attending this class
– Personal tidbit you would like to share

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Module 1 - Section 1

Course Overview

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 Assessments

Assessment Grade Completed during

Weight
Interactive Content 5% Modules 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
(5 total, points differ per module)

Application: Product Roadmap 15% Module 6

Application: Process Modeling 15% Module 7
Application: Test Cases/Procedures 15% Module 9
Course Project 35% Module 12
Confidence Quizzes 15% Modules 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11
(6 @ 2.5% each)

• Please review the Assignments tab in Quercus for more details

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 Module 1 - Section 2

Project Terms and Definitions

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What is a Project?
A project is a temporary endeavour undertaken to create a
provide better business outcomes (product(s), service(s) or
another result (s))
• Involves time, resources (people, equipment, materials)
• Ends when the objectives have been reached, or the project
has been terminated
• Are not ongoing work to sustain the business (operations)
• Projects are progressively elaborated
• Projects can be large or small and take a short or long time
to complete

Progressively
Finite Beginning Finite End
Elaborated
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Common Types of Projects
Determined by various factors (corporate objective(s), budget, timelines, technology,
etc.)
• New product or system implementation – involves building a new product or
system from scratch “end to end”
• Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) implementation - involves the purchase of a
generic product or software package from a vendor or solutions provider; will
usually involve the issuance of a Request for Proposal (RFP) by the requestor (your
organization)
• Customized software implementation – this is the change of a COTS product and
making it a “bespoke” system for a client or organization
• Infrastructure upgrade – involves upgrading the ‘back-end’ technology of an
organization’s operations (ex., Windows7 to Windows10 upgrade, deployment of
physical/virtual server environment)
• Process or product Improvement – involves changes to one or many business
processes, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of an organization’s internal or
customer-facing operations
• ** A project could involve any combination or multiple of these components **

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Examples of Projects
• Developing a prototype of new product or service
• Environmental remediation of a contaminated site
• Designing a new energy-efficient vehicle
• Constructing an office building
• Running a campaign for political office
• Designing a new software system
• Designing and producing a marketing brochure
• Redesigning screening procedures in the emergency
department of a hospital
• Designing and implementing new quality improvement
processes

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What is a Stakeholder?
• Stakeholder: group or person (within or outside an
organization) which sponsor a project, has a direct or
indirect interest or gain upon successful completion of a
project, or may have an influence on the project’s
completion

• BA is a ‘bridge’ between management, business functions

and the solution team

• Not the only stakeholders that may be involved in a

particular project

• Identifying all of the stakeholders in any project can be one

of the responsibilities of a BA
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Where Do Business Analysts Fit?
BA’s act as a bridge between the business and the solution
team to ensure usability of the product (solution)

Business Solution

Implementation
SME

Domain SME
End User

Regulator Tester: Quality

Assurance
Analyst
Business Analys
t

Suggested reading:
BABOK Guide page 16 (2.4)

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 Business Analysis Stakeholders

Project Sponsor
Liaison
Manager Roles

Designers Users

Business SMEs

Developers
Analyst Change
Manager

Testers Technical
Writers

Process
Trainers
Systems Analysts
Analysts

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What is a Solution?
• A set of changes to the current state of an organization that
are made in order to enable that organization to meet a
business need, solve a problem, or take advantage of an
opportunity
• The scope of the solution will serve as the basis for the
project’s scope (to implement that solution or its
components)
– Examples: new products, enhanced products, new infastructure,
software applications (newly-produced/enhanced), business
processes, business rules, outsourcing
– Anything that creates a condition or capability needed by the
organization

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 Module 1 – Section 3

Business Analyst Role and

Responsibilities

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Liaison between Stakeholders
• Each stakeholder has his/her unique knowledge, expertise,
background and experience

• Differences among them can be significant, making it difficult for

them to communicate with and understand each other
– Ex. Accountants very familiar with principles, practices and terminology
involved in the accounting business function; however, IT personnel
producing and/or enhancing the software systems they use are unlikely to
have such understanding
– Conversely, IT personnel understand the details of how computers work and
how software is written; accountants unlikely to share that understanding

• Difficult to communicate what is needed and how those needs

could be met (root of many challenged and failed projects)

• BA increases likelihood of project success by bridging such gaps

between stakeholders; learning how to talk to each of them
(‘translator’)

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Liaison between Stakeholders
Lim
ited P oint
of V Point im ited ew
L i
iew of V

Subject of
Analysis

Lim
ited
d Point of V Point
Limit e iew
w
of Vie

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 Creates Structure to an Organization’s Knowledge
Organization Knowledge Common Organizational
Understanding

• Goals
Workarounds
Misunderstandings • Objectives
Failed Projects • Requirements
Unidentified Risks
• Assumptions
Lack of Documentation
Mismatched Solutions Business • Constraints

Inconsistency Analysis • Measures

Poor Performance • Performance
Tacit Knowledge • Expectations
Hidden agendas
• Structure
Conflicts
• Priorities
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Understands Business Problems & Opportunities
• BA must gain at least a working knowledge of each of the
different business areas

• Enables the BA to comprehend the problems confronting

either the organization at large or any individual business
function

• Allows the BA to identify opportunities that could be

exploited to the advantage of the business

• Technical understanding: Allows BA to recommend

feasible solutions to problems or ways to exploit
opportunities

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BA’s Primary Accountability
• A BA’s primary accountability in any project is to manage
requirements through the project’s lifecycle

• Requirements start out at a high level and become

progressively more detailed, as more information about the
business needs is known

• BA will elicit all requirements and document them. The

format of requirements documentation may range from
simple to elaborate, depending on the needs of the project.

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Module 1 - Section 4

Requirements

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What Is a Requirement?

“A usable representation of a need”

• Source: IIBA BABOK Guide V3

“ A condition or capability required to be present in a product,

service, or result to satisfy a contract or other formally imposed
specification”
• Source: Guide to Business Analysis PMI

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What is a Requirement? (cont’d)
Condition or Capability
• Requirements cover more than just functions

• “Capability” focuses on functionality of specified system;

“condition” focuses on other requirements are not functions
or capabilities

• These conditions of the system often referred to as non-

functional or Quality of Service (QoS) requirements.

• Capability: What the system must be able to do

• Condition: How or under what constraints the system

should ‘do’ them

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What is a Requirement? (cont’d)
Needed by a Stakeholder

• As per first point of definition provided; stakeholder needs

something (not always ‘user’ of a system)

• Often to solve problems

• “…achieve an objective”: some requirements go beyond solving

problems
– Can be exploiting opportunities
– Can be eliminating risks
– Can be process efficiency

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What is a Requirement? (cont’d)
Mandated by a Document
• Requirements not always derived from a person
• Solutions developed under contract; some requirements
invariably come from the contract
• Regulations (governmental, industry-driven) often result in
system requirements

Documented Representation
• Conditions or capabilities are, themselves, the requirements
• More specifically, the written representation of said conditions or
capabilities are the “requirements”

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Requirements
• Describe the user’s view of the system
• Identify the what of the system, not the how

Part of Requirements Not part of requirements

Functionality System Structure

User Interaction Implementation

Error Handling Testing

Interfaces Design Specifications

Business Rules Development Methodology

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Requirements Hierarchy
Requirement Type Description
Business Requirement High Level Statement of Goals/Objectives Outcome
Stakeholder Needs of Stakeholders that must be met in order to
Requirement meet the Business Requirements
Solution Requirement Characteristics of the Solution
• Functional Solutions behavior
• Non-Functional Conditions for the solution to remain effective
Transition Requirement Capabilities need to get from current state to future
state; temporary in nature
What is needed to prepare the people, data for what the
project team is delivering

Suggested Reading:
BABOK® Guide 2.3 Page 16

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Requirement Type: Example

Requirement Type Example

Business Increase growth of new accounts by 10%
Requirement within 2 years
Stakeholder Customers must be able to open account
Requirement online
Solution Requirement
• Functional When online customer completes
application, it will be sent to credit
department for approval
• Non-Functional Online account opening must be available
22x7
Transition Customer support staff will need to
complete training on online account opening

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 Solution Requirements
• Functionality Functional
Requirements
– What is the product supposed to do?
• External Interfaces
– Interaction with people, systems, hardware, software

Nonfunctional
Requirements
• Characteristics
– Speed, availability, response time, recovery time
– Maintainability, security
• Design Constraints
– Required standards, operating environment

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 Requirement Types: Exercise

• University of Toronto Bookstore is undertaking a project to implement a new POS-

Inventory Management solution.
• The business problem is that inaccurate forecasting of book sales and tracking of books-
in-stock are resulting in excess returns of books to Publishers and a loss of sales revenue
in the Store
• There are different types of requirements: Can you match the entries?
1. Business
2. Stakeholder
3. Solution Functional
4. Solution Non-Functional
5. Transition

a. All store personnel must be trained on the new POS system 2 weeks prior to
implementation
b. Inventory Manager must place a re-stocking order with the vendor when stocked number
drops below a predetermined minimum-stock limit
c. Increase revenue by 10% by reducing out of stock occurrences.
d. System must send notification to inventory manager when stock of certain item is at
minimum–stock plus 1
e. System must be able to process 500 on-line purchases a minute

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 Module 1 – Section 5

Introduction To Business
Analysis Techniques

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Business Analysis Techniques
• BA Techniques are used to perform BA Tasks (analogy: “tools in a toolbox”)
• 50 most common listed in BABOK

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Resources: BABOK V3 and Agile Extension V2

• BABOK Chapters 3-8: Within each KA task, there is a list of commonly

used techniques Appendix B: Mapping of techniques to KA task
• Techniques: BABOK Chapter 10 and Agile Extension Chapter 7 :
Each Technique is explained by
– Purpose
– Description
– Elements (Examples)
– Usage Considerations (Strengths & Limitations)

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How to Choose a BA Technique?
• Most appropriate for your situation
• BA skill set
• Stakeholder preference
• Others?
• In day-to-day actual usage of Techniques, they may be:
– Called by other names
– Combined
– Used in conjunction to perform a task
– Used outside of BA work

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Any questions?

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Thank You
Thank you for choosing the University of Toronto
School of Continuing Studies

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