BABoK V3
Achievable
Feasible. Part of SMART criteria.
Portability
How easy it is to transfer a solution or component from one environment to another
Opportunity costs
Opportunity costs describe the benefits that could have been attained by taking an alternative design option
Service Level Agreements
Organization constraints which are agreed upon by the provider and user of the solution
Market oriented structure
Organizational structure where staff are aligned to market segments
Business acumen
Organizations mostly share similar practices in the fields of finance, sales, marketing, HR, legal requirements etc Business acumen is therefore the ability to understand business needs using experience and knowledge obtained from other situations
Return on Investment
Net benefits * 100 / Cost of the change
Net Present Value
Net present value (NPV) is the present value of the benefits minus the original cost of the investment Net Present Value = Present Value - Cost of Investment
Non-functional requirements
Non-functional requirements (NFRs) analysis examines the requirements for a solution that define how well the functional requirements MUST perform
Non-Verbal communication
Non-verbal forms of communication like body movement, facial expressions, gestures, posture, eye contact etc help to strengthen the communication as these cues are indicators of the feelings and intent of the communicator
Multi-phased prioritization approach
Prioritization done multiple times where the prioritization basis can be different
Body of knowledge
The aggregated knowledge and generally accepted practices on a topic.
Organization modelling
The analysis technique used to describe roles, responsibilities and reporting structures that exist within an enterprise.
Service (business analysis)
The performance of any duties or work for a stakeholder, from the perspective of the stakeholder.
Business analysis
The practice of enabling change in the context of an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.
Requirements allocation
The process of assigning requirements to be implemented by specific solution components.
Validation (business analysis)
The process of checking that a deliverable is suitable for its intended use. See also requirements validation.
Verification (business analysis)
The process of determining that a deliverable or artifact meets an acceptable standard of quality. See also requirements verification.
Functional Prototype
To test software functionality, qualities of the system, workflow etc Also referred to as 'working model'
Hardware
Tools like printers, photocopiers, scanners allows for replication and distribution of information
Modelling tools
Tools that facilitate drawing and storing matrices and diagrams to represent requirements
Requirements life cycle management tools
Tools that facilitate recording, organizing, storing and sharing requirements and designs
Business analysis tools and technology
Tools those provide specialized capabilities in creating models and visuals for the requirements, trace them to business rules, scope statements, other requirements etc and also track risks, conflicts, issues and defects related to requirements
Requirements management tools/repository
Tools to store and manage BA information
Feature
A distinguishing characteristic of a solution that implements a cohesive set of requirements and which delivers value for a set of stakeholders.
Business analysis package
A document, presentation, or other collection of text, matrices, diagrams and models, representing business analysis information.
Product box
A dummy box
Key performance indicator
A key performance indicator (KPI) is one that measures progress towards a strategic goal or objective
Business process management (BPM)
A management discipline that determines how manual and automated processes are created, modified, cancelled, and governed.
Technique
A manner, method, or style for conducting a business analysis task or for shaping its output.
Return on investment (ROI) (business analysis)
A measure of the profitability of a project or investment.
Proof of concept
A model created to validate the design of a solution without modelling the appearance, materials used in the creation of work, or processes and workflows ultimately used by the stakeholders.
Scope model
A model that defines the boundaries of a business domain or solution.
Request for quote (RFQ)
A procurement method of soliciting price and solution options from vendors.
Program process flow
A program process flow shows the sequential execution of program statements within a software program
Dynamic systems development method (DSDM)
A project delivery framework which focuses on fixing cost, quality, and time at the beginning while contingency is managed by varying the features to be delivered.
Evolutionary prototype
A prototype that is continuously modified and updated in response to feedback from stakeholders.
Vertical prototype
A prototype that is used to drill down into a proposed solution to uncover requirement and design considerations through multiple layers of a solution that are not easily understood or that are not discernible on the surface. It may include interaction between several solution components.
Horizontal prototype
A prototype that is used to explore requirements and designs at one level of a proposed solution, such as the customer-facing view or the interface to another organization.
Throw-away prototype
A prototype used to quickly uncover and clarify requirements or designs using simple tools, sometimes just paper and pencil. It is intended to be discarded when the final system has been developed.
Metric
A quantifiable level of an indicator measured at a specified point in time.
Estimate
A quantitative assessment of a planned outcome, resource requirements, and schedule where uncertainties and unknowns are systematically factored into the assessment.
Repository
A real or virtual facility where all information on a specific topic is stored and is available for retrieval.
Risk register
A register to maintain risks
Validate relationship
A relation between a requirement and its test case to validate whether the solution fulfills the requirement
Neutrality
A neutral approach to risk means that the probable benefits gained from the risk response must equal or outweigh the costs in order to justify action
Business policy
A non-practicable directive that controls and influences the actions of an enterprise.
Crow's Foot Notation
A notation for ER diagram
Unified modelling language™
A notation specified by the Object Management Group for describing software application structure, behaviour, and architecture. It can also be used for describing business processes and data structures. The most common UML® diagrams used by business analysts are Use case diagrams, activity diagrams, state machine diagrams (also known as state diagrams), and class diagrams.
Prototype
A partial or simulated approximation of the solution for the purpose of eliciting or verifying requirements with stakeholders.
Stakeholder collaboration plan
A plan created to enable stakeholder colaberation
Change strategy
A plan to move from the current state to the future state to achieve the desired business objectives.
Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS)
A prepackaged solution available in the marketplace which address all or most of the common needs of a large group of buyers of those solutions. A commercial off-the-shelf solution may require some configuration to meet the specific needs of the enterprise.
Requirements defect
A problem or error in a requirement. Defects may occur because a requirement is poor quality (see requirements verification) or because it does not describe a need that, if met, would provide value to stakeholders (see requirements validation).
Business need
A problem or opportunity of strategic or tactical importance to be addressed.
Need
A problem or opportunity to be addressed.
Governance process (change)
A process by which appropriate decision makers use relevant information to make decisions regarding a change or solution, including the means for obtaining approvals and priorities.
Lessons learned process
A process improvement technique used to learn about and improve on a process or project. A lessons learned session involves a special meeting in which the team explores what worked, what didn't work, what could be learned from the just-completed iteration, and how to adapt processes and techniques before continuing or starting anew.
Model
A representation and simplification of reality developed to convey information to a specific audience to support analysis, communication, and understanding.
Business requirement
A representation of goals, objectives and outcomes that describe why a change has been initiated and how success will be assessed.
Stated requirement
A requirement articulated by a stakeholder that has not been analyzed, verified, or validated. Stated requirements frequently reflect the desires of a stakeholder rather than the actual need.
Transition requirement
A requirement that describes the capabilities the solution must have and the conditions the solution must meet to facilitate transition from the current state to the future state, but which are not needed once the change is complete. They are differentiated from other requirements types because they are of a temporary nature.
Verified requirement
A requirement that has been reviewed and is determined to be defined correctly, adheres to standards or guidelines, and is at an acceptable level of detail.
Validated requirement
A requirement that has been reviewed and is determined to support the delivery of the expected benefits, and is within the solution scope.
Request for proposal (RFP)
A requirements document issued when an organization is seeking a formal proposal from vendors. An RFP typically requires that the proposals be submitted following a specific process and using sealed bids which will be evaluated against a formal evaluation methodology.
Revenue stream
A revenue stream is a way or method by which revenue comes into an enterprise from each customer segment in exchange for the realization of a value proposition
Definitional business rule
A rule that indicates something is necessarily true (or untrue); a rule that is intended as a definitional criterion for concepts, knowledge, or information. Also known as a structural rule.
Predictive scorecards
A score card enabling a business decision
Life cycle
A series of changes an item or object undergoes from inception to retirement
Process
A set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective by taking one or more defined inputs and turning them into defined outputs.
Quality assurance
A set of activities performed to ensure that a process will deliver products that meet an appropriate level of quality.
Viewpoint
A set of conventions that define how requirements will be represented, how these representations will be organized, and how they will be related.
Questionnaire
A set of defined questions, with a choice of answers, used to collect information from respondents.
Process model
A set of diagrams and supporting information about a process and factors that could influence the process. Some process models are used to simulate the performance of the process.
System
A set of interdependent components that interact in various ways to produce a set of desired outcomes.
Quality attributes
A set of measures used to judge the overall quality of a system.
Agile manifesto
A set of principles prescribed by Agile practitioners
Product backlog
A set of user stories, requirements, or features that have been identified as candidates for potential implementation, prioritized, and estimated.
Interface
A shared boundary between any two persons and/or systems through which information is communicated.
Communication tools and technology
Allows Business analysts to plan and complete tasks related to conversational and collaborative interactions with co-located as well as geographically dispersed stakeholders Emails, instant messaging, voice communications etc are examples of conversation interaction tools whereas document sharing, wikis, white boards etc are examples of collaboration tools
Extend
Allows for the insertion of additional behaviour into a use case
Include
Allows for the use case to make use of functionality present in another use case
State diagram
An analysis model showing the life cycle of a data entity or class.
Concept model
An analysis model that develops the meaning of core concepts for a problem domain, defines their collective structure, and specifies the appropriate vocabulary needed to communicate about it consistently.
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis (SWOT)
An analysis model used to understand influencing factors and how they may affect an initiative. Also known as SWOT analysis.
Cost-benefit analysis
An analysis which compares and quantifies the financial and non-financial costs of making a change or implementing a solution compared to the benefits gained.
Decision analysis
An approach to decision making that examines and models the possible consequences of different decisions, and assists in making an optimal decision under conditions of uncertainty.
Predictive approach
An approach to deliver functionalities in narrow slices
Predictive approach
An approach where planning and baselines are established early in the life cycle of the initiative in order to maximize control and minimize risk.
Adaptive approach
An approach where the solution evolves based on a cycle of learning and discovery, with feedback loops which encourage making decisions as late as possible.
Template Architectures
An architectural framework is a collection of viewpoints that is standard across an industry, sector or organization
Knowledge area (business analysis)
An area of expertise that includes several specific business analysis tasks.
Impact analysis
An assessment of the effects a proposed change will have on a stakeholder or stakeholder group, project, or system.
Enterprise readiness assessment
An assessment that describes the enterprise is prepared to accept the change associated with a solution and is able to use it effectively.
Organization
An autonomous group of people under the management of a single individual or board, that works towards common goals and objectives.
Business (business world)
An economic system where any commercial, industrial, or professional activity is performed for profit.
BABoK®
Business analysis body of knowledge
Creative thinking
Business analysts encourage stakeholders to think creatively in order to come up with new ideas, approaches, alternatives to problems etc They promote creative thinking by identifying and proposing alternatives and by asking questions and challenging assumptions
Organization and time management
Business analysts handle multitudes of information which must be organized and stored efficiently based on importance so that they can be reused when required Prioritizing tasks and deadlines will help to manage time effectively
Learning
Business analysts may have to work in new domains where they do not have prior experience During this situation, they must be open to quickly learn new and different types of information and modify their existing knowledge to adapt themselves to a rapidly changing and evolving environment Learning techniques can be visual, auditory or kinesthetic (learning by doing)
CMM
Capability maturity model - A model developed by Software Engineering Institute
CMMI
Capability maturity model Integration - A model developed by Software Engineering Institute
Collaboration and Knowledge Management Tools
Capture organization wide knowledge and makes it available and accessible to the entire team
Constraints
Constraints are aspects that cannot be changed by the solution or design It can be restrictions on budget, time, resources, technology, infrastructure, policies etc
Certification
Constraints on the solution which is necessary to meet certain standards or industry convention
Change control
Controlling changes to requirements and designs so that the impact of requested changes is understood and agreed-to before the changes are made.
Evaluation criteria
Defines a set of measures to rank multiple solutions options, solutions or solution components based on their value for stakeholders
Information management approach
Defines how BA information will be stored, accessed and utilized during and after the change is complete
Design options
Describe different ways to satisfy business needs Options come with their own set of change challenges and risks
Physical data model
Describe how a database is physically organized It addresses concerns like performance, concurrency and security
Business capabilities
Describe the ability of an enterprise to act on or transform something that helps achieve a business goal or objective
Business architecture
Describes key elements of current state
Objectives
Descriptive, granular, specific and linked to measures to objectively assess if the objective has been achieved
Business objectives
Desired business benefits
Future state description
Desired future state and expected value delivery
Prioritization
Determining the relative importance of a set of items in order to determine the order in which they will be addressed.
Solution performance goals
Goals for solution performance
Business requirements
Goals, objectives and outcomes which indicate the reason for initiating a change
Models
Diagrams, matrices, formulas those abstract and simplify reality in a useful way
Reproducibility
Different personnel reaching same conclusion
Internal Rate of Return
Discount rate at which a NPV becomes 0
Cost as a basis for prioritization
Effort and resources required to implement a requirement Requirements priority may change based on the cost
In-scope
Elements contained by the boundary (as seen from inside) E.g. Functional decomposition
Out-of-scope
Elements not contained within the boundary (as seen from outside) E.g. Context diagram
Cost structure
Elements of costs for any change or product or service
Both in and out scope
Elements on both sides of the boundary (as seen from both sides)
Document analysis
Elicit business analysis information, by examining materials which describe about the business environment or organizational assets
Experiment
Elicitation performed in a controlled manner to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.
Interview
Eliciting information from a person or group of people in an informal or formal setting by asking relevant questions and recording the responses.
Presentation Software
Creation of training material, presentation of information etc
Author
Creator of requirements
Acceptance criteria
Criteria associated with requirements, products, or the delivery cycle that must be met in order to achieve stakeholder acceptance.
Solution performance measures
Current performance of existing solutions
Leasing
Customer has temporary rights to use an asset
Lending
Customer has temporary rights to use an asset
Licensing or Subscription fees
Customer pays for the right to access a particular asset, either as a one-time fee or as a recurring cost
Meta data
Data about data
Data mining
Data mining, an approach to document analysis is to analyze data to group it into categories, determine patterns and opportunities for change
Accept
Decide not to do anything about the risk If the risk does occur, a workaround will be developed at that time
Increase
Decide to take on more risk to pursue an opportunity
Metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs)
Helps in determining whether the desired future state has been achieved
Modelling notations/ standards
Helps requirements and designs to be precisely specified
Approach
High level plan to achieve something
Change approach
High level plan to achieve the change
Risk assessment
Identifying, analyzing and evaluating risks.
Exception flow
If the circumstance does not allow the actor to achieve their goal, the use case is considered unsuccessful, and is terminated
Personal accountability
Includes effective planning of BA work to achieve targets and goals by completing tasks on time and meeting expectations of stakeholders and colleagues
Logical data model
Incorporates rules of normalization to formally manage the integrity of the data and relationships To design a solution
Conceptual data model
Independent of any solution To represent how business perceives its information
Complexity
Indicates implementation difficulty, often indicated by qualitative scales based on number of interfaces, complexity of essential processes, or the number and nature of resources required
Onion diagram
Indicates level of stakeholder involvement with the solution and which stakeholder directly interacts with the solution or participate in a business process
Ad hoc review
Informal review or assistance from a peer
Informal Walkthrough
Informal technique conducted when the work product is in draft state and calls for feedback
Desk Check
Informal technique where a reviewer who was not involved in creation of the work product provides a feedback
Industry knowledge
It is an understanding of the current practices and activities with an industry and similar processes across industries It is also an understanding of the positioning of a company within an industry and its impact and dependencies
Teamwork
It is essential for a BA to understand how a team is formed and how it functions in order to work productively with team members Resolving team conflicts is essential to develop and implement solutions effectively
Goals
Long-term, on-going and qualitative statements of a condition that the organization seeks to establish and maintain For example: We want to be most preferred technology partner to our clients
Passive/Unnoticeable observation
Observer asks questions at the end and does not cause interruption to work
Active / Noticeable observation
Observer asks questions during the process May interrupt the work flow but helps in gaining a quick understanding
Secondary research
Obtaining data from secondary sources such as internet or published databases
Domain subject matter expert (SME)
People with in-depth knowledge of a topic relevant to business need or Solution scope Examples: Managers, process owners, consultants etc
Present Value
Present Value = Sum of (Net Benefits in that period / (1 + Discount Rate for that period)) for all periods in the cost-benefit analysis
Problem solving
Problems are defined and solved so that stakeholders understand the root cause of a problem and the solutions that address it Objectives that will be achieved on solving a problem are stated clearly and alternative solutions are developed The best possible solution is then chosen
Process analysis
Process analysis analyzes processes for their effectiveness, efficiency and identifies improvement opportunities
Process modelling
Process modelling is a standardized graphical model to describe the sequential flow of work or activities
Mitigate
Reduce risk probability or the possible negative consequences
Backlog management
Refers to the planned approach manage remaining work for the project
Close ended questions
See Closed questions
Decision matrix
See Decision table
Plan-driven approach
See Predictive approach
TCO
See Total Cost of Ownership
Requirements Viewpoints
See Viewpoint
Requirements Views
See Views
Operative rule
See behavioural business rule.
Goal
See business goal.
Objective
See business objective.
Policy
See business policy.
BPM
See business process management.
Organizational change management
See change management.
COTS
See commercial off-the-shelf.
CRUD matrix
See create, read, update, and delete matrix.
Structural rule
See definitional business rule.
Software engineer
See developer.
Subject matter expert (SME)
See domain subject matter expert; implementation subject matter expert.
Business domain
See domain.
DSDM
See dynamic systems development method.
User
See end user.
Business (business analysis)
See enterprise.
Cause-and-effect diagram
See fishbone diagram.
Ishikawa diagram
See fishbone diagram.
Retrospective
See lessons learned process.
OLAP
See online analytical processing.
RFI
See request for information.
RFP
See request for proposal.
RFQ
See request for quote.
RFT
See request for tender.
Allocation
See requirements allocation.
Requirements document
See requirements package.
Traceability
See requirements traceability.
RACI matrix
See responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed matrix.
ROI
See return on investment.
Reviews
Reviews are performed to communicate, verify and validate the content of work products
Risk analysis results
Risks identified as critical for achieving desired outcome should be addressed
Identified risks
Risks identified during risk analysis or any other process
Deployment model
Shows how computing aspects are distributed
Decision requirements diagram
Shows information, knowledge and decision making involved in a more complex business decision
Facilitation
The art of leading and encouraging people through systematic efforts toward agreed-upon objectives in a manner that enhances involvement, collaboration, productivity, and synergy.
Scope
The boundaries of control, change, a solution, or a need.
Root cause
The cause of a problem having no deeper cause, usually one of several possible causes.
External interface
An interaction that is outside the proposed solution. It can be another hardware system, software system, or a human interaction with which the proposed solution will interact.
Business problem
An issue of strategic or tactical importance preventing an enterprise or organization from achieving its goals.
Agile
An iterative approach to software development
Business objective
An objective, measurable result to indicate that a business goal has been achieved.
Event (business analysis)
An occurrence or incident to which an organizational unit, system, or process must respond.
Request for tender (RFT)
An open invitation to vendors to submit a proposal for goods or services.
Benefit as a basis for prioritization
Benefit attained on implementing requirements in terms of functionality, desired quality, Business objectives etc Requirements that provide highest benefit are prioritized first
Requirements life cycle
The stages through which a requirement progresses from inception to retirement.
Solution life cycle
The stages through which a solution progresses from inception to retirement.
Evaluation
The systematic and objective assessment of a solution to determine its status and efficacy in meeting objectives over time, and to identify ways to improve the solution to better meet objectives. See also indicator; metric, monitoring.
Project scope
The work that must be performed to deliver a product, service, or result with the specified features and functions.
Value (business analysis)
The worth, importance, or usefulness of something to a stakeholder in a context.
Decision modelling
Decision modelling shows how repeatable business decisions are made using data and knowledge for any decision, simple or complex
Scalability
Extent to which a solution is able to evolve to handle increased amounts of work
Availability
Extent to which solution is operable and accessible when required
Functionality
Extent to which user needs are met by the solution functions
Threats (External)
External factors that can negatively affect the assessed group such as a new competitor, economic downturns, or other forces Threats are also outside of the group's control
Opportunities (External)
External factors that the assessed group can take advantage of such as new markets, new technology, changes in the competitive marketplace, or other forces
Roles and permissions matrix
Roles and permissions matrix ensures coverage of activities by denoting responsibility, to identify roles, to discover missing roles and to communicate results of a planned change
Business analysis roles
Roles which typically conduct business analysis work - business architect, system analyst, requirements engineer, process analyst, management consultant, product manager
Rolling Wave
Rolling wave technique involves continual refinement of estimates Estimate the details for activities in the current iteration or increment and extrapolate it for the entire scope of work
Stability
indicates how mature the requirement is Used to determine whether the requirement is firm enough to start work on Presence of large numbers of unstable core requirements indicates significant risk to project
Urgency
indicates how soon the requirement is needed It is necessary to specify this separately from priority when a deadline exists for implementation
Status
indicates whether requirement is proposed, accepted, verified, postponed, cancelled, or implemented
Ownership
individual or group that needs the requirement, or will be the business owner after the project is released into target environment
Priority
which requirements need to be implemented first
Parametric estimation
Uses a calibrated parametric model of the element attributes For example, if one use case takes 24 hours to develop, it will take 480 hours for developing 20 use cases
Delphi Estimation
Uses a combination of expert judgment and history Include individual estimates, sharing the estimates with experts and having several rounds until consensus is reached
Decision making
When a set of alternatives are available, Business analysts should assist the stakeholders in making a decision by choosing the most appropriate solution based on analysis of relevant information, comparison and contrast with other options available etc
Dependencies as a basis for prioritization
When one requirement cannot be fulfilled unless the other requirement is fulfilled
Derive relationship
When one requirement is derived from the other (Solution requirements are derived from stakeholder requirements
Risks as basis for prioritization
associated with meeting, or not meeting the requirement
Organizational structure
describes the formal relationships between people working in the enterprise
Benchmarking
A comparison of a decision, process, service, or system's cost, time, quality, or other metrics to those of leading peers to identify opportunities for improvement.
Gap analysis
A comparison of the current state and desired future state of an enterprise in order to identify differences that need to be addressed.
Value stream mapping
A complete, fact-based, time-series representation of the stream of activities required to deliver a product or service.
Neural networks
A computer system modelled on the human brain and nervous system.
Change team
A cross-functional group of individuals who are mandated to implement a change. This group may be comprised of product owners, business analysts, developers, project managers, implementation subject matter experts (smes), or any other individual with the relevant set of skills and competencies required to implement the change.
Operational support
A stakeholder who is responsible for the day-to-day management and maintenance of a system or product.
Customer
A stakeholder who uses or may use products or services produced by the enterprise and may have contractual or moral rights that the enterprise is obliged to meet.
Domain subject matter expert
A stakeholder with in-depth knowledge of a topic relevant to the business need or solution scope.
Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide
A standard on the practice of business analysis in an agile context. The Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide version 1 was published in 2013 by IIBA®, in partnership with the Agile Alliance.
Checklist (business analysis)
A standard set of quality elements that reviewers use for requirements verification.
Business goal
A state or condition that an organization is seeking to establish and maintain, usually expressed qualitatively rather than quantitatively.
State table
A state table is a 2-dimensional matrix showing states and the transitions between them
"
A strategic planning and management tool to measure organizational performance beyond traditional financial measures
Competitive analysis
A structured assessment which captures the key characteristics of an industry to predict the long-term profitability prospects and to determine the practices of the most significant competitors.
Root cause analysis
A structured examination of an identified problem to understand the underlying causes.
Requirements workshop
A structured meeting in which a carefully selected group of stakeholders collaborate to define and/or refine requirements under the guidance of a skilled neutral facilitator.
Solution component
A sub-part of a solution that can be people, infrastructure, hardware, software, equipment, facilities, and process assets or any combination of these sub-parts.
Requirements management plan
A subset of the business analysis plan for a specific change initiative, describing specific tools, activities, and roles and responsibilities that will be used on the initiative to manage the requirements. See business analysis plan.
Enterprise
A system of one or more organizations and the solutions they use to pursue a shared set of common goals.
System process model
A system process model defines the sequential flow of control among programs or units within a computer system
Target metric
A target metric is the objective to be reached within a specified period
Create, read, update, and delete matrix (CRUD matrix)
A two-dimensional matrix showing which user roles have permission to access specific information entities, and to create new records in those entities, view the data in existing records, update or modify the data in existing records, or delete existing records. The same type of matrix can be used to show which processes, instead of users, have the create, read, update and delete rights.
Use case diagram
A type of diagram defined by UML® that captures all actors and use cases involved with a system or product.
Sequence diagram
A type of diagram that shows objects participating in interactions and the messages exchanged between them.
Non-functional requirement
A type of requirement that describes the performance or quality attributes a solution must meet. Non-functional requirements are usually measurable and act as constraints on the design of a solution as a whole.
Component
A uniquely identifiable element of a larger whole that fulfills a clear function.
Requirement
A usable representation of a need.
Design
A usable representation of a solution. For more information see Key Terms (p. 14) and Requirements and Designs (p. 19).
"
A value proposition represents what a customer is willing to exchange for having their needs met
Feature tree
A visual representation of planned features of a system
Statement of work (SOW)
A written description of the services or tasks that are required to be performed.
Trade-off
Accept a compromise on a feature based on resource constraints
Collaboration:
Act of working together with other people towards accomplishing a common goal
Verb concepts
Actions those can be carried out on Noun concepts Such as "Create", "Update" This would form sentence like "Create Customer", "Update Order"
Recommended actions
Actions to improve value of a solution
Listening
Active listening involves giving the speaker complete attention and also interpreting and responding appropriately to what he is trying to communicate It includes summarizing and repeating what was stated to ensure commonality in understanding
Relevant
Aligned with organization's vision, mission and goals
Definitional rules
"Rules representing operational knowledge of the organization They prescribe how information may be derived, inferred or calculated based on information available to the business
Asynchronous call
Asynchronous call (also known as a signal) allows the object to continue with its own processing after sending the signal The object may send many signals simultaneously, but may ONLY accept one signal at a time
Business analysis perspectives
5 perspectives of business analysis described in BABoK - agile, business intelligence, information technology, business architecture, business process management
Task (business analysis)
A discrete piece of work that may be performed formally or informally as part of business analysis.
Gane-Sarson Notation
A DFD notation
Methodology
A body of methods, techniques, procedures, working concepts, and rules used to solve a problem
Product vision statement
A brief statement or paragraph that describes the goals of the solution and how it supports the strategy of the organization or enterprise.
Requirements artifact
A business analysis artifact containing information about requirements such as a diagram, matrix, document or model.
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
A business intelligence approach that allows users to analyze large amounts of data from different points of view.
Business model canvas
A business model canvas is comprised of nine building blocks that describe how an organization intends to deliver value
Behavioural business rule
A business rule that places an obligation (or prohibition) on conduct, action, practice, or procedure; a business rule whose purpose is to shape (govern) day-to-day business activity. Also known as operative rule.
Solution requirement
A capability or quality of a solution that meets the Stakeholder requirements. Solution requirements can be divided into two sub-categories functional requirements and non-functional requirements or quality of service requirements.
Functional requirement
A capability that a solution must have in terms of the behaviour and information the solution will manage.
Stakeholder list
A catalogue of the stakeholders affected by a change, business need, or proposed solution, and a description of their attributes and characteristics related to their involvement in the initiative.
Rules engine
A centralized system to manage business rules
Requirements attribute
A characteristic or property of a requirement used to assist with requirements management.
Decision table
A decision table is a compact, tabular representation of a set of these rules
Business decision
A decision that can be made based on strategy, executive judgment, consensus, and business rules, and that is generally made in response to events or at defined points in a business process.
Defect
A deficiency in a product or service that reduces its quality or varies from a desired attribute, state, or functionality.
Metadata
A description of data to help understand how to use that data, either in terms of the structure and specification of the data, or the description of a specific instance of an object.
Enterprise architecture
A description of the business processes, information technology, people, operations, information, and projects of an enterprise and the relationships between them.
Strategy
A description of the chosen approach to apply the capabilities of an enterprise in order to reach a desired set of goals or objectives.
Stakeholder requirement
A description of the needs of a particular stakeholder or class of stakeholders that must be met in order to achieve the business requirements. They may serve as a bridge between business requirements and the various categories of solution requirements.
Use case
A description of the observable interaction between an actor (or actors) and a solution that occurs when the actor uses the system to accomplish a specific goal.
Business analysis plan
A description of the planned activities the business analyst will execute in order to perform the business analysis work involved in a specific initiative. See also requirements management plan.
Business analysis communication plan
A description of the types of communication the business analyst will perform during business analysis, the recipients of those communications, and the form and frequency of those communications.
Plan
A detailed scheme for doing or achieving something usually comprising a set of events, dependencies, expected sequence, schedule, results or outcomes, materials and resources needed, and how stakeholders need to be involved.
Class diagram
A diagram showing classes and their relationships
Entity relationship diagram
A diagram showing entities and their relationships
Fishbone diagram
A diagramming technique used in root cause analysis to identify underlying causes of an observed problem, and the relationships that exist between those causes. Also known as an Ishikawa or cause-and- effect diagram.
Mission statement
A formal declaration of values and goals that expresses the Core purpose of the enterprise.
Request for information (RFI)
A formal elicitation method intended to collect information regarding a vendor's capabilities or any other information relevant to a potential upcoming procurement.
Peer review
A formal or informal review of a work product to identify errors or opportunities for improvement. See also inspection.
Inspection
A formal review of a work product by qualified individuals that follows a predefined process, and uses predefined criteria, for defect identification and removal.
Organizational capability
A function inside the enterprise, made up of components such as processes, technologies, and information and used by organizations to achieve their goals.
Force field analysis
A graphical method for depicting the forces that support and oppose a change. Involves identifying the forces, depicting them on opposite sides of a line (supporting and opposing forces) and then estimating the strength of each set of forces.
Entity-relationship diagram
A graphical representation of the entities relevant to a chosen problem domain and the relationships between them.
Focus group
A group formed to to elicit ideas and attitudes about a specific product, service, or opportunity in an interactive group environment. The participants share their impressions, preferences, and needs, guided by a moderator.
Stakeholder
A group or individual with a relationship to the change, the need, or the solution.
Stakeholder collaboration approach
A high level plan to collaberate with stakeholders
Swimlane
A horizontal or vertical section of a process diagram that shows which activities are performed by a particular actor or role.
Actor (business analysis)
A human, device, or system that plays some specified role in interacting with a solution.
Business case
A justification for a course of action based on the benefits to be realized by using the proposed solution, as compared to the cost, effort, and other considerations to acquire and live with that solution.
Iteration (business analysis)
A single instance of progressive cycles of analysis, development, testing, or execution.
User story
A small, concise statement of functionality or quality needed to deliver value to a specific stakeholder.
Product (business analysis)
A solution or component of a solution that is the result of an initiative.
Requirements package
A specialized form of a business analysis package primarily concerned with requirements. A requirements package may represent a baseline of a collection of requirements.
Indicator
A specific numerical measurement that indicates progress toward achieving an impact, output, activity, or input. See also metric.
Initiative
A specific project, program, or action taken to solve some business problem(s) or achieve some specific change objective(s).
Solution
A specific way of satisfying one or more needs in a context.
Business rule
A specific, practicable, testable directive that is under the control of the business and that serves as a criterion for guiding behaviour, shaping judgments, or making decisions.
Regulator
A stakeholder from outside the organization who is responsible for the definition and enforcement of standards.
Supplier
A stakeholder outside the boundary of a given organization or organizational unit who provides products or services to the organization and may have contractual or moral rights and obligations that must be considered.
End user
A stakeholder who directly interacts with the solution.
Implementation subject matter expert
A stakeholder who has specialized knowledge regarding the implementation of one or more solution components.
Sponsor
A stakeholder who is responsible for initiating the effort to define a business need and develop a solution that meets that need. They authorize the work to be performed and control the budget and scope for the initiative.
Project manager
A stakeholder who is responsible for managing the work required to deliver a solution that meets a business need, and for ensuring that the project's objectives Including scope, budget, schedule, resources, quality, and risk. are met while balancing the project constraints,
Brainstorming
A team activity that seeks to produce a broad or diverse set of options through the rapid and uncritical generation of ideas.
Fish-bowl
A technique in which one group presents and other group critically observe the group
Decomposition
A technique that subdivides a problem into its component parts in order to facilitate analysis and understanding of those components.
Affinity map
A technique to put related concepts together
Project
A temporary endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
Matrix
A textual form of modelling used to represent information that can be categorized, cross-referenced, and represented in a table format.
"
A tool or manual approach to maintain requirements traceabilities
Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, and customers (SIPOC)
A tool used to describe relevant high-level elements of a process. May be used in conjunction with process mapping and 'in/out of scope' tools, to provide additional detail.
Responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed matrix (RACI matrix)
A tool used to identify the responsibilities of roles or team members and the activities or deliverables in which they will participate, by being responsible (doing the work), accountable (approving the results), consulted (providing input) or informed of the completed item after it has been completed.
Decision tree
A tree structure indicating different decision options
Interoperability
Ability of systems to communicate by exchanging data or services.
Adaptability
Ability to adjust techniques, styles, methods and approaches to suit the needs of the rapidly changing environment and also deal with a variety of stakeholders
Maintainability
Ability to change one component without affecting others and without causing unexpected failures, ability to re-use components and testability
Compatibility
Ability to co-exist and interact with other applications
Security
Ability to ensure appropriate confidentiality and integrity of information, to verify when actions were taken and by whom and to authenticate users
Inheritance
Ability to inherit properties of super class
Traceability
Ability to look at a requirement and others to which it is related, linking business requirements to stakeholder and solution requirements, to artifacts and to solution components
Conceptual thinking
Ability to sieved through lots of data and to find the link connecting them all and thereby fit them into a larger context
Core capabilities
Activities or essential functions in an enterprise that differentiates it from others
Activity diagram
Activity diagram uses swim-lanes to show responsibilities, synchronization bars to show parallel processing and multiple exit decision points
Requirements model
An abstract (usually graphical) representation of some aspect of the current or future state.
Release plan
An activity in Agile where stories are assigned to various releases
Secondary actor
An actor external to the system under design that supports the execution of a use case.
Planning poker
An agile approach in estimating stories
Burn-down
An agile approach to track sprint progress
Story point
An agile estimation method
Time-box
An agreed-upon period of time in which an activity is conducted or a defined deliverable is intended to be produced.
Business process
An end-to-end set of activities which collectively responds to an event, and transforms information, materials, and other resources into outputs that deliver value directly to the customers of the process. It may be internal to an organization, or it may span several organizations.
Class
An entity in object model
Feasibility study
An evaluation of proposed alternatives to determine if they are technically, organizationally, and economically possible within the constraints of the enterprise, and whether they will deliver the desired benefits to the enterprise.
Trigger
An event (typically an action taken by a primary actor) that initiates the flow of event for a use case
Temporal event
An event based on time that can trigger the initiation of a process, evaluation of business rules, or some other response.
Document analysis (business analysis)
An examination of the documentation of an existing system in order to elicit requirements.
Tester
An individual responsible for determining how to verify that the solution meets the requirements defined by the business analyst, and conducting the verification process.
Constraint (business analysis)
An influencing factor that cannot be changed, and that places a limit or restriction on a possible solution or solution option.
Assumption
An influencing factor that is believed to be true but has not been confirmed to be accurate, or that could be true now but may not be in the future.
Guideline (business analysis)
An instruction or description on why or how to undertake a task.
Business analysis information
Any kind of information at any level of detail that is used as an input to business analysis work, or as an output of business analysis work.
Supporting materials
Any materials, information, tools, or equipment to Prepare for elicitation, or use during the elicitation
Stakeholders
Any person or group or organization affected by the change or has ability to affect the change
Business analyst
Any person who performs business analysis, no matter their job title or organizational role. For more information, see Who is a Business Analyst? (p. 2).
Organizational unit
Any recognized association of people within an organization or enterprise.
Artifact (business analysis)
Any solution-relevant object that is created as part of business analysis efforts.
Deliverable
Any unique and verifiable work product or service that a party has agreed to deliver.
Entity
Anything of interest to business domain from data perspective
Strengths (Internal)
Anything that the assessed group does well such as experienced personnel, effective processes, IT systems, customer relationships, or any other internal factor that leads to success
Vendor assessment
Assess ability of a potential vendor to meet commitments regarding the delivery and consistent provision of a product or service
User acceptance test (UAT)
Assessing whether the delivered solution meets the needs of the stakeholder group that will be using the solution. The assessment is validated against identified acceptance criteria.
Discount Rate
Assumed interest rate + risk premium
Atomic
At lowest level
Attribute
Attributes define particular piece of information associated with an entity, including how much information can be captured in it (size), its allowable values and the type of information it represents
BPMN
BPMN is an industry-standard that is accessible by both business users and technical developers
Sprint backlog
Backlog items selected for a Sprint
Rough order of magnitude (ROM)
Based on limited information, a high level estimate with a very wide confidence interval
Benchmark studies
Benchmark studies are conducted to compare organizational practices against the best-in-class practices from competitor enterprises, in government, or from industry associations or standards
Behavioral rules
Behavioral rules intend to guide the actions of people working within the organization, or people who interact with it
Functional decomposition
Breaks down a large aspect (processes, functional areas, deliverables, scope, or problems) into smaller aspects, as independent as possible, so that work can be assigned to different groups
Bottom-up estimation
Bottom-up estimation uses WBS technique to estimate deliverables, activities, tasks and estimates from all the involved stakeholders and rolls them up to get a total for all the activities and tasks
Business rules analysis
Business rules analysis is used to identify, express, validate, refine, and organize the rules that shape day-to-day business behavior
Measurable
Can be quantitatively measured
Solution requirements
Capabilities and qualities of a solution that meets stakeholder requirements Broadly classified into - Functional requirements, Non-functional requirements or quality of service requirements
Transition requirements
Capabilities that the solution must possess in order to facilitate transition from current state to future state
CCBA
Certification of Competency in Business Analysis
CBAP
Certified Business Analysis Professional
CPRE
Certified Professional in Requirements Engineering
Solution limitation
Challenges associated with current solutions
Risk as a basis for prioritization
Chances that a requirement cannot deliver Potential value or get fulfilled due to factors like difficulty in implementation, rejection from stakeholders etc
Channels
Channels are the different ways an enterprise interacts with and delivers value to its customers
Business non-value-add
Characteristics that must be included in the offering, activities performed to meet regulatory and other needs, or costs associated with doing business, for which the customer is not willing to pay
Accuracy
Closeness between measured value against true value
Collaborative games
Collaborative games use game playing techniques to collaborate in developing common understanding of a problem or a solution
Survey
Collecting and measuring the opinions or experiences of a group of people through a series of questions.
Monitoring
Collecting data on a continuous basis from a solution in order to determine how well a solution is implemented compared to expected results. See also metric; indicator.
Capability centric view
Come up with innovative solutions by combining existing capabilities
Concept models
Concept models organize business vocabulary, usually starting with glossary
Business analysis performance assessment
Comprises of a comparison of planned vs actual performance, Root cause analysis of deviation from the expected performance, ways to address issues etc
Expected Costs
Comprises of costs to acquire a solution, negative effects it may have on stakeholders and costs to maintain it over time
Glossary
Comprises of key terms relevant to a business domain in order to provide a common understanding of terms
Post-condition
Condition achieved after successful completion of the use-case
Pre-condition
Condition that must exist for the use case to be initiated
Penalty as a basis for prioritization
Consequences resulting from not implementing a requirement It may also be negative, that is, not satisfying customer needs
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Cost of change + Usage cost + Support cost for a period
Proof of Principle or Concept
Created to validate the system design without modelling appearance, materials used etc
Customer segments
Customer segments group customers with common needs and attributes so that the enterprise can more effectively and efficiently address the needs of each segment
PERT (Program Evaluation Review Technique)
Each component of the estimate is given three values: Optimistic estimate or best-case scenario, Pessimistic estimate or worst-case scenario, Most likely estimate PERT value (Optimistic + Pessimistic + (4 times Most Likely))/6
Risk
Effect of uncertainty on the value of a change, solution or enterprise BAs identify, prioritize and mitigate risks by collaborating with stakeholders
Enterprise culture
Enterprise culture may be defined as deeply rooted values, beliefs, attitudes and norms shared by its members which affect their actions
Noun concepts
Entities or objects of interest for e.g. "Customer", "Order" etc
ECBA
Entry Certificate in business analysis
Improvement
Establish ways to increase the probability or impact of events with a positive impact
Corrective action
Establish ways to reduce the negative impact of an event
Preventive
Establish ways to reduce the probability of an event with a negative impact,
Top-down estimation
Estimate efforts for components using hierarchical breakdown
Function point
Estimation method prepared based on functionalities of a system
Use case point
Estimation prepared on the basis of use cases
Ethics
Ethics is a system of moral principles like fairness, consideration to others, resolution of ethical dilemmas, honesty in thoughts and actions etc Ethical behavior includes understanding the impact of a solution on various stakeholder groups and working towards ensuring a fair and transparent treatment towards all of them
Existing solutions
Existing products or services, often third party, which are considered as components of design option
Expected benefits
Expected benefits describe the positive value that a solution is intended to deliver to stakeholders It is determined based on the benefits that the stakeholders' desire and what is possible to attain It is realized over a period of time
Cost of the Change
Expected cost of building or acquiring the solution components and costs of transitioning
Solution knowledge
Experience dealing with commercially available solutions or suppliers can help Business analysts to evaluate possible alternatives and improve an existing solution
Evolutionary or Functional prototype
Extends the initial interface requirements into a fully functioning system Requires specialized prototyping tool or language and produces a working application
Communication Tools (Email, instant messaging)
Facilitates long distance communication
Fishbone diagrams
Fishbone diagrams (also known as Ishikawa or Cause-and-effect diagram) are to identify and organize possible causes of a problem
Five-whys
Five-whys is a process of repeatedly asking questions to find out the root cause of a problem
Focus groups
Focus groups elicit ideas, and attitudes from pre-qualified individuals about a specific product, service or opportunity in an interactive group environment
Form Study Prototype:
Focuses on basic size, look and feel of the product and not on the functionality
Single Issue Review (also known as Technical Review)
Focuses on either one issue or a standard
Functionally oriented structure
Functionally oriented organizations groups staff together based on shared skills or areas of expertise
Usability
How easy it is for a user to learn how to use the solution
Time-bound
Has a defined timeframe consistent with the business need
Implementation SME
Has specialized knowledge pertaining to implementation of solution components Examples: change manager, solution architect, information architect etc
Governance approach
Identifies the stakeholders who will take decisions, set priorities and approve changes to BA information
Risk analysis
Identify uncertainties that could negatively affect value, analyze and evaluate those uncertainties and develop and manages way of dealing with the risks
Delegations
Identify which authorities can be delegated by one individual to another on a short-term or permanent basis
Stakeholder analysis
Identifying and analyzing the stakeholders who may be impacted by the change and assess their impact, participation, and needs throughout the business analysis activities.
Proactive analysis
Identifying problem areas for preventive action
Reactive analysis
Identifying root causes for corrective action
Support vector machines
In machine learning, support vector machines (SVMs, also support vector networks) are supervised learning models with associated learning algorithms that analyze data used for classification and regression analysis
Matrix structure
In matrix model, there are separate managers for each functional area, and for each product, service, or customer group
Input (business analysis)
Information consumed or transformed to produce an output. An input is the information necessary for a task to begin.
Interface analysis
Interface analysis identifies interfaces and interactions between solutions and/or solution components
Paper Prototyping
Interface or process is drafted using paper and pencil
IIBA
International Institute of Business Analysis
Interviews
Interviews are a common form of elicitation technique where interviewers ask questions to stakeholders
Organization knowledge
It provides an understanding of the management structure like the people who occupy key positions, relationships between business units, formal and informal communication channels etc and also the business architecture which provides an understanding of how the enterprise generates profits and accomplishes its goals
Item tracking
Item tracking captures and assigns responsibility for issues and stakeholder concerns
Elicitation
Iterative derivation and extraction of information from stakeholders or other sources.
"
Knowledge areas represent areas of specific BA expertise
Domain knowledge
Knowledge of and expertise in the business domain
Lagging indicators
Lagging indicators that provide results of actions already taken
Leading indicators
Leading indicators that provide information about future performance
Compliance
Legal, financial or regulatory constraints which can differ based on the scenario
Lessons learned
Lessons learned process (also known as a retrospective) compiles and documents successes, opportunities for improvement, failures and recommendations for improving the performance of future projects or project phases
Transfer
Liability for dealing with the risk is moved to, or shared with, a third party
Stakeholder matrix:
Maps level of stakeholder influence against level of stakeholder interest/impact on stakeholders
Market analysis
Market analysis involves researching customers in order to determine the products and services that they need or want, the factors that influence their decisions to purchase, and the competitors that exist in the market analysis can also help determine when to exit a market
Linear and logistic regression
Mathematical modeling done to establish relationships between variables
Reliability
Measure of application being available when needed Includes ability of the application to recover from errors, uptime, or failures in interfaces
Business Process Dimension
Measures indicating how well the enterprise is operating and if its products meet customer needs
Financial Dimension
Measures indicating profitability, revenue growth and added economic value
Customer Dimension
Measures on customer focus, satisfaction and delivery of value
Learning and Growth Dimension
Measures regarding employee training and learning, product and service innovation and corporate culture
Methodology knowledge
Methodologies determine how a change is approached and managed Awareness of a variety of methodologies help Business analysts to quickly adapt and perform in changing environments
Metrics and KPIs
Metrics and KPIs measure the performance of solutions, solution components and other matters of interest to stakeholders
Usability Prototype
Model to test how end user interacts with the system
Visual Prototype
Model to test visual aspects of the solution
Architecture management software
Modelling softwares help in managing volume, complexity and versions of the relationships within the Requirements architecture
Tailor
Modify methodology to suit the context
Pass Around
Multiple reviewers provide verbal or written feedback
Velocity
Number of stories implemented per sprint
Core concept (business analysis)
One of six ideas that are fundamental to the practice of business analysis - Change, Need, Solution, Context, Stakeholder, and Value.
Solution option
One possible way to satisfy one or more needs in a context.
Depends relationship
One requirement can be implemented only if the other has been implemented or easier to implement if the other is implemented
Change agent
One who is a catalyst for change.
Knowledge Sources
Original source documents or people from which the necessary decision logic can be or has been derived.
Alternative flow
Other paths that may be followed to achieve an actor's goal
Accountable
Person who is the decision maker and who is held accountable for successful completion of the task
Persona
Persona is a fictional character or model that depicts the way a typical user interacts with a product
Elicitation activity plan
Plan to guide sources, schedule of elicitation
Sprint plan
Planned activities for a sprint
Change management
Planned activities, tools, and techniques to address the human side of change during a change initiative, primarily addressing the needs of the people who will be most affected by the change.
Requirements management
Planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling any or all of the work associated with requirements elicitation and collaboration, requirements analysis and design, and requirements life cycle management.
Solution recommendations
Possible solutions which can be pursued in order to achieve the future state
Elicitation
Practice of collecting requirements from stakeholders or other sources
Capability maps
Provide a graphical view of elements involved in business capability analysis
Existing Business analysis information
Provide better understanding of the goals of elicitation activity and help in preparing for elicitation
Business analysis planning and monitoring
Tasks BAs perform to organize and coordinate efforts of BAs and stakeholders
Open ended questions
Questions which can have descriptive answer
RACI
RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) matrix, or specific information technology system roles and responsibilities identified in a CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) matrix
Scope of Solution Space
Range of solutions that may be considered
Business constraints
Regulatory statutes, contractual obligations and Business policies Business constraints help in setting requirements priorities
RDBMS
Relational database management system
Satisfy relationship
Relationship between an implementation element and the requirements it is satisfying
Associations
Relationships
Avoid risk
Remove source of the risk so that the risk does not occur
Reporting
Reporting is the process of informing stakeholders of metrics or indicators in specified formats and at specified intervals
Stakeholder map
Represent the relationship of stakeholders to the solution and to one another 2 common forms of stakeholder maps are:
Requirements (traced)
Requirements for which relationships to other requirements, solution components, or releases, phases, or iterations are established
Localization
Requirements which deal with local languages, laws, currencies, cultures, spellings etc
Stability as a basis for prioritization
Requirements with less stability have low priority It means the requirement can change upon further analysis and stakeholder consensus
Background research
Research gathered through document analysis comprises of reviewing materials like marketing studies, industry standards, guidelines etc
Closed questions
Respondents select from available responses Typically Yes/No, multiple-choice, rank order decision etc
Business process re-engineering
Rethinking and redesigning business processes to generate improvements in performance measures.
SWOT
SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
repeatability
Same person reaching same conclusion over a period of time
Cardinality
Term cardinality is to refer to the minimum and maximum number of occurrences to which an entity related.
Scenarios and use cases
Scenarios, and use cases describe how a person or system interacts with a solution to accomplish one or more of that person or systems goals
Scoe
Scope models describe scope of analysis or scope of a solution
Product scope
See solution scope.
User requirement
See stakeholder requirement.
SOW
See statement of work.
SWOT analysis
See strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis.
SME
See subject matter expert.
UML®
See unified modelling language.
UAT
See user acceptance test.
Risk-aversion
Seeks to reduce risks, particularly negative risks and prefers to approach as close to certainty as possible A reduction in potential benefits in return for a more certain outcome is seen as an acceptable trade-off
Basic, primary or main success flow
Shortest or simplest successful path to achieve an actor's goal
Sequence diagrams
Sequence diagrams (also known as event diagrams) model logic of usage scenarios, by showing the information (also known as stimuli, or message) passed between objects during execution of a scenario
Organizational strategy
Set of goals and objectives which guides operations, establishes direction and provides a vision for the future state Can be explicit or implicit
Leadership and influencing
Skills involving motivating people to work together, inspiring them to transform vision into reality, reducing resistance to changes, building consensus etc
Specific
Something with an observable outcome
Source of requirement
Source that has the authority to define the particular set of requirements Consult the source if the requirement changes, or if more information is needed regarding the requirement or the need that drove the requirement
Verbal communication
Speaker uses spoken words to convey BA information, ideas, concepts, facts and opinions to the receiver
Requirements management tool
Special-purpose software that provides support for any combination of the following capabilities elicitation and collaboration, requirements modelling and/or specification, requirements traceability, versioning and baselining, attribute definition for tracking and monitoring, document generation, and requirements change control.
Stakeholder requirements
Stakeholder needs which must be met to achieve business requirements
Informed
Stakeholder or stakeholder group who is kept up to date on the task and informed of its outcome
Consulted
Stakeholder or stakeholder group who will can be asked for opinions or information about the task SMEs are generally considered for this
State models
State models (also sometimes called a state transition model) describe and analyze the different possible states (formal representation of a status) of an entity within a system, how that entity changes from one state to another and what can happen to the entity when it is in each state
SQL
Structured Query Language - A data management language for RDBMS systems
Observation (business analysis)
Studying and analyzing one or more stakeholders in their work environment in order to elicit requirements.
SIPOC
Suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers.
Spreadsheets
Supports Decision analysis through logical and mathematical manipulations
Synchronous call
Synchronous call transfers the control to the receiving object The sender cannot act until a return message is received
Elicitation and collaboration
Tasks BAs carry out to Prepare for elicitation, Conduct elicitation activities, confirm results, communicate and collaborate with stakeholders
Requirements analysis and design definition
Tasks BAs carry out to organize elicited requirements, model them, validate and verify them and identify and estimate Potential value of solution options
Solution evaluation
Tasks BAs perform to assess the performance and value delivered by a solution
Strategy analysis
Tasks BAs perform to identify a need of strategic or tactical importance, how to collaborate and enable stakeholders to address that need etc
Requirements life cycle management
Tasks BAs perform to manage and maintain requirements and design information from start till end
Formal Walkthrough (also known as Team Review)
Technique that uses the individual review and team consolidation activities
Cardinality
Term cardinality is to refer to the minimum and maximum number of occurrences to which an entity related
Requirements traceability
The ability for tracking the relationships between sets of requirements and designs from the original stakeholder need to the actual implemented solution. Traceability supports change control by ensuring that the source of a requirement or design can be identified and other related requirements and designs potentially affected by a change are known.
Change
The act of transformation in response to a need.
Collaboration
The act of two or more people working together towards a common goal.
Context
The circumstances that influence, are influenced by, and provide understanding of the change.
AS IS
The current state
Time Sensitivity as a basis for prioritization
The date after which the implementation of a requirement loses value considerably
Quality
The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills needs.
Architecture
The design, structure, and behaviour of the current and future states of a structure in terms of its components, and the interaction between those components. See also business architecture, enterprise architecture, and requirements architecture.
Business architecture
The design, structure, and behaviour of the current and future states of an enterprise to provide a common understanding of the organization. It is used to align the enterprise's strategic objectives and tactical demands.
TO BE
The desired future state
Risk (business analysis)
The effect of uncertainty on the value of a change, a solution, or the enterprise. See also residual risk.
Requirements architecture
The requirements of an initiative and the interrelationships between these requirements.
Residual risk
The risk remaining after action has been taken or plans have been put in place to deal with the original risk.
Stakeholder proxy (business analyst)
The role a business analyst takes when representing the needs of a stakeholder or stakeholder group.
Business analysis effort
The scope of activities a business analyst is engaged in during the life cycle of an initiative.
Capability
The set of activities the enterprise performs, the knowledge it has, the products and services it provides, the functions it supports, and the methods it uses to make decisions.
Solution scope
The set of capabilities a solution must deliver in order to meet the business need.
Business analysis approach
The set of processes, rules, guidelines, heuristics, and activities that are used to perform business analysis in a specific context.
Domain
The sphere of knowledge that defines a set of common requirements, terminology, and functionality for any program or initiative solving a problem.
Regulatory or Policy Compliance as a basis for prioritization
These requirements take precedence over stakeholder interests as regulatory and policy demands are mandatory They cannot be overlooked
Negotiation and conflict resolution
These skills involve mediating discussions between stakeholders and team members to resolve difference of opinions arising from different points of view and help them arrive at a common consensus
Office productivity tools and technology
These tools are used to document and track information and artifacts
Responsible
Those who will be performing the work on the task
Observation
To elicit information by observing activities and their context
Teaching
Through teaching, BAs utilize different methods to communicate information, concepts, ideas and issues to stakeholders and ensure that they are understood by them
Payback Period
Time period required to generate enough benefits to recover the cost of the change
Performance efficiency
Time taken to perform activities and resource utilization levels
Trustworthiness
Timely delivery of tasks, honesty, consistency and confidence in conduct helps in earning the trust of stakeholders Once trust is built, stakeholders discuss sensitive issues with Business analysts and also give importance to their ideas and recommendations
Group collaboration
To communicate the package to a group of relevant stakeholders at the same time
Individual collaboration
To communicate the package to one stakeholder at a time
Simulation
To demonstrate solutions or solution components
Stakeholder analysis results
Understand stakeholders who need to contribute for understanding and analysis of the current state
Systems thinking
Understanding the enterprise from a holistic view by learning how people, process and technology interact
Absolute reference
Unique numeric (preferred) or textual identifier - Not to be altered or re-used even if the requirement is moved, changed or deleted
Primary research
Use primary research such as surveys, interviews, or direct observations if necessary
Potential value
Used as a benchmark to assess value delivered by requirements
Process centric view
Used to look for ways to enhance the performance of present activities
Enterprise limitations
Used to understand challenges that exist within the enterprise
User Stories
User Stories are a brief textual description, typically 1 or 2 sentences, of functionality that users need from a solution to meet a business objective
Variance
Variance is the difference between expected and actual performance
Viewpoints
Viewpoints suggest what information should be provided to each stakeholder group as different groups of stakeholders have different concerns It defines how requirements will be represented, related and organized
Views
Views describe actual requirements and designs that are produced A collection of views makes up the Requirements architecture for a specific solution
Storyboarding
Visually and textually details the sequence of activities
Heterogeneous group
When the group has dissimilar characteristics
Homogeneous group
When the group has similar characteristics
Extensibility
Whether the solution is able to incorporate new functionality
Risk-seeking
Willingness to accept relatively high risks in order to maximize the potential benefit Risk-seekers may accept low chances of success if the benefits of success are higher
Requirements verification
Work done to evaluate requirements to ensure they are defined correctly and are at an acceptable level of quality. It ensures the requirements are sufficiently defined and structured so that the solution
Requirements validation
Work done to evaluate requirements to ensure they support the delivery of the expected benefits and are within the solution scope.
Non-value-add
aspects and activities for which the customer is not willing to pay
Value-add
characteristics, features, and business activities for which the customer is willing to pay
Organizational culture
deals with the beliefs, values and norms shared by the members of an organization
Organizational model
is a visual representation of the organizational unit
Renting
the customer has temporary rights to use an asset
Revenue thorough sales
the customer is granted ownership rights to a specific product
Transaction or Usage fees
the customer pays each time they use a good or service
