Bootcamp Description:

The BA Bootcamp is a five day applied workshop that covers the most important competencies and knowledge areas for Business Analysts.  The Bootcamp focuses primarily on the most critical knowledge areas of the BA Book of Knowledge: Requirements Gathering, Analysis and Documentation. Following accepted best practices, participants are provided the necessary steps and techniques they need to effectively gather and define business and system requirements. Participants learn a variety of practical facilitation, analysis, modeling and documentation techniques -- the best practices used in the Requirements Discovery Process.

This five day workshop combines the content from IAG's popular courses (Specifying Client Requirements, Facilitating a Requirements Discovery Session, Writing Use Cases and Writing Business System Specifications.) The workshop teaches a very practical systematic approach to requirements analysis and definition. Participants will learn specific modern methods, strategies and techniques that can be easily integrated into a company's existing methodologies and practices. And limited to a maximum of 12 participants, this bootcamp environment gives each participant ample opportunity to practice and develop their BA skills with a seasoned consultant coaching them through examples, hands-on exercises and role-playing throughout the workshop.

Click here for information on claiming IIBA professional development credits

Course Content:

• The Software Development Life Cycle and The Requirements Discovery Process
• Requirements Best Practices; Principles & Standards

• Requirements Planning Activities
• How to Discover & Describe Business and Project Objectives
• How to Discover & Describe Project Scope

• Methods to Elicit Requirements
• How to Discover & Describe Business Activities
• How to Discover & Describe Information Requirements

• Documenting the Requirements
• How to Discover & Describe Functional Requirements
• Documenting the Non-Functional Requirements

• Refining the Requirements

• Prioritizing the Requirements

• The Skills of an Effective Facilitator
• How to Prepare to Facilitate a Meeting
• How to Facilitate a Requirements Planning and Scoping Session
• How to Facilitate a Requirements Discovery Session
• How to Facilitate a Review Meeting

• The Documentation and Analysis Skills of an Effective BA
• How to Capture Requirements During a Discovery Session
• Writing Quality Specifications
• Writing Use Cases
• Writing Functional Requirements
• Writing Information Requirements and Data Definitions
• Requirements Analysis, Verification and Review Techniques
• Packaging and Producing Requirements Deliverables
• Using Requirements Documentation/Modeling/Management Software

• Throughout the week

Learning Objectives:

• How to use the right elicitation techniques, models, steps and questions appropriate for the various stakeholder groups (users, senior management, non-technical, business subject-matter-experts, detail oriented, high-level, etc.)
• Understand the critical success factors for a requirements meeting including setting SMART objectives and expectations, using a systematic process and questioning techniques, using visual modeling, keeping the meeting focused, using business language
• Identify clients’ business needs easily, without needing to be a subject matter expert  
• How to work directly and interactively with business clients in defining project requirements 
• Conduct fast and efficient analysis – maximizing the time and resources of the company
• How to apply industry best practices for discovering, describing and documenting requirements for various projects (new development, maintenance and package) and in various environments (iterative, incremental and waterfall)
• Facilitate a meeting to discover and describe use cases, process discussions, business rules and data requirements
• Identify true user requirements versus "nice-to-have"

• Learn the steps, questions and techniques for business process and data modeling – using such tools as context diagramming, use-case modeling, data flow diagramming, functional narratives, process modeling, data descriptions, entity relationship diagrams) 
• How to analyze client business requirements and produce requirement specifications
• Complete a business requirement specification that’s ready for design, development or sourcing software

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