Glossary of Terms Flashcards
Route Memorization
Acceptance Criteria
Criteria associated with requirements, products, or the delivery cycle that must be met in order to achieve stakeholder acceptance.
Actor (business analyst)
human, device, or system that plays some specified role in interacting with a solution.
Adaptive Approach
An approach where the solution evolves based on a cycle of learning and discovery, with feedback loops which encourage making
decisions as late as possible.
Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide
A standard on the practice of business
analysis in an agile context. The Agile Extension to the BABOK® Guide version 1 was published in 2013 by IIBA®, in partnership with the Agile Alliance.
allocation:
The process of assigning requirements to be
implemented by specific solution components.
architecture:
The design, structure, and behaviour of the current and future states of a structure in terms of its components, and the interaction between
those components.
artifact (business analysis):
Any solution-relevant object that is created as part of business analysis efforts.
assumption:
An influencing factor that is believed to be true but has not been confirmed to be accurate, or that could be true now but may not be in the
future.
behavioural business rule:
A business rule that places an obligation (or
prohibition) on conduct, action, practice, or procedure; a business rule whose purpose is to shape (govern) day-to-day business activity. Also known as operative rule.
benchmarking:
comparison of a decision, process, service, or system’s cost, time, quality, or other metrics to those of leading peers to identify
opportunities for improvement.
body of knowledge:
The aggregated knowledge and generally accepted practices on a topic.
BPM:
business process management (BPM): A management discipline that determines
how manual and automated processes are created, modified, cancelled,
and governed.
brainstorming:
A team activity that seeks to produce a broad or diverse set of options through the rapid and uncritical generation of ideas.
business (business analysis):
A system of one or more organizations and the solutions they use to pursue a shared set of common goals.
business (business world):
An economic system where any commercial, industrial, or professional activity is performed for profit.
business analysis:
The practice of enabling change in the context of an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to
stakeholders.
business analysis information:
Any kind of information at any level of detail that is used as an input to business analysis work, or as an output of business
analysis work.
business analysis package:
A document, presentation, or other collection of text, matrices, diagrams and models, representing business analysis information
business analyst:
Any person who performs business analysis, no matter their job title or organizational role.
business analysis approach:
The set of processes, rules, guidelines, heuristics, and activities that are used to perform business analysis in a specific context.
business analysis communication plan:
description of the types of communication the business analyst will perform during business analysis, the recipients of those communications, and the form and frequency of those communications.
business analysis effort:
The scope of activities a business analyst is engaged in during the life cycle of an initiative.
business analysis plan:
description of the planned activities the business analyst will execute in order to perform the business analysis work involved in a specific initiative.
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business architecture:
The design, structure, and behaviour of the current and future states of an enterprise to provide a common understanding of the organization. It is used to align the enterprise’s strategic objectives and tactical demands.
business case:
justification for a course of action based on the benefits to be realized by using the proposed solution, as compared to the cost, effort, and
other considerations to acquire and live with that solution.
business decision:
decision that can be made based on strategy, executive judgment, consensus, and business rules, and that is generally made in response to events or at defined points in a business process.
business domain:
The sphere of knowledge that defines a set of common requirements, terminology, and functionality for any program or initiative solving a problem.
business goal:
state or condition that an organization is seeking to establish and maintain, usually expressed qualitatively rather than quantitatively.
business need:
problem or opportunity of strategic or tactical importance to be addressed.
business objective:
An objective, measurable result to indicate that a business goal has been achieved
business policy:
non-practicable directive that controls and influences the actions of an enterprise.
business problem:
An issue of strategic or tactical importance preventing an enterprise or organization from achieving its goals
business process:
end-to-end set of activities which collectively responds to an
event, and transforms information, materials, and other resources into
outputs that deliver value directly to the customers of the process. It may be internal to an organization, or it may span several organizations.
business process management (BPM):
management discipline that determines
how manual and automated processes are created, modified, cancelled, and governed.
business process re-engineering:
Rethinking and redesigning business processes
to generate improvements in performance measures.
business requirement:
representation of goals, objectives and outcomes that describe why a change has been initiated and how success will be assessed
business rule:
specific, practicable, testable directive that is under the control of the business and that serves as a criterion for guiding behaviour, shaping
judgments, or making decisions.
capability:
set of activities the enterprise performs, the knowledge it has, the products and services it provides, the functions it supports, and the methods it uses to make decisions.
cause-and-effect diagram:
fishbone diagram.
change:
act of transformation in response to a need.
change agent:
One who is a catalyst for change.
change control:
Controlling changes to requirements and designs so that the impact of requested changes is understood and agreed-to before the
changes are made.
change management:
Planned activities, tools, and techniques to address the human side of change during a change initiative, primarily addressing the
needs of the people who will be most affected by the change.
change strategy:
plan to move from the current state to the future state to achieve the desired business objectives.
change team:
cross-functional group of individuals who are mandated to
implement a change. This group may be comprised of product owners,
business analysts, developers, project managers, implementation subject
matter experts (SMEs), or any other individual with the relevant set of skills and competencies required to implement the change.
checklist (business analysis):
standard set of quality elements that reviewers use for requirements verification.
collaboration:
The act of two or more people working together towards a common goal.
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS):
prepackaged solution available in the
marketplace which address all or most of the common needs of a large group of buyers of those solutions. A commercial off-the-shelf solution may require some configuration to meet the specific needs of the enterprise.
competitive analysis:
structured assessment which captures the key
characteristics of an industry to predict the long-term profitability prospects and to determine the practices of the most significant competitors.
competitive analysis:
structured assessment which captures the key
characteristics of an industry to predict the long-term profitability prospects and to determine the practices of the most significant competitors.
component:
uniquely identifiable element of a larger whole that fulfills a clear function.
concept model:
analysis model that develops the meaning of core concepts for a problem domain, defines their collective structure, and specifies the
appropriate vocabulary needed to communicate about it consistently.
constraint (business analysis):
influencing factor that cannot be changed, and
that places a limit or restriction on a possible solution or solution option.
context:
The circumstances that influence, are influenced by, and provide understanding of the change.
core concept (business analysis):
One of six ideas that are fundamental to the
practice of business analysis: Change, Need, Solution, Context, Stakeholder,
and Value.
cost-benefit analysis:
analysis which compares and quantifies the financial and non-financial costs of making a change or implementing a solution
compared to the benefits gained.
create, read, update, and delete matrix (CRUD matrix):
two-dimensional matrix
showing which user roles have permission to access specific information
entities, and to create new records in those entities, view the data in existing
records, update or modify the data in existing records, or delete existing records. The same type of matrix can be used to show which processes, instead of users, have the create, read, update and delete rights.
customer:
stakeholder who uses or may use products or services produced by the enterprise and may have contractual or moral rights that the enterprise is obliged to meet.
decision analysis:
approach to decision making that examines and models the possible consequences of different decisions, and assists in making an optimal decision under conditions of uncertainty.
decomposition:
technique that subdivides a problem into its component parts in order to facilitate analysis and understanding of those components.
defect:
deficiency in a product or service that reduces its quality or varies from a desired attribute, state, or functionality.
definitional business rule:
rule that indicates something is necessarily true (or untrue); a rule that is intended as a definitional criterion for concepts, knowledge, or information. Also known as a structural rule.
deliverable:
unique and verifiable work product or service that a party has agreed to deliver.
design:
usable representation of a solution. For more information see Key Terms and Requirements and Designs
document analysis (business analysis):
examination of the documentation of
an existing system in order to elicit requirements.
domain:
sphere of knowledge that defines a set of common requirements, terminology, and functionality for any program or initiative solving a problem.
domain subject matter expert:
stakeholder with in-depth knowledge of a topic
relevant to the business need or solution scope.
dynamic systems development method (DSDM)
project delivery framework which focuses on fixing cost, quality, and time at the beginning while contingency is managed by varying the features to be delivered.
elicitation:
Iterative derivation and extraction of information from stakeholders or other sources.
end user:
stakeholder who directly interacts with the solution.
enterprise:
system of one or more organizations and the solutions they use to pursue a shared set of common goals.
enterprise architecture:
description of the business processes, information technology, people, operations, information, and projects of an enterprise
and the relationships between them.
enterprise readiness assessment:
assessment that describes the enterprise is
prepared to accept the change associated with a solution and is able to use it effectively.
entity-relationship diagram:
graphical representation of the entities relevant to a chosen problem domain and the relationships between them.
estimate:
quantitative assessment of a planned outcome, resource requirements, and schedule where uncertainties and unknowns are systematically factored into the assessment.
evaluation:
systematic and objective assessment of a solution to determine its status and efficacy in meeting objectives over time, and to identify ways to improve the solution to better meet objectives. See also indicator; metric, monitoring.
event (business analysis):
occurrence or incident to which an organizational unit, system, or process must respond.
evolutionary prototype:
prototype that is continuously modified and updated in response to feedback from stakeholders.
experiment:
Elicitation performed in a controlled manner to make a discovery, test a hypothesis, or demonstrate a known fact.
external interface:
interaction that is outside the proposed solution. It can be another hardware system, software system, or a human interaction with which the proposed solution will interact.
facilitation:
art of leading and encouraging people through systematic efforts toward agreed-upon objectives in a manner that enhances involvement, collaboration, productivity, and synergy.
feasibility study:
evaluation of proposed alternatives to determine if they are technically, organizationally, and economically possible within the constraints of the enterprise, and whether they will deliver the desired
benefits to the enterprise.
feature:
distinguishing characteristic of a solution that implements a cohesive set of requirements and which delivers value for a set of stakeholders.
fishbone diagram:
diagramming technique used in root cause analysis to identify underlying causes of an observed problem, and the relationships that exist between those causes. Also known as an Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram.
focus group:
group formed to to elicit ideas and attitudes about a specific product, service, or opportunity in an interactive group environment. The participants share their impressions, preferences, and needs, guided by a moderator.
force field analysis:
graphical method for depicting the forces that support and oppose a change. Involves identifying the forces, depicting them on opposite sides of a line (supporting and opposing forces) and then estimating the strength of each set of forces.
functional requirement:
capability that a solution must have in terms of the behaviour and information the solution will manage.
gap analysis:
comparison of the current state and desired future state of an enterprise in order to identify differences that need to be addressed.