PMI-PBA Business Analyst: Certification Bootcamp

Business customers, users, or partners

Business analysts

Business systems analysts

Project managers or team leaders

Systems architects or designers

IT managers/directors

Systems or application developers

QA professionals

Systems testers

Systems analysts

Anyone wanting to enhance their business analysis skills

• Increase your odds of passing the PMI-PBA the first time
• Become one of the first individuals to pass the certification
• Advance your career opportunities and career path options in the business analysis profession
• Gain a globally recognized business analysis certification
• Shorten study time by streamlining the recommended exam resources
• Run through simulated practice exams for the domains, tasks, knowledge, and skills
• Help grow the profession of business analysis
• Learn the essential areas necessary to pass the exam
• Master the five domains and 28 tasks that constitute the exam
• Conquer the 40 knowledge and skills
• Grasp the tasks for eliciting, analyzing, documenting, validating, and verifying requirements
• Become proficient with business analysis terminology
• Comprehend the business analysis profession and the environments the profession supports
• Capture the fundamental aspects of requirements management
• Create a personalized test-taking strategy based on your strengths and opportunities
• Discover how to complete the experience portion of the application with business analysis tools and techniques
• Investigate how to deconstruct exam questions to get the right answers
• Distinguish the business analyst role from other professions
• Become confident of your business analysis skills and knowledge to apply for and sit for the exam
• Showcase your business analysis skills, knowledge, and experience through education and certification

1. Introduction: Identifying Key Requirements Management Definitions

The field of business analysis is rich with terms, concepts, tools, techniques, and processes. This beginning section sets the foundation of key terms to know in order to prepare you for the five domain areas and 40 knowledge and skills areas that are part of the exam:

• What is business analysis?
• What are the roles of the business analyst?
• The requirements management process
• Project methodologies
• PMI's code of ethics

The Introduction section will include these knowledge and skills areas:

• Leadership principles and skills
• Project methodologies and how they impact requirements and business analysis practices
• Requirements types
• Systems thinking

Class Exercise: In this exercise, you will recognize and review key requirements management terms in order to understand the foundations of the business analysis profession.

2. Needs Assessment

The first domain of the exam is where people begin their requirements process and the activities that lead to project success. Emphasis is placed on the processes used to define the business problem or opportunity. The needs assessment domain encompasses 18 percent of the exam. In this section we review how to effectively perform these five tasks:

• Defining business problems or opportunities
• Developing a solutions scope statement or business case
• Determining the business problem or opportunity value
• Identifying business needs
• Identifying stakeholders and stakeholder values

The Needs Assessment domain will include these knowledge and skills areas:

• Political and cultural awareness
• Problem solving and opportunity identification tools and techniques
• Stakeholder analysis
• Valuation techniques

Individual and Class Exercise: In this exercise, you will review questions individually to reinforce the information reviewed during the needs assessment domain, followed by discussions regarding the most correct responses.

3. Planning

In the planning domain your focus will shift to putting the proper requirements management activities in order. The person performing business analysis work will determine which tools, techniques, policies, or procedures are necessary to prepare the requirements management plan. The planning domain includes 22 percent of the exam. Attention is also given to planning for traceability, managing changes, controlling documents, and identifying acceptance criteria. In this section we cover these six planning tasks:

• Determining business analysis activities
• Establishing requirements traceability
• Preparing the requirements management plan
• Defining requirements change control and communication processes
• Identifying document control processes
• Specifying business metrics and defining acceptance criteria

The planning domain will include these knowledge and skills areas:

• Collaboration tools and techniques
• Contingency planning
• Development methodologies
• Documentation management tools and techniques
• Elements of a requirements management plan
• Estimating tools and techniques
• Measurement tools and techniques
• Planning tools and techniques
• Quality management
• Scheduling tools and techniques
• Version control tools and techniques

Individual and Class Exercise: In this exercise, you will review questions individually to reinforce the information reviewed during the planning domain, followed by discussions regarding the most correct responses.

4. Analysis

Analysis of the requirements involves eliciting requirements from stakeholders and making sense of what has been revealed. This domain includes performing the following requirements activities: eliciting, analyzing, decomposing, accepting, approving, specifying, and validating. The analysis domain contains 35 percent of the exam. In this section we'll cover the following eight tasks:

• Eliciting and identifying requirements
• Analyzing, decomposing, and elaborating requirements
• Evaluating options and decision-making
• Allocating requirements and creating a requirements baseline
• Facilitating stakeholder consensus in order to obtain sign-off
• Creating requirements specifications
• Validating requirements with stakeholders
• Elaborating and specifying detailed business metrics and detailed acceptance criteria

The analysis domain will include these knowledge and skills areas:

• Analytic tools and techniques
• Business rule analysis tools and techniques
• Data analysis tools and techniques
• Decision making tools and techniques
• Elicitation tools and techniques
• Facilitation tools and techniques
• Interface analysis
• Negotiation tools and techniques
• Prioritization tools and techniques
• Process analysis tools and techniques
• Root cause analysis

Individual and Class Exercise: In this exercise, you will review questions individually to reinforce the information reviewed during the analysis domain, followed by discussions regarding the most correct responses.

5. Traceability and Monitoring

Identifying the status of requirements throughout the lifecycle of the project and communicating critical information related to requirements is an important factor for project success. This domain is concerned about managing, examining, and sharing requirements information with the project stakeholders. The traceability and monitoring domain comprises 15 percent of the exam. This domain includes the following five tasks:

• Tracking the status, sources, and relationships of requirements
• Monitoring the lifecycle of requirements
• Updating the status of requirements and communicating requirements states to stakeholders
• Using communication methods to share important requirements information and status with stakeholders
• Determining and managing change impacts to the requirements

The traceability and monitoring domain will include these knowledge and skills areas:

• Backlog management
• Change control tools and techniques
• Communication skills, techniques, and tools
• Conflict management, resolution tools, and techniques
• Organization assessment
• Reporting tools and techniques
• Requirements traceability tools and techniques

Individual and Class Exercise: In this exercise, you will review questions individually to reinforce the information reviewed during the traceability and monitoring domain, followed by discussions regarding the most correct responses.

6. Evaluation

The final domain topic examines if the delivered solution achieves the business need and satisfies the requirements. These activities could include solution testing, gaps analysis, and final sign-off. The evaluation domain comprises 10 percent of the exam. In this section, we will explore the following four tasks:

• Comparing solutions test results to defined requirements acceptance criteria
• Analyzing, communicating, and resolving solution gap analysis
• Obtaining stakeholder sign-off and moving toward deployment
• Measuring how well the solution met business needs and values

The evaluation domain will include these knowledge and skills areas:

• Lessons learned and retrospectives
• Validation tools and techniques
• Valuation tools and techniques
• Verification methods and techniques

Individual and Class Exercise: In this exercise, you will review questions individually to reinforce the information reviewed during the evaluation domain, followed by discussions regarding the most correct responses.

7. What to Expect on the Exam

Now that you know the content expectations for the exam it's important to realize how to prepare for the exam and what to expect as you go through the application process. To ensure you successfully pass the first time, this section will cover:

• The PMI-PBA application process
• Exam requirements
• Exam overview
• Preparing for the exam
• Understanding the questions
• Taking the exam
• General tips to help you through the process
• Final practice exam

Individual Exercise: In this exercise, you will take a portion of the final practice exam to determine specific areas of additional review and practice, as well as areas of strength. The final practice exam will be timed to simulate the actual exam. A review of correct responses and discussion will conclude this exercise.