Determining Project Requirements, 2nd Edition

Book description

From enterprise analysis to planning requirements gathering and documentation, this book covers the entire business analysis cycle as well as modeling techniques. The second edition of this popular reference aligns with the BABOK Guide 2.0 to provide an even better tool for preparing to take the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) examination. The text covers all of the BABOK knowledge areas and features a new preparatory section that contains 300 questions. With its many examples and business requirements document templates, this book is ideal for practitioners. Students of business analysis will benefit from the book's case study, exercises, and solutions.

Table of contents

  1. Foreword to the First Edition
  2. Preface
  3. About the Author
  4. Chapter 1 - Introduction
    1. 1.1 Objectives
    2. 1.2 Overview
    3. 1.3 Early Days
    4. 1.4 Project Management Institute®
    5. 1.5 International Institute of Business Analysis™
    6. 1.6 Role of the Business Analyst
    7. 1.7 Where Is It All Going?
    8. 1.8 Book Project
    9. 1.9 Summary
    10. Activity
  5. Chapter 2 - Laying the Foundation
    1. 2.1 Objectives
    2. 2.2 Overview
    3. 2.3 Life Cycle Definitions
    4. 2.4 What Is a Body of Knowledge?
    5. 2.5 Overview of PMI Applicable Standards
    6. 2.6 Overview of IIBA Framework and Standards
    7. 2.7 SEI-CMMI and Applicability
      1. 2.7.1 Requirements Management
      2. 2.7.2 Requirements Development
    8. 2.8 Which Standard to Use?
    9. 2.9 Comments on Tool Standards
    10. 2.10 Business Analyst’s Skills
      1. 2.10.1 Analysis Skills
      2. 2.10.2 Business Knowledge
      3. 2.10.3 IT Knowledge
      4. 2.10.4 Meeting and Presentation Skills
      5. 2.10.5 Decision Making, Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Escalation Skills
      6. 2.10.6 Questioning Skills, Systems Thinking, and Logic
      7. 2.10.7 Leadership Skills
    11. 2.11 Summary
    12. Activity
    13. CBAP Test Questions
  6. Chapter 3 - Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
    1. 3.1 Objectives
    2. 3.2 Overview
    3. 3.3 The IIBA View
      1. 3.3.1 Plan the Business Analysis Approach
        1. 3.3.1.1 Overview of Approaches
        2. 3.3.1.2 Selecting and Customizing a Process
        3. 3.3.1.3 Waterfall
        4. 3.3.1.4 Iterative
        5. 3.3.1.5 Agile
      2. 3.3.2 Conduct Stakeholder Analysis
        1. 3.3.2.1 User Profiling
        2. 3.3.2.2 Experienced or Novice Users
        3. 3.3.2.3 Full-Time or Part-Time Users
        4. 3.3.2.4 Organizational Entities
        5. 3.3.2.5 Internal or External Users
        6. 3.3.2.6 Language and Cultural Differences
        7. 3.3.2.7 Geographical Differences
      3. 3.3.3 Plan Business Analysis Activities
        1. 3.3.3.1 Project Overview and Background
        2. 3.3.3.2 Scope and Deliverables
        3. 3.3.3.3 Project Activities
        4. 3.3.3.4 Roles and Responsibilities
        5. 3.3.3.5 Resource Plan
        6. 3.3.3.6 Requirements Risk Plan
        7. 3.3.3.7 Manage Changes to Requirements
      4. 3.3.4 Plan Business Analysis Communications
      5. 3.3.5 Plan Requirements Management Process
      6. 3.3.6 Manage Business Analysis Performance
    4. 3.4 General Guidelines for the Requirements Plan
      1. 3.4.1 Risk
        1. 3.4.1.1 Step 1: Develop the Risk Management Approach
        2. 3.4.1.2 Step 2: Identify Risks
        3. 3.4.1.3 Step 3: Assess Risks
        4. 3.4.1.4 Step 4: Respond to Risks
        5. 3.4.1.5 Step 5: Monitor and Control Risks
      2. 3.4.2 Estimating
      3. 3.4.3 Laying Out Tasks
      4. 3.4.4 Costing
      5. 3.4.5 Tracking and Reporting
      6. 3.4.6 Kick-Off Meeting
      7. 3.4.7 Summary
    5. Activity
    6. CBAP Test Questions
  7. Chapter 4 - Elicitation
    1. 4.1 Objectives
    2. 4.2 Overview
    3. 4.3 The IIBA View
    4. 4.4 How to Select the Right Technique for Gathering Requirements
      1. 4.4.1 Different Ways for Different Customers
      2. 4.4.2 Different Ways for Different Categories
      3. 4.4.3 Impact of Globalization
    5. 4.5 Customer Interviews
    6. 4.6 Observation or Job Shadowing
    7. 4.7 Studying Existing Systems
    8. 4.8 Studying Interfaces
    9. 4.9 Surveys
    10. 4.10 Discovery/JAD/Facilitated Sessions
      1. 4.10.1 History
      2. 4.10.2 Characteristics of a JAD Project
      3. 4.10.3 What Is Created in a JAD Session?
      4. 4.10.4 JAD Participants
        1. 4.10.4.1 Facilitator
        2. 4.10.4.2 Business Analyst
        3. 4.10.4.3 Scribe
        4. 4.10.4.4 User (Customer)
        5. 4.10.4.5 Subject Matter Experts
        6. 4.10.4.6 Developer
        7. 4.10.4.7 Sponsor
        8. 4.10.4.8 Observers
      5. 4.10.5 The JAD Process
        1. 4.10.5.1 Establish Goals and Objectives
        2. 4.10.5.2 Prepare for the Session
        3. 4.10.5.3 Conduct the Session
        4. 4.10.5.4 Follow-Up
      6. 4.10.6 Facilitation
      7. 4.10.7 Summary
    11. 4.11 Focus Groups
    12. 4.12 Market Research
    13. 4.13 Evaluate “Best Practices”
    14. 4.14 Prototyping
    15. 4.15 Storyboarding
    16. 4.16 Idea-Generating Techniques (Brainstorming)
      1. 4.16.1 Basic Brainstorming
      2. 4.16.2 Anonymous Brainstorming
      3. 4.16.3 Affinity Diagramming
      4. 4.16.4 Brainstorming with One Person
      5. 4.16.5 Brainstorming for a Virtual Team
      6. 4.16.6 Summary
    17. 4.17 Tools for Virtual Environments
    18. 4.18 Requirements Prioritization Techniques
      1. 4.18.1 Dollar Approach
      2. 4.18.2 Forced Pair Ranking
      3. 4.18.3 Density Dotting
      4. 4.18.4 Analytical Hierarchy Process
      5. 4.18.5 Summary
    19. 4.19 Summary
    20. Activity
    21. CBAP Test Questions
  8. Chapter 5 - Requirements Management and Communication
    1. 5.1 Objectives
    2. 5.2 Overview
    3. 5.3 The IIBA Tasks
      1. 5.3.1 Manage Solution Scope and Requirements
      2. 5.3.2 Manage Requirements Traceability
      3. 5.3.3 Maintain Requirements for Reuse
      4. 5.3.4 Prepare Requirements Package
      5. 5.3.5 Communicate Requirements
    4. 5.4 Summary
    5. Activity
    6. CBAP Test Questions
  9. Chapter 6 - Enterprise Analysis
    1. 6.1 Objectives
    2. 6.2 Overview
    3. 6.3 The IIBA Tasks
      1. 6.3.1 Define the Business Need
      2. 6.3.2 Assess Capability Gaps
      3. 6.3.3 Determine the Approach to Finding a Solution
      4. 6.3.4 Define Solution Scope
        1. 6.3.4.1 Business Goals and Objectives
        2. 6.3.4.2 Assumptions
        3. 6.3.4.3 Constraints
        4. 6.3.4.4 Scope Statement
        5. 6.3.4.5 Impacted Organizations
      5. 6.3.5 Define the Business Case
    4. 6.4 Conducting the Initial Risk Assessment
    5. 6.5 Preparing the Decision Package
    6. 6.6 Understanding the Business
    7. 6.7 Business Models
      1. 6.7.1 Organization Charts
      2. 6.7.2 Infrastructure Models
      3. 6.7.3 Business Location Models
      4. 6.7.4 Business Events
      5. 6.7.5 Business Entity Models
      6. 6.7.6 Business Process Models
    8. 6.8 Summary
    9. Activity
    10. CBAP Test Questions
  10. Chapter 7 - Requirements Analysis
    1. 7.1 Objectives
    2. 7.2 Overview
    3. 7.3 The IIBA Tasks
      1. 7.3.1 Prioritize Requirements
      2. 7.3.2 Organize Requirements
        1. 7.3.2.1 How Much Detail Do You Need?
        2. 7.3.2.2 Stakeholder-Based Classification
        3. 7.3.2.3 Sequence-Oriented Classification
        4. 7.3.2.4 Purpose-Based Classification
        5. 7.3.2.5 Combining Structures
      3. 7.3.3 Specify and Model Requirements
        1. 7.3.3.1 Process Models
        2. 7.3.3.2 Data Models
        3. 7.3.3.3 Data Flow Diagrams
        4. 7.3.3.4 The Unified Modeling Language Family
        5. 7.3.3.5 Matrix Documentation
        6. 7.3.3.6 How to Decide Which Model to Select
        7. 7.3.3.7 Text Documentation
        8. 7.3.3.8 Validating the Requirements
    4. 7.4 Summary
    5. Activity
    6. CBAP Test Questions
  11. Chapter 8 - Solution Assessment and Validation
    1. 8.1 Objectives
    2. 8.2 Overview
    3. 8.3 The IIBA Tasks
    4. 8.4 The Importance of Alternative Solutions
    5. 8.5 Selecting a Solution
    6. 8.6 Matching the Solution to the Needs of the Customer
    7. 8.7 Support Testing and Quality Assurance
      1. 8.7.1 Validation versus Verification
      2. 8.7.2 Planning for the Test
      3. 8.7.3 Types of Tests
      4. 8.7.4 Evaluating Customer Satisfaction
    8. 8.8 Implementing and Supporting the Solution
    9. 8.9 Summary
    10. Activity
    11. CBAP Test Questions
  12. Chapter 9 - Preparing for the Test
    1. Taking the Test
  13. Chapter 10 - Swede-Mart Case Study
    1. 10.1 Introduction
    2. 10.2 Strategy
    3. 10.3 Industry Background
    4. 10.4 Project Background
    5. 10.5 Distribution Center/Inventory Operations
    6. 10.6 Product Lines
    7. 10.7 Purchasing
    8. 10.8 Receiving
    9. 10.9 Accounts Payable
    10. 10.10 Order Processing and Shipping
    11. 10.11 Reporting
    12. 10.12 Summary
    13. 10.13 Interview with Store Buyer
  14. Chapter 11 - Answers to Test Questions
    1. Chapter 2
    2. Chapter 3
    3. Chapter 4
    4. Chapter 5
    5. Chapter 6
    6. Chapter 7
    7. Chapter 8
  15. Chapter 12 - Activity Solutions for Swede-Mart Case Study
    1. Chapter 1
      1. Actions:
      2. Meeting
    2. Chapter 2
    3. Chapter 3
    4. Chapter 4
    5. Chapter 5
    6. Chapter 6
    7. Chapter 7
    8. Chapter 8
  16. Appendix A: Acronyms
  17. Appendix B: Business Requirements Document Templates
    1. B1. Business Requirements Document (BRD) Comprehensive (Courtesy of ESI International)
    2. Table of Contents
    3. Section Zero: Positioning of the Business Requirements Document
      1. The Goal: Common Understanding through Structured Business Analysis and a Standard Business Requirements Document
      2. A Word of Caution about Removing/Adding Sections
      3. Different Types of Requirements
      4. Prioritizing Requirements
    4. Section One: Glossary
    5. Section Two: Project Scope and Objectives Summary
    6. Section Three: Technology Infrastructure and Information Architecture Compliance
    7. Section Four: Intended Audience
    8. Section Five: Decision Making and Approval Process for the Business Requirements Document
    9. Section Six: Approach
      1. Section 6.1 – Overall Project Management Approach
      2. Section 6.2 – Business Analysis Approach
    10. Section Seven: Background, Historical, and Prior Project Information
    11. Section Eight: Business-Level Requirements: Goals, Value Proposition, and Benefits
      1. Section 8.1 – Regulatory Requirements
      2. Section 8.2 – Related Strategic Goals (Organization Level)
      3. Section 8.3 – Related Tactical Goals (Division or Department Level)
      4. Section 8.4 – Related Operational Goals (Staff Level)
    12. Section Nine: User Class Profiles and Key Delegations
      1. Section 9.1 – Sponsors and Stakeholders
      2. Section 9.2 – Primary Users
      3. Section 9.3 – Secondary Users
    13. Section Ten: User and Functional Level Requirements
    14. Section Eleven: Additional Information Regarding Functional Requirements Related to Output and Reporting
    15. Section Twelve: Conceptual Data Model
    16. Section Thirteen: Nonfunctional Requirements
      1. Section 13.1 – Operational Environment
      2. Section 13.2 – User Interface Requirements
      3. Section 13.3 – User Access/Security Requirements
      4. Section 13.4 – Service Level/Performance/Capacity Requirements
      5. Section 13.5 – Data Requirements (Input, Correlative)
      6. Section 13.6 – Business Continuity and Recovery Requirements
      7. Section 13.7 – Integration/Migration Requirements
      8. Section 13.8 – Administrative/Backup/Archive Requirements
      9. Section 13.9 – Expected Life Span Requirements
      10. Section 13.10 – Documentation Requirements
      11. Section 13.11 – Training Requirements
      12. Section 13.12 – Other Nonfunctional Requirements
    17. Section Fourteen: Assumptions, Dependencies, and Constraints
      1. Section 14.1 – Assumptions
      2. Section 14.2 – Dependencies
      3. Section 14.3 – Constraints
    18. Section Fifteen: Risks and Risk Management Process
    19. Section Sixteen: Solution Options
      1. Section 16.1 – Short List Solution Options
      2. Section 16.2 – Information Regarding Pilot
      3. Section 16.3 – Rejected Solution Options
    20. Section Seventeen: Change Management Process
    21. Section Eighteen: Business Requirements Document Revision Log
    22. Section Nineteen: Appendices
    23. Section Twenty: Approval
    24. B2. Business Requirements Document (BRD) Simple
      1. Use Case Template
        1. Use Case #
  18. Appendix C: United Nations Organizational Chart
  19. Sources and Bibliography

Product information

  • Title: Determining Project Requirements, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Hans Jonasson
  • Release date: April 2016
  • Publisher(s): Auerbach Publications
  • ISBN: 9781498760027