Professional Training

Online course dates

Our online courses run Monday to Thursday: Full day (9-5), half-day (9-1), full day (9-5), half-day (9-1).

Prerequisites

Participants are expected to have reviewed chapter 7 and 8 of the BCS publication BCS Business Analysis, Paul, Yeates & Cadle (3rd Edition).

Who should attend

This Practitioner certificate is relevant to Business Analysts, Business Change Managers, Product Owners, or anyone seeking an introduction to organisational strategy and making a business case for change.
The course is also aimed at individuals who would like to achieve the internationally recognised BCS Certificate in Business Analysis Practice, on their path to achieving the BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis.

Course Objectives

On completion of the Business Analysis Practice course, delegates will have knowledge, understanding and experience applying Business Analysis Practice principles and techniques in:
The breadth of the Business Analyst (BA) role, the value of the role, and the skills required
The processes and techniques of strategy analysis
Investigation of an oranisation’s business systems in order to uncover the problems and issues occurring within them
The importance of, and techniques used within, stakeholder management and the need for analysing perspectives
Conceptual modelling through the use of business activity models
Recommendations for business improvements and how they may be identified through gap analysis between desired and current business models
The role of business case within the business change lifecycle, including the contents of a business case for the development and implementation of business changes

The Context For Business Process Modelling

The purpose and benefits of business process modelling
The three-level business process hierarchy
The importance of the process view versus the functional view of an organisation
Using POPIT for impact analysis of new process design
Approaches to implementing business change

The Organisational Context for Business Processes

Construction of an organisational level model of business process for a given business scenario
Distinguish between external and internal elements of an organisational model
How business processes on an organisational model support delivery of the value proposition

Modelling the Business Processes

Construct a Business Process Model for a given business scenario using Actors, Swim Lanes, Tasks, Decision Points, Guard Conditions, Start Points, End Points, Process Flows, Joins and Forks.
The importance of a standard notation set
The relationship between Process, Task, and Step
Using OPOPOT and representing Tasks
Identifying external, internal, and time-based business events
Internal Performance Measure and Customer expectations of performance

Documenting tasks

Constructing a Task description for a given business scenario
Documenting a Task using UML activity diagram notation
Documenting a Task using structured English

Improving Business Processes

Different approaches to improving Business Processes
Challenging business rules and assumptions
Performance issues in Business Processes
Challenging the business rules
Using business scenarios to identify combinations of conditions to be supported
Identifying Functional Requirements for IT System support of a Business Process
Using Gap Analysis on a “To Be” Business Process model

Exam Format

Certification is dependent on correctly answering 26 out of 40 (65%) multiple-choice questions in an exam. The Exam is currently delivered online,
closed-book, and has a duration of 60 minutes. Additional time is available under certain circumstances, which are outlined on the BCS website. Once you have registered for this course, the BCS Exams Office will contact you to explain how you can schedule your online exam.

Recommended Follow-on Courses

Related courses leading to the BCS Business Analysis Diploma:
BCS Requirements Engineering
BCS Business Analysis Practice
BCS Business Analysis Foundation Level