AgileBA^® Foundation and Practitioner Certificate Course

Don’t get left behind…

The Business Analyst (BA) is a critical role within an agile project team and with more and more organisations adopting agile approaches, BAs performing this crucial role need to have the necessary skills and expertise.

Despite this, there has been little in the way of detailed best practice guidance that directly addresses the role, responsibilities and skills of the Agile Business Analyst.

The Foundation course prepares candidates for the APMG Agile Business Analysis Foundation (AgileBA^®) certification.

The Practitioner course builds on the 3 day AgileBA^® Foundation workshop, providing additional depth of understanding, and prepares candidates for the APMG Agile Business Analysis Practitioner certification exam.

Foundation Course:

Course Objective

The Foundation course is about providing an understanding of the:

• Knowledge and understanding of the Agile Business Analyst role and responsibilities
• Context to the role beyond the individual project, in relation to organisational mission and strategy
• Additional depth, guidance and techniques for the Business Analyst role.

The guidance is based on the DSDM^® (Dynamic System Development Method) Agile Project Framework, an approach which defines the role of the project-based Business Analyst in relation to business, development and testing roles at all levels. However the guidance goes deeper, with many generic and popular agile techniques also included.

The course also includes review, consolidation of concepts and exam questions for the Foundation level certification.

Practitioner Course:

Course Objective

The Practitioner level qualification aims to measure whether the candidate has sufficient knowledge and understanding of the Agile Business Analysis guidance to apply and tailor it to a given scenario situation. The scenario is designed to allow the candidate to demonstrate they possess the competence to begin working as an Agile Business Analyst.

The guidance is based on the DSDM^® (Dynamic System Development Method) Agile Project Framework, an approach which defines the role of the project-based Business Analyst in relation to business, development and testing roles at all levels. However the guidance goes deeper, with many generic and popular agile techniques also included.

The workshop also includes review, consolidation of concepts and exam questions for the Practitioner level certification.

Foundation Course:

Course Content Summary

The course helps participants to:

• Lay the foundations for successful agile projects
• Explain how the business analyst role and skills fit in an Agile environment
• Clarify the different ways of working with the AgileBA during the phases of an Agile project
• Outlines the lifecycle of an Agile requirement and how to write good, effective Agile requirements
• Provide a comprehensive set of techniques and practices for effective business analysis and collaborative agile working

Specific topics include…

Agile Fundamentals, Roles and Products

The Agile Approach | Philosophy and Principles | Processes | Products

Strategy Analysis

Internal and External Analysis Techniques | The Value Chain and Lean Thinking | Implementing Organisational Strategies | The Agile Business Case

Stakeholder Collaboration

Defining and Analysis Stakeholders in the Agile Project | Communicating with Stakeholders | Facilitated Workshops

Managing Requirements

Categorisations | User Stories and Story Maps | Agile Approach to Requirements | The Lifecycle of a Requirement | Modelling and Estimating Techniques

Delivering on Time

Agile Practices to Deliver on Time: Timeboxing and Iterative Development

Modelling and Mapping

Modelling Perspectives and Techniques for the Agile BA

Exam Preparation and AgileBA Foundation Exam

Practitioner Course:

Course Content Summary

The workshop helps participants to:

• Apply the underpinning philosophy and principles of DSDM^® in a project situation
• Appropriately configure the processes of an Agile project to a given scenario
• Produce and evaluate the content of BA-produced Agile products produced during an Agile project in a given scenario
• Apply the following Agile practices in a project situation: Facilitated Workshops; MoSCoW prioritisation; Iterative Development; Modelling; Timeboxing
• Identify the Agile practices to be used for a given situation within a scenario
• Understand the roles and responsibilities within an Agile project and the different levels of empowerment with respect to requirements and the business case
• Understand the mechanisms for facilitation and support within an Agile Project
• Understand in outline how to test, estimates and evaluate benefits delivery in an Agile project
• Describe the Agile approach to managing and prioritising requirements and identify actions to rectify problems with requirements within an Agile project from a given scenario

Foundation Course:

Practitioner Course:

The Agile Business Analysis Practitioner qualification is valid for 5 years.  Practitioners should re-register within 3-5 years of their original certification in order to demonstrate their commitment to professional development.