The Bridge - Spring 2006

FacilitatingRequirements

A Case Study by AuthorEllen Gottesdiener

Iteration Happens,Simulation SavesiRise

BA: From Practitionerto ProfessionalKathleen Barret

the CONNECTING BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS TO TECHNOLOGY

Spring 2006

New Course

letter from the editors

With 2006 in full swing, we are very excited to offer you anotherissue of the bridge with articles written by leading experts from

our industry. We frequently hear that Business Analysts are beingasked more often to assume the role of the facilitator. While somepeople are comfortable and fluent in this role, there are many BAswho are looking for tips and guidance in this area. Our main article,The Art of Facilitating Requirements discusses the benefits of usingfacilitation sessions and highlights some challenges for the BA usingthese sessions.

Author and consultant, Ellen Gottesdiener of EBG Consulting, sharesher experience with requirements workshops. Her article, WorkshopsWork: Requirements Workshops Yield Business Value and Healthy Teams, gives an example of how a workshop canassist in getting the right requirements fast and can help ensure that no requirements are missed. Additionally, youwill note that her book, Requirements by Collaboration, is reviewed in this issue.

We always like to share best practices from our readers’ organizations. This month BMO Financial Group sharesan experience using a mock requirements gathering 3-day session to assist in developing business analysis skillsand capabilities. This session helped reinforce their training and proved to be an excellent way to assess theirBAs’ competency level.

With the fast-paced growth of the business analysis profession, new tools are becoming available. iRise, whooffers a simulation platform for business people, shares how simulation can assist a BA in defining accuraterequirements. With the focus of this issue being facilitation sessions, Ask the Experts provides some tips to ensurea successful facilitation session.

The IIBA has grown phenomenally over the past several months. A large portion of this growth is due to theinception of US Chapters. Matt Etling, President, Central Iowa Chapter, shares his experience in getting achapter up and running in his article, Starting an IIBA Chapter. Although this process was challenging, it is onethat Matt will tell you is worth the effort. The IIBA Update includes the latest US Chapters that are forming.

We encourage you to continue to visit our website often to find new resources for your profession. If you wishto provide articles or materials that we can share with your peers, forward them to [email protected].

TINA JOSEPH BARBARA CARKENORD

Certified Woman OwnedSmall Business

TINA JOSEPH and BARBARA CARKENORD

t a b l e o f c o n t e n t sThe Art of Facilitating RequirementsArticle by Barbara Carkenord

Starting an IIBA ChapterArticle by Matthew Etling

From Practitioner to ProfessionalArticle by Kathleen Barret

Facilitation Brain Teaser

Workshops WorkCase Study by Ellen Gottesdiener

New Certified Business Analysts

Iteration Happens, Simulation SavesArticle by Maurice Martin, iRise

Ask the ExpertsTips for the Facilitator

Book ReviewRequirements by Collaboration by Ellen Gottesdiener

B2T’s Course Alignment with BA Body of Knowledge

B2T Training • 11795 Northfall Lane, Suite 601 • Alpharetta, GA 30004 • 866.675.2125

B2T Training is a woman-owned small business based in Atlanta, GA. Our training focuses on proven skillsand techniques to define and scope the business problem, gather and analyze requirements, document therequirements, model the requirements, and follow through with the development of business requirementstest plans to ensure the project has met its defined objectives.

Our training is offered nationally and on a limited international basis. Most of our classes are taught onsiteand are tailored to the unique environments of each organization. Public classes are also available in variouscities around the US.

CEO, Executive VP, Sales/Marketing Tina Joseph

©2006 B2T Training. All rights reserved.

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the bridge l Spring 2006 2

PresidentBarbara A. Carkenord

VP, Business DevelopmentAngie Perris

volume 3 l issue 1

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To subscribe to the bridge, please visit www.b2ttraining.com.t

The Art of Facilitating Requirements

Today most of our core business processes are already

supported by software; most organizations have

moved away from large development projects.

Our projects are smaller, more incremental. There

is much more focus on interfaces, integration with existing

systems, and change management. Also, developers can

develop faster and users can see prototypes earlier due to more

sophisticated development tools. These changes are driving the

increase in the number and sophistication of Business Analysts

(BA). BAs must have a sophisticated understanding of their

business needs and the current operating environment to be

able to recommend business and software solutions that will

work with existing systems.

3 Spring 2006 l the bridge

Using formalfacilitation sessions to elicitrequirements

BY BARBARA A. CARKENORD,

PRESIDENT, B2T TRAINING,

g RequirementsFacilitation sessions are a great way

for BAs to gather complex businessrequirements and help their business teamsunderstand and articulate needs. Usingfacilitation sessions to gather and analyzerequirements is a key task of many BAs.

It is important to recognize that a BAacting as a facilitator on his or her ownproject is not independent or completelyobjective as are traditional professionalfacilitators. The BA brings his or herbusiness area knowledge, understanding oftechnological options, and understanding of the organizational environment to thesession makingthe BA not onlythe facilitator, butalso a valuablemember of thegroup.

What is a facilitation session?Webster’s New World College Dictionarydefines the word facilitate as to make easyor easier. This is a very nice way ofexplaining why facilitation sessions areoften considered during project initiationand requirements gathering. To makerequirements gathering easy or easier is a goal towards which we all strive. Afacilitator is one who is a planner,designer, helper, instrument, or agent.

Facilitation sessions are not meetings. They are very structured, planned,working sessions where every participant is carefully chosen and has a critical role to play. Planning and preparing for afacilitation session is a significant task that,if not done well results in a poorly runsession and a huge waste of time for theparticipants.

Why use a facilitation session?When a project involves two or morestakeholders, conducting a facilitatedrequirements gathering session may beuseful. There are several reasons why a facilitation session might makerequirements gathering easier:

• Multiple versus individual input. Asstakeholders listen to other stakeholdersdescribe their requirements, they may allbe reminded of additional requirementsthat might have been missed with one-on-one interviews.

• Resolution of differences. Individualinterviews with stakeholders often result in different answers to the samequestion. This causes the BA to re-interview people and try to resolve the discrepancy herself. By using afacilitation session with all involved

parties together, the BA can help themdiscuss their disparate points of view.Often these differences result fromsomething as simple as different uses ofterminology or different assumptions.When the requirement is discussed bythe group, these differences may bequickly resolved.

True differences in requirements are identified immediately and the teambecomes aware of issues that will need to be addressed. The entire grouprecognizes that the ultimate solutionmust be able to address a variety ofneeds. When it becomes clear thatstakeholders have conflictingrequirements the Project Manger andBusiness Analyst must review the projectscope and plan to make sure there istime to address these conflicts.

• Balancing priorities. Differentstakeholders often have differentpriorities with respect to therequirements. Leading the groupthrough a discussion of priorities results in everyone being aware of otherstakeholder needs. The facilitator can

direct the negotiation betweenstakeholders to arrive at one sharedpriority list.

• Scope the project. A facilitation sessionis very beneficial at the beginning of theproject as a way to develop the scopeand/or area to be studied. This session is planned and prepared by the ProjectManager and the Business Analystworking together and can increase thelikelihood of project success by havingall of the stakeholders understand andagree to the project boundaries.

• Team building. As with any well-orchestrated group work, the teamdevelops rapport with each other andteam members become more vested inthe success of the project.

• Process improvement identification.Occasionally as people from twodifferent departments talk about howthey do their work, one may learn of adifferent procedure or policy that couldsolve a business problem right away.

Challenges for the BusinessAnalyst as the FacilitatorThere is one unique challenge of using aBA as a session facilitator. A BA cannot becompletely independent or neutral abouthis or her project while conducting afacilitation session. This is because the BA:• Has in-depth business knowledge.• Has an understanding of the unique

business environment.• Has organizational technology

knowledge.• Is responsible for communications

between business stakeholders and thesolution team; they are an integral partof the project team.

• Will help to identify alternativesolutions.

• Has a stake in the outcome.


(Continued, See Art on page 9)

Facilitation sessions are not meetings. They are very structured, planned, workingsessions where every participant is carefullychosen and has a critical role to play.


On any large project I am associatedwith, I always like to say that

Amazon.com was not built in a day. Inother words, you have to start with smallsimple tasks before you can grow intosomething big and complex. That is exactlyhow you create an IIBA chapter.

In the case of the Central Iowa Chapterof IIBA, it started with one member—me.I joined the IIBA in early March 2005, withlittle knowledge of other Business Analysts

in the Des Moines area. I contacted IIBAto learn the basic information aboutstarting a local chapter. The documentationthat I received was very open-ended and itwas apparent that there wasn’t a standardprocedure tofollow in startinga chapter. Themain objectivewas to determinewhether therewas significant interest in the area to formand maintain a chapter. But how do youdo that?

Fortunately, the IIBA keeps track oftheir members, plus B2T Training has anextensive network for which they offerbusiness analysis training and this networkcan be utilized to get the word out aboutthe local chapter. One big hurdle was todetermine where the initial meeting wouldbe held. Some chapters hold their firstmeetings at restaurants, hotels, or evencoffee shops. Fortunately, my employerrecently redesigned our work space andcreated a large room that I could useduring the lunch hour. With a place andtime set for the kick off meeting, all Ineeded were people to show up.

As I mentioned, B2T Training wasinstrumental in getting the word out to acouple of the large employers in the DesMoines area. The IIBA website wasinvaluable in offering free advertising forthe meeting. I received over 40 emails frompeople expressing interest. I began to get alittle nervous about the large number ofpeople who might attend the meeting.

The topic of the first meeting was easy.The IIBA has a great PowerPointpresentation to introduce the organizationand a list of steps to follow to formalize thechapter organization. At the kick offmeeting, I presented the information, gotto my last slide, and asked enthusiastically,

“Who wants to join a committee?”Silence. Even the neon lights above me

were quiet—and that wasn’t the worst part.For the second meeting, the only topic Ihad was to go over the material that Ipresented in the first meeting. I felt that Ineeded hot, relevant topics, but all that Ihad to offer was the same presentation.

After I completed my second iterationof IIBA’s kick off meeting PowerPointpresentation and more silence, something

began tohappen—adiscussion. I wasproposingthe idea of

forming five starting committees and thiswas too grandiose in scope. The groupdecided that it would be easier to focus onorganizing one committee, the ExecutiveCommittee. From that committee, wewould assign responsibilities for each sub-committee to a member of the ExecutiveCommittee. Thus, we would have at leastone active member working on each vitalattribute of a chapter.

That was seven months ago. Currently,the Executive Committee meets every monthand our monthly chapter meeting has anever growing number of attendees. Localsoftware vendors have presented interestingtopics and B2T Training presented a sessionon facilitation. We are working with othervendors for future speaking engagements aswell. Our bylaws have been submitted to theIIBA Executive Committee and soon wewill become an official chapter. We haveeven started branching out as one of ourExecutive Committee members is going tohelp start a chapter in Chicago.

It’s been a lot of work, but from therelationships I have formed and themethodologies I have been exposed to, ithas been a worthwhile undertaking. It isgreat to be a part of something that helpsmold my chosen profession. n

If you are interested in starting an IIBAchapter in your area, contact Tina Joseph, USChapters Chair at [email protected].

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) has experiencedphenomenal growth. Creation of local chapters has been the primary vehicle for thisgrowth. Following is a summary of Matt Etling’s experience starting the CentralIowa IIBA Chapter.

Starting an IIBA ChapterBY MATTHEW CROYUS ETLING, BUSINESS ANALYST, ITAGROUP , INC. , PRESIDENT, CENTRAL IOWA I IBA CHAPTER

The IIBA continues to grow at anexciting pace. Currently there areapproximately 1600 IIBA membersand this is largely due to theinception of chapters. There arecurrently 11 chapters in Canada and 15 in the U.S. The following U.S. cities have held chapter kick-off meetings and are eitherestablished chapters or are working on their bylaws:

• Atlanta• Boston• Columbus• Dallas• Dayton• Des Moines• Detroit• Hartford• Louisville• Minneapolis• Philadelphia• Phoenix• Rhode Island• Seattle• Washington, D.C.

Many other cities have expressedinterest in setting up local chapters.

update

“ ”You have to start with small

simple tasks before you can grow into something

big and complex.


BackgroundOn February 1, 2006, BMO FinancialGroup completed the pilot of itsRequirements Management/BusinessAnalysis Simulation. Twelve businessanalysis professionals from across thevarious lines of business within BMOFinancial Group participated in three teamsof four to meet the objectives of thisinteractive learning event:1. Experience the requirements

development and management processfrom inception to completion within a“project” framework

2. Leverage the knowledge and experienceof peers within a team structure

3. Build on all learnings, experiences, andenvironment (e.g., organization, culture)to build the desired products (e.g., plan,high-level requirements documents, anddetailed specifications)The simulation was structured to mimic

a real project. A business issue wasidentified and articulated using currentbusiness tools and deliverables. TheOperational Vision with the associatedimplication statements described the futurestate of the organization once the businessissue had been addressed. A Letter of

Engagement between the “project sponsor”and project team detailed the backgroundof the project and reasons for initiating thework. These two documents provided thethree teams with the necessary raw materialin order to begin the planning of theirrequirements work.

The background material was providedand pre-work was assigned two weeks inadvance of the three-day, on-sitecomponent of the event. Due to thecompressed timeline of the simulation, thepre-work was designed to give the teams achance to get acquainted and to help themwork through the “storming phase” of theproject start up. The expectation was thatonce the teams arrived on-site, they wouldbe able to focus on the primary objectivesof the simulation.

Ten faculty members, playing variousroles and/or performing administrativetasks, were available on-site for theduration of the simulation. This numberwas deemed necessary for two reasons:Given that this was a pilot, with all theassociated risks, there might be a need topotentially redesign the activities “on thefly.” As well, the simulation design teamwanted to ensure that the project

This article describes one

company’s experience with

utilizing a project simulation

to model behaviors and

principles required by

Business Analysts. The

company used this as a means

to reinforce their training

and as an assessment tool.

From Practitioner to Professional:Using a project simulation to accelerate the maturation of business analysis skills and capabilities

BY KATHLEEN BARRET,

BMO FINANCIAL GROUP, CONSULTING

MANAGER, BUSINESS ANALYSIS

CENTRE OF COMPETENCY,

I IBA PRESIDENT

day one

1 2 3day two day threeM O R N I N G

• Project kick-off (which included theschedule for the three days, simulationrules, team schedules for presentationsand interviews)

• Team presentations of their draftrequirements management plans (RMP)

• Team scope interviews with the projectsponsor

A F T E R N O O N• Four consecutive team interviews with

subject matter experts to complete thebusiness activity use cases and to identifyhigh-level requirements. The interviewswere conducted in 45 minute sessionswith a 10 minute break in betweensessions. The teams were expected tosubmit the final RMP for review by thefaculty at the end of the day

A L L D AY• Completion of the high-level

requirements (i.e., High LevelRequirements Document, HLRD) by end of day

• Assignment of a specific activity fromwithin the HLRD for furtherdecomposition within the DetailedRequirements Specification (DRS)

M O R N I N G• Completion of DRS • Presentation of the final requirements

document

A F T E R N O O N• Debrief

requirements teams would be successful soit wanted to ensure adequate resources wereavailable. Throughout the three days, otherresources were also utilized as needed tosupport specific simulation activities.

The simulation was comprised ofdifferent learning activities designed toassess the maturity of the ten disciplinecompetencies identified as necessary for the effective execution of the BusinessAnalyst/Requirements Manager role. Those skills are:• Analyze & solve problems• Facilitate discussions• Negotiate & build consensus• Model data & processes • Plan & manage activities• Communicate effectively (both written

& verbal)• Manage client relationships • Evaluate alternatives and analyze

potential decisions • Facilitate & develop business strategy • Understand & manage organizational

changeWhile not all of these could be objectivelyevaluated during the simulation, the designteam mapped each competency to thevarious activities in order to help in theevaluation of performance and develop-ment of feedback to the individual teams.

The three days were broken into themajor components on the chart on theopposite page.

Debrief OutputWhile the learnings from the simulationwere ongoing by the three “project teams”and the faculty, the output from the debriefperiod captured the key points (see chartthis page).

In HindsightWhile the simulation experienced a fewbumps over the three days, it met itsprimary objective – enable the participantsto build on all their learnings and experiencesand synthesize it to create new learnings.Very rarely, does an organization provide

this type of learning opportunity. Twelvemoderately competent practitioners cameinto the simulation; twelve businessanalysis professionals left three days later.This is not to say that all twelve don’t stillhave some fairly significant gaps in theirknowledge. However, their level of

awareness to effectively perform their roleincreased substantially.

The team structure was also highlyeffective. Most of the business analysisprofessionals within BMO Financial Groupwork in requirements teams of one or twopeople. By working with individuals fromacross the different lines of business withdifferent specializations (e.g., datawarehousing, Internet), the team membershad an opportunity to see how otherpractitioners address problems based ontheir own frame of reference. Quite a fewbest practices were identified and shared,not only within the teams, but across theteams as well.

The life cycle approach helped clarifyfor a number of participants why certainactivities and deliverables are requiredduring the requirements process. By seeinghow one activity contributed to the successof another, the participants were able tomove from a task-level understanding oftheir role to a big picture perspective.

The residential component was alsovery important. While the simulation wasnot designed to keep teams up all night,completing documents, the extra timeafforded at the beginning and end of eachday, encouraged better deliverables andfewer distractions from home and work.

All this being said, there were a few “Do

Betters.” More time was needed up front toenable the teams to better understand theproject goals and objectives. While eachteam met in advance and was able to createtheir draft requirements plans, there wasstill quite a bit of ambiguity. A few moreweeks of project review and high-level

discussions with the “project sponsor”might have eliminated or minimized thechurn that happened once the simulationgot started.

Clearer articulation of evaluationcriteria used for each learning event wasalso required. Not having defined criteriamade it difficult for the teams to knowwhat to focus on as they were completingtheir activities, it also made it moredifficult for the team to give appropriatefeedback. The team identified thisoversight before Day 3 and the finalpresentations reflected the clearer objectivesthat were set for the three teams. Futuresessions will have standard criteria forevaluation based on the results from thepilot.

OverallThe simulation was a great success. Thedesign team hopes to run the simulationagain after the changes have beenincorporated into the material. As well,based on the visible maturation of theparticipants during the simulation, thedesign team will present a plan tomanagement that will articulate the valueof accelerating the simulation programacross the practitioner base in order torealize benefits of a better executedrequirements process. n


business analysis skills and capabilities

debrief outputD I D W E L L

1. Met the objectives of the simulation

2. Simulation design • Having participants work as a team• Working through an entire life cycle

3. Residential nature of the trainingaway from home and office

D O B E T T E R

1. Amount of time for pre-work

2. Clear articulation of evaluationcriteria for each learning activity

Because the BA cannot be completelyindependent or neutral, she must be verycareful when conducting the session. TheBA must allow the project stakeholders toprovide the requirements and keep themwithin the project boundaries. She alsomust lead the session in the direction thatmakes the best use of the participant’s timeand meets the objectives of the project.

This often means that the BA must allowthe group to explore areas that the BAknows are “going nowhere,” allowing thegroup to figure that out for themselves. Butif a BA sees that the group is heading in acompletely wrong direction, she can“facilitate” the group back on the right path.This requires excellent communication skillsand a good sense of group momentum.

One way to minimize the challengesfaced by the BA acting as the facilitator isto use two BAs to run the session. One BAmay act as the facilitator and the other asthe scribe. This is referred to as BA Pairing,where two BAs work together on a project.In the ideal situation, one BA would haveextensive business area knowledge and theother BA would have an IT background.This pair of BAs would be able to listen torequirements, quickly identify the areasthat need further discussion, and thentailor and refine their questions to lead thegroup in the most productive direction.

Benefits of using the BusinessAnalyst as the FacilitatorAlthough it is challenging for a BA to alsobe the facilitator, the benefits are oftenworth the extra effort. A BA’s knowledge,

sophisticated analysis skills, and powerfulcommunication skills allow her to subtlychange the direction of a group discussionto make the best use of the group’s timetogether. An experienced BA can listen tothe group’s input; analyze it and understandthe implications, see the next logical step inthe process; and tailor her questions to leadthe group in the most productive direction.Let me present a couple of examples.

Example 1: During a facilitationsession the BA realizes that a businessstakeholder has an idea for a solution aboutwhich he feels very strongly. He has cometo the session with this idea and his goalfor the session is to convince everyone elsethat it is the best solution. While the BA islistening to his idea, she realizes that hissolution is not technologically feasible intheir environment.

This is an example where an outsidefacilitator might not realize that thesolution idea is not feasible and may allowthe group to discuss its merits and detailsfor an extended period of time. The benefitof having a knowledgeable BA leading themeeting is that she can lead the discussionaway from that solution and get the focusback on requirements gathering and ideageneration. “That’s an interesting potentialsolution Frank, I do foresee that may bedifficult to implement in our environmentso let’s make sure we really understand theproblem and consider other possiblesolutions.” In this case the BA has savedvaluable session time and prevented theteam from getting vested in a solution thatwill not work.

Example 2: While facilitating asession on a new product idea with theMarketing Department, the BA listenscarefully as the group discusses how theymight sell the new product to theirexisting customer base. The BA hears one stakeholder mention that customerswho have purchased or inquired aboutproduct XYZ might be interested in the new product. She also hears thatcustomers in a certain geographiclocation are likely to be interested in the new product.

Since the BA knows that order historydata and customer profile information isalready stored in existing corporate datastores, she can begin asking questionsabout the existing data to determine how it might be used here. She might askquestions like “How reliable are thecustomer addresses in our database?,”“Where did the data come from?,” “Havewe kept track of product inquiries?,”and/or “How much history is available?” In this case the BA’s knowledge allows thegroup to progress toward a solution.

The art of facilitation sessions isbecoming more vaulable in gatheringrequirements and gaining consensus onsolutions. With their unique knowledgeand skills, the BA is able to tailorquestions, hone the discussion, and keepthe group working toward solutions thatshe knows are feasible and cost justifiablefor their organization. This makes the BAas facilitator a valuable member of thegroup in addition to helping the groupprovide requirements. n


Upcoming Business Analyst and Related Eventst(Art continued from page 4)

• June 19 – 22, 2006 – Project Summit &Business Analyst World – Washington, DC For more information visit:www.projectsummit.com/DC/

• October 21 – 24, 2006 – PMI GlobalCongress North America – Seattle, WA For more information visit: www.pmi.org

• October 30 – November 2, 2006 – Project Summit & Business Analyst World– Boston, MA For more information visit:www.projectsummit.com/bos/

• November 6 – 9, 2006 – World Congress forBusiness Analysts – Lake Buena Vista, FLFor more information visit:www.iirusa.com/BAW/

• November 13 – 16, 2006 – Project Summit & Business Analyst World – Chicago, IL For more information visit:www.projectsummit.com/chi/

Additional conferences are scheduled forCanada. For a complete listing please visitwww.b2ttraining.com.

facilitation brain teaser

ACROSS1 Key player in the session who

contributes ideas5 One-on-one questioning9 Person that ensures the availability

of funds and resources12 This role’s documentation yields the

session results & outputs14 Determining when to hold the

session17 Gather a large number of ideas in a

short time19 Used to begin discussions20 Guidelines for a session21 Helps the facilitator keep track of

time and agenda22 Preparation for the session24 Type of engaging listening26 _______ Plan for outstanding issues28 A list of topics out of the scope for

the session30 A facilitated ______ may be used to

gather requirements32 Post-session feedback

33 Final intended outcomes of thesession

35 Potential project or businessproblems

36 Clearly stated reasons for thesession

DOWN2 Business, Functional & Technical

needs3 Repeat in your own words4 Analysis used to find holes6 Different types of participants7 Working together toward a common

goal8 Person who documents ideas on a

flip chart for a session10 List in order of importance11 Nonverbal language13 Setting in which the session takes

place15 Activities that help set the tone of a

session16 People who attend but do not

participate in the session

18 Session leader23 Disagreement that must be

managed25 Collective agreement supported by

the group27 Technique for graphically

representing steps in a process29 Means of gathering anonymous

information31 Referred to as nonconcrete skills34 ____ Field Analysis assumes a

situation is the result of forcesacting upon it

37 Facilitation process developed byIBM

Answers on page 14



Get the right requirements, quickly.Rethink your requirements

assumptions to help the business operatesmarter. Build effective collaborative teams.Sound good? These are the compellingbenefits of requirements workshops.

I recently planned and facilitated aseries of requirements workshops to elicitand reach closure on requirements for aweb-based technology-enabled system(TES) project to handle millions of dollarsin transactions each month. The newsoftware, intended to replace a rat’s nest ofmanual and automated processes, neededto interface with multiple internal andexternal software applications.

Over five weeks, we: • Scoped the requirements, delivering acontext diagram, requirements in/out ofscope table, stakeholder categories, policygroups, and a glossary• Generated high-level requirements—usecases, actors, and a data model• Built detailed requirements—atomicbusiness rules, prototype screens, a statediagram, and scenarios

These deliverables defined userrequirements for a specification used totake bids from external vendors.

The results? The application is rollingout across customer groups based on ouruse cases. Test cases and scripts for eachrelease have been created from our usecases, scenarios, and business rules. IT andbusiness participants are communicatingtheir mutual needs more clearly.

What’s more, the organization hasdecided that requirements workshops are amust for any significant enhancement ornew development. You could say this:repetition is the sincerest form of flattery.

Getting the Right Requirements, FastWhat do the team members think aboutthe process? At the end of the scopingworkshop, I facilitated a retrospective, a

session to enable teams to document theirlearning.

The team members discussed howtough the process was—how much mentaleffort it required—and their amazement athow much information and clarity theyhad gained in a short time. It was easy tosee—the walls were covered with posters,diagrams, and sticky notes. Our recorderhad captured and organized all this usingsoft tools.

“I want to say something,” Jane said.One of the key business participants, Janereported to Maria, the unit supervisor.Maria was also a subject matter expert andhad decision-making authority about therequirements. “Maria resisted making thetime to do these workshops—you know,taking five hours out of each day,” Janewent on. “If she had her way, she’d do itthe usual way, and that ends up nevergetting us what we need.”

“What’s ‘the usual way’?” I asked.“She would usually do this with the IT

people.” Jane glanced, half smiling, atMaria and then at the IT lead. “She’d say,‘You build something, show it to me, andI’ll tell you what’s wrong with it!’”Everyone, including Maria, laughed.

“So, Maria, what do you think aboutdefining requirements this way?” I asked.

“Oh, this was really hard,” Maria said.“But now I can see it is necessary. It hasactually made me rethink some of thethings I thought we needed, and some ofthe priorities.”

Everyone nodded.“Actually, it has saved me time and

effort,” she added. “It used to take weeksor months, going back and forth with IT,for them to figure out what we needed.”

Requirements workshops are hard work,but they’re worth the effort. As I explainedin Requirements by Collaboration,workshops are a cost-effective, criticaltechnique for reducing project risk.

Rethinking Your Business to WorkSmarterOur high-level workshops producedrequirements representations that helped usunderstand the system’s functionality andinterfaces, including the needed data. Ithen planned the most detailed andchallenging workshops—those to defineatomic business rules (precise, formalstatements of a single discrete businessrule).

The input to these workshops included:• Scenarios from prior workshops and pre-work with additional scenario detailsproduced by the business participants• Screen prototypes and logical data modelproduced by IT • Business rule templates (I had designedthese based on what I learned in theworkshops about the company’s rules)

Each of the four workshops took fourto five hours. Between sessions, I workedwith the recorder and Business Analyst to“clean up” the rules, ensuring they wereatomic, consistent with other rules, andtraced to each other, and to the use cases.In the workshop we reviewed the cleaned-up rules before tackling new scenarios andprototype screens.

It quickly became clear that the businessrules were overly complicated. They wereconfusing, not only for internal businessstaff but also for customers, who wereconstantly calling with questions aboutpayments, invoices, reconciliations, andmore.

After the first workshop, Mariaproposed to Meyer, the business sponsor,that the company simplify its businessrules. She walked him through severalpages of atomic rules we had created, all ofthem applying to only one scenario. Meyerwas both appalled and intrigued. Afterresearch on costs (none) and customerreaction (enthusiastic), the simplificationwas approved.

Workshops Work:Requirements Workshops Yield Business Value andHealthy TeamsBY ELLEN GOTTESDIENER, PRINCIPAL CONSULTANT, EBG CONSULTING


Build Collaborative Teams Requirements workshops also go a longway toward establishing and sustaininghealthy teamwork between business and ITproject members.

“We don’t usually expect the IT peopleto figure out what we want,” Mariaexplained. “But I like this approach. It’shard work, but I feel more confident thatthey understand our needs.” Then sheconfessed, “Actually, I wasn’t sure what Ineeded until we did these workshops!”

For its part, IT learned to not worryabout technical solutions before under-standing the business problem. During thefinal retrospective, we heard from Wayne, themanager of architecture and planning: “Wehave to focus on the implementation andinterfaces, but I think this process helps usunderstand what you are trying to achieve.”

The models built in the workshop hadanother benefit: helping the businesspeople articulate their needs. One dayMaria told us she was looking forward tothe “Show and Tell,” when project sponsors

and stakeholders would be briefed by theparticipants. “I can’t wait to show oursponsor that context diagram,” she said (seephoto above). “I’m gonna show him thisand say to him, ‘See why I am so busy anddeserve a raise?’” n

Ellen Gottesdiener, Principal Consultant, EBGConsulting, helps teams collaboratively explorerequirements, shape their development processes,and plan their work, and she teaches businessand IT people about requirements, facilitatedworkshops, retrospectives, and peer reviews. Herbook Requirements by Collaboration:Workshops for Defining Needs (Addison-Wesley, 2002) is reviewed in this issue of thebridge. Ellen is contributing author toScenarios, Stories, Use Cases Through theSystems Development Life-Cycle. Her latestbook is Software Requirements MemoryJogger: A Pocket Guide to Help Software and Business Teams Develop and ManageRequirements (Goal/QPC, 2005). She can be reached at [email protected] andhttp://www.ebgconsulting.com.

New Certified Business AnalystsWe are pleased to be able tohighlight the latest individuals whohave earned the title of CertifiedBusiness Analyst since the last issueof the bridge. To date, we havemore than 2,500 people in theprogram, with over 150 who havecompleted and received certificationand an additional 290 individuals inthe final stage of the process.

Carol Booth

Connie Cannon

Francisco Carvallo

Mike Davis

Kimberly Davis

Nitza Dovenspike

Carlton Elder II

Valerie Gaines

Mark Galetto

Nancy Harders

Paula Harris

Shane Helsel

M. Todd Hilliard

James Hundley

Andrea Jackson

Kristen Johnson

Jodi L. Keane

Vickie J. Keeney

Karen Klein

Dianne Launspach

John Lundborg

Margaret Notaro

Chase Petsche

Kelley Pollard

Robert Prentiss

Ebony Price

Betsy Reliford

Carole Rinks-Harrell

Lillian D. Scott

Allison Soroka

Faye Stevens

Terry Tracz

Sheila Turnbull

Lata Walsh

Kim Whitfield

Brad Wolff

Iteration Happens, Iteration Happens, Iteration Happens,Iteration happens. Reiteration costs money,

big money. Business and technologypeople have learned that errors found up

front, prior to deploying solutions, save timeand money. The cost of reworking a project,fine tuning it until the code finally meets theneeds of the various stakeholders within theenterprise, can be astounding. According tothe Standish Group, only 29 percent of ITprojects succeed, meaning they are deliveredon time, on budget, and with all thepromised features and functions in place.More than half (53 percent) are“challenged,” meaning they arrive late, overbudget and/or without all their requiredfeatures and functions.

The realization of projects struggling tomeet expectations is a primary reason theBusiness Analyst profession is growing. TheBusiness Analyst works to bridge the gapbetween business stakeholders andinformation technology developers bygathering and documenting requirements forbusiness solutions. The tools available to theBusiness Analyst to document requirementsare usually limited to MS Word® and Visio®.While these tools are helpful to a BusinessAnalyst, sometimes they don’t fully representthe requirements—especially for largecomplex projects.

How Simulation Can HelpComplex projects can result in 500 pagedocuments, plus supporting notes. I haveeven heard of companies who have to usehand trucks to transport theserequirements from the business office toIT. This makes it extremely difficult for thedevelopment team to have a clear pictureof the project. It is also difficult for theuser to review.

The growing complexity of IT projectspresents challenges in communication

channels between business and IT people.There are more technologies, moreapplications, more interconnectivity, andmore user mobility issues to deal with.Then there are regulatory and securityconcerns.

Add to these challenges the matter oftime. Nearly every enterprise today worksaround the clock. Few factory whistlesblow at five o’clock for IT and businessmanagers. In today’s global 24/7 economy,both groups face constant and increasingpressure to deliver projects in less time and

for fewer dollars.Clearly, a more robust tool is needed

to help BAs and IT people straddle theircommunication gap. Both groups needtools and techniques that will help themdefine specifications more clearly, enablethem to collaborate in real-time on productdevelopment, and thus deliver applicationsthat work right the first time. Businesspeople like to test drive applications beforethey’re built, like a flight simulator, onlyfor business systems.

Software simulation is atechnique that is gainingpopularity among developers ofenterprise applications. Smartbusinesses today, like Fireman’s

Fund, SunTrust Bank and SentaraHealthcare, are taking a page from large-scale industrial firms. They are usingsophisticated simulators to design and testnew enterprise products before actuallybuilding them. Just as Boeing will modeland test an aircraft design extensively in amultitude of virtual environments beforecutting the first piece of sheet metal, banksand other large organizations are gatheringsystems definitions and building softwaresimulations before writing the first line of code.

Iteration Happens, Simulation SavesBY MAURICE MARTIN, PRESIDENT, COO AND FOUNDER, iR ise

A more robust tool is needed tohelp BAs and IT people straddletheir communication gap.


B2T Training strives to bring value to the Business Analyst community. We recently redesigned our website to a formatthat is easier for you to use. As a Business Analyst you may

find that our BA Resources section is a tremendous help to providing the latest information.

BA Requirements Package Templates

Recommended Reading

Business Analyst Tools

Upcoming Events and Conferences

Subscription to the bridge Magazine

Conference Presentations

Updated IIBA Information

Visit www.b2ttraining.com

ba resources

Software simulation allows businesspeople to test-drive modules andcomponents of the application before thecoding process begins. Expensiveambiguities, omissions, and mistakes canbe avoided when BAs can actually see howthe application will work before a version is given to them as “code complete.”

Simulation software can help BusinessAnalysts get specifications right the firsttime, avoid costly rework, and deliversuccessful IT applications on time. And no

matter where the IT team is based, visualsimulations help business and IT peoplecommunicate and collaborate moreeffectively. Better communication andcollaboration means a better product.Figures 1 and 2 show how simulation canhelp you visualize the look and feel of awebpage prior to development. This allowsbusiness stakeholders and developers tovisualize and interact with their webpagebefore development.

Iteration does, and must, happen. But

now organizations have a choice on whento do it—early in the software developmentcycle via simulation when it’s inexpensive,quick, and fun, or late in the cycle when it’s expensive, time-consuming, and verypainful. Too bad most decisions in businessaren’t this easy. n

Maurice Martin

n Happens, Iteration Happens,

Submit an article to the bridge!

Answers to Brain Teaser puzzle on page 10

Each issue of the bridge focuses on a particular area of interest withinbusiness analysis. Articles relevant tothe topic area are preferred; however,any articles about best practices,project success stories, BA resources(books or tools) will also beconsidered. We will post submissiondeadlines for each issue so keep aneye on our website. To submit anarticle send an email [email protected].


Figure 1 Figure 2


Question: What advice can you give to afacilitator to ensure a successful facilitationsession?Answer: 1. Plan the session—distributeand post an agenda somewhere in the roomso you can refer to it. As you completeagenda items check them off. If possible, settime limits on the agenda items so that youget through the agenda in the allotted time.2. Maintain an issue log—for postingitems that cannot be resolved in the session.At the end of session be sure each item isassigned to someone with a due date. 3. Establish a parking lot—this is forposting items that are in scope for the sessionbut not in scope for the current agenda item.When you get to the item for which it is inscope you will not forget to address it.4. Post decisions on a flip chart soeveryone can see them.5. Write notes on flip charts to ensureparticipants can see what is being writtenand can make corrections as you go along.It is sometimes helpful to repeat back to

the group what you have just heard.6. Date and number flip chart pages.7. Have a scribe. A scribe is separate fromthe facilitator and is necessary for thesession, as their notes will be much moredetailed. The scribe is not a participant,but he or she can ask questions at thediscretion of the facilitator. 8. Establish rules – Read them to thewhole group at the beginning and gainconsensus of everyone agreeing to abide bythe rules. This will help control the room.

Question: What decision makingtechniques should be used during sessions?Answer: There are many decision optionsdepending on the decision needed and thegroup dynamics. Consensus building is oneof the best options for important issuesbecause it allows the group to discuss andcollaborate on a solution that everyone cansupport. Through collaboration, the entireteam agrees on a decision. Compromise isthe technique where someone or everyone

has to give up something during thenegotiation process and should only beused when consensus can’t be achieved.Unanimous agreement is another optionwhen it is 100% and it is recommendedwhen there are very clear cut issues that donot require discussion. Unanimity is notoften realistic if a decision requires carefulthought. Majority voting is useful forquick, trivial decisions such as, “do youagree that we should take a break now andgo out for lunch?” Sometimes one persondecides if there is not enough time forconsensus building and a subject matterexpert makes a decision. This may be usedwithout harming the team dynamics. Multi-voting is when everyone gets to vote and isoften used when there are lists of things orwhere items need prioritization. Thistechnique is very objective, everyone getsheard, and it can be used effectively to workthrough many items. nSend your questions to Ask the Experts [email protected].

ask the experts Tips for the Facilitator

book reviewRequirements by Collaboration: Workshops for Defining Needsby Ellen GottesdienerREVIEWED BY BARBARA A. CARKENORD, PRESIDENT, B2T TRAINING,

Requirements by Collaboration is anextremely useful book for Business

Analysts and should be part of any BAlibrary. Ellen Gottesdienerbrought together herextensive knowledge ofrequirements with herexperience in working withgroups to give us a greatresource for elicitingrequirements on anyproject.

Ellen’s belief that no onemodel will be able tocompletely represent therequirements of a project shows how wellshe understands the complexity ofrequirements and the difficulty in

accurately documenting them. Herrecommendations reflect the reality thatmost business requirements are very

complex.The book describes the

“ingredients of a successfulrequirements workshop”with the focus oncollaboration. The bookbrings together provenfacilitation techniques,requirements models, andhuman psychology toexplain exactly how toconduct a successful

requirements gathering workshop. Best of all Requirements by Collaboration

is very accessible and entertaining in its

tone and attitude. It is a great referencebecause topics are easy to find andexplained using clever phrases like“doneness tests” and “groups are wise.”There are a lot of tables, lists, and sidebarsthat allow the reader to quickly look up aproblem area and get some help. n

Barbara A. Carkenord is the President ofB2T Training. She has worked in therequirements gathering and documentationfield for over 20 years and has conductedhundreds of seminars for Business Analysts.Comments are welcome [email protected].

B2T RATING: HHHH

(scale is 1-4; 4 is the best)

new courseFacilitating Requirements for Business AnalysisThis course teaches students to plan and conduct a facilitated session to gatherbusiness and functional requirements. As projects involve more people fromvarious departments within an organization, the art of bringing people togetherto gather requirements and gain consensus on solutions becomes a criticalsuccess factor for all BAs. The class is limited to 8 students, giving each anopportunity to practice facilitating a requirements gathering session. Studentshave the opportunity to play each of the key roles in at least one session.

The workshops require students to conduct a requirements gatheringsession for at least one requirement deliverable. Over 60% of the class time isspent on interactive, real-world business case study facilitated sessions.

Course Outline

For more information on this course visit www.b2ttraining.comt

Intended AudienceThis course is designed forexperienced, knowledgeableBusiness Analysts whounderstand process, data, andbusiness rule requirements.

PrerequisitesStudents should haveattended B2T TrainingCourses: Detailing BusinessData Requirements andDetailing Process andBusiness Rules Requirementsor have equivalent experience.

3 Days


Introduction• Define requirements facilitation• Define participant roles in the session• Learn guidelines for requirements

facilitators• Set session rules and manage the session• Learn reactive techniques to use during

the session• Workshop: Conduct a mini-facilitated

session

Requirements Session Feasibility• Determine session feasibility

•• Determine need/requirements deliverable desired

•• Determine commitment level•• Determine risks

• Discuss phases in the project life cycle where facilitation is most useful

• Discuss types of requirements deliverablesfor which facilitation is most useful

• Review the core requirements componentsand discuss how they are best gathered

• Learn when not to use facilitated sessions

Planning a Facilitated RequirementsGathering Session

• Plan the session•• Determine the number/length of the

session•• Document the purpose of the session•• Identify potential participants•• Define session requirements deliverables

• Prepare for a session•• Outline the goals and requirements

deliverables•• Select session participants and determine

if pre-session interviews are appropriate

•• Develop questions to gather requirements•• Create a detailed agenda for the

facilitation team•• Learn group-oriented facilitation

techniques•• Create a formal agenda for the session

participants•• Orient the facilitation team•• Prepare the facilities

• Workshop: Plan a facilitated session to develop project scope

Conducting the Session• Learn the stages of group development/

productivity• Facilitate decision making - working

towards consensus• Conducting the session

•• Introducing the session•• Managing the session•• Creating a follow-up action plan

• Give feedback to participants• Review/approve requirements deliverables

Student Workshop• Plan and conduct a requirements

gathering facilitated session• Produce the requirements deliverable• Receive feedback from instructor and

fellow students

Session Follow-Up• Produce the final requirements document• Share session feedback• Determine the next steps to finalize the

requirements


IIBA body of knowledge

B2T’s Course Alignment with the BA Body of KnowledgeB2T Training actively participates in furthering the mission and growth of the IIBA. Many people are curious about the IIBA’s Certification program in comparison to our training program andcertification. The B2T Training program will prepare you for both the B2T Training Certification andthe IIBA Certification when it is available.

The B2T Training program is a comprehensive program that aligns with all areas of the IIBA Bodyof Knowledge, as currently defined in the draft version 1.4. The BOK is a collection of businessanalysis tasks categorized into like groupings called knowledge areas. The BOK is not amethodology and does not infer any particular order of performing the activities. The B2T Trainingprogram is taught in a series of courses that reflect the order of work and iterative nature ofbusiness analysis. The graphic below illustrates the alignment between the current version of theBOK and B2T Training courses.

The IIBA is not a training organization and as such will not offer training or preparation for itscertification. The IIBA will offer an Endorsed Education Provider program in which training vendorswhose programs support the IIBA mission and the IIBA BOK will be listed. When this program isavailable, B2T Training will work to be an IIBA Endorsed Education Provider.

We are confident that the B2T Training Certification is currently the most recognized certificationin the industry and has value to you as a Business Analyst and to prospective employers. Pleasereview the comparison information above and if you have any questions please contact us [email protected].

EnterpriseAnalysis

RequirementsPlanning &

Management

RequirementsGathering

RequirementsAnalysis &

Documentation

RequirementsCommunications

RequirementsImplementation

Fundamentals

B2T Core Course Alignment

IIBA Business Analysis Body of Knowledge

Essential Skills for theBusiness Analyst

Detailing Business DataRequirements

Detailing Process andBusiness Rule Requirements

Additional B2T Training Course Alignment

Advanced Business Analysis Techniques

Facilitating Requirementsfor Business Analysis

Requirements Testing for the Business Analyst


certified core courses

Essential Skills for the Business AnalystA Business Analyst acts as a liaison between business people who have a businessproblem and technology people who know how to create solutions. A BusinessAnalyst's main responsibility is to gather, detail, and document requirements in aformat that is useful to their business stakeholders and the technical developers.

This course covers the critical skills for the Business Analyst and is appropriate fornew and/or experienced Business Analysts. New Business Analysts will learn thetasks they are expected to perform and why each task is important. ExperiencedBusiness Analysts will learn new techniques and more structured approaches toimprove their requirements development activities.

Detailing Business Data RequirementsUnderstanding and documenting business data requirements is a criticalcomponent in defining complete requirements. Every process uses data andalmost all business rules are enforced by data. Missing a critical piece of data orincorrectly defining a data element contributes to the majority of maintenanceproblems and results in systems that do not reflect the business needs. Thiscourse teaches students an in-depth approach to identify and define all necessarydata components using both textual templates and an entity relationship diagram.

Detailing Process and Business Rule RequirementsThis course continues the development of the requirements package by definingthe processes and business rules for the project. Business Analysts are expected toanalyze and understand business problems and be able to make recommendationsto help the business stakeholders solve problems. The most effective approach toensure success is to understand the business environment and document thebusiness requirements, and then use functional requirements to document howsoftware automation can support the business.

Functional requirements document how the software should “behave.” Theserequirements must specify how users will interact with the software and how thesoftware will respond. Business Analysts are uniquely qualified to document theserequirements because of their understanding of the business needs and the user'swork environment. These requirements will be used to articulate the technologyneeds of a quality software application that will meet the business needs.

More detailed outlines are available on our website, www.b2ttraining.com

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In this course Business Analysts will learn to:• Scope the project from the Business Analyst’s perspective. • Identify and gather the requirements that are critical to the business mission. • Learn how to ask the right questions. • Identify the five core requirements components. • Know when a requirement is excellent. • Plan an approach for documenting, categorizing, and packaging requirements. • Verify that requirements are testable and generate testing objectives. • Conduct a requirement review. • Gather requirements in a group setting by preparing an agenda and managing the group discussion.

In this course Business Analysts will learn to:• Identify core data requirements beginning with project initiation. • Identify excellent data requirements at the appropriate level of detail.• Identify and detail attributive, associative, and subtype and supertype entities. • Detail complex data related business rules. • Discriminate between Business Data (Logical Data) and Database Design (Physical Data). • Transition business data to database design. • Utilize easy normalization techniques (without all the mathematical theory). • Validate data requirements with activity (process or use case) requirements.

In this course Business Analysts will learn to:• Understand and document the business environment using a suggested structure, including

detailed templates for defining the business and functional requirements for processes and business rules.

• Look beyond the current technology or procedures to discover the true nature of the business activity.

• Ask the right questions to identify the core business processes and the business rules that control or guide them.

• Document functional requirements which describe how the software should “behave.” • Utilize several diagrams including the decomposition diagram, Use Case diagram, and

workflow diagrams. • Look at the business area from an objective perspective after business requirements are

documented and organized to present alternative design solutions that meet the customer needs.

• Validate business processes against data requirements.


additional business analysts courses

Requirements Testing for the Business AnalystThis course provides an excellent foundation for Business Analysts to achievebest practices in software quality assurance (SQA). The course will improve theBusiness Analyst's development of requirements so that they can be used tobuild quality test cases. It will also enable the Business Analyst to create specifictest cases from the requirements. The course includes a workshop case studythat provides a cohesive learning experience.

Advanced Business Analysis TechniquesThis course enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of Business Analysts bygiving them additional techniques and strategies for gathering, documenting, andreviewing requirements. Techniques such as advanced data definition, traceability,and gap analysis help Business Analysts to document more accurate andcomplete requirements. The course also presents the concept of requirementsmanagement and requirement reuse. Implementing a requirements managementprocess into your organization can significantly reduce the time required to makesoftware changes and develop software interfaces.

management/technical seminars

Overview of Business AnalysisThis seminar presents the Business Analyst role to managers and others wholead and work with Business Analysts. In order for the Business Analyst to besuccessful, both the IT and business community must embrace the businessanalysis process. The seminar can be used as a working session to discuss howyour organization will implement the business analysis process and approachesfor documenting the requirements.

Developer’s Introduction to Business Analysis This class provides an overview of the Business Analyst role and a detailedreview of the requirements document provided to the development team. Toensure an integrated team, IT developers need to understand the role of theBusiness Analyst. They should also be familiar with the requirements thatBusiness Analysts are gathering and documenting. This includes understandingcategories of requirements, the core requirement components, and thedocumentation formats used for each type of requirement. IT team membersmust also understand the testing life cycle and the personnel involved. Thiscourse gives students an overview of the role of the Business Analyst,requirements documentation, and software testing.

For more information on these courses visit www.b2ttraining.com

3 Days

4 Hour Seminar

1 Day

3 Days

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Essential Skills for the BusinessAnalyst - $1,980/per student• Apr 24 – Apr 27, 2006 New York, NY• May 1 – May 4, 2006 Seattle, WA• Jun 12 – Jun 15, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Jul 17 – Jul 20, 2006 Louisville, KY• Aug 7 – Aug 10, 2006 Chicago, IL• Sep 18 – Sep 21, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Nov 13 – Nov 16, 2006 New York, NY• Dec 4 – Dec 7, 2006 Atlanta, GA

Detailing Business Data Requirements- $1,485/per student• Apr 24 – Apr 26, 2006 Houston, TX• Jun 12 – Jun 14, 2006 New York, NY• Jul 24 – Jul 26, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Aug 14 – Aug 16, 2006 Seattle, WA• Sep 11 – Sep 13, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Sep 18 – Sep 20, 2006 Louisville, KY• Oct 23 – Oct 25, 2006 Chicago, IL

Detailing Process and Business RuleRequirements - $1,980/per student• May 15 – May 18, 2006 Louisville, KY• May 22 – May 25, 2006 Houston, TX• Jun 5 – Jun 8, 2006 Chicago, IL• Sep 25 – Sep 28, 2006 New York, NY• Oct 2 – Oct 5, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Nov 6 – Nov 9, 2006 Seattle, WA• Nov 13 – Nov 16, 2006 Louisville, KY• Dec 4 – Dec 7, 2006 Chicago, IL

Facilitating Requirements for BusinessAnalysis - $1,485 per student• May 8 – May 10, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Sep 11 – Sep 13, 2006 Louisville, KY

Requirements Testing for the BusinessAnalyst - $1,485 per student• Aug 21 – Aug 23, 2006 Atlanta, GA• Dec 11 – Dec 13, 2006 Louisville, KY

Advanced Business AnalysisTechniques - $1,485 per student• Apr 18 – Apr 20, 2006 Louisville, KY• Oct 16 – Oct 18, 2006 Louisville, KY• Nov 6 – Nov 8, 2006 Atlanta, GA

2006 public class schedule

Please check our website for additional public class offerings and to checkavailability and register – www.b2ttraining.com.On-site classes are also available.

Call 866.675.2125 or email us at [email protected].

B2T Training11795 Northfall Lane, Suite 601Alpharetta, GA 30004

Prsrt StdU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #309

Knoxville, TN

The Bridge - Spring 2006

Documents

Transcript of The Bridge - Spring 2006