PMI PMI-PBA - PMI Professional in Business Analysis

The business analyst should follow the change control process to handle the new regulatory mandate that affects the project. The change control process is a set of procedures that defines how changes to the requirements or the project scope are identified, analyzed, approved, and implemented. The change control process helps to ensure that changes are aligned with the business need, the project objectives, and the stakeholder expectations. References: PMI Guide to Business Analysis, Chapter 9, Section 9.4.1; PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline, Domain IV: Traceability and Monitoring, Task 2.

Time-boxing is a prioritization technique that involves allocating a fixed amount of time or resources to each requirement or backlog item. Time-boxing can help the business analyst to review the amount of work the team is capable of delivering based on the approved project schedule by setting deadlines and constraints for each requirement or backlog item. Time-boxing can also help to focus on the most valuable and feasible requirements or backlog items and avoid scope creep or gold plating. References: = PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline (2019), page 11; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide (2015), page 66.

A requirements traceability tool is a tool that provides combined functionality for business analysis and quality assurance activities. It helps to document and track the relationships and dependencies among the requirements, the sources of the requirements, and the project deliverables. It also helps to monitor the status, changes, and verification of the requirements throughout the project life cycle. A requirements traceability tool can also support the analysis, validation, and testing of the requirements, as well as the evaluation of the solution quality and performance12.

A functional specification tool is a tool that helps to define and document the functional requirements of a system or a solution. It describes the features, functions, behaviors, and inputs and outputs of the system or the solution. It also specifies the acceptance criteria and the expected results of the system or the solution. A functional specification tool is mainly used for business analysis activities, but not for quality assurance activities13.

A system use case modeling tool is a tool that helps to illustrate and communicate the interactions and scenarios between the users and the system or the solution. It uses diagrams, symbols, and text to represent the actors, use cases, relationships, and flows of events of the system or the solution. It also defines the preconditions, postconditions, and exceptions of each use case. A system use case modeling tool is mainly used for business analysis activities, but not for quality assurance activities14.

A solution quality assurance tool is a tool that helps to measure and evaluate the quality of the system or the solution. It uses various methods and techniques, such as testing, inspection, review, audit, and feedback, to check the quality of the system or the solution against the quality standards and criteria. It also identifies and reports any quality issues, defects, or errors of the system or the solution. A solution quality assurance tool is mainly used for quality assurance activities, but not for business analysis activities1 .

References: 1 PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline, page 9-11; 2 Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, page 121; 3 Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, page 133; 4 Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, page 135; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, page 125

A SWOT analysis is a technique that helps to assess the internal and external factors that may affect the success of a solution or an option. A SWOT analysis involves identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each option, and comparing them with the business problem and the desired outcomes. A SWOT analysis can help the stakeholders to evaluate the feasibility, viability, and desirability of each option, and to select the best one based on the strategic alignment and the business value. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 10; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 41.

A requirements traceability matrix (RTM) is a tool that helps to map and track the user requirements with the test cases, and to ensure that the requirements are met by the solution. A RTM can also include other attributes or characteristics of the requirements, such as priority, risk, complexity, source, owner, etc. One of these attributes can be the system and architectural stability, which reflects the degree of reliability, robustness, and resilience of the system and its architecture. By including this attribute in the RTM, the business analyst can ensure that the requirement meets the acceptance criteria for system and architectural stability, and that the test cases can verify and validate this attribute. A RTM can also help to identify any gaps, inconsistencies, or conflicts between the requirements and the test cases, and to manage any changes or issues that may arise during the development process. References: = 1, 2

 Team peer review is a technique that is used to identify ambiguous or unverifiable requirements. Team peer review is a technique that involves having a group of peers or experts examine and evaluate the requirements for quality, completeness, correctness, clarity, consistency, and testability. Team peer review can help to identify any ambiguous or unverifiable requirements that may cause confusion, misunderstanding, or errors in the project. Team peer review can also provide feedback and suggestions for improvement or resolution of any issues or defects in the requirements. Fishbone analysis is not a technique that is used to identify ambiguous or unverifiable requirements. Fishbone analysis is a technique that is used to identify the root causes of a problem or an effect by analyzing its contributing factors and their relationships. Fishbone analysis can help to understand why a problem exists or why an effect occurs, but it does not directly examine or evaluate the quality of the requirements. Resource checklist is not a technique that is used to identify ambiguous or unverifiable requirements. Resource checklist is a tool that is used to identify and document the resources needed to perform business analysis activities, such as people, tools, facilities, equipment, etc. Resource checklist can help to plan and manage the resources required for business analysis work, but it does not assess or verify the quality of the requirements. Traceability matrix is not a technique that is used to identify ambiguous or unverifiable requirements. Traceability matrix is a tool that is used to track and document the relationships and dependencies among requirements and other project elements, such as design, test cases, risks, issues, etc. Traceability matrix can help to monitor and control changes to requirements and ensure alignment with project objectives and stakeholder needs, but it does not measure or validate the quality of the requirements. References: Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide 1, page 162-163; PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline 2, page 19-20.

The workflow trigger that the business analyst should incorporate is any change to the requirements matrix. This trigger would ensure that the appropriate stakeholders are notified of any updates, additions, deletions, or modifications to the requirements that affect the business analysis repository. Changes to test cases traced to requirements, change through project life cycle, and changes to stakeholder memberships are not relevant triggers for the notification workflow, as they do not directly affect the requirements matrix. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, PMI Guide to Business Analysis2, Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide

The next step that the business analyst should take after comparing the requirements to internal and external quality standards is to ensure that the requirements are validated. Validation is a process that confirms that the requirements align with the business objectives, stakeholder needs, and expected value of the project. Validation also ensures that the requirements are feasible, acceptable, and testable. Validation can be performed by using techniques such as reviews, walkthroughs, inspections, or demonstrations. Validation can help to identify and resolve any errors, gaps, or conflicts in the requirements before they are approved and implemented. Setting the priority of the requirements is not the next step that the business analyst should take after comparing the requirements to internal and external quality standards, as it is a process that determines the order and importance of the requirements based on their value, risk, urgency, or dependency. Priority can be set before or after comparing the requirements to quality standards, but it does not verify or confirm that the requirements meet the stakeholder expectations or project goals. Communicating the requirements to stakeholders is not the next step that the business analyst should take after comparing the requirements to internal and external quality standards, as it is a process that involves sharing and presenting the requirements to relevant stakeholders for feedback, approval, or implementation. Communication can be done before or after comparing the requirements to quality standards, but it does not check or ensure that the requirements are aligned with the business objectives or deliver value to the stakeholders. Baselineing the requirements is not the next step that the business analyst should take after comparing the requirements to internal and external quality standards, as it is a process that establishes an agreed-upon version of the requirements as a reference point for further changes or development. Baselineing can be done only after validating and approving the requirements, as it implies that they are complete, correct, clear, and consistent. References: Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide 1, page 113-114; PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline 2, page 17.

 A change control process is a process that could help manage the situation of scope creep. Scope creep refers to the problem experienced on many projects when the size or complexity of the original product description grows. Scope creep can have negative impacts on the project schedule, budget, quality, and stakeholder satisfaction. A change control process is a process that defines how changes to the project scope, requirements, deliverables, or other configuration items are requested, evaluated, approved, implemented, and monitored. A change control process can help the business analyst and the project team to manage the expectations of the stakeholders, to assess the impact and feasibility of the changes, to prioritize and implement the changes, and to communicate the changes to the relevant parties. References: PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)® Examination Content Outline1, page 23; Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide2, page 131.