Achieve Business Analysis Certification: The Complete Guide to PMI-PBA, CBAP and CPRE

389 Pages·2016·6.85 MB·English

by  Klaus Nielsen

ACHIEVE
BUSINESS ANALYSIS
CERTIFICATION
A Concise Guide to
® ®
PMI-PBA , CBAP , and CPRE
EXAM SUCCESS
KLAUS NIELSEN, PMP, PMI-PBA, PMI-ACP, CPRE-FL
Copyright © 2016 by Klaus Nielsen
ISBN-13: 978-1-60427-111-9
Printed and bound in the U.S.A. Printed on acid-free paper.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nielsen, Klaus, 1972- author.
Title: Achieve business analysis certification : a concise guide to PMI-PBA, CBAP
and CPRE exam success / by Klaus Nielsen, PMP, ACP, Certified Scrum Master.
Description: Plantation, FL : J. Ross Publishing, [2015] | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015041295 | ISBN 9781604271119 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Business analysts--Certification. | Business analysts—Examinations,
questions, etc.
Classification: LCC HD69.B87 N54 2015 | DDC 658.40076—dc23 LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015041295
This publication contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted
material is used with permission, and sources are indicated. Reasonable effort has been made to publish
reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the
validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use.
All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part thereof may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
PMI, PMP, PMBOK, and PMI-PBA are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc. PMI
does not endorse or otherwise sponsor this publication. BABOK, CBAP, and IIBA CBAP are registered
marks of International Institute of Business Analysis, Inc. IIBA does not endorse or otherwise sponsor
this publication.
The copyright owner’s consent does not extend to copying for general distribution for promotion, for
creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained from J. Ross Publishing for such
purposes.
Direct all inquiries to J. Ross Publishing, Inc., 300 S. Pine Island Rd., Suite 305, Plantation, FL 33324.
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Web: www.jrosspub.com
Contents
Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
TM
WAV Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
Part 1 O verview, How to Use Tis Guide, Study Tips, and Pre-Test Knowledge
Assessments 1
Chapter 1 Business Analysis Certifcation Overview 3
1.1 Brief Introduction: Certifcation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Business Analysis Certifcation Organizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Business Analyst Certifcation and Body of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Te Value of Business Analyst Certifcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 Target Groups for Business Analyst Certifcations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 PMI-PBA® Exam Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.7 Using Tis Book to Pass Business Analyst Certifcation Exams. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 2 Study Tips and How to Pass the PMI-PBA® Exam 13
2.1 Brief Introduction: Study Tips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.2 Exam Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Before the Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4 During the Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 3 Organizational Need for Business Analysts 19
3.1 Brief Introduction: Organizational Need. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Business Analyst Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.3 Te Relationship Between the Business Analyst and the Project Manager. . . . . . . 21
Chapter 4 Pretest Knowledge Assessments for Business Analyst Certifcation Exams 23
4.1 Brief Introduction: Knowledge Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.2 Pretest Questions for the PMI-PBA® Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
4.3 Pretest Answers for the PMI-PBA® Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4.4 Pretest Questions for the IIBA CBAP® Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.5 Pretest Answers for the IIBA CBAP® Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.6 Pretest Questions for the IREB CPRE-FL Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.7 Pretest Answers for the IREB CPRE-FL Designation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
iii
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Part 2 Te Domains 39
Chapter 5 Needs Assessment Domain 41
Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.1 Brief Introduction: Needs Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
5.2 Defne Business Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.3 Defne Value Proposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.4 Develop Project Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.5 Identify Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
5.6 Analyze Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
5.7 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to PMBOK® Guide—Fifh Edition Practices . . . . . . 68
5.8 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to Agile Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.9 Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5.10 Posttest: Take Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
5.11 Posttest: Correct Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Chapter 6 Planning Domain 73
Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.1 Brief Introduction: Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6.2 Determine Project Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
6.3 Plan Requirement Traceability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
6.4 Develop Requirement Management Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.5 Plan Requirement Change Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
6.6 Plan Document Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.7 Defne Project Expected Outcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.8 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to PMBOK® Guide—Fifh Edition Practices . . . . . . 97
6.9 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to Agile Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.10 Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.11 Posttest: Take Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.12 Posttest: Correct Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Chapter 7 Analysis Domain 103
Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
7.1 Brief Introduction: Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
7.2 Elicit Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
7.3 Elaborate Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
7.4 Validate Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
7.5 Allocate Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.6 Get Requirement Signof . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.7 Document Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
7.8 Verify Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
7.9 Specify Requirements: Expected Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
7.10 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to PMBOK® Guide—Fifh Edition Practices . . . . . 143
7.11 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to Agile Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Contents v
7.12 Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
7.13 Posttest: Take Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
7.14 Posttest: Correct Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Chapter 8 Traceability and Monitoring Domain 149
Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.1 Brief Introduction: Traceability and Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.2 Track Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.3 Monitor Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
8.4 Update a Requirements Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
8.5 Communicate Requirements Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
8.6 Manage Changes to Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
8.7 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to PMBOK® Guide—Fifh Edition Practices . . . . . 162
8.8 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to Agile Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.9 Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
8.10 Posttest: Take Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
8.11 Posttest: Correct Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Chapter 9 Evaluation Domain 167
Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
9.1 Brief Introduction: Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
9.2 Validate Test Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.3 Analyze Solution Gaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
9.4 Obtain Stakeholder Acceptance of the Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
9.5 Evaluate Solution Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
9.6 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to PMBOK® Guide—Fifh Edition Practices . . . . . 176
9.7 Relating PMI-PBA® Practices to Agile Practices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.8 Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
9.9 Posttest: Take Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
9.10 Posttest: Correct Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Part 3 Knowledge, Skills, Methodologies, and Standards 181
Chapter 10 PMI-PBA® Knowledge, Skills, Tools, and Techniques 183
Terms to Know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
10.1 Brief Introduction: Knowledge Concepts and Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
10.2 Tools and Techniques Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
10.3 Analytic Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
10.4 Backlog Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
10.5 Business Rule Analysis Tools and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
10.6 Change Control Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
10.7 Collaboration Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
10.8 Communication Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
10.9 Confict Management and Resolution Tools and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
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10.10 Contingency Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
10.11 Data Analysis Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
10.12 Decision-Making Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
10.13 Development Methodologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
10.14 Document Management Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
10.15 Elements of a Requirements Management Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.16 Elicitation Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.17 Estimating Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
10.18 Facilitation Tools and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
10.19 Interface Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
10.20 Leadership Principles and Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
10.21 Lessons Learned and Retrospectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
10.22 Measurement Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
10.23 Negotiations Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
10.24 Organization Assessment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
10.25 Planning Tools and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
10.26 Political and Cultural Awareness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
10.27 Prioritization Tools and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
10.28 Problem Solving and Opportunity Identifcation Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . 249
10.29 Process Analysis Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
10.30 Project Methodologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
10.31 Quality Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
10.32 Reporting Tools and Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
10.33 Requirements Traceability Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
10.34 Requirement Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
10.35 Root Cause Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
10.36 Scheduling Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
10.37 Stakeholder Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
10.38 System Tinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
10.39 Validation Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
10.40 Valuation Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
10.41 Verifcation Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
10.42 Version Control Tools and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Chapter 11 Professional Ethics and Conduct Standards 273
11.1 Brief Introduction: Ethics and Conduct. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
11.2 PMI and IIBA Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Chapter 12 Te PMI-PBA® and the PMBOK® Guide 281
12.1 Brief Introduction: PMBOK® Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
12.2 Process Groups and Knowledge Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
12.3 PMI-PBA® Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Contents vii
Chapter 13 Agile Methodologies and Manifesto 2 8 7
13.1 Brief Introduction: Agile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
13.2 Agile Principles and Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
13.3 Scrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Part 4 IIBA CBAP® and IREB CPRE Knowledge Areas and Alignment 297
Chapter 14 Te IIBA CBAP® and the BABOK® Guide 299
14.1 Brief Introduction: BABOK® Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
14.2 IIBA CBAP®: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
14.3 IIBA—Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
14.4 IIBA—Elicitation and Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
14.5 IIBA—Requirements Life Cycle Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
14.6 IIBA—Strategy Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
14.7 IIBA—Requirements Analysis and Design Defnition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
14.8 IIBA—Solution Evaluation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
14.9 IIBA—Underlying Competencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
14.10 IIBA—Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Chapter 15 Te IREB CPRE and Foundation Level Syllabus 309
15.1 Brief Introduction: Foundation Level Syllabus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
15.2 IREB CPRE: Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Part 5 Practice Exam 313
Chapter 16 PMI-PBA® Full Practice Exam 315
16.1 Brief Introduction: Simulated PMI-PBA® Exam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Part 6 Appendices 345
Appendix 1 Glossary and Acronyms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Appendix 2 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Preface
I clearly remember the day when the Project Management Institute (PMI) announced the Professional
in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® designation. Call me odd, but I was delighted. Shortly after, I entered
into a contract with J. Ross Publishing, a leader in the project management field and publisher of sev-
eral noteworthy books on business analysis, including the best-seller Seven Steps to Mastering Business
Analysis. Drew Gierman, the publisher at J. Ross, had already foreseen the need and quickly embraced
the concept of a self-study guide for individuals who are interested in becoming certified as a business
analysis professional—but not just any self-study guide.
We discussed the concept of knowledge that sets you apart. From our discussions we formed the goal
of creating a guide that would enable you—business analysis practitioners with varied titles and back-
grounds, as well as students of the discipline—to gain both the recognized credentials and professional
development and knowledge needed to help set you apart in the marketplace.
This meant developing a guide that would provide practitioners and students far more than the bare
minimum needed to pass the PBA certification offered by PMI. When I started, my sole focus was on
the PMI-PBA certification. However, during its development, more and more techniques, tools, and
concepts from two other recognized sources of knowledge that preceded PMI’s involvement in business
analysis arose, and they turned out to be well-aligned with one another. So in keeping with the concept of
knowledge that sets you apart and our goal, this book evolved into a complete guide to passing the PMI-
PBA, IIBA CBAP® version 3, and IREB CPRE-FL certification exams in a very synergistic way, becoming
a resource of greater value than the sum of its parts.
With the growing demand to do more with less, most every employed professional is very busy these
days. In fact, I’m guessing that many of you work nearly seven days a week, just as I do. This meant con-
veying all relevant content efficiently and effectively, in a manner that builds the confidence that comes
from gaining knowledge. I remember passing my first certification exam, which was a wonderful feeling.
I also remember taking certification exams without knowing whether I was properly prepared to pass the
exams or not—I hated that!
Achieve Business Analysis Certification: The Complete Guide to PMI-PBA®, CBAP®, and CPRE Exam
Success provides ample high-quality exercises, practice quizzes, and simulated exams, as well as supple-
mental aids and tips gained through significant experience. It conveys not only the knowledge needed
to be confident about passing almost any exam on business analysis, but the level of knowledge that will
help set you apart from your peers on the job in the real world.
Many of the tips I’ve shared—with the roughly 300 practitioners whom I provide exam prep training
to each year and now here with you—come from firsthand experience. I currently hold more than ten
different certifications of my own. Many of the other tips supplied in this guide are based on years of
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