Business Analysis Key Concepts — Based on BABOK

Today, I will be sharing with you the Key Concepts of Business Analysis based on the BABOK. If you’re not familiar with the BABOK, give my previous blog a read : Understanding the Role and BABOK Knowledge Areas. This blog will discuss about 5 key concepts.

Business Analysis Core Concept Model (BACCM™)

Business Analysis Core Concept Model is a framework that is like the superhero guide for business analysts, no matter where they work, what they do, or how they do it.

There are six core concepts that are the stars of the show: Change, Need, Solution, Stakeholder, Value, and Context.

Change is all about making things better in response to a need. Needs are the driving forces that push people to act, and solutions are the clever ways to meet those needs in a specific context. Stakeholders are the key players in this game, with their interests and influence. And Value? It’s like the treasure at the end of the quest, representing the worth of the results to the stakeholders. Context is like the stage where this superhero action takes place. It’s all the stuff happening around the change, from attitudes and cultures to technology.

These core concepts help business analysts do their job better. They’re like a checklist, making sure you don’t miss anything important. In a nutshell, the BACCM helps you understand, communicate, and evaluate everything in the world of business analysis.

Key Terms

Under this topic, BABOK explains the following concepts that will help us easily digest the BABOK content:

• Business Analysis: According to the BABOK Guide, making positive changes in a company by identifying its needs and suggesting solutions that benefit everyone involved.
• Business Analysis Information: Encompasses a wide range of data that analysts examine and use as inputs/outputs for their work, including details related to stakeholders, needs, solutions, value, and changes.
• Design: Essentially a practical depiction of a solution, helping us figure out how valuable that solution could be once it’s put into action.
• Enterprise: A group of organizations working together to achieve shared goals, and it can include various types of businesses and government bodies, all collaborating toward common objectives.
• Organization: A team of people managed by one person or a group, all working together to achieve common goals and usually sticking around for the long haul, unlike temporary project teams that disband after their goals are met.
• Plan: A detailed roadmap that lays out what needs to be done, how it all fits together, when it should happen, what it should achieve, what’s required, and who’s in charge.
• Requirement: A practical version of a need, helping us figure out what value we can get when we actually fulfill that need.
• Risk: The result of uncertainty impacting the value of a change, solution, or enterprise. BAs work with stakeholders to identify, assess, and prioritize risks. They address risks by altering conditions that cause uncertainty by mitigating consequences, eliminating sources, avoiding risks, sharing them, or even embracing them for opportunities.

Requirements Classification Schema

As Business Analysts we can classify the requirements according to the following:

• Business Requirements explain the purpose of a change, whether for an entire enterprise, a business sector, or a specific project.
• Stakeholder Requirements bridge the gap between business goals and the needs of stakeholders.
• Solution Requirements detail how a solution meets stakeholder needs, including functional and non-functional aspects. Functional Requirements outline what a solution must do in terms of its behavior and how it manages information. Non-functional Requirements specify conditions and qualities that ensure the solution’s effectiveness, even though they don’t directly relate to its behavior or functionality.
• Transition Requirements define the conditions necessary for a smooth transition during change implementation but are temporary.

When defining requirements, we can follow the below relationship rule diagram for traceability purposes:

Stakeholders

Stakeholders in business analysis can be individuals or groups directly or indirectly involved in the project. They may contribute requirements, assumptions, or constraints. Common roles include business analysts, customers, subject matter experts, end users, and more. Given below is a list from the BABOK:

• Business analysts are responsible for executing analysis tasks and may perform tasks associated with other stakeholder roles.
• Customers use or may use enterprise products/services and may have rights.
• Subject matter experts possess in-depth knowledge relevant to business needs.
• End users directly interact with the solution.
• Implementation subject matter experts have specialized knowledge in implementing solution components.
• Operational support handles system/product maintenance.
• Project managers oversee solution delivery, balancing various factors.
• Regulators enforce standards through legislation, governance, or audits.
• Sponsors initiate efforts, authorize work, and control budgets.
• Suppliers provide external products/services and have rights/obligations.
• Testers verify solution compliance with requirements, quality standards, and risk minimization.

Requirements and Designs

In business analysis, it’s not just about gathering and managing requirements; it also involves design to some extent.

Requirements focus on what’s needed, while designs concentrate on how to meet those needs.

Sometimes, it’s tricky to distinguish between them. Requirements can lead to designs, which in turn might uncover more requirements. This distinction can blur as the process evolves. Business analysts often oversee this transition and ensure alignment. The process can be recursive, with requirements shaping designs and vice versa. Stakeholders might present needs or solutions, and it’s the analyst’s job to dig deeper, always asking why to deliver value and meet enterprise goals.

The Requirements and Design Cycle involves developing business strategy and objectives, creating a Business Capability Model, and providing information bilingually. This cycle persists until all requirements are fulfilled, and outcomes are assessed.

Hope you found this article helpful, stay tuned for more!