Glossary

Question 1

Affinity Diagram

Answer 1

A group creativity technique that allows large numbers of ideas to be classified into groups for review and analysis.

Question 2

Architecture

Answer 2

A method to describe an organization by mapping its essential characteristics, such as people, locations, processes, applications, data, and technology.

Question 3

Asynchronous Interview

Answer 3

An interview in which the participants are not engaged in the interview at the same time. Asynchronous interviews can be conducted through email or can be prerecorded by the interviewer and provided to the interviewee at a later time.

Question 4

Backlog

Answer 4

A listing of product requirements and deliverables to be completed, written as stories, and prioritized by the business to manage and organize the project’s work.

Question 5

Assumption

Answer 5

A factor that is considered to be true, real, or certain, without proof or demonstration.

Question 6

Baseline

Answer 6

The approved version of a work product that can be changed only through formal change control procedures and is used as a basis for comparison.

Question 7

Benchmarking

Answer 7

The comparison of actual or planned practices, such as processes and operations, to those of comparable organizations to identify best practices, generate ideas for improvement, and provide a basis for measuring performance.

Question 8

Burndown

Answer 8

A visual chart depicting the number of backlog items remaining at any point in time in a project. Burndown charts are used on projects using an adaptive life cycle.

Question 9

Business Analysis

Answer 9

The set of activities performed to identify business needs; recommend relevant solutions; and elicit, document, and manage requirements.

Question 10

Business Analysis Approach

Answer 10

A description of how the business analysis process will be conducted for the project or program. The business analysis approach is documented in the business analysis plan.

Question 11

Business Analysis Center of Excellence

Answer 11

An organizational structure created whereby business analysts are managed centrally or are provided mentorship centrally for the purpose of improving the business analysis discipline across the organization. Also called Center of Business Analysis Practice.

Question 12

Business Analysis Documentation

Answer 12

The set of business analysis information produced as an output of the business analysis work conducted on a program or project. Such output may be comprised of business analysis deliverables, business analysis work products, or a combination thereof.

Question 13

Business Analysis Plan

Answer 13

A subplan of the project management plan that defines the business analysis approach, including the tasks that will be performed, the deliverables that will be produced, the roles required to carry out the process, and process decisions regarding how requirement-related decisions will be made; how requirement priorities will be set; how changes to requirements will be proposed, approved, and managed; how requirements will be validated, verified, monitored, and traced; and how business analysis communication will be performed.

Question 14

Business Analysis Planning

Answer 14

The domain of business analysis that involves planning all of the business analysis activities and reaching the necessary process decisions required for running an effective business analysis process for a program or project.

Question 15

Business Architecture

Answer 15

A collection of the business functions, organizational structures, locations, and processes of an organization, including documents and depictions of those elements.

Question 16

Business Case

Answer 16

A documented economic feasibility study used to establish the validity of the benefits of a selected component lacking sufficient definition and used as a basis for the authorization of further project management activities.

Question 17

Acceptance Criteria

Answer 17

A set of conditions that is required to be met before deliverables are accepted. [Note: In business analysis, acceptance criteria is built to evaluate the product requirements and solution.]

Question 18

Business Need

Answer 18

The impetus for a change in an organization, based on an existing problem or opportunity. The business need provides the rationale for initiating a project or program.

Question 19

Business Objectives Model

Answer 19

A business analysis model that relates the business problems, business objectives, and top-level features. This model encompasses the justification for a project.

Question 20

Business Requirements

Answer 20

Requirements that describe the higher-level needs of the organization, such as the business issues or opportunities, and which provide the rationale for why a project is being undertaken.

Question 21

Business Rule

Answer 21

Constraints about how the organization wants to operate. These constraints are usually enforced by data and/or processes and are under the jurisdiction of the business. A key element is an absense of technology.

Question 22

Business Rules Analysis

Answer 22

A process for evaluating, designing, and implementing the rules that govern the organization, its processes, and its data. When creating business rules, the rules need to be correct, verifiable, and consistent

Question 23

Business Rules Catalog

Answer 23

A business analysis model that details all of the business rules and their related attributes.

Question 24

Business Value

Answer 24

A concept that is unique to each organization and includes tangible and intangible elements. In business analysis, business value is considered the return, in the form of time, money, goods, or intangibles in return for something exchanged.

Question 25

Capability

Answer 25

The ability to add value or achieve objectives in an organization through a function, process, service, or other proficiency.

Question 26

Capability Framework

Answer 26

A collection of an organization’s capabilities, organized into manageable pieces, similar to a business architecture.

Question 27

Capability Table

Answer 27

A table that displays the capabilities needed to solve a problem or seize an opportunity. This tool can show the relationship between a situation, its root causes, and the capabilities needed to address the situation.

Question 28

Cause-and-Effect Diagram

Answer 28

A decomposition technique that helps trace an undesirable effect back to its root cause. See also fishbone diagram.

Question 29

Change Control

Answer 29

A process whereby modifications to documents, deliverables, or baselines associated with the project are identified, documented, approved, or rejected.

Question 30

Change Control Board (CCB)

Answer 30

A formally chartered group responsible for reviewing, evaluating, approving, delaying, or rejecting changes to the project, and for recording and communicating such decisions.

Question 31

Change Control Tools

Answer 31

Manual or automated tools used to assist with change and/or configuration management. At a minimum, the tools should support the activities of the change control board (CCB).

Question 32

Change Management Plan

Answer 32

The plan that defines the process for managing change on the project.

Question 33

Change Request

Answer 33

A formal proposal to modify any document, deliverable, or baseline.

Question 34

Closed-Ended Question

Answer 34

A question that calls for a response from a limited list of answer choices. Types of closed-ended questions are forced choice, limited choice, and confirmation.

Question 35

Communications Management Plan

Answer 35

A component of the project, program, or portfolio management plan that describes how, when, and by whom information about the project will be administered and disseminated.

Question 36

Configuration Management

Answer 36

A collection of formal documented processes, templates, and documentation used to apply governance to changes to the product, service, result, or subcomponent being developed.

Question 37

Configuration Management System

Answer 37

A subsystem of the overall project management system. It is a collection of formal documented procedures used to apply technical and administrative direction and surveillance to: identify and document the functional and physical characteristics of a product, result, service, or component; control any changes to such characteristics; record and report each change and its implementation status; and support the audit of the products, results, or components to verify conformance to requirements. It includes the documentation, tracking systems, and defined approval levels necessary for authorizing and controlling changes.

Question 38

Constraint

Answer 38

A limiting factor that affects the execution of a project, program, portfolio, or process.

Question 39

Context Diagram

Answer 39

A visual depiction of the product scope showing a business system (process, equipment, computer system, etc.) and how people and other systems (actors) interact with it.

Question 40

Contextual Question

Answer 40

A question that can only be answered as it references the subject at hand; namely, the problem domain or the proposed solutions.

Question 41

Context-Free Question

Answer 41

A question that can be asked in any situation.

Question 42

Cost-Benefit Analysis.

Answer 42

A financial analysis tool used to determine the benefits provided by a project against its costs.

Question 43

Cost-Effectiveness Feasibility

Answer 43

The high-level economic feasibility of a potential project or program, taking into account both financial benefits and costs.

Question 44

Data Dictionary

Answer 44

A business analysis model that catalogs the attributes of specific business data objects. Is a tabular format. Business rules may be described in a data dictionary. Data dictionaries are used to capture very detailed requirements and their business rules. This model can stand alone and does not need redundant requirements statements.

Question 45

Data Flow Diagram

Answer 45

A business analysis model that combines processes, systems, and data to show how data flows through a solution. The data stores (shown as 2 parallel lines) show where information is conceptually stored, and the process steps (shown as circles) indicate which functions manipulate or use the data, and which external entities (shown as boxes) create data or consume data.

Question 46

Day in the Life Testing (DITL)

Answer 46

A semiformal activity, conducted by someone with in-depth business knowledge. The results obtained from DITL testing enable validation or evaluation of whether or not a product or service or solution provides the functionality for a typical day of usage by a role that interacts with the solution.

Question 47

Decision Table

Answer 47

An analysis model that uses a tabular format to display complex business rules by representing decision points in the upper rows and outcomes in the bottom rows with the purpose of providing all combinations of choices.

Question 48

Decision Tree

Answer 48

An analysis model that shows business rules associated with complex branching logic. Rules are depicted by modeling the decisions and their outcomes in a tree structure.

Question 49

Decomposition Diagrams

Answer 49

See decomposition model.

Question 50

Decomposition Model

Answer 50

A model that is used to divide and subdivide a high-level concept into lower-level concepts, for example, dividing the project scope and project deliverables into smaller, more manageable parts for the purpose of analysis. Also known as decomposition diagrams.

Question 51

Defect Repair

Answer 51

An intentional activity to modify a nonconforming product or product component.

Question 52

Deliverable

Answer 52

Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that is required to be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.

Question 53

Dependency Analysis

Answer 53

A technique that is used to discover dependent relationships.

Question 54

Display-Action-Response Model

Answer 54

A business analysis model that dissects a screen mockup into its display and behavior requirements at the page element level.

Question 55

Document Analysis

Answer 55

An elicitation technique that analyzes existing documentation and identifies information relevant to the requirements.

Question 56

Ecosystem Map

Answer 56

A business analysis model that shows the systems involved in a project and how they interrelate with each other.

Question 57

Elicitation Plan

Answer 57

An informal device used by a business analyst to prepare for the elicitation work.

Question 58

Elicitation Session

Answer 58

A session or activity conducted for the purpose of obtaining information from participants. In business analysis, elicitation sessions are conducted in order to obtain the information needed to define the requirements.

Question 59

Enterprise Architecture

Answer 59

A collection of the business and technology components needed to operate an enterprise.
The business architecture is usually a subset of the enterprise architecture and is extended with the applications, information, and supporting technology to form a complete blueprint of an organization.

Question 60

Entity Relationship Diagram

Answer 60

A business analysis model that shows the business data objects involved in a project and the relationships between those objects, including the cardinality of those relationships.

Question 61

Estimate

Answer 61

A quantitative assessment of the likely amount or outcome. It is usually applied to project costs, resources, effort, and durations and is usually preceded by a modifier (i.e., preliminary, conceptual, feasibility, order-of-magnitude, definitive). It should always include some indication of accuracy (e.g., ± x %).