PMI PMI-PBA - PMI Professional in Business Analysis

A configuration management system is a standardized, effective, and efficient way to manage changes to project documentation. A configuration management system is a set of tools and processes that help to track, control, and update the configuration items (CIs) of a project, such as documents, requirements, designs, code, tests, etc. A configuration management system helps to ensure that the project documentation is consistent, accurate, and up-to-date throughout the project life cycle. It also helps to maintain the traceability and auditability of the changes made to the project documentation. A configuration management system typically includes the following components:

A configuration management plan that defines the scope, roles, responsibilities, policies, procedures, and standards for configuration management.

A configuration management database (CMDB) that stores the information about the CIs, their attributes, relationships, versions, baselines, and changes.

A configuration identification process that assigns unique identifiers and names to the CIs and their versions.

A configuration control process that evaluates, approves, and implements changes to the CIs and their versions.

A configuration status accounting process that records and reports the status and history of the CIs and their versions.

A configuration verification and audit process that verifies and validates the CIs and their versions against the requirements and specifications.

References: = PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline, page 13.

 Asking stakeholders to vote on the requirements is a technique that the business analyst can employ to rectify the issue of not having enough resources to deliver all the requirements. Voting is a method of prioritizing requirements by asking stakeholders to rank or rate them according to their importance, urgency, value, or risk. Voting can help to identify the most critical or essential requirements that should be delivered first or within the available resources. Voting can also help to resolve conflicts or disagreements among stakeholders and reach a consensus on the priority of the requirements. Holding a brainstorming workshop to build the rationale for the requirements is not an effective technique to rectify the issue, as it does not address the resource constraint or the priority of the requirements. Brainstorming is a method of generating ideas or solutions by encouraging free and creative thinking from participants. Brainstorming can help to elicit or analyze requirements, but not prioritize them. Performing traceability to find out where the requirements originated is not a useful technique to rectify the issue, as it does not indicate the importance or value of the requirements. Traceability is a process of tracking the relationship between requirements and other project artifacts, such as design, test cases, or deliverables. Traceability can help to ensure completeness, consistency, and quality of the requirements, but not prioritize them. Surveying stakeholders on their likes and dislikes about the requirements is not a viable technique to rectify the issue, as it does not provide a clear or objective way of prioritizing the requirements. Surveying is a method of collecting feedback from stakeholders by asking them questions about their satisfaction, preferences, expectations, needs, problems, or suggestions. Surveying can help to validate or evaluate the requirements, but not prioritize them. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 15; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 95.

 The business analyst must perform a cost-benefit analysis in order to complete the business case and arrive at a solid recommendation. A cost-benefit analysis is a technique that compares the costs and benefits of different options or alternatives for solving a business problem or achieving a business opportunity. A cost-benefit analysis helps to evaluate the return on investment (ROI), the net present value (NPV), and the payback period of each option, and to select the most optimal one based on the business value and the strategic alignment. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 10; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 40.

Decomposition is an analysis technique that breaks down a complex system, process, or problem into smaller and simpler components. It helps to identify the tasks, activities, functions, features, and requirements that are necessary to implement the deliverable. Decomposition also helps to organize, structure, and prioritize the components based on their dependencies and relationships. Organization, dependency, and interface are not analysis techniques, but rather aspects or results of decomposition . References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline, page 10; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, page 131-132

The decision-making process in the business analysis plan defines how decisions will be made regarding the requirements and the business analysis approach. It specifies the roles and responsibilities of the decision makers, the criteria and methods for making decisions, and the process for resolving conflicts and disagreements. Having a clear decision-making process can help the business analyst facilitate the requirements workshop and reach an agreement among the stakeholders with different points of view and priorities. References: = PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline, page 13.

 Baseline information is the current state or performance of a system or process before any changes are made. Baseline information is essential for documenting the acceptance criteria, which are the conditions that must be met for a solution or deliverable to be accepted by the stakeholders. The analyst should have gathered baseline information to support the minor modification in the user portal, such as the current customer satisfaction rate, response time, error rate, etc. The analyst should have compared the baseline information with the expected outcomes of the modification, and defined the acceptance criteria accordingly. If the analyst failed to gather any baseline information, the acceptance criteria would be incomplete and returned. The other options are not likely to cause this problem. The scope document is a document that defines the boundaries and deliverables of the project or solution, but it is not required to be included in the acceptance criteria paperwork. Forward and backward traceability are techniques to link the requirements to their sources and deliverables, which can help to ensure completeness and consistency of the requirements. User stories are a tool to document the requirements from the perspective of a user or customer, using a simple format of “As a , I want , so that ”. User stories can be used as a requirements document tool, but they are not sufficient for defining the acceptance criteria. References: PMI-PBA® Examination Content Outline, page 13; PMI-PBA® Reference List, page 1, BABOK® Guide v3, page 39.

Requirements baseline is a document that contains the approved version of the requirements that serves as a reference point for further changes. Requirements baseline can help the business analyst to address the issue of underestimating the required budget and schedule by defining the scope, value, quality, risk, and feasibility of each requirement. Requirements baseline can also help to negotiate the scope in the contract with the customer by showing how each requirement aligns with their needs and expectations, and proposing possible trade-offs or alternatives. References: = PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline (2019), page 10; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide (2015), page 40.

 A closed-ended survey using the Likert scale is a type of survey that asks respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a series of statements related to the current business process. This type of survey is useful for gathering data that can be used in a statistical analysis to measure user satisfaction, identify pain points, and evaluate the performance of the current business process. A closed-ended survey is also easier to administer and analyze than an open-ended survey, which requires more time and effort to code and interpret the responses. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 17; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 91.

 A requirements traceability matrix (RTM) is a tool that helps to track the relationship between the requirements and the product features. It can be used to determine the scope of a change request by identifying which requirements and test cases are affected by the modification of an existing feature. A project schedule and cost baseline are not directly related to the product features, but rather to the project management aspects. A requirements attributes table is a tool that helps to classify and prioritize the requirements, but it does not show the link between the requirements and the product features. A sequence diagram is a tool that helps to illustrate the interactions between the components of the product, but it does not show the traceability of the requirements. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, PMI Guide to Business Analysis2, Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide

Observation is a technique that involves watching how people perform their work in their natural environment. Observation can help the business analyst to understand the company’s current business processes, identify pain points, and discover opportunities for improvement. Observation can also help to validate or verify the information obtained from other sources, such as interviews or documents. References: = PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline (2019), page 9; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide (2015), page 61.