AUDIENCE:   This course is designed for business and systems analysts, developers, business users, team leaders and project managers. PREREQUISITES:   Those attending should have some basic knowledge of the information systems development process and information technology. DURATION:   5 days. Lecture-based with examples and a case study. FOLLOW ON:   Structured Systems Design OBJECTIVES:   Business Analysis is about identifying and understanding business requirements so that information systems will meet business needs. Many IT development projects fail to deliver because not enough effort is spent on analysing and prioritising business requirements. This course introduces delegates to the skills and knowledge needed to do this. The central theme is that system development should be business driven rather than led by technology. It encompasses the view that information systems include business processes as well as information technology. The course covers essential approaches to requirements elicitation, business analysis and financial justification – all within a project framework. It is practical and interactive delivered using a mixture of lectures, workshops and case study exercises. Participants will learn how to elicit and document user requirements, construct high level business models, produce more detailed business models and use these models within a variety of development lifecycles. At the end of the course, participants will be able to: - Identify relevant techniques used in business analysis and where they are best used in the system development life cycle. - Understand the importance of strategic analysis and its associated techniques. - Be able to carry out a preliminary investigation including a feasibility study. - Elicit business requirements using traditional fact-finding methods and techniques such as JAD, prototyping and Use Cases. - Model as-is and to-be business processes at various levels from context diagrams down to the documentation of elementary processes. - Build an entity-relationship diagram (data model) and understand where and why it is used. - Understand how business analysis leads into system design. - Carry out a basic cost-benefit analysis using financial techniques and tools. - Understand the fundamentals of effective communication. COURSE CONTENT:   Introduction to Systems Analysis Overview of Information Technology, its impact and components How business uses information systems Information system users and their needs Overview of systems development techniques - modelling, prototyping CASE tools Overview of systems development methods - structured analysis, rapid application development (RAD), object-oriented analysis, agile methods Systems development life cycle Systems planning, analysis, design, implementation, operation and support, maintenance Analyst responsibilities and required skills Analysing the Business Case Strategic planning, SWOT analysis Reasons for systems projects Initiation of information systems projects Evaluation of systems and change requests Preliminary investigation Planning the preliminary investigation Understanding the problem, Ishikawa diagrams Project scope and constraints Fact finding Feasibility Operational, technical, economic and schedule feasibility Estimating development time and costs Requirements Modelling The Analysis phase Joint Application Development, participants, roles, agenda, JAD session process, guidelines Prototyping, types of prototype, prototyping tools Modelling tools, CASE tools Functional decomposition diagrams Use cases and requirements Actors and use cases, basic and alternative flows, documenting use cases Categories of requirements - outputs, inputs, processes, non-functional, controls Impact of future growth, scalability Fact-finding, the Zachman framework Interviews, document review, questionnaires, sampling, research, observation Documenting requirements Enterprise Modelling Data flow diagrams, notation, use in analysis, logical and physical models Processes, data stores, data flows, external entities Context diagrams Data flow diagram development, good practice Lower level data flow diagrams Entity relationship diagrams (data models), use in analysis Entities, attributes, keys, relationships, cardinality, optional attributes, mutually exclusive relationships Data model development, business rules Data dictionaries, documenting data elements, data flows, data stores, etc. Process descriptions - modular design, structured English, decision tables, decision trees Development Strategies Web-based software trends Software outsourcing options In-house software development, packages, tailoring packages Development options Systems requirement document Financial Analysis Cost classifications Benefit classifications Payback analysis Return on investment analysis Present value analysis Use of spreadsheets in financial analysis Communication Guidelines for successful communication Written communication, writing style, readability, scoring methods, reports Meetings Oral presentations, preparation, visual aids, delivery Case Study A realistic case study runs throughout the course, giving delegates the chance to put theory into practice. JJ03/10