BCS – Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis

Summary of Foundation Certification in Business Analysis

Chapter 1: What is Business Analysis?

1.1 Business Change Lifecycle

  • Stages: Investigate, Consider, Develop, Implement, Manage Benefits
  • Key activities include identifying the need, defining requirements, building solutions, testing, and change deployment.

1.2 Key Principles of Business Analysis

  • Focus on root causes, not symptoms.
  • Seek business improvements, not just IT solutions.
  • Explore options, not just predetermined solutions.
  • Capture feasible and valuable requirements.
  • Cover the entire change lifecycle.
  • Underpinned by a holistic approach and Agile philosophy.

1.3 Variants of the BA Role

  • Enterprise BA
  • Technical/Systems BA
  • Digital BA
  • Project BA
  • Proxy Product Owner

📘 Chapter 2: The Competencies of a Business Analyst

2.1 T-shaped Professional

  • Deep expertise in BA + broad skills in other areas (e.g., communication, systems thinking)

2.2 Three Areas of BA Competency

  • Personal Qualities (e.g., integrity, adaptability)
  • Business Knowledge (e.g., finance, operations)
  • Professional Techniques (e.g., process modeling, requirements elicitation)

📘 Chapter 3: The Strategic Context for Business Analysis

3.1 Strategic Role

  • Analyse, question, influence, and align with strategic objectives.

3.2 PESTLE Analysis

  • External: Political, Environmental, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal, Economic

3.3 VMOST

  • Internal: Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics

3.4 Performance Measurement

  • CSFs (Critical Success Factors)
  • KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

3.5 SWOT Analysis

  • Strengths, Weaknesses (internal)
  • Opportunities, Threats (external)

3.6 Strategy Execution Techniques

  • POPIT™ (People, Organisation, Processes, Information, Technology)
  • Business Model Canvas

📘 Chapter 4: The Business Analysis Service Framework (BASF)

4.1 BASF Activities

  • Situation Investigation
  • Feasibility and Business Case
  • Process Improvement
  • Requirements Definition
  • Acceptance Testing
  • Change Deployment
  • Stakeholder Engagement

📘 Chapter 5: Investigating the Business Situation

Key Techniques

  • Workshops: Interactive but may go off-topic.
  • Observation: Real-time insights (Formal vs. Shadowing)
  • Interviews: Rich, but subjective.
  • Scenarios: Tacit knowledge; time-intensive.
  • Prototyping: Visual understanding; may raise expectations.
  • User Role Analysis: Includes personas; maps user needs.
  • Quantitative Techniques: Surveys, Sampling, Document Analysis
  • Diagrams: Rich Pictures, Mind Maps

📘 Chapter 6: Analysing and Managing Stakeholders

6.1 Stakeholder Categories (Stakeholder Wheel)

  • Classify stakeholders (e.g., internal, external, regulators, users)

6.2 Power/Interest Grid

  • Determines strategy: Watch, Keep Satisfied, Manage Closely, Inform, Ignore, etc.

6.3 RACI Chart

  • Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed – clarifies roles and accountability

7. Modelling Business Processes

  • Uses BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation) to map workflows.
  • Process modeling levels:
    1. High-level (contextual)
    2. Mid-level (overview)
    3. Detailed level
  • Key components: tasks, decisions, swimlanes, gateways, events.
  • Helps identify opportunities for improvement.

8. Defining the Solution

  • Focuses on moving from the current state to a defined future state.
  • Involves:
    • Gap analysis
    • Feasibility assessments (Technical, Financial, Organizational)
    • Business case development
  • Validates that the solution aligns with business needs.

9. Making the Business Case

  • A formal document that justifies the investment in a project.
  • Includes:
    • Background and business problem
    • Options considered
    • Recommended solution
    • Cost, benefit, risk, timescale, and investment appraisal
  • Investment appraisal techniques:
    • Payback Period
    • Net Present Value (NPV)
    • Internal Rate of Return (IRR)

10. Establishing the Requirements

  • Involves eliciting, validating, and prioritizing requirements.
  • Good requirements should be:
    • Correct
    • Unambiguous
    • Complete
    • Consistent
    • Testable
  • Techniques: MoSCoW prioritization, interviews, workshops, user stories.

11. Documenting and Managing Requirements

  • Requirements are recorded in catalogues or modeled visually (e.g., Use Case diagrams).
  • Emphasis on version control, change management, and traceability.
  • Use of tools like JIRA or other requirements management systems.

12. Modelling Requirements

  • Common models include:
    • Use Case Diagrams (actors, systems, use cases)
    • Class Diagrams (for data structures)
    • State Diagrams (object behavior over time)
  • These models clarify and communicate requirements to stakeholders.

13. Delivering the Requirements

  • Supports the solution development lifecycle.
  • Ensures that requirements are correctly built into the solution.
  • Involves methods like Agile or Waterfall, and support for User Acceptance Testing (UAT).

14. Delivering the Business Solution

  • BA supports the transition to the new solution.
  • Activities include:
    • Business readiness
    • Training and communication
    • Benefits realisation
    • Post-implementation review