The Business Analysis Competency Model® Version 4
Terms Referencing This Resource (28)
behavioural characteristics
Your demonstrated character traits on the job that are observed by others or by you.
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 effort
The scope of activities a business analyst is engaged in during the life cycle of an initiative.
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 analyst
Any person who performs business analysis, no matter their job title or organizational role.
business process
An 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.
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.
checklist (business analysis)
A 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.
customer
A 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.
design
A usable representation of a solution. For more information see Key Terms and Requirements and Designs.
domain
The sphere of knowledge that defines a set of common requirements, terminology, and functionality for any program or initiative solving a problem.
impact analysis
An assessment of the effects a proposed change will have on a stakeholder or stakeholder group, project, or system.
initiative
A specific project, program, or action taken to solve some business problem(s) or achieve some specific change objective(s).
input (business analysis)
Information consumed or transformed to produce an output. An input is the information necessary for a task to begin.
life_cycle
A series of changes an item or object undergoes from inception to retirement.
methodology
A body of methods, techniques, procedures, working concepts, and rules used to solve a problem.
model
A representation and simplification of reality developed to convey information to a specific audience to support analysis, communication, and understanding.
need
A problem or opportunity to be addressed.
requirement
A usable representation of a need.
requirements management
Planning, executing, monitoring, and controlling any or all of the work associated with requirements elicitation and collaboration, requirements analysis and design, and requirements life cycle management.
requirements traceability
The ability for tracking the relationships between sets of requirements and designs from the original stakeholder need to the actual implemented solution. Traceability supports change control by ensuring that the source of a requirement or design can be identified and other related requirements and designs potentially affected by a change are known.
requirements workshop
A structured meeting in which a carefully selected group of stakeholders collaborate to define and/or refine requirements under the guidance of a skilled neutral facilitator.
service (business analysis)
The performance of any duties or work for a stakeholder, from the perspective of the stakeholder.
solution
A specific way of satisfying one or more needs in a context.
stakeholder
A group or individual with a relationship to the change, the need, or the solution.
validation (business analysis)
The process of checking that a deliverable is suitable for its intended use. See also requirements validation.
value (business analysis)
The worth, importance, or usefulness of something to a stakeholder in a context.