MTAT.03.310 Business Analysis
Coordinator: Fredrik Milani (milani ät ut . ee)
Objective
Business analysis is, at its core, about “delivering business value” and is defined as “the practice of enabling change in an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value”. This simply means to analyze needs or problems of a specific business for the purpose of designing, developing and implementing a solution to fill that need or solve the problem. Value is very often delivered by means of IT-intensive solutions. Although the work of business analysis can take on a multitude of forms, in the end, it is about understanding the current state and through a set of activities, bring the business to desired future state that is of higher value.
This course provides an overview of business analysis when primarily engaged in delivering business value through software related solutions and investments. By the end of this course, you will be able to identify a problem, elicit relevant information, evaluate and select the best-suited alternative. You will also become acquainted with the role of an analyst in designing, delivering and, evaluating the final solution and results. In short, you will learn about analysis to ensure the fit of an IT-solution to its context so it delivers value. This course is perfect for students who seek to gain a fundamental understanding of the profession of business analysis.
Learning Outcomes
- Identify, analyze, and work with a need, problem, opportunity
- Collect, organize, and synthesize input and documentation from different sources
- Design and assess solution alternatives
- Prepare and present business case for IT system development projects
Lecturer
Fredrik P. Milani (milani ät ut dot/punkt ee)
Structure
This course covers the main activities of the business analysis process and will examine the following aspects of such work.
- Understand the business analysis process
- Understand the business context and how it affects the analysis work
- Learn to gather and elicit relevant information
- Learn to define the current state
- Learn to analyze and define the need/problem
- Learn to define the future state
- Learn to evaluate alternative solutions and select the best one
- Understand the role of a business analyst in designing the solution
- Understand the role of an analyst in delivering a solution and finally
- Understand how the solution can be evaluated based on its delivered results
Each session consists of 2-4 academic hours and will cover one or several of the topics listed above. The sessions will have lectures, recaps, discussions, tasks, and classwork to be completed in teams.
Prior to the session, the students are to independently study the materials of the session and complete a quiz (passing grade required for credits). The topic will be revisited and discussed during the session. After the discussions, the newly gained knowledge is applied on a real-life inspired case by means of classwork.
Assessment
There are 13 quizzes, 1 homework, and one project assignment divided into three parts. The quizzes can give max. 20 points. The homework is worth max 10 points, the project assignment is worth 20 points in total, and the final exam is worth 50 points (total 100 points). For a passing grade, points are required from all assessment parts (least 10 points from the exam).
In this course, Moodle is used for group selections, submissions, communication (Q&A and announcements), exams, and information about deadlines. Please refer to Moodle for such information.
Communication
For questions and discussion, please use the course forum in Moodle. Please subscribe to the forum so you will be alerted about new posts and course relevant information.
Seminars
Seminar 1 is from 14:15-15:45 and Seminar 2 is from 16:00-17:30. Please select a Seminar group that you will attend all semester. Please select seminar group in Moodle.
Session 1 (5th of September): Introduction to Business Analysis (Block 01) and BA Planning and Monitoring (Block 02)
Session 2 (12th of September): External Context Analysis (Block 03)
Session 3 (19th of September): Internal Context Analysis (Block 04) and Elicitation and Collaboration (Block 05)
Session 4 (26th of September): Current State Analysis Part 1 (Block 06)
Session 5 (3rd of October): Current State Analysis Part 2 (Block 07)
Session 6 (10th of October): Problem Analysis (Block 08)
Session 7 (17th of October): Future State Analysis and Risk Assessment (Block 09)
Session 8 (24th of October): No Seminar this week
Session 9 (31st of October): Presentation and Discussion of Homework
Session 10 (7th of November): Change Strategy (Block 10)
Session 11 (14th of November): Requirement Life Cycle Management and Design Solution (Block 11)
Session 12 (21st of November): Deliver Solution (Block 12)
Session 13 (28th of November): Evaluate Solution and Principles of Good Business Analysis (Block 13)
Session 14 (5th of December): Project Assignment Presentation and Discussion
Session 15 (12th of December): Exam I
Session 16 (19th of December): Exam II
Acknowledgments
The contents of the course material and the structure of this course is based on "A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge" issued by IIBA (http://www.iiba.org/babok-guide.aspx).