Course Description

This three-day course is designed to provide Business Analysts with the skills required for involvement in strategy development, pre-project activities, and developing and managing enterprise architecture.

This course is appropriate for experienced Business Analysts who are looking to formalize their experience through education as well as junior Business Analysts or those looking to enter the profession.

During this course you will learn the tasks and techniques outlined in the Enterprise Analysis and Solution Assessment and Validation Knowledge Areas within the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®) v3. Through discussions, examples and hands-on exercises, you will recognize business goals and objectives, identify business problem or opportunity, analyze business problems or opportunities, identify viable solutions to these problems or opportunities, evaluate to select the most optimal solution, prepare and defend a business case. In addition, you will prepare procurement documents including a request for proposal, receive and evaluation proposals based on defined decision criteria, assess organizational readiness, and apply data conversion strategy and mapping to existing data.

What You Will Learn

Participants will gain practical skills to:

• Discuss enterprise analysis tasks and techniques
• Analyze and document a business problem
• Devise a business case
• Contrast viable solutions against developed decision criteria
• List possible solutions and approaches
• Evaluate causes through the application of problem analysis techniques
• Isolate major causes of business problem and where to focus resources
• List types of gap analyses
• Assess limitations through the creation of a gap analysis
• Recall the phases of the project life cycle
• Conduct a Strength Weakness Opportunity Threat (SWOT) analysis
• Appraise competitive intelligence through a benchmarking study
• Build on previously learned techniques to develop high level requirements for the business case
• Defend business case recommendations
• List the sections of an RFP
• Describe the steps in RFP development and vendor selection
• Apply data conversion strategy and mapping to existing data

Who Should Attend

The Enterprise and Strategic Analysis is appropriate for individuals who are:

• Pursuing a career in Business Analysis
• Business or Information Systems managers or staff who is new to business analysis
• Experienced Business Analysts requiring better understanding of the role, or desiring formal recognition through certification
• Project staff or managers currently combining the role
• Business Analyst role with other duties
• Business staff or managers who are working in Business Analyst environments, needing to interact with project managers and business analysts

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course. It functions as a stand alone-course.

Course Outline

Day 1 - registration/check-in will start at 8:00 a.m. with sessions to begin at 8:30 a.m. and adjourn at 4:00 p.m. Days 2-3 will commence at 8:30 a.m. and adjourn at 4:00 p.m. There will be 15 minute mid-morning and afternoon breaks. A light lunch is included from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m.

Introduction

• Course Introduction
• Enterprise analysis
• Solution assessment and validation

Business Need

• Business goals and objectives
• Business problem or opportunity statement
• Business requirements
• Root Cause Analysis
• Process flows
• Cause and effect diagram
• Pareto diagram
• SWOT Analysis
• Benchmarking
• Completing gap analysis
• Uses of gap analysis
• Gap analysis process
• Gap analysis techniques

Viable Solution

• Best practices for determining solution
• Decision criteria
• Alternative solutions
• Decision matrices
• Cost benefit analysis

The Business Case

• Purpose of a business case
• Approaches for developing a business case
• Presenting a business case

Solution Assessment and Valuation

• Writing and evaluating an RFP
• Assess sample proposals
• Assessing organizational readiness
• Completing force field analysis
• Defining transitional requirements
• Data conversion strategy
• Data Mapping

Notes

Testimonials

"Very knowledgeable and engaging instructor, very enthusiastic."

Sergey Averin
Enterprise & Strategic Analysis, November 2015

"The instructor was exceptionally knowledgeable."

Gary Carter,
Enterprise & Strategic Analysis, November 2014

"The instructor was very engaging, used real-world examples."

Matt Dickinson,
Enterprise & Strategic Analysis, November 2014

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Business Analysis Certificate Program : Required
• Project Management (Classroom) : Elective(s)