Nexus – 1. a means of connection; tie; link. 2. a connected series or group. 3. the core or center, as of a matter or situation. In geek’dom – a moderately successful 1994 Star Trek movie that saw one 700 year old guy named Soran (wonder if they’d been reading Tolkien) not only take on… [Read more…]
July 27, 2010 by tapuniversity
A Request For Quotation is a seller selection process where the buyer knows what they need and specifies quantity, terms, even target price. It is a companion, complimentary seller/vendor selection tool to the Request For Proposal. You might use a RFQ at your work place and not even realize it. For example purchasing 100 copies… [Read more…]
May 18, 2010 by tapuniversity
We’ve posted a number of well-read entries on the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) code of ethics, and today we turn our attention to the International Institute of Business Analysis’s (IIBA) values. A copy of their values can be found at http://www.theiiba.org/Content/NavigationMenu/About/GuidingPrinciples/IIBA_Values_2010.pdf. The four core values of the IIBA are: Respect, Integrity, Shared Vision, and Innovation. … [Read more…]
December 16, 2009 by tapuniversity
The Span of Control is the number of people for whom a supervisor is responsible. This metric is most relevant in hierarchical organizations, and in fact was originally a military concept. Simply put, if a manager has five people reporting to her, her Span of Control is five. What is the optimum Span of Control?… [Read more…]
December 15, 2009 by tapuniversity
The User Stories technique is one of 34 techniques described in the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK®). Business Analysts may use this technique to get a general understanding of the functionality that stakeholders want in a solution and why this functionality is important. User Stories are a brief, textual description that consists of three… [Read more…]
October 19, 2009 by tapuniversity
Ethics is part of the BABOK®’s Behavioral Characteristics competency, which is one of six general competencies that a successful business analyst should possess. For each competency, the BABOK lists effectiveness measures. These effectiveness measures for ethics include: making decisions that consider the interests of all stakeholders, being clear with the reasons for decisions, disclosing potential… [Read more…]
October 16, 2009 by tapuniversity
Creativity is part of the BABOK®’s Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving competency, which is one of six general competencies that a successful business analyst should possess. Although some professions such as artist or inventor are heavily dependent on creativity, it is hard to imagine someone in a profession that could not benefit from generating innovative… [Read more…]
October 15, 2009 by tapuniversity
The Business Analysis Performance Assessment document indicates how well the business analysis activities are being performed during a project. It is created as part of the BABOK®’s Manage Business Analysis Performance task which also plans how the performance of business analysis activities will be measured and reported. The Business Analysis Performance Assessment should contain a… [Read more…]
October 14, 2009 by tapuniversity
Effective communication among team members and other stakeholders is critical for project success. Specifically planning how communication will occur concerning the business analysis component of a project is outlined in the Business Analysis Communication Plan. This document is created through the BABOK®’s Plan Business Analysis Communication task. The Business Analysis Communication Plan describes the requirements… [Read more…]
October 13, 2009 by tapuniversity
Requirements (something needed by a stakeholder to meet a solution) have a number of attributes. The BABOK®’s Plan Requirements Management Process task provides a listing of common requirements attributes and their definitions. Documenting the attributes of individual requirements aids in the management of all the project’s requirements. Here is a listing of ten commonly documented… [Read more…]
October 12, 2009 by tapuniversity
The Business Analysis Plan is the roadmap that guides all later business analysis tasks. It describes the scope of the work, which may include a Work Breakdown Structure, and it may contain an Activity List with estimates for these activities. How this plan may be altered during the course of the project should also be… [Read more…]
October 9, 2009 by tapuniversity
The Conduct Stakeholder Analysis task described in the BABOK® is performed early during the business analysis work and is often ongoing. It is similar to the PMBOK®’s Identify Stakeholders process. The primary purpose is to understand a project’s stakeholders. There are three elements to this process: identification; categorization; and attitudes and influence. One first needs… [Read more…]
October 8, 2009 by tapuniversity
The technique of Document Analysis is based on the simple concept of reading through existing documentation to find relevant information. In business analysis, it is used to uncover additional requirements. The BABOK® lists a number of common types of documents used in Document Analysis: “business plans, market studies, contracts, requests for proposal, statements of work,… [Read more…]
October 7, 2009 by tapuniversity
Part of working successfully on a project is understanding who has an interest in the project. These stakeholders may have a positive or negative influence over the project, or simply have an interest or concern over the project. The Stakeholder List, Roles, and Responsibilities document is an output of the BABOK®’s Conduct Stakeholder Analysis task.… [Read more…]
October 6, 2009 by tapuniversity
The Onion Diagram is a type of stakeholder map. At a glance, it shows stakeholders in the layers of their closeness to a project. In this example, the innermost layer includes the project team, followed by those whose work is directly affected by the project, the organization as a whole, and then external stakeholders such… [Read more…]
October 2, 2009 by tapuniversity
The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) contains six knowledge areas of business analysis—Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring; Elicitation; Requirements Management and Communication; Enterprise Analysis; Requirements Analysis; and Solution Assessment and Validation. Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring concerns deciding which business analysis activities are needed. This includes identifying the stakeholders. Elicitation concerns obtaining requirements from… [Read more…]
October 1, 2009 by tapuniversity
At the heart of business analysis is requirements. The business analyst will plan how to elicit them, elicit them, manage them, communicate them, analyze them, validate them, and verify them. But what exactly is a requirement? There is debate on how to exactly define them, but the BABOK® 2.0 defines a requirement as: “(1) A… [Read more…]
July 16, 2009 by tapuniversity
The questionnaire is a commonly used tool utilized across many fields, including project management and business analysis. It is listed as a technique both of the fourth edition PMBOK®’s Collect Requirements process and as a technique of the BABOK® 2.0. It can be a cost-effective way to gather large amounts of data from individuals. Questionnaires… [Read more…]
 | Olu Olufowobi on Make-or-Buy Analysis |
 | Arun on Organizational Process As… |
 | Liz F on TAPUniversity’s Online L… |
 | uzair on PERT Sample Questions |
 | Kuan Xin Hen on Green Project Management … |
| 5 Tips for Effective… on Virtual Teams – Swift… | |
| theprojectmanifesto on Green Project Management … |
September 14, 2010 by David Kohrell
4