Free Practice Questions for IIBA CBAP Exam

According to the BABOK Guide, defining the business needs is the process of identifying the ends that the organization is seeking to achieve. Business goals and objectives are statements of the desired outcomes of the change initiative that align with the organization’s strategy and vision. They provide the context for identifying and evaluating alternative solutions that can satisfy the business needs. Alternative identification, solution assessment, and requirements are parts of other processes that follow defining the business needs. References:

BABOK Guide, Chapter 5: Strategy Analysis, Section 5.1: Define the Business Need, p. 100-101

CBAP Certification Study Guide v3.0, Chapter 5: Strategy Analysis, Section 5.1: Define the Business Need, p. 5-3 to 5-4

 Customer-facing activities are those that directly involve or affect the customers, such as sales, service, support, or marketing. These activities should be consistent across the organization, as consistency is a key factor for customer satisfaction and loyalty12. Customers expect to have the same level of service and quality every time they interact with a business, regardless of the channel, location, or employee. If some employees perform customer-facing activities in a different format than the others, it can create confusion, frustration, or distrust among the customers, and potentially damage the business reputation and revenue34. Therefore, this is a problem that can be addressed as part of an improvement opportunity. Jane, as a business analyst, can use passive observation to identify the variations in the customer-facing activities, and then analyze the root causes, impacts, and possible solutions. She can also use other techniques, such as interviews, surveys, or focus groups, to gather feedback from the customers and the employees, and understand their needs and expectations. She can then propose recommendations to standardize the customer-facing activities, and ensure that they align with the business goals, values, and policies5. References:

The three Cs of customer satisfaction: Consistency, consistency, consistency | McKinsey

How to create consistency in customer service | Zapier

How To Improve Customer Focus Using 8 Key Strategies

Consistent Communication: A Must-Have For Your Customer Service Team - Forbes

Important Client-Facing Skills: Definition and Examples

Total cost of ownership (TCO) is a financial estimate that helps consumers and enterprise managers determine direct and indirect costs of a product or system. TCO goes beyond the initial purchase price or implementation cost to consider the full cost of an asset over its useful life. It is a key concept in the business analysis tasks of enterprise analysis and solution assessment and validation. TCO can help evaluate the feasibility and viability of different solution options and compare them with the business need and expected benefits. References:

IIBA BABOK Guide v3, p. 30, 176, 264

CBAP 150 Practice Questions Flashcards, Question 1

Production Costs: What They Are and How to Calculate Them - Investopedia

Cost of Solution vs. Cost of Problem · Jens Oliver Meiert

 A plan-driven approach to business analysis is characterized by a high degree of upfront planning, detailed documentation, and formal processes. In this approach, the requirements are captured using standardized templates that provide a consistent and comprehensive format for describing the business needs, objectives, and specifications. The templates may include sections such as scope, assumptions, constraints, risks, acceptance criteria, and traceability. The templates are usually predefined by the organization or the project management office, and they help to ensure the quality, clarity, and completeness of the requirements. The templates also facilitate the communication, verification, and validation of the requirements among the stakeholders.

References:

Plan Business Analysis Approach - iiba.org, page 1

How to Choose the Right Business Analysis Approach, paragraph 4

Business analysis approach planning – The Functional BA, paragraph 2

SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. It is a widely used approach to assess the business goals and their validity and longevity. SMART helps to ensure that the business goals are clear, realistic, and aligned with the business vision and strategy. SMART also helps to monitor and evaluate the progress and outcomes of the business goals. By using SMART, business analysts can define the business needs and requirements more effectively, and communicate them to the stakeholders more efficiently12. References:

SMART Goals: Definition and Examples | Indeed.com

How to Set SMART Goals: Guide for Supervisors and Employees

Stakeholder analysis is performed as soon as a business need is identified, as this is the first step in the business analysis process. Stakeholder analysis helps to identify who are the people or groups that have an interest or influence in the project, what are their needs and expectations, and how to engage them effectively. Stakeholder analysis is essential for defining the project scope, objectives, requirements, risks, and success criteria. Stakeholder analysis is also an ongoing process that should be revisited throughout the project lifecycle, as stakeholders may change or new ones may emerge12. References:

Stakeholder Analysis: Overview, Tools and Techniques - KnowledgeHut

How to Perform a Stakeholder Analysis | Lucidchart

 Quality control is not one of the reasons why trace requirements is useful, but a process that monitors and measures the quality of the project deliverables and outputs against the quality standards and criteria established in the quality management plan. Quality control is used to make certain that the project team members are completing the project work according to the project plan and meeting the stakeholder expectations. Quality control involves performing quality audits, inspections, tests, reviews, and validations to identify and correct any defects, errors, or deviations from the specifications1.

The other three options are valid reasons why trace requirements is useful. Trace requirements is a technique that involves establishing and documenting the relationships between requirements and other aspects of the product management process, such as design elements, test cases, releases, and incidents. Trace requirements is useful for the following purposes234:

Impact analysis: Trace requirements helps to evaluate the impact of a potential change or a problem on the requirements and the solution. By tracing the dependencies and links between requirements and other items, the business analyst can quickly and easily assess the scope, cost, time, and risk implications of the change or the problem, and plan the appropriate response actions.

Requirements coverage: Trace requirements helps to ensure that all the requirements are fulfilled by the solution and that all the solution components contribute to the requirements. By tracing the alignment and mapping between requirements and solution components, the business analyst can verify that the solution meets the stakeholder needs and expectations, and that there are no gaps or redundancies in the solution.

Requirements allocation: Trace requirements helps to assign requirements to solution components and to releases. By tracing the distribution and allocation of requirements to different parts of the solution and to different phases of the project, the business analyst can prioritize and schedule the requirements based on their value, risk, dependency, and complexity, and ensure that the solution is delivered incrementally and iteratively. References: 1: Project Quality Management: Processes & Tools | Villanova University5 2: Requirements Traceability - The What, Why and How | Netmind6 3: Requirements traceability – why and how to do it?7 4: Requirements traceability : What, why and how - Modern Analyst8

The change-driven approach is an agile method that focuses on delivering value to the customer in short iterations and adapting to changing requirements. The change-driven approach favors defining requirements through team interaction, as this allows for more collaboration, feedback, and learning among the stakeholders. The change-driven approach also uses minimal documentation and relies on working software as the primary measure of progress. The change-driven approach is suitable for projects that have high uncertainty, complexity, and volatility. References:

Business Analysis Approach (BA Planning & Monitoring)

Adapting Your Requirements Practices | StickyMinds

Requirements definition and management — English - SFIA

 A business analysis plan is a document that describes the scope of work, the deliverable Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), the activity list, and estimates for the business analysis activities. It also includes the business analysis approach, the roles and responsibilities of the business analyst and other stakeholders, the communication plan, the requirements management plan, the change management plan, and the risk management plan12. A business analysis plan is an important input for the business analysis execution and monitoring process, as it helps to guide and control the business analysis work, and to ensure that the business analysis deliverables meet the quality standards and stakeholder expectations3.

The other options are not correct. A project management plan is a document that describes how the project will be executed, monitored, and controlled. It covers the project scope, schedule, cost, quality, resources, communication, risk, procurement, and stakeholder management. An implementation plan is a document that describes how the solution will be deployed, transitioned, and integrated into the business operations. It covers the implementation strategy, schedule, resources, tasks, roles, responsibilities, risks, and issues. A requirements management plan is a document that describes how the requirements will be elicited, analyzed, documented, validated, verified, prioritized, traced, and maintained throughout the project lifecycle. It is a component of the business analysis plan, not a separate document. References:

Business Analysis Plan - IIBA®

Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring - IIBA®

Business Analysis Execution and Monitoring - IIBA®

[Project Management Plan - PMI]

[Implementation Plan - PMI]

[Requirements Management Plan - IIBA®]

 Risk Data Quality Assessment is a technique that evaluates the degree to which the data about individual project risks is useful for risk management. It involves examining the extent to which the risk data is accurate, reliable, timely, complete, and realistic. This helps to determine the quality and credibility of the information used for risk analysis and response planning. References:

BABOK® Guide v3, section 11.6.5.8, page 417

CBAP® Exam Prep Study Guide, chapter 9, page 339

CBAP® Certification Study Guide v3.0, chapter 9, page 301