The 21st Century Business Analyst

Requirements and Design Management

Systems & Software Engineering

This 5-day workshop is intended for those involved in the analysis, design and management of systems projects. Novices to experts will benefit from this workshop. Novices will discover a framework that will enable them to move forward with confidence. The experienced will find a wealth of tips and techniques to add to their toolkit. Experts will recognize the power of the underlying structure that will enable them to enhance their skills and increase their performance.

The strategies demonstrated in this workshop are methodology neutral and will not conflict with any existing methodology or tools. In the absence of existing methodology, the approach can be established as a default methodology. The approach is compatible with the current best practices and philosophies but is primarily based on real world practices and needs.

The workshop provides a process. The purpose of any good process is to add power to your existing skills, not to replace them. Good tools will be easy to use and reduce, not increase the time and effort required to develop effective systems.

The path of the workshop follows a hypothetical life cycle model through the various phases of development of a system. The primary emphasis is on analysis, design, and managing the project. Concepts of good programming and good management are identified and discussed throughout the session. Case studies are used to demonstrate ideas and to enable participants to try out the concepts. The workshop is heavily "hands on" (about 65%). There are no automated tools, all work is simulation of real situations and done in teams relying heavily on group interaction.

It would be unrealistic to try to cover everything needed for a career in systems development so this workshop focuses on overall strategy and a foundation of understanding with sufficient tools and structure to ensure a good start. Every aspect will be identified so that participants understand how it all fits together.

Who Should Attend

This workshop is extremely helpful for systems project leaders, business analysts, systems analysts and designers, software engineers, data administrators and systems users who are involved in the client contact and requirements development process. Any employee whose job performance includes effective communications and problem solving would benefit from this workshop. This would include senior managers, project managers, business domain experts, technical project leads, business analysts, customer support personnel, and all IT personnel.

Workshop Objectives

Prepare for the multiple roles and responsibilities of the emerging BA profession.
Identify the end to end life cycle and activities of an IT project.
Perform the tasks necessary to get an IT project underway.
Carry out the business analysis tasks and create a requirements specification.
Effectively plan all or part of a project.
Perform system analysis and design a possible solution.
Perform basic project management functions for execution and control of the project.

Outline


I. Introduction
	Opening introductions, establishing the workshop rules, and discussions of the objectives.
		(a) Introduction to the Workshop
		(b) Getting the Most out of the Workshop
		(c) Workshop Objectives and Agenda
II. Workshop Context
	To manage workshop expectations, we need to establish the scope of the material, to understand where it fits in the development life cycle and the project management process. This section also provides some definitions, terminology and structure.
		(a) Definitions and Terminology
		(b) Workshop Focus
		(c) The Project Management Process
		(d) The Analysis and Design Processes
		(e) System Development Life Cycle
		(f) Different Type of Projects
		(g) Project Implementation Models
III. Project Startup
	How does a project get started? An overview of the steps and processes involved to get a project underway.
		(a) Defining the Project (The Project Chapter)
		(b) Cost/Benefit/Risk Analysis
		(c) The Requirements Management Plan
IV. Identifying the Project Scope (High-Level View)
	A critical early step is to attempt to determine the scope of the project and establish the boundaries. This may be uncertain or incomplete at this stage but there are some techniques and models to provide a starting point.
		(a) Introduction to the Case Study
		(b) Project Scope Definition
		(c) Diagraming the High-Level View — Context Diagram
			Practice Session: Create the scope definition model.
		(d) Identifying System Functionality
		(e) Definition and Concepts of Use Cases
			Practice Session: Identify candidate business use cases.
		(f) Business Use Case Map
V. Specifying Business Process
	Business runs on functional processes and process drives the need for data. As we dive down to the detail level, the Business Use Case models form the foundation of the documentation and of the communication process. This section examines the style, format and structure of the information gathering modeling.
		(a) Business Use Case Models
		(b) Introduction to the Model Components
		(c) Creating the Narrative

			Practice Session: Create a use case narrative.

		(d) Exceptions and Alternatives

			Practice Session: Create exceptions and alternatives

		(e) Capturing Supplementary Requirements
VI. Discovering Business Data
	Once the business processes are agreed upon and understood, the data necessary to support the processes can be studied. Data is strongly tied to the business objects recognized by the end users. This section reveals the techniques for accurately establishing the data requirements and modeling them clearly through business objects.
		(a) The Business Information Model
		(b) Understanding Business Objects
		(c) Discovering Objects and Identifying the Data
			Practice Session: Create a business information model.
		(d) Evaluating Object Relationships
		(e) Developing the Object Rules Table
			Practice Session: Develop an object rules table.
		(f) Object Specifications
			Practice Session: Create an object specification.
VII. Identifying Business Rules
	Business rules are part of the supplementary requirements. They have such a significant impact on any solution that it is important to study them in more detail. This section explores current thinking in managing business rules for system development.
		(a) Understanding Business Rules
		(b) Discovering Business Rules
		(c) Types of Business Rules — Constraints, Guidelines, Action Enablers, Computations, Inferences
		(d) Documenting Business Rules
		(e) Business Rules Catalog
VIII. The Requirements Specification (Putting it All Together)
	A final review of all the requirements artifacts. This section looks at the requirements document as a whole and the various model and sequence of steps in the context of the big picture. The participants will carry out a major assignment to create a requirements specification from scratch.
		(a) The Model Components
		(b) Model Validation
		(c) Modeling Sequence
		(d) Information Gathering Methods
		(e) The Interactive Analysis Process
		(f) The Deliverables in Detail
		(g) The Complete Requirements Specification Document
			Practice Session: Create a complete requirements specification.
IX. Project Management Activities
	We step back into the PM role and look at some of the concurrent project activities that are likely to be occurring while the analysis is going on.
		(a) The Principles of Good Planning
		(b) The Project Work Plan Components and Artifacts
		(c) Understanding the Project Tasks and the Work Breakdown Structure
		(d) Scheduling Concepts
		(e) Risk Management Concepts
X. Developing the User Experience Model
	Having established the structure of the requirements, they need to be made visible to the end user. The visibility of the system is through the human interfaces. This section shows how to capture the logic of the proposed interfaces and make the interactions clearly visible to all participants. This has a very significant impact by greatly reducing the number of changes produced later in the project.
		(a) Finding the Human Interfaces
		(b) Separating Manual and Automated Processes
		(c) Creating an Interface Logic Chart
		(d) Security, Integrity, and Control Requirements
		(e) Reports and Inquiries
			Assignment: Create a user experience model.
XI. The Concept of Design
	This section explores the idea and function of design and how system analysis supports the design process.
		(a) Design Objectives and Constraints
		(b) The Design Process
		(c) Aspects of Structured Design
		(d) Managing the Design Process
XII. Designing the Solution
	The design process is organized into categories that can be approached separately but must work together in the project. This section demonstrates each of the aspects of design and the supporting tools and models.
		(a) The Process Architecture (Procedural View)
		(b) The Process Models and Artifacts
		(c) Using the Process Models in Analysis and Design
		(d) The Data Architecture (Static View)
		(e) Using the Data Models in Analysis and Design
		(f) Behavioral Models (Dynamic View)
XIII. Project Management
	Another venture into the PM role with a look at the execution and control activities of the project.
		(a) Project Control Concepts
		(b) The Project Control Plans
		(b) Project Execution Processes
XIV. Development
	A brief overview of some development concepts and practices to give project managers and analysts a general idea of what should be happening in the development phase.
		(a) Building a Good Programming Routine
		(b) Quality Programming Practices
		(c) Structure and Modularity
		(d) Testing and Debugging
XV. Summary and Conclusion
		(a) A Review of the Key Issues
		(b) Lessons Learned
		(c) Discussion and Wrap-Up