Knowledge Areas BA

7/29/2019 Knowledge Areas BA

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Knowledge Areas define what a practitioner of business analysis needs to understand and the tasks a practitioner must be

able to perform.

Business analysts are likely to perform tasks from all knowledge areas in rapid succession, iteratively, or simultaneously.

Tasks may be performed in any order as long as the required inputs are available.

In principle, a business analysis effort may start with any task, although the most likely candidates areDefine Business

Need orEvaluate Solution Performance.

Knowledge areas are not intended to represent phases in a project. It is certainly possible and permissible to proceed from

performing enterprise analysis activities, to requirements analysis activities, to solution assessment and validation

activities, and treat each as a distinct phase in a project.

However, theBABOK Guide does not require that you do so, and it should not be construed as a methodology for the

performance of business analysis.

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring covers how BAs determine which activities are necessary in order to

complete a business analysis effort.

It covers identification of stakeholders, selection of business analysis techniques, the process that will be used to manage

requirements, and how to assess the progress of the work.

The tasks in this knowledge area govern the performance of all other business analysis tasks.

INPUTS TASKS OUTPUTS

BA Performance Metrics

Business Need

Enterprise Architecture

Expert Judgment

Organizational Process

Assets

Plan BA Approach

Conduct Stakeholder Analysis

Plan BA Activities

Plan BA Communication

Plan Requirements Management

Process

Manage BA Performance

BA Approach

BA Communication Plan

BA Performance Assessment

BA Plan(s)

BA Process Assets

Requirement Management Plan

Stakeholder list, role &

responsibilities

Elicitation describes how BAs work with stakeholders to identify & understand their needs & concerns, and understandthe environment in which they work

The purpose of elicitation is to ensure that a stakeholders actual underlying needs are understood, rather than their stated

or superficial desires.


Business Case

Business Need

Organizational Process Assets

Requirement Management Plan

Solution Scope

Stakeholder List, Roles and

Responsibilities

Prepare for Elicitation

Conduct Elicitation

Activity

Document Elicitation

ActivityConfirm Elicitation Results

Elicitation Results

Scheduled

Resources

Stakeholder

Concern

Supporting

Materials


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Requirements Management and Communication describes how business analysts manage conflicts, issues and changes

in order to ensure that stakeholders and the project team remain in agreement on the solution scope, how requirements are

communicated to stakeholders, and how knowledge gained by the business analyst is maintained for future use.


BA Communication Plan

Organizational Process AssetsRequirements

Requirements Management Plan

Requirement Structure

Solution Scope

Stakeholder List, Role and

Responsibilities

Manage Solution Scope andRequirements

Manage Requirements

Traceability

Maintain Requirements for Re-use

Prepare Requirement Package

Communicate Requirements

Requirements

(Approved)Requirements

(Communicated)

Requirements

(Maintained and

Reusable)

Requirements (Traced)

Requirements Package

Enterprise Analysis describes how business analysts identify a business need, refine and clarify the definition of thatneed, and define a solution scope that can feasibly be implemented by the business.

This knowledge area describes problem definition and analysis, business case development, feasibility studies, and the

definition of solution scope.


Assumptions and Constraints

Business Goals and Objectives

Enterprise Architecture


Requirements (Stated)

Solution Performance

Assessment

Stakeholder Concern

Define Business Need

Assess Capability Gaps

Determine Solution Approach

Define Solution Scope

Define Business Case

Business Case

Business Need

Required

Capabilities

Solution Approach

Solution Scope

Requirements Analysis describes how business analysts prioritize and progressively elaborate stakeholder and solution

requirements in order to enable the project team to implement a solution that will meet the needs of the sponsoring

organization and stakeholders.

It involves analyzing stakeholder needs to define solutions that meet those needs, assessing the current state of the

business to identify and recommend improvements, and the verification and validation of the resulting requirements.


Business Case

Business Need

Requirements


Requirements Management Plan

Stakeholder Concern

Stakeholder List, Roles and

Responsibilities

Solution Scope

Prioritize Requirements

Organize Requirements

Specify and Model

Requirements

Define Assumptions and

Constraints

Verify Requirements

Validate Requirements


Requirements StructureRequirements (Prioritized)

Requirements (Validated)

Requirements (Verified)

Stakeholder Or Solution

Requirements

Solution Assessment and Validation describes how business analysts assess proposed solutions to determine whichsolution best fits the business need, identify gaps and shortcomings in solutions, and determine necessary workarounds or

changes to the solution.


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It also describes how business analysts assess deployed solutions to see how well they met the original need so that the

sponsoring organization can assess the performance and effectiveness of the solution.



Enterprise ArchitectureRequirements

Solution Option (s)

Solution Performance Metrics

Solution Scope

Stakeholder Concern

Solution (Constructed, Deployed, Or

Designed)

Assess Proposed Solution

Allocate RequirementsAssess Organizational

Readiness

Define Transition

Requirements

Validate Solution

Evaluate Solution

Performance

Assessment of Proposed

Solution

Identified Defects

Mitigating Actions

Organizational Readiness

Assessment

Requirements (Allocated)

Transition Requirements

Solution Performance

Assessment

Solution Validation

Assessment

Underlying Competencies describes the behaviors, knowledge, and other characteristics that support the effective

performance of business analysis.

Documents

Knowledge Areas BA