ECBA General Questions

Marie has joined a new project as a Business Analyst. She attended a meeting with her new team members. During this meeting, Marie learned that the project will be following an adaptive approach to requirements gathering. She also heard below statements. Which of the following statements is accurate about adaptive approaches? a. In adaptive approach, mandatory requirements are often limited to a prioritized requirements list. b. Adaptive approaches typically call for formal documentations and representations. c. In adaptive approach, planning may be done, but it is not essential. d. In adaptive approach, tasks are performed in specific phases.

**a. In adaptive approach, mandatory requirements are often limited to a prioritized requirements list. Adaptive approach means agile. This statement is accurate about agile. The prioritized list is called the "product backlog." b. Adaptive approaches typically call for formal documentations and representations. This is not true about agile. There are no pre-determined documentation formats in agile. Anything suitable can be used. c. In adaptive approach, planning may be done, but it is not essential. This is not true. All agile approaches have some level of planning done mandatorily. d. In adaptive approach, tasks are performed in specific phases. Not correct. Most agile approaches are iterative.

Nick is a business analyst in a project within which an analysis of the business analysis performance has just been completed. Which of the following actions would Nick take depending on the analysis results? a. Preventive, corrective, or improvement. b. Avoid, transfer, or mitigate. c. Preventive, corrective, or leverage. d. Transfer, mitigate, or accept.

**a. Preventive, corrective, or improvement. These are the standard actions suggested in BABOK. b. Avoid, transfer, or mitigate. These are not the correct actions to manage BA performance. c. Preventive, corrective, or leverage. Leverage is not the correct action to manage BA performance. d. Transfer, mitigate, or accept. These are not the correct actions to manage BA performance.

Roy is a business analyst and he is working with his project manager to automate a manual process. They are working together on a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to break down which type of scope? a. Project Scope b. Product Scope c. Process Scope d. Solution Scope

**a. Project Scope. A Work Breakdown Structure is a tool to help break down project into smaller tasks. "The WBS organizes and defines the entire scope of the project." b. Product Scope. WBS is not used to breakdown scope of a product. c. Process Scope. WBS is not used to breakdown scope of a product. d. Solution Scope WBS is not used to breakdown scope of a product.

Mary is a business analyst who has collaborated with stakeholders and successfully identified the primary root cause related to the business need. She and her team have generated alternative solutions and forecasted the cost and benefit associated with each option. However, the decision-maker still isn't sold. What might be missing from Mary's presentation? a. The costs and benefits associated with doing nothing. b. The root cause wasn't presented so the alternative solutions are lacking context c. Assumptions and constraints d. Net present value and internal rate of return.

**a. The costs and benefits associated with doing nothing. The status quo is always considered as an option and presented along with other solution alternatives. The costs associated with doing nothing might force the management to take some action. b. The root cause wasn't presented so the alternative solutions are lacking context. This is not correct. The question mentions that the root cause was identified. c. Assumptions and constraints. This info is not enough to make the decision maker approve a project. d. Net present value and internal rate of return. This info is not enough to make the decision maker approve a project.

You are the business analyst for your organization and you are preparing to elicit the requirements for a new business opportunity. What is the prerequisite for conducting an elicitation process? a. You need to ensure that all needed resources are organized and scheduled for conducting the elicitation activities. b. You need to receive permission from functional management to interview and elicit requirements for the stakeholders. c. You need authority granted to you from the sponsor to utilize resources for the elicit requirements process. d. You need to determine which elicitation techniques are needed for the requirements gathering task.

**a. You need to ensure that all needed resources are organized and scheduled for conducting the elicitation activities. The prerequisite for elicitation process includes gathering of all resources needed, and scheduling the resources for conducting the selected elicitation activities. b. You need to receive permission from functional management to interview and elicit requirements for the stakeholders. It is implied that once the project has started, then BAs have permission to gather requirements. Additional explicit permission is not needed. c. You need authority granted to you from the sponsor to utilize resources for the elicit requirements process. Similar to above argument. Once the project has started, the BA need not go to sponsor for explicit permissions. d. You need to determine which elicitation techniques are needed for the requirements gathering task. A technique would make sense only if the people and logistics needed to use that technique are available.

Six Underlying Competencies

1. Analytical Thinking & Problem Solving 2. Behavioural Characteristics 3. Business Knowledge 4. Communication Skills 5. Interaction Skills 6. Tools & Technology

Six BA Tasks

1. Stategy Analysis 2. Buiness Analysis Planning and Monitoring 3. Requirements Elicitation and Collaboration 4. Requirements Analysis and Design Definition 5. Requirements Life Cycle Management 6. Solution Evaluation

What is the purpose of non-functional requirements? A. Addressing educational needs of users interacting with the solution B. Defining quality attributes and design constraints of the solution C. Protecting and preventing access to data that the solution uses or creates D. Describing the likely growth of use of the deployed and maintained solution over time

A. Addressing educational needs of users interacting with the solution. This is one of the NFR - help manuals. **B. Defining quality attributes and design constraints of the solution. This is the correct answer since this is the purpose of "all" NFRs. It is important to realize that the question is asking about all the NFRs and not just one of them. C. Protecting and preventing access to data that the solution uses or creates. This is one of the NFR - data privacy. D. Describing the likely growth of use of the deployed and maintained solution over time. This is one of the NFR - scalability.

What is the use of Business Need in the Business Analysis planning? a) Used as input to decide Business Analysis Approach b) Used as an input to decide Risk Analysis and Planning c) Defines the problem or opportunity for the enterprise d) Makes sure that what the BAs need is provided by the enterprise

A. Business Need is an input to the Plan Business Analysis Approach task. Also, rest of the options are not relevant to Business Analysis Planning.

Communicating requirements helps to a) Bring stakeholders to a common understanding b) Model the requirements c) Prioritize and progressively elaborate the requirements d) Elaborate requirements for implementation

A. Communicating requirements will make sure everyone is on the same page.

This is the reason why business analysts should document additional features and functionalities offered by a solution: a) These features and functionalities may be useful in future b) To demonstrate his/her knowledge c) Since it is mandated in BABOK d) Not really necessary

A. Documented features can be referred in future and may satisfy a need that is currently not obvious, but may be relevant in future.

Which approach would be least effective to resolve a conflict: a) Immediate escalation b) Understanding reasons behind the escalation c) Appointing a third part mediator d) Setting up formal meetings

A. Escalation may make the situation worst, not a useful strategy to resolve conflict.

Which one among following is not a criterion to determine quality for requirements? a) Requirements Approved by Sponsor b) Agreed c) Ranked d) Traceable

A. Only because requirements were approved by the Sponsor does not mean they are good quality.

Which of the below statements is true about predictive approach as compared to adaptive approach a) Requires more formal assessment b) Requires less formal assessment c) Approvals are performed just in time d) Approvals are informal

A. Predictive approaches need formal assessments and approvals.

Predictive approach can be best described as: a) This approach is preferred when requirements can be realistically defined before start of the project b) Risk of incorrect implementation is low c) Agile software development is the typical example d) This approach is preferred while conducting exploratory approach

A. Predictive means Waterfall project. In Waterfall project requirement are defined at the start of the project.

How can project scope be reduced or controlled after requirements have been approved and baselined? a) Requirements Prioritization b) Conflict Resolution c) SWOT analysis d) Problem Management

A. Prioritization can help important requirements to get more attention as well as get them implemented before others.

Which of the below will be considered while prioritizing reputational loss over anything else a) Risk b) Compliance c) Benefits d) Penalties

A. Reputation does not need to be maintained for the sake of compliance nor there are any benefits of the same. Also, there will not be any penalties related to reputation or the lack of it. However, losing the reputation is a risk that companies do not want to entertain.

Validating the solution involves: a) Ensuring solution meets business need b) Ensuring solution is completed within budget c) Ensuring requirements are complete and correct d) Identifying preventive and corrective actions

A. Requirements Validation means mapping requirements to business goals and objectives.

Requirements can be linked with Business Need using a) Backward traceability b) Forward traceability c) Horizontal traceability d) Vertical traceability

A. Requirements are derived from Business Need.

Which one of the below statements is true? a) Requirements can exist beyond current project b) Requirements cannot be reused c) Requirements should be restricted to the current project only d) Requirements need not be managed

A. Requirements can be reused beyond current project.

Stakeholder requirements have which type of relationship with business requirements? a) Derive b) Satisfy c) Depend d) Validate

A. Stakeholder Requirements are derived from Business Requirements.

Stakeholder Analysis is performed as part of a) Plan stakeholder engagement b) Prepare for elicitation c) Conduct elicitation d) Manage stakeholder collaboration

A. Stakeholder engagement planning is part of Business Analysis Planning & Monitoring.

Most of the stakeholders will by default prioritize their requirements as_______ priority a) High b) Medium c) Low d) Average

A. Stakeholder will mostly likely be biased with their own requirements. Hence they will mark them as High Priority.

The business analysis team has decided the business analysis approach for a new project. They have identified the activities, estimated the efforts, and planned the resource needed for those activities. Which deliverable might be the most appropriate to document this info: a) Business Analysis Plan b) Business Analysis Communication Plan c) Business Analysis Stakeholder Map d) Stakeholder Engagement Approach

A. The BA Plan will be most useful to capture activities, efforts, and resources.

Which one of the following roles provides funding for the project? a) End users b) Stakeholders c) Project Sponsor d) Project Manager

A. The BA Plan will be most useful to capture activities, efforts, and resources.

Which one of the following information is not available in Use Case diagram? a) The process that is being automated by the system b) The actors of the system c) The functionality of the system

A. This info is modelled using process modelling.

Business Analysts should focus on a) Requirements stated by Project Manager b) Real needs of the stakeholders c) Requirements stated by the stakeholders d) None of the above

B. BAs should always focus on identifying what is the need and then move on to other details.

Elicitation techniques are classified into how many types: a) Two b) Three c) Five d) All techniques are the same there are no types

B. Collaborative, Research, Experiments are the three types.

The purpose of Confirm Elicitation Results task is: a) To obtain an approval on the requirements b) Get consensus on the documented requirements c) Get the requirements verified d) Get the requirements validated

B. Confirm Elicitation Results task is not performed to gain approval on requirements. It is done to make sure requirements from all the discussions are captured and all the stakeholders are on the same page.

Which one of the following is a constraint: a) Budget is available b) Time is restricted c) Adequate resources are available d) Staff has good skills

B. Constraint means limitation. Only statement B mentions about a limitation.

__________ considers consequences resulting from not implementing a requirement a) Benefit b) Penalty c) Cost d) Risk

B. If requirements are not implemented, then it can lead to penalty.

Which one of the following stakeholders is more focused on design of the solution? a) Business Analyst b) Implementation SME c) Domain SME d) Project Sponsor

B. Implementation SME means developers, architects, etc. They are more focused on the design than BA or stakeholders.

What is the main purpose of "maintain requirement for re-use task"? a) Ensure requirements are not missed during development b) To manage knowledge of requirements once they are implemented c) To build a relational diagram to ensure testing is performed effectively d) To ensure organizational assets are updated with requirements metrics

B. Knowledge of implemented requirements can help in re-use.

Danger associated with informal approval of requirements is a) Software development will take more time b) Defects may be overlooked c) Will take more efforts d) Can provide quick inputs for improvements

B. Mistakes made in the documentation may get overlooked owing to lack of formality.

What is the primary benefit of using natural language to document requirements? a) Natural language is easy to understand not confusing at all b) It is easy to adopt and practice than any other technical representation c) We can write as much text as we want

B. Natural language can be a bit confusing, but it is surely easier to understand than any other technical representation.

Requirements Management Plan contains: a) Process to be followed for software development b) Traceability approach to be used for requirements management c) Solution selection approach d) Approach to select solution architecture

B. Only this option is part of requirements work planning i.e. business analysis planning.

Which one of the following should be considered for monitoring Business Analysis performance? a) Defects in the system due to poor programming b) Feedback received from the stakeholders c) Effort variance in the project management plan d) Effort variance in the software development and testing activities

B. Only this option is relevant to Business Analyst. Others are not specific to the BA's work.

Which one of the below can be used to manage stakeholder engagement? a) Scope modelling b) Stakeholder Map and RACI c) Expert judgement d) Observation

B. RACI will be extremely useful to set and manage expectations with the stakeholders.

BA information can be stored and managed in a) Project Management tool b) Requirements Management tool c) Software Testing Tool d) Efforts and performance tracking tool

B. Requirements Management Tools such as JIRA, Rally, MS TFS, etc. are extensively used for requirements management.

Solution components have which type of relationship with stakeholders a) Derive b) Satisfy c) Depend d) Validate

B. Solution components satisfy the stakeholders requirements.

Who is responsible for ensuring that the business analysis plan is compatible with the project plan? a) Business Analyst b) Project Manager c) Implementation SME d) Project Sponsor

B. The BA will prepare the BA Plan, but the PM will have to make sure that the BA Plan and the Project Plan are in sync.

Enabling change in an enterprise by defining the needs and recommending solution is the role of: a) Project Sponsor b) Business Analyst c) Quality Analyst d) Domain SME

B. The question states the definition of Business Analysis.

A diagram that explains the features of the system is called: a) Deployment Diagram b) Use Case Diagram c) User Story d) State Chart Diagram

B. Use case diagram explains how user can use a system.

What do you mean by Opportunity Cost? a) It is same as Sunk Cost b) Potential Value that could be realized by pursuing alternative courses of action c) Cost of a business problem being solved or an opportunity being seized d) Initial investment as compared with the net present value of each alternate solution

B. When one option is chosen, alternation courses of action have to be let go.

Stakeholder responsible for maintaining IT systems is a) Sponsor b) PM c) Operational Support d) Domain SME

C. As mentioned in BABOK standard list of stakeholders and their responsibilities.

The formality level of details of BA deliverables is based on: a) Industry standards b) Business Analysis standards c) Organizational standards d) Time available

C. Every company has its own formats and processes for conducting business analysis.

Which one of the following is not a responsibility of the Implementation SME? a) Decide and elaborate technical constraints b) Needs to be informed when and where requirements are allocated c) He manages the cost and effort for the project d) Makes sure that the transformation goes smoothly

C. Implementation SME means developers, testers, architects, etc. They can be involved in all other activities except C since that is primarily the responsibility of a Project Manager.

What are the two types of interviews conducted for eliciting requirements? a) Open ended and close ended b) Top down and bottom up c) Structured and unstructured d) Functional and technical

C. Only structured and un-structured are types of interviews. Other answers are not relevant to "types" of use cases.

Which one of the following factors has a strong influence on whether a project should follow predictive approach or adaptive approach? a) Structure of the requirements b) Organization structure c) Risks associated d) Political inclination of stakeholders

C. Options A and D are irrelevant. Organization Structure can be changed or not depending on the need, but the inherent risks associated with a project will play the most important role in defining which approach to choose.

_____________ cannot be overlooked a) Stakeholder Requirements b) Sponsor's requirements c) Regulatory requirements d) Functional requirements

C. Regulatory requirements cannot be missed. If missed, then they can cause huge financial and reputational loss to the company.

If requirement A has no value without requirement B, then the relationship of requirement A with requirement B is of the type a) Derive b) Satisfy c) Depend d) Validate

C. Requirement A completely depends on Requirement B.

BAs will perform all of the following tasks during BA Planning and Monitoring, except: a) Plan Requirements Management Process b) Plan Business Analysis and Communication c) Requirements Validation d) Conduct Stakeholder Analysis

C. Requirements Validation is part of requirements lifecycle management knowledge area.

The boundary of a solution is defined by a) Rules and regulations b) Use Cases c) Scope d) Constraints

C. Scope is used to defined boundaries. Constraints on the other hand suggest restrictions.

Towards the end of a use case document, a BA has mentioned "as on outcome, an order is sent to the Warehouse". What has the BA documented? a) Flow of events b) Actor and his goals c) Post-condition d) Data flow

C. The statement in the question talks about what will happen as the outcome of the use case. A post-condition is usually used to indicate outcome of the action.

A BA is performing stakeholder analysis for a new project. Which one of the following is necessary to analyze the stakeholders and document useful info about them? a) Stakeholder Political Inclination b) Stakeholders Ethnicity c) Stakeholder Attitude towards the project d) Stakeholder Religion

C. This is the most relevant option. Other stakeholder characteristics are not relevant to the project.

Final stage of requirements communication is a) Update the requirements plan with the decisions made b) Prepare a decision package c) Communicate the requirements d) Facilitate the selection of the solution package

C. While planning regarding format, medium, or content creation may all happen at the beginning, final step is to communicate the requirements.

Test cases have which type of relationship with solution requirements a) Derive b) Satisfy c) Depend d) Validate

D. A test case validates a solution requirement.

A business analyst needs to analyze current state of an enterprise because: a) It will help him to determine the set of necessary conditions to meet the business need b) Define how decisions are made about the requirements and designs c) Develop an approach for how BA information will be stored and accessed d) Understand the reasons why an enterprise needs to change some aspect of how it operates

D. Analysing current state of an enterprise will help the BA identify if anything is wrong. If yes, the enterprise needs to be changed to overcome the problem.

Who approves requirements for a project? a) Sponsor b) Business Analyst c) Subject Matter Expert d) Whoever is indicated in the project plan

D. Approval authority is always as defined in the plan. No one can be approval authority by default for every project.

Business Analysis can be performed at: a) Organization level b) Process level c) System level d) At any level

D. Business Analysis happens at all the levels within a company.

Which one among the following aspects best describes the limitations of document analysis? a) Documentation describes as-is state of the system b) Documentation describes future state of the system c) Documentation can be stored for long d) Documentation may be incomplete

D. Document being incomplete is unacceptable

Knowledge of and expertise in a business area is known as a) Governance Approach b) Requirements Architecture c) RM tools d) Domain Knowledge

D. Domain is a very commonly used term in the BA community to indicate detailed knowledge of an industry.

All state transition diagrams must have an initial state and a) Optional States b) Intermediate States c) Review States d) End State

D. End state is mandatory in state transition diagram.

Requirements sign-off may happen in which of the following formats: a) Recorded physically or electronically b) Verbally c) Face-to-face d) As decided during planning

D. No fixed formats.

What are the outputs for preparing for elicitation? a) Organization assets, requirements management plan b) Plan, Stakeholder communication plan, risk analysis c) Observation, prototype, assigned resources d) Supporting Materials, Scheduled Resources

D. Outputs as mentioned in BABOK.

Which technique can be used to measure business analysis performance on a project: a) Stakeholder analysis b) Stakeholder charter c) Risk analysis d) Variance analysis

D. Planned versus actual effort can be compared using variance analysis.

Which of the following is useful to measure effectiveness of the BA activities? a) Stakeholder engagement approach b) Configuration management plan c) Organization modelling d) Performance objectives

D. Predetermined performance objectives can be used to gauge the outcomes by comparing them with the plans.

In agile environments, requirements are maintained as: a) Sprint backlog b) Project backlog c) Release backlog d) Product backlog

D. Product Backlog is the standard way to maintain requirements in Agile.

Which one of the following tools can help you guard against scope creep? a) Stakeholder opinions b) Brainstorming c) Problem Analysis Matrix d) Requirements Traceability Matrix

D. RTM can help us identify if any requirement isn't mapping to higher levels requirements. If yes, then it means some requirement is missed or added to original scope.

How, when, and why business analysts will communicate with stakeholders is captured in: a) Business Analysis Plan b) Business Analysis Approach c) Project Plan d) Business Analysis Communication Plan

D. The BA Communication Plan exclusively addresses the stakeholder communication approach.

The best way to conduct sign-off process is: a) It should be recorded physically and or in electronic form b) Verbal sign-off is good enough c) Face to face meetings to discuss requirements before sign-off d) As per what was planned during BA planning

D. There is no one ultimate way to gain sign-off. We can improvise, but given the criticality of this activity, it is best to proceed as per the plan.

"How many cars are manufactured on any given day" is which type of question: a) Open ended b) Functional c) Non-functional d) Close ended

D. This question is asking for an exact number. It is therefore a close ended question.

Which one among the following can help guard against scope creep? a) Stakeholder opinions b) Brainstorming c) Problem Management d) Requirements Traceability

D. Traceability can help find missing or unexpected requirements.

Requirements must be _________ to be approved, since stakeholders cannot consent to requirements that they are not aware of a) Defined b) Elicited c) Documented d) Communicated

D. Unless requirements are communicated for approval, stakeholders will not approve the requirements.

When defining a traceability approach a BA considers all of the following types of relationships except: a. Validate b. Derive c. Satisfy d. Verify

Validate. Traceability is used to a. validate whether a requirement is indeed implemented using the test cases. b. Derive. The parent child relation in traceability matrix is nothing but an exhibition of deriving a requirement from its parent. c. Satisfy. The relation between a solution requirement and stakeholder requirement showcases how stakeholder's expectations are satisfied by the software features. **d. Verify. Requirements Traceability cannot be used to verify the quality of the requirements.

Rahul is a business analyst working on an eCommerce project. He is studying the product backlog to explore what the team can work on in the next sprint. He will have to analyze in detail the work before grooming it with the team. Look at the options below and help Rahul choose what he should work on first. a. A feature similar to their competitor that they added last week, which helps users to refer friends to the site. b. A feature requested by the finance department related to a new government rule that will become applicable from next quarter c. A bug regarding product filtering that has been reported by users. d. An old calculation logic that needs to be updated before the team starts working on a new feature.

a. A feature similar to their competitor that they added last week, which helps users to refer friends to the site. This is a new feature of the competitor. Before implementing it directly, Rahul will have to discuss it with the PO and other stakeholders about it's importance to them. b. A feature requested by the finance department related to a new government rule that will become applicable from next quarter. The rule is going to be applicable in future. The additional feature can also be implemented in future. **c. A bug regarding product filtering that has been reported by users. Rahul should analyse the bug first. The feature is already in production and it is broken. Customer facing bugs are usually urgent. In terms of priority, any item that has been labelled as "urgent" should be taken up immediately. d. An old calculation logic that needs to be updated before the team starts working on a new feature. Team has not started working on the new feature. This calculation logic can be done in future.

You have been hired as the senior business analyst on a project that will span three years. You discover that solution definitions have been defined and tasks are performed in specific phases. What approach is the project using? a. Adaptive. b. Scrum. c. Predictive. d. Extreme programming.

a. Adaptive. This means agile and in agile, work happens in iterations and not in phases. b. Scrum. Same as above. **c. Predictive. This means waterfall method where requirements are defined in advance and work happens in phases. d. Extreme programming. This is another agile method.

Which of the following lists contain the three common types of elicitation? a. Collaborative; document analysis; observation. b. Collaborative; observation; research. c. Collaborative; research; experiments. d. Observation; interviews; focus groups.

a. Collaborative; document analysis; observation. This is a trick question. They are trying to find three "types" or categories of elicitation. Document Analysis and Observation are actual techniques not types. b. Collaborative; observation; research. Observation is a technique not a type. **c. Collaborative; research; experiments. These are the correct three types or categories of elicitation techniques. d. Observation; interviews; focus groups. All these are techniques and not types.

When reviewing a set of related requirements, you discover that two of the requirements describe the same feature but produce different results. Based on your well - written requirements checklist, you would note that these requirements are not ____________. a. Complete b. Concise c. Consistent d. Unambiguous

a. Complete. Incomplete requirement means that all the necessary logic/information/functionality is not explained. Something is left. b. Concise. When requirements are lengthy (not concise), they contain a lot of irrelevant information which may sometimes cause confusion. **c. Consistent. Inconsistent requirements are contradictory or lead to different results. d. Unambiguous. Ambiguous requirements cause confusion.

Jonathan received an email from his stakeholder that they cannot approve the requirement document that he has shared with them. Jonathan had informed to the Project Manager that he emailed the requirement document to the stakeholder for review and approval. What should Jonathan do next? a. Confront the stakeholder about this non-co-operation b. Ask the Project Manager to escalate this to the Sponsor so that he can make the stakeholders sign-off the document c. Don't do anything. The document will be considered to be approved once the deadline exceeds d. Schedule a requirement document walkthrough with the stakeholders

a. Confront the stakeholder about this non-co-operation. This may not work since Jonathan does not know the actual reason for not approving the document. b. Ask the Project Manager to escalate this to the Sponsor so that he can make the stakeholders sign-off the document. This move may backfire since Jonathan does not know the actual reason for not approving the document. c. Don't do anything. The document will be considered to be approved once the deadline exceeds. This may not work since stakeholders may have genuine concerns about the document which should be resolved before sign-off. **d. Schedule a requirement document walkthrough with the stakeholders. Jonathan had only emailed them the document. May be the stakeholders have some doubts or suggestions. Jonathan will not come to know these unless he walks them through the document listening to their feedback.

If stakeholders are discussing about replacing the existing system with a new one, they need to think about Ongoing cost versus initial investment, Opportunity Cost, and Necessity. But they should not think about: a. Cost of developing new software b. Time required to develop new software c. Money that was spent in developing the existing software d. Enhancements that should be implemented in the new software

a. Cost of developing new software. Stakeholders have to think about this cost for sure. b. Time required to develop new software. Stakeholders have to think about time needed to develop new software. **c. Money that was spent in developing the existing software. Stakeholders should not be thinking about sunk cost. d. Enhancements that should be implemented in the new software. This is also necessary part of

A senior business analyst didn't have a complete understanding of the state of an organization's capabilities internally and where they stood in the marketplace. Which technique should the BA utilize to quickly gain a more complete perspective about the company and its environment? a. Cultural assessment. b. Business Capability Analysis. c. SWOT analysis. d. Business Model Canvas.

a. Cultural assessment. This is not a technique at all. b. Business Capability Analysis. This technique is used for internal assessments only. **c. SWOT analysis. This technique focuses on both internal and external assessments. So, the BA can use this technique. d. Business Model Canvas. This technique focuses more on the business model.

Sam, the business analyst, has completed identification and definition of why a change to a system is required. He has also identified capabilities that the current system cannot perform and are required by the enterprise to achieve the business need. Risks have been identified and assessed. What is the business analyst's next step? Determine architectural gaps. Determine the organizational impacts. c. Determine the business process gaps. d. Determine the change strategy.

a. Determine architectural gaps. No such task in BABOK. b. Determine the organizational impacts. No such task in BABOK. c. Determine the business process gaps. No such task in BABOK. **d. Determine the change strategy. The question describes first three tasks of Strategy Analysis knowledge area. Define Change Strategy is the fourth task in Strategy Analysis knowledge area.

Which of the following activities is NOT suitable for eliciting information using the observation technique? a. Eliciting information when there is no written documentation. b. Informal tasks and workaround identification. c. Recommendations for improvement supported by objective and quantitative evidence. d. Evaluating knowledge-based activities.

a. Eliciting information when there is no written documentation. In fact, this is one of the reasons why observation is needed. If processes were documented already, then observation may not be needed. b. Informal tasks and workaround identification. One of the key objectives of Observation technique is to find out how the users are using the application - are they using workarounds. c. Recommendations for improvement supported by objective and quantitative evidence. Observation is used to find out objective and quantitative evidence for making improvements. **d. Evaluating knowledge-based activities. Not suitable for evaluating knowledge-based activities since these are not directly observable

Agreeing to and documenting these factors facilitates realistic expectations and a shared understanding among stakeholders when writing a business case. a. Financial analysis and value assessment. b. Recommended solution. c. Assumptions, risks, and constraints d. Feasibility and scope.

a. Financial analysis and value assessment. This assessment is presumptive, and not realistic. b. Recommended solution. This option is irrelevant. Only a recommendation will neither set realistic expectations nor develop shared understanding. c. Assumptions, risks, and constraints. These are critical factors that will affect the proposed project on many levels. A healthy discussion about these factors will go a long way in helping stakeholders understand the context and make the right decisions. d. Feasibility and scope. These aspects are not enough to develop realistic expectations and shared understanding.

The corrections department in a large metropolitan county installed a new phone system that integrated with employee's computers. This new system would significantly change current processes but would enable overworked personnel to be more efficient. Instead of being welcomed with open arms, many corrections workers actively resisted the new system and created workarounds to get back to their "usual" way of doing things. What should have been done to avoid this problem? a. Focusing on process improvements vs. expensive new systems. b. Identifying the risk of some personnel resisting the new technology and developing an effective mitigation strategy. c. Performing rigorous problem analysis. d. Performed a more rigorous enterprise readiness assessment as part of the initial project.

a. Focusing on process improvements vs. expensive new systems. If new systems are not working, process improvements may not have either. b. Identifying the risk of some personnel resisting the new technology and developing an effective mitigation strategy. The question is asking about what should have been the mitigation strategy. This answer is also suggesting the same. c. Performing rigorous problem analysis. Problem analysis can be done after the problem has happened, not before that. **d. Performed a more rigorous enterprise readiness assessment as part of the initial project. Enterprise Readiness Assessment would have given an idea about the resistance and specific communication or awareness could have been created among the employees.

When focus of specifying and modelling task is the stakeholder needs, ______ are the outputs. Whereas when focus of specifying and modelling task is on solution, outputs will be______. a. Goals, Business Outcomes b. Stakeholder feedback, solution architecture c. Requirements, Designs d. Objectives, test cases.

a. Goals, Business Outcomes. Goals may be based on needs, but Business Outcomes are not based on specifying and modelling solutions. b. Stakeholder feedback, solution architecture. Stakeholder Feedback is not based on needs. Solution architecture may be based on specifying and modelling solutions. **c. Requirements, Designs. This line is straight from BABOK. d. Objectives, test cases. Objectives may be based on needs, but we don't get test cases as an output of specifying and modelling solutions.

To effectively measure a solution performance what is required apart from knowledge regarding the solution. a. Knowledge regarding the contractual agreement between the client and the vendor b. Insight into the technology used to develop the system c. The stakeholders who had given requirements for the project. d. The business objectives for which the system was developed.

a. Knowledge regarding the contractual agreement between the client and the vendor. The contract may not by default have any info that may guide the solution performance. b. Insight into the technology used to develop the system. Technology used does not in any way indicate performance. Software developed using latest technology but in a unprofessional fashion may still give poor performance. c. The stakeholders who had given requirements for the project. Stakeholders can provide info about needs, problems, or solutions. But they may not be able to provide info about solution performance. **d. The business objectives for which the system was developed. Implemented Solution and Business Objectives are the input to Measure Solution Performance task.

You have been hired as the business analyst in an ongoing initiative. You have completed requirements elicitation and documentation. You now want to review the requirements and obtain signoff. In order to understand who has the authority to approve requirements along with when to expect approval, which of the following would be primarily helpful?:  a. Organizational modelling b. Governance approach c. Legal/regulatory information d. Stakeholder engagement approach

a. Organizational modelling. This will only tell who is who and where they work. It will not give any idea about authority or process to approve requirements. **b. Governance approach. This approach (document) will exactly tell who has authority to approve, what is the approval process, what are the milestones, etc. c. Legal/regulatory information. This info is primarily about the rules and regulations set by the government of the state/country. It will not give any idea about authority or process to approve requirements. d. Stakeholder engagement approach. This approach (document) will idea about who are the stakeholders and how to communicate with them. It will not give any idea about authority or process to approve requirements.

You have been hired as the business analyst in an ongoing initiative. You have completed requirements elicitation and documentation. You now want to review the requirements and obtain signoff. In order to understand who has the authority to approve requirements along with when to expect approval, which of the following would be primarily helpful?:  a. Organizational modelling b. Governance approach.  c. Legal/regulatory information d. Stakeholder engagement approach

a. Organizational modelling. This will only tell who is who and where they work. It will not give any idea about authority or process to approve requirements. **b. Governance approach. This approach (document) will exactly tell who has authority to approve, what is the approval process, what are the milestones, etc. c. Legal/regulatory information. This info is primarily about the rules and regulations set by the government of the state/country. It will not give any idea about authority or process to approve requirements. d. Stakeholder engagement approach. This approach (document) will idea about who are the stakeholders and how to communicate with them. It will not give any idea about authority or process to approve requirements.

Jim has just finished developing a requirements document. He has to share it with the stakeholders for their approval. Before sharing the document, Jim wants to be sure that the document is of good quality so he shares his document with his colleague Emma for a quick review. Which task is Jim performing? a. Requirements Elicitation b. Requirements Specification & Modelling c. Requirements Validation d. Requirements Verification

a. Requirements Elicitation. Elicitation is focused on extracting requirements and not about reviewing requirements quality. b. Requirements Specification & Modelling. Specification & Modelling are focused on requirements analysis and not on quality. c. Requirements Validation. Validation means ensuring all requirements fulfil goals and objectives of the project. It is not about quality of individual requirements. **d. Requirements Verification. Requirements verification is the task of ensuring that requirements are of good quality. One way of achieving this is peer review.

Marie is using organizational charts as her primary tool for beginning organizational modelling to understand roles, responsibilities, and reporting structures that exist in her organization. Which of the following information would be MOST difficult to find using this tool? a. Roles and people. b. Influencers. c. Line of reporting. d. Organizational units.

a. Roles and people. This is what organization chart is used for. Therefore this info is easy to find. **b. Influencers. Organization chart can tell who works for whom, but influence does not always work from top to bottom. Neither is it limited to people working for one department. c. Line of reporting. This is what organization chart is used for. Therefore this info is easy to find. d. Organizational units. Usually organization charts will have this info.

A business analyst realizes that the solution deployed is not being used correctly by the employees of the bank because of the strike called for by the employee's union. This problem is an example of what: a. Solution Limitation b. Enterprise Limitation c. Environmental Constraint d. User apathy towards the software

a. Solution Limitation. These limitations are related to problems inside the solution. Employee strike is a reason outside the purview of the solution. **b. Enterprise Limitation. Any organizational reasons for failure of a project are stated as Enterprise Limitations. c. Environmental Constraint. Employee strike is not an environmental constraint. d. User apathy towards the software. The situation explained in the question points to deliberate ignorance or misuse of the software. It does not indicate user apathy.

Just prior to the launch of a new system, Heidi is hearing a fair amount of grumbling from end-users about the solution. Heidi recommends delaying the deployment of the system until she can perform an enterprise culture assessment. The sponsor initially rejects that recommendation. What rationale might convince the sponsor to delay deployment? a.The assessment will save money in the long run b.The assessment will reveal how widespread and deep the grumblings are so that communications can be targeted in a way so that stakeholders will accept the solution. c.The assessment will help the sponsor understand how various stakeholder groups will be impacted so that the additional needs can be proactively addressed, thus paving the way to faster acceptance of the solution. It will allow the BA to identify which processes and tools within the enterprise will support the solution.

a. The assessment will save money in the long run. The project is already complete, so the possibility of saving money now is unlikely. **b. The assessment will reveal how widespread and deep the grumblings are so that communications can be targeted in a way so that stakeholders will accept the solution. Using this approach the current solution in as-is format can be deployed. c. The assessment will help the sponsor understand how various stakeholder groups will be impacted so that the additional needs can be proactively addressed, thus paving the way to faster acceptance of the solution. Building anything additional will increase the cost. Not a desirable option. d. It will allow the BA to identify which processes and tools within the enterprise will support the solution. Cultural assessment is focused on people and their attitudes, it is unlikely to help in processes and tools.

During a workshop, participants are constructing a container for the product as if it was being sold in a retail store. They are being asked to identify what future users of the product would find beneficial? In the above scenario, what is the purpose of the game? a. Used as an input to the marketing plan by product management. b. Used to identify hidden assumptions or perspectives. c. Used to help identify features of the product being described. d. Used to help identify related or similar features or themes

a. Used as an input to the marketing plan by product management. Not relevant. This is not the purpose of Collaborative games technique. b. Used to identify hidden assumptions or perspectives. Partially correct. Main purpose of Collaborative Games technique is not this. **c. Used to help identify features of the product being described. Collaborative Games are used to develop a joint understanding of a problem or a solution (features/functionality). d. Used to help identify related or similar features or themes. Partially correct. Main purpose of Collaborative Games technique is not this.

When defining a traceability approach a BA considers all of the following types of relationships except: a. Validate b. Derive c. Satisfy d. Verify

a. Validate. Traceability is used to validate whether a requirement is indeed implemented using the test cases. b. Derive. The parent child relation in traceability matrix is nothing but an exhibition of deriving a requirement from its parent. c. Satisfy. The relation between a solution requirement and stakeholder requirement showcases how stakeholder's expectations are satisfied by the software features. **d. Verify. Requirements Traceability cannot be used to verify the quality of the requirements.

Which technique would Nick employ to help identify the real reason for the difference between planned efforts and actual efforts? a. Variance analysis. b. Root cause analysis. c. Item tracking. d. Peer review.

a. Variance analysis. This is used to find the difference between planned and actual efforts. The outcome of this technique is the percentage variance. **b. Root cause analysis. This technique will be employed to find the real reason behind the variance identified. c. Item tracking. Not relevant. d. Peer review. May be some what useful, but cannot say confidently. This is a trick question, many people choose "Variance Analysis" assuming that, the difference between planned and actual is what is being asked. However, the real question is regarding the root cause that is causing the difference. We have to be careful and not jump to conclusion instantly.

Abby and her stakeholders are facing a situation where they have realised that all the requirements for the project cannot be implemented and rolled out as per their expectations. They decide to keep the deadline in mind and start removing requirements which are of lesser priority as compared to others. Which technique is Abby using? a. Voting b. Grouping c. Time-boxing d. Ranking

a. Voting. Time alone is not a factor in voting. b. Grouping. Requirements are generally not dismissed, just grouped into different buckets. **c. Time-boxing. Time-boxing technique involves looking at the available time and deciding how much can be achieved. d. Ranking. Time alone is not a factor in ranking.

When does the task of manage stakeholder collaboration begin? a. Whenever it would add value to business analysis activities. b. Once requirements have been confirmed. c. Once stakeholders have been identified and analyzed. d. Once requirements have been elicited.

a. Whenever it would add value to business analysis activities. We cannot wait to collaborate with stakeholders until such point when our work becomes valuable. b. Once requirements have been confirmed. Requirements cannot be most likely confirmed unless we are collaborating well with the stakeholders. **c. Once stakeholders have been identified and analysed. Collaboration with stakeholders will begin with their identification and understanding of their characteristics. d. Once requirements have been elicited. This will not happen without identifying, analysing, and collaborating with stakeholders.