"consistently high quality business analysis courses"
Faye Macarthur,
Manager Business Enhancement & Support Team (BEST) Professional Services,
Nationwide Trust Limited
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ISEB Diploma in Business Analysis
To gain the Diploma in Business Analysis, candidates must pass four one-hour written examinations
on a number of business analysis topics, each of which leads to a certificate which has value in
its own right. To convert their set of certificates into the Diploma, candidates then attend an
interview with two ISEB examiners to confirm their technical, business and interpersonal competencies.
Core Modules
There are three core modules in the Diploma, which all candidates must attain.
These modules may be gained in any order.
The Organisational Context
This covers the essential knowledge and competencies that underpin the work of a business analyst:
- Sectors of the economy (public, private, not-for-profit) and types of organisation within each
- Organisational structures
- Key legal regulations for business and, in particular, IT
- Business finance.
Business Analysis Essentials
This module provides a set of core techniques for use in business analysis assignments:
- Strategic analysis tools (for example, PESTLE, MOST, SWOT)
- Initial analysis of business problems, for instance using 'rich pictures'
- Stakeholder analysis
- Business perspectives
- Business activity modelling
- Gap analysis
- Business case development.
Requirements Engineering
This addresses how to capture, analyse and document good business and system requirements and includes the following topics:
- The requirements engineering process
- Actors in requirements engineering
- Requirements elicitation techniques
- Documenting and modelling requirements
- Characteristics of good requirements
- Requirements analysis, negotiation and validation
- Requirements management.
Specialist Modules
Candidates must choose one of the following specialist modules to complete their set of certificates.
Which they choose will depend on their own background and preferences (business versus technical, for example),
what their organisation requires and the nature of their current roles. The available modules are:
Modelling Business Processes
This module provides more detailed coverage of the techniques for business process improvement:
- Organisational and context diagrams
- 'As is' process models
- 'To be' process models
- Human aspects of performance
- Managing and measuring processes
- Process improvement and redesign
- Implementing process change.
Systems Development Essentials
This module is suited to business analysts who need a good understanding of systems development:
- The role of the analyst and system designer
- Systems architecture
- Development lifecycles, methods and approaches, in particular the Agile approach
- Systems investigation and development using Agile.
- Quality assurance.
Systems Modelling Techniques
This module provides a more detailed knowledge of the techniques used in modelling IT systems. The techniques covered on this module are those from the Unified Modeling Language (UML):
- The benefits of standardised approaches
- Views of an IT system (process, static data, event-driven, user-interface)
- Construction of models from each viewpoint, using Activity Diagrams, Use Case Diagrams, Class Models, Sequence Diagrams, State Machine Diagrams.
- Consistency checking between the models
- Validation against business objectives.
Benefits Management and Business Acceptance
This module explores the issues concerned with the delivery of successful business change solutions, including the user acceptance and benefits management:
- Defining business benefits
- Planning the delivery of business benefits
- Business acceptance of the IT solution
- Reviewing the business case
- Implementing the IT solution
- Delivering the business benefits.
Foundation in Business Analysis
This encompasses a broad range of techniques within the structure of the business analysis process model. The ISEB qualification in based on the BCS publication Business Analysis. The course covers the topics within this publication and provides the knowledge that underpins other core and specialist qualifications.
- Introduction to business analysis and the role of the business analyst
- Business strategy analysis
- The Business Analysis Process Model
- Investigation techniques
- Stakeholder analysis
- Modelling the business system
- Business process modelling
- Requirements engineering
- Modelling the IT system
- Making a business and financial case
- Managing business change
Oral Examination
The oral examination lasts for approximately 50 minutes and the candidate is required to demonstrate that
they can put the competencies gained in the written examinations into a coherent context.
Each candidate must also demonstrate the interpersonal skills required to function effectively as a business analyst.
Further information
Assist Knowledge Development offers courses leading to all certificates in the Business Analysis
diploma and can provide detailed course outlines, prices and course dates.
Please contact Martin Pearson, either by phone on 01844 211665 or by email at
martin.pearson@assistkd.com.
More information on the Business Analysis Diploma can be obtained at the ISEB website:
www.iseb.org.uk
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