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Foundation in Business Analysis Course

This Foundation course introduces the essential BA techniques and is your first step towards the internationally recognised BCS Diploma in Business Analysis.

  • Classroom

    Course Details:

    Duration: 3 days

    Price: Virtual £995*+VAT
    London £1325*+VAT
    *includes BCS exam


    Next available course:

    Hallam St, London W1
    Virtual Classroom
    Virtual Classroom
  • E-learning
Who is this course for?

Junior business analysts, customer journey analysts or anyone interested in becoming a business analyst and who needs an understanding of the tools and techniques of business analysis. Foundation in Business Analysis is also a Specialist Foundation module on the BCS (ISEB) International Diploma in Business Analysis.

About the course

The Foundation in Business Analysis course is the perfect introduction to business analysis, setting you on the road to achieving your Practitioner level BCS BA qualifications.

Using the structure of the business analysis process model, this course introduces some of the most important techniques every Business Analyst needs to know – strategy analysis, investigation techniques, requirements engineering and much, much more.

Each course is presented by one of the expert training consultants, all of whom offer substantial practical knowledge of business analysis.

How is the course structured?

To give you more of an idea of what you’ll learn and how the course will help you, here’s a quick guide to the three days.

Day
1
  • What is business analysis?
  • Competencies of a Business Analyst
  • Strategic context for business analysis
  • The Business Analysis Service Framework
  • Investigating the business situation
Day
2
  • Analysing and managing stakeholders
  • Improving business services and processes
  • Defining the solution
  • Making the business case
Day
3
  • Establishing the requirements
  • Documenting and modelling requirements
  • Validating and managing requirements
  • Delivering the requirements
  • Delivering the business solution
Course manual

For virtual courses a printed copy of the latest edition of the comprehensive course manual will be sent to your home address in good time for the start of your course. Our delegates tell us that having access to a physical document is beneficial as both a reference document and for taking notes during the course. In addition, a link will be emailed to you to enable you to access an electronic copy of the same comprehensive manual for convenient future reference.

Delegates will also receive a copy of the Business Analysis - Fourth Edition book.  An essential addition to the bookshelf of every professional business analyst. (with a link to the Publications page of the learning zone)

Is there an exam?

Yes. During this three day course you’ll receive all the training you need to prepare for the BCS Foundation in Business Analysis certificate multiple choice examination. A pass means a Foundation certificate in Business Analysis and that puts you one step closer to a BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis. But that’s not all, as well as covering the entire BCS syllabus, this programme will develop your SFIA skills, REQM, level 3.

For delegates attending a classroom, virtual classroom or online course, the exam may be taken remotely using the BCS online proctoring service. This exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions with a pass mark of 26/40.

Anything else?

You will be given a copy of the book ‘Business Analysis (Fourth edition)’ which is co-edited by Assist Directors Debra Paul and James Cadle, which supports the syllabus of the Foundation in Business Analysis certification.

What’s next?

If this course is part of your BCS Diploma in Business Analysis programme you have a choice of further modules which include the core BA Diploma modules, Business Analysis Practice and Requirements Engineering. Candidates who have already completed Foundation in Business Analysis also need to pass one of the Specialist Practitioner modules, from Benefits Management and Business Acceptance, Systems Modelling Techniques, Modelling Business Processes, Systems Development Essentials and Data Management Essentials. The structure of the certification is shown here.

Full course outline

Foundation in Business Analysis (a three-day course)

Course Content

What is Business Analysis?

  • The business change lifecycle
  • Business analysis principles
  • Variants of the Business Analyst role

The Competencies of a Business Analyst

  • The T-shaped business analyst
  • Personal, business and professional competencies

The Strategic Context for Business Analysis

  • SWOT analysis
  • PESTLE analysis
  • VMOST analysis
  • Executing strategy: the POPIT™ model
  • Executing strategy: the business model canvas

The Business Analysis Service Framework

  • Situation investigation and problem analysis
  • Feasibility assessment and business case development
  • Business process improvement
  • Requirements definition
  • Business acceptance testing
  • Business change deployment
  • Stakeholder engagement

Investigating the business situation

  • Workshops and Observation
  • Interviews
  • Scenarios and Prototyping
  • User role analysis
  • Quantitative investigation techniques
  • Documenting the current situation

Analysing and Managing Stakeholders

  • Identifying and categorising stakeholders
  • Analysing stakeholders
  • Managing stakeholders over time
  • RACI analysis

Improving Business Services and Processes

  • The business process hierarchy
  • The enterprise level
  • The event-response level
  • As Is business process models
  • The actor-task level
  • Improving business processes
  • Customer journey maps

Defining the solution

  • Gap analysis
  • Formulating options
  • Design Thinking

Making the Business Case

  • The business case in the project lifecycle
  • The business case in Agile projects
  • Assessing project feasibility
  • Contents of a business case
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Impact and risk assessment
  • The CARDI log
  • Investment appraisal techniques

Establishing the Requirements

  • A framework for requirements engineering
  • Actors in requirements engineering
  • Types of requirements
  • Hierarchy of requirements
  • Tacit and explicit knowledge
  • Elicitation techniques
  • Building the requirements list
  • Requirements analysis

Documenting and Modelling Requirements

  • Documenting requirements: the requirements catalogue; user stories
  • Modelling requirements: use case diagrams; class models
  • The product backlog
  • The business requirements document

Validating and Managing Requirements

  • Approach to validating requirements
  • Managing requirements

Delivering the Requirements

  • Deciding the delivery approach
  • Development/delivery lifecycles
  • Pros and cons of the lifecycles

Delivering the Business Solution

  • The business analyst and the business change lifecycle
  • Design, Implementation and Realisation
  • The benefits plan

 

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Customer Reviews

“Our trainer explained each module clearly, with real world examples provided. I liked the 'Breakercise' at the end of each module and the sample questions for homework really helped with my learning.”Adam Perrin

“Assist KD's training materials are far superior - easy to understand and follow.”  Danielle Young

“The course was really well delivered… the sessions well planned and executed. I was interested and focused each day.” Aleksy Budaj

“The trainer was wonderful, very knowledgeable, kept everyone engaged and provided great real-life examples. Mural was a great online tool, I liked the breakout rooms, very interactive and engaging for an online course.”  Kerry Webb

“The quizzes each morning and regular end-of-module questions were useful for reinforcing knowledge. A great course… really engaging… from start to finish the experience has been really positive.”  Laurie Stevens

Presenters for this course

Pete Thompson
Pete Thompson
Andrew Kell
Jonathan Buck
Jonathan Buck
Eunice Chen
Eunice Chen
Steve Silsby Profile
Steve Silsby