Fundamentals of Business Analysis (including BCS Requirements Engineering)

Course summary

The Fundamentals of Business Analysis is our most practical course for those wanting to learn and practise techniques used by business analysts in agile and waterfall projects.

This course is not in our public schedule at the current time but please let us know if you would be interested in attending a public event.

Suitable for

Practising business analysts and product owners recently placed into the role and those already working in IT or project environments who want to acquire practical skills and techniques that can be applied back in the workplace, as well as achieving a recognised accreditation.

Course Dates

What is included?

• 5-day tutor led training course
• BCS Certificate in Requirements Engineering multiple-choice exam, set and marked by BA Training Solutions taken at the end of the course
• Course notes and exercise workbook
• 2 sample exam papers
• Experienced tutors who have also worked on business change projects for at least 10 years
• Maximum 10 delegates per course
• Real-life case studies to apply techniques learnt
• Post-course access to careers advice from practising business analysts

Course description

This 5-day course focuses on learning practical business analysis skills that can be used in the workplace. Course delegates should be able to return to their working environments and work as an effective Business Analyst, immediately adding value and building relationships with project stakeholders.

The Fundamentals of Business Analysis course focuses on learning how to do business analysis in the real world in both agile and formal/waterfall environments. It also covers the whole of the syllabus for the BCS certificate in Requirements Engineering, meaning delegates have the option of taking this exam at the end of the course.

The course is very practical with around 50% of training time devoted to individual and team exercises. During the course, delegates will attend daily stand-ups, produce a product vision & user stories, perform poker planning, produce prototypes, process & data models, and interview stakeholders. A simple case study is used throughout the course enabling attendees to experience the lifecycle of a project and the deliverables produced. At each stage, delegates will learn how to assess the factors which may influence the level of agility or formality required in the approach taken.

Delegates work in teams simulating a real project and are encouraged to make short informal presentations at the end of some exercises to build their confidence and develop the skills of peer review.

Click for a detailed course description

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, delegates will be able to:

• Integrate into a project or team environment with an understanding of their role, key responsibilities and relationship with fellow project members
• Apply 80:20 and end-to-end thinking to deliver early business value and right first-time solutions
• Engage business stakeholders to define vision and scope for a project
• Engage business stakeholders to gather and document different types and levels of requirement
• Understand how Agile and Waterfall approaches affect the BA’s work
• Break-down complex business scenarios or problems into process and data models
• Document business and IT requirements as epics, user stories, features or catalogue entries
• Validate user stories or requirements against defined quality criteria
• Support prioritising, estimating and planning processes for an effective transition from requirements to solution
• Confidently present findings to business stakeholders and their project team

Course structure

The Fundamentals of Business Analysis course covers a number of different modules. The course is run in the style of a project taking delegates from start-up through to delivery with elements of each module being covered when relevant, and also contrasting agile and formal approaches at each stage.

• Module 1 – Introduction to the Business Analyst Role
• Module 2 – Starting a Project (Initiation and Vision)
• Module 3 – Agile Principles and Terminology
• Module 4 – Requirements, User Stories and Features
• Module 5 – Interviewing, Workshops and Elicitation Techniques
• Module 6 – Managing Delivery (Prototyping, Documenting Detailed Requirements, Supporting Business Implementation)
• Module 7 – Business Analysis Tools and Techniques (Process, Use Case and Data Modelling)
• Module 8 – Requirements Engineering Techniques

To view or print the full BCS syllabus for Requirements Engineering please click here.

Course preparation

The exam for this course is based on around 5 chapters from the BCS publication ‘Business Analysis – Third or Fourth Edition’. It is strongly recommended that delegates purchase and read the relevant chapters before attending the course. This will greatly increase their chances of passing the exam.

Additional course information

Courses run from approximately 9:30 am until 5:15 pm Monday – Thursday, 9:30 am to 3:30 pm Friday. During the last 1 hour of the course, candidates have the option to sit the BCS Requirement Engineering exam. The exam is taken online with the result given upon completion.

Around 1 hour of optional homework may be given out on each day of the course to support preparation for the BCS Requirements Engineering exam.

On-site clients may wish to run this course as a split delivery over 2 separate weeks to reduce the level of intensity and minimise disruption to project work.

BCS Examination and Accreditation Details

Delegates interested in achieving a formal qualification can sit the BCS Requirements Engineering exam on the final afternoon of this course. The cost of the exam is always included in our course prices. The format of the exam is one-hour multiple-choice. The exam is closed book (no materials can be referred to). Candidates need to achieve a minimum of 25 marks out of 40 to pass. Requirements Engineering is one of four modules required for the BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis.

Delegates will attempt the equivalent of 2 sample exam papers during the course.

Part of the BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis

Attendees of this course seeking the diploma will need to take 3 further modules. We offer the following alternative routes for completing the remaing modules:

• BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis – 3-day classroom/virtual course OR Self-Study manual with online exam.
• BCS Business Analysis Practice – 3-day virtual or 2-day classroom.
• BCS Modelling Business Processes – 3-day virtual or 2-day classroom.