Which of the following business analysis activities might be undertaken to verify requirements?
Answer : D
A requirement can be of benefit to a stakeholder and still not be a desirable part of a solution. A requirement that does not deliver benefit to a stakeholder is a strong candidate for elimination. When requirements do not align, either the future state must be re-evaluated and the solution scope changed, or the requirement removed from the solution scope.
Which of the following are criteria used to determine quality requirements relationships?
Answer : C
Quality requirements relationships are determined by criteria that ensure the requirements are fundamentally sound. These criteria include:
Necessary: The requirement must be essential to meet the business need or opportunity.
Consistent: The requirement must not conflict with other requirements.
Correct: The requirement must accurately describe the functionality that will meet the business need or opportunity.
These criteria help in ensuring that the quality requirements are aligned with the business objectives and can be effectively implemented and managed.
When the focus of the specifying and modelling activity is on a solution, the output is referred to as:
Answer : A
When the focus of specifying and modeling is on how a solution will meet requirements, the output is referred to as a design. According to the BABOK Guide v3, design is the usable representation of a solution. It describes the solution components and how they interact to fulfill business needs. This is distinct from requirements, which describe the 'what' rather than the 'how.'
Requirements = What the solution must do
Design = How the solution will do it
BABOK Reference: Requirements Analysis and Design Definition knowledge area explains that specifying and modeling can result in either requirements or designs depending on the focus of the activity.
What is a logical data model used for?
Answer : A
A logical data model is used to abstract a 'conceptual data model' by incorporating normalization rules to manage data integrity and relationships. It serves as an abstraction layer that defines the relationships between different data elements, entities, and attributes, focusing on the business concepts and rules that govern the data. This model helps in organizing data to reduce redundancy and improve data integrity, ensuring that the data structure is optimized for both business understanding and database design.
During the requirement life cycle management, what should a business analyst (BA) do to extend the value of requirements beyond the current initiative?
Answer : D
In Requirements Life Cycle Management, the task that extends the value of requirements beyond the current initiative is Maintain Requirements. This involves keeping requirements accurate, up to date, and available for reuse in future initiatives. Reusable requirements reduce the need for rework and improve organizational efficiency.
Exact Extract from BABOK Guide v3 -- Section 5.3: Maintain Requirements:
''The purpose of Maintain Requirements is to retain requirements accuracy and consistency throughout and beyond the change during the entire requirements life cycle and to support reuse where appropriate.''
What characteristic of a process is evaluated during process analysis?
Answer : B
In process analysis, the BA evaluates a process to determine how efficiently and effectively it is achieving its goals. This involves analyzing process steps, identifying waste or redundancy, and seeking opportunities for optimization.
BABOK Reference -- Technique: Process Analysis (Section 10.33):
''Process analysis evaluates the efficiency and effectiveness of a process, identifying opportunities to improve performance.''
Which cost is estimated based on the alternative results that might have been achieved if the resources devoted to one design option had been allocated to another design option?
Answer : C
The concept of opportunity cost is fundamental in economics and decision-making processes, which also applies to business analysis. Opportunity cost refers to the benefits that are foregone by choosing one alternative over another. In the context of business analysis, when resources are allocated to one design option, the opportunity cost is the value of the best alternative that is not chosen. This means that the opportunity cost is the cost of the next best alternative that could have been achieved with those resources.