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For any new piece of work a BA (business analyst) needs to know

who are the key stakeholders (i.e. those who can kill the project) what are the key stakeholders specific and measurable measures of success (i.e.

their objectives) and what VALUE for each objective MUST be achieved in order forthe project to be considered a success (e.g. increase sales per order value by 5%)

what are the key stakeholders unmeasured measures of success (i.e. their principlesthat they would like to see happen but aren't going to measure and so the projectcannot be assessed by them - e.g. an intuitive solution)

what are the key stakeholders high level requirements (i.e. what capabilities do theyexpect the solution to deliver - e.g. the ability to offer add-on sales during the ordertaking process)

what is in scope of the work in terms of processes, organization units, locations,data, applications, technology

what is the scope of the work in terms of time, money, project resources (people andmaterials)

who will the stakeholders nominate for determining further high level requirementsand detailed requirements (e.g. subject or domain experts, middle management ofoperational teams, etc)

What is a swimlane diagram?

A swimlane diagram (also sometime called a cross-functional diagram) documents the stepsor activities of a process flow or workflow. More specifically, a swimlane diagram groupsthese activities into swimlanes which are horizontal or vertical columns that contain all ofthe activities which fit into the category represented by that swimlane. Swimlanes canrepresent many categories of information such as actors which perform the activities (i.e.,role or department), the stage of the process in which the activity takes place, or whateverelse the creator of the document feels should be emphasized and communicated by theswimlane diagram. The term swimlane was adopted due to the visual similarity betweenthe horizontal rows of the diagram to that of the swimlanes found within a swiming pool.

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A process flow or workflow diagram does not have to use swimlanes. However, sinceswimlanes communicate additional information about who performs the activity or when ittakes place, it s typically a preferred best p ractice to include them. Similarly, a swimlanediagram can use only one set of swimlanes (either vertical swimlanes or horizontalswimlanes). In BPMN standards, a process flow is typically shown flowing from left to right.If only one set of swimlanes is used, horizontal swimlanes are most commonly used togroup activities. In the UML standard, the activity diagram flows from top to bottom andveritcal swimlanes are most commonly used.

One of the more common choices used by creators of swimlane diagrams is to define theroles which perform each activity within horizontal swimlanes and define the process stagesin which the activity occurs within vertical swimlanes.

What is a case point or function point?

Use Case Points are similar t o Function Points in many ways as they are used to size andestimate the cost of work on systems. Use Case Points are a normalized unit of measureused to:

Quantify the amount of business functionality a system provides business users

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Estimate the cost to develop a system or set of features based on the number of usecase points it supports

Determine how costly a system is to maintain based on the number of use casepoints it supports

The number of Use Case Points is derived from factors such as:

The number of system use cases and the complexity of the use cases The number of system actors Non-functional requirements that are not captured as use cases but that have an

overall impact on system complexity The project environment including the architectural framework, programming

language, team structure and efficiency, etc

Questions to ask in an interview….

“Can you tell me which project phases BAs are involved with?”. If they answer that BAs areonly ever involved in requirements, then this suggests that they are looking for a specialistRequirements Analyst. This might not suit a BA who is looking to experience the breadth ofthe BA role, so it s best to know this up front.

2. “How is systems analysis handled, do you have dedicated systems analysts?”. Someemployers advertise for a BA when they are really looking for a combined BA/SystemsAnalyst. This suits some people but not others, and asking this question will help to uncoverthis.

3. “Do BAs in your organisation get involved in business change/process improvementprojects? Or just IT change projects”. This question helps to uncover th e breadth of the BA

remit. Some organisations use BAs only on IT projects, whereas others will utilise their skillson all projects.

4. “Is the BA team part of IT, part of the Business, or part of a separate Change function?”

5. “Is there a central BA tea m (a centre of excellence) or do all functions have their own BAteam?”. Having a central team allows pooling of knowledge, and this can be incrediblybeneficial.

Whilst there are no “right” or “wrong” answers to these questions, my personal view is thata BA will get exposure to more varied projects if the breadth of the role is wider. I would belooking for an organisation that utilises it s BA capability throughout the project lifecycle, for

IT and Business projects. I d also be looking for an organisati on that has a central BAfunction, or a matrix BA function with strong links across the departments to allow sharingof knowledge. However, whether this is right for you will depend on your current careeraspirations!

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A Business Analyst is responsible for a host of processes and activities which are

elaborated as follows:

a) At the Project Initiation process, its the responsibility of the Business Analyst to

cover the high level scope and objectives of the project and establish communication

channels

b) Understanding the business processes of a section or whole of the organization in a

very clear cut manner so as to implement that knowledge in any required manner.

c) Clear Understanding and communication of Requirements is a very important aspect

of a Business Analyst as it ensures that there is minimum gap between the expectations of

the end users and the final deliverable from the technical team.

d) Analysis and Documentation should be very precise and clearly understandable so

that starting from the end users or stakeholders to the developers can understand the

underlying stated expectations in the requirement documents.

d) Solution assessment and validation is one of the main roles of a business analyst as

it should be ensured that there are no gaps in the requirement process to the development

stages.

e) Regular interactions by the business analyst with the developers and the module leads

is essential as the knowledge transfer of the user expectations should be made clearly

f) The business analyst has a major role to play in the testing phase where he can

actually take part in the systems testing phase and also provide support during the

acceptance testing phase.

g) After the implementation of the software system, the business analyst also may need

to handle the change management process if there are any new requirements or changes

proposed.

The business analyst profile actually encompasses different roles like that of a process

analyst, system analyst, project manager, application support, data analyst and tester.

Gaining all round knowledge in all these different role types will definitely give the Business

Analyst an edge and will enable him to overview the project from all angles.

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Implementation of such responsibilities will help the Business Analyst become the interface

between the users and the technical team. The organization should also be responsible for

guiding the Business Analyst through his correct responsibilities for the better advancement

of the individual as well as the company as a whole.

What is SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)?

SDLC or Software Development Life Cycle is the life cycle literally of the development of asystem or software. This life cycle details all the processes that a system undergoes while itis being designed. That is the basic layman understanding of what SDLC stands for.

The steps of the System Development Life Cycle are detailed as below. They show thedetailed working of how a system is developed for a particular project.

The Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) starts when a client expresses the need to

start a new project. Once the project is in hand, the steps of the SDLC work as:

Project Planning: Planning is the core of every process and only effective planning canmake a Business Analyst realize if the intended system can really be developed or not. Afeasibility study is conducted in this stage to determine if the actual system intended isindeed possible to work upon or not.

System Analysis and Requirements Definition: Here, the requirements of the client in thesystem to be developed are properly analyzed and then a final requirement definition iswritten by the Business Analyst in consultation with the client, who will be the end- user ofthe project. This requirements definition is used by the software team of programmers anddevelopers to start the project.

System Design: This is the process of SDLC where the system is actually designed as perthe requirements. The process of database design, structure design, nuances of theclient/server technology, defining tiers of package architecture are all defined properly inthis phase.

System Development: This is the phase where the actual project is made. The system„ssoftware is coded in this phase. Code generation makes the system machine-readable. Thecode is generated by the technical team of software developers and programmers. The codeis generated with the help of languages like C, C++, Java, VB, SQL and tools like debuggersand compilers.

System Implementation – Here, the system developed is incorporated in the design of theproject. The developers assemble their creations in the previous phases of the SDLC.

System Integration and Testing – The system generated is now checked for errors and bugsso to as to ascertain how workable the system developed really is. The System Testingphase shows whether the timelines of the project can be adhered to or how much work isstill pending, depending on the number of errors and bugs found.

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System Acceptance and Installation – Testing in live conditions is an acid test for thesystem s success. Testing the project in a replica of live environment will enable thesoftware developing team to ascertain whether the software developed will actually work inlive conditions and as per how it was envisioned to work.

System Maintenance - Once system is implemented in live conditions, it has to be

maintained properly. The software developed may face some changes due to someunexpected inputs or changes due to new personnel in the organization. Hence anyproblems arising need to be fixed to maintain the system well.

What is the importance of a flow chart???

Flow chart is graphical representation of the process which makes the system simple tounderstand for all the persons who belongs to the development of the project.

What is a use case model? Explain in brief ?

Use case diagram:

Use case diagrams describe the business environment. It is a series of events / flow ofactions related to a process that are performed by an actor.

What is called an UML modeling?

UML means unified modeling language. It is the standard language for constructing,visualizing and documenting the components of a system.

What is the importance of an Activity diagram?

The main use of an activity diagram is to show the work flow of the business and to showthe activities happening in the business system and actions completed. In a companiesthere may be different sections like medical, accounting, HR etc..and each department hasdifferent privileges to the system. I.e medical dept can access only medical related screensand HR dept to only HR screens etc..So this activity diagrams shows the activities ofdifferent departments with their relation. This will be useful to the developers whiledesigning and coding.

How many types of diagrams and what you know about them ?

Use case diagram &

Collaboration diagram.

What is meant by alternate flow in use case?

It is a flow that will come into picture when there is a failure in the system and expectedresults did not come.

What do you mean by exception flow in a use case?

It is basically any unexpected situations or unusual results in an application.

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These exceptions are handles in different ways.

What do you mean by extends and includes in a use case?

Extend means when there is a specific action must take place. And include means the actionmay or may not take place.

What are different documents that relate to a use cases ?

There are 2 docs.

FRD (functional requirement document)

SDD (system design document) / TRS (Technical requirements specifications)

What is a Business Analyst Roles and responsibilities?

Ans:

What is the difference between Business Analyst & System Analyst?

Ans:

Can you tell me difference between Business Analyst and Business Analysis?

Ans:

What are the common tools that are used by a business Analyst?

Ans: Rational tools, MS Visio, MS word, MS Excel, Power point, Quality center/test directorMS Project, And there may be some tools which are project and client specific which you donot have to worry. etc..

What are the documents that a Business Analyst needs to deliver?

Ans: Well there are some important documents such as "functional specification documents,technical specification documents, Requirements traceability, BRD (business requirementsdocument), Use case diagrams, Business flow, etc..

Can you tell me what a use case diagram is?

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Ans: First of all a use case diagram is a part of UML and it is a behavioral digram which iscreated from a use case analysis. The main reason or use of this use case diagram is itdefines the functions of the module or system and the role of each actor associated to thatfunction.

For Eg: "Order Management" is a main function, and the person who receives the order inthe office is an actor.

How do you normally gather Requirements from end user?

Ans:

When do a Business Analyst needs to contact developers?

Ans:

What is BA role in project implementation/deployment?

Ans:

Business Analyst interview questions set 1

Business Analyst jobs are in huge demand nowadays with each and every industry turning

to such professionals as to whether they can analyze the company s business processes and

guide the organization towards it business and strategic objectives. So, with such a market

open for business analysts and jobs mushrooming all over the place, you as a business

analyst should be well prepared for landing the best job out there. To help you do so, we

have here a collation of interview questions which should be like a handbook interview guide

to the business analysts out there. There are several categories of the interview questions

depending on the type of questions

General Management Skills

1. What do you think are your strengths as a Business Analyst?

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I think that I have following strengths in my past profile as a business analyst:

· The right mix of functional and technical knowledge

· Ability to communicate effectively between the development (whether internal

or third party vendors) team and the end users.

· Strong levels of persistency and quick learning capability

· Adaptability to the work environment as desired.

2. What do you think are your weaknesses as a Business Analyst?

I believe in turning my weaknesses into strengths, so I strive towards having a calm

and cool attitude. Also, I would like to at par with the latest technology in the market

but it s not always possible.

3. What can you do for us that other prospective candidates cannot?

I am confident on being the best fit for this role as my principles are I believe to be

in line with the company vision and mission. I will bring to the organization my

technical know-how as well as my functional expertise, striving to achieve success

for the company

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BUSINESS ANALYST INTERVIEW QUESTIONS SET 2

What are your goals?

I want to go for the professional Business Analysis certifications such as ISEB and in

the near future will be striving for the PRINCE 2 certification also, which will enable

me to grow in the Business Analyst career path

2. Why do you want to work here?

This is quite a well known company and its principles are in line with my principles. I

believe that the organization will give me the best available platform available withthe right amount of support and motivation

3. What is the motivating factor which you expect from your job?

Believing that the work done by me is contributing in the organizational growth and

success is my utmost motivation. It s a feeling of knowing that the work done by me

has contributed towards the company s good results, and being a part of that

achievement, howsoever small my part might have been gives me great pleasure. I

know for sure that if the company is performing well, then it will definitely down the

line look after it main resources – its employees and I would be a proud party to

that!

4. What Part of Your Job Do you like The Most?

The ability to analyze and research the various aspects and arriving at the solution or

way forward so as to benefit the organization or at least at the project level gives me

great satisfaction.

5. What Part Of Your Job Do You Dislike The Most?

There is currently no part of my job that I dislike, and I am glad that I have chosen

this career path.

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BUSINESS ANALYST INTERVIEW QUESTIONS SET 3

What Made You Apply For This Job And Why Do You Want It?

I have the right mix of educational background; technical and functional skills. The

job role is as per my expectations and can be described as a best fit. I can add value

to this role and contribute towards the success of the organization.

Business Analyst Related Questions

1. Are you aware of the various software methodologies? Name a few

There are various SDLC methodologies which are available and used by the majority

of the organizations for their software development projects. Some of these software

development methodologies are:

a) Waterfall method – this is one of the most widely used systems development

process

b) Agile methodologies like RUP (Rational Unified process), RAD (Rapid Application

development), JAD (Joint Application development) .

c) Prototyping Model – involves the presentation of a simplified prototype of the

system based on the requirements

d) Spiral model – hybrid of the waterfall and the prototyping method

2. What are the various testing stages in a software project life cycle?

The major testing stages in a software development life cycle are:

a) Unit Testing – this is usually done by the developers who have coded the unit

b) Integration testing – this is done by the QA team (quality assurance) and /or

the business analysts to test that the integration of the units is working fine

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c) System testing – is done by the QA team or the Business Analysts to see

whether the system is working as a whole or not

d) Regression testing – is done to test whether the current parts and the new

development are synchronized and there is no impact on any other system. This

testing is done by the analysts.

e) User acceptance testing – is covered by the end users in order to test that the

requirements given for the system are in line with the developed application

f) Stress and/or Load Testing – is done by the technical team to test whether the

system can sustain heavy load and usage etc.

3. What are some of the challenges you have faced as a Business Analyst

As a business Analyst, one has to be an interface between the users and the technical team

and provide regular support. Some of the major challenges which a business analyst has to

face in his profile are:

· There should be clarity regarding the requirements as they lay the

foundation of the project. In case of any gaps, there can be huge

repercussions.

· There are several software methodologies, technologies, documentation

standards in the market and they keep on evolving. The business analyst has

to be on top of such methodologies and trends to be successful in the profile.

· The business analyst Is regarded as the knowledge house regarding

domain knowledge and has to keep on updating himself with the industry and

company know-how to keep himself at par.

Business Analyst interview questions set 4

What are the documentations which you have completed in your experience?

Explain in detail.

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A business analyst is expected to document the following:

· Feasibility Study

· Scope of the project

· Business Requirement Documentation

· Functional specifications

o Main content

o UML Diagrams

o Prototypes(in HTML/Excel etc)

· Non Functional specifications

· Test plan, scenarios and cases

2. What is UML? What are the tools which are generally used by business

analysts for UML diagrams?

UML is Unified Modeling Language and is a worldwide standard for diagram-based

object-oriented modeling. Class diagrams, Use case diagrams and Activity diagrams

are usually used by business analysts during their functional documentation and

requirements analysis process.

Usually, business analysts use any of the following tools for UML diagrams:

· MS – Visio

· Rational Rose

· Sparx Systems – Enterprise Architect

3. What are non functional requirements?

Non Functional requirements include the following:

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· Performance Characteristics of the system – speed, response time,

capacity constraints

· Error and exception handling – systems logs, error logging

· External Interfaces & Integration – data integration, data feed schedules.

· Security of the system – user profiles, administrator, privileges

· Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Plan – system back ups

· User and Training requirements – for users and technical team

Questions which can be asked to the interviewer by the candidate!

1. What are the measures used to judge how successful I am in the role?

2. What can I expect from you in terms of development and support?

3. Where will the job fit into the team structure?

4. What is the main thing the organization expects from its employees?

5. Are there any plans for expansion?

Business analyst interview questions A

Version control and configuration management are terms used widely in thebusiness industry, write short notes about the terms.

By definition, version control is essentially a subset of configuration management. It isusually concerned with the handling changes arising in previous documents as opposed toconfiguration management which essentially handles the individual components.

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Good documentation management systems are highly recommended in systemdevelopment; briefly describe the factors that contribute to a good documentationmanagement system.

For a documentation system to be considered good, the following factors should be

prevalent in it: It should be made in such a way that it can accommodate future changes,including version changes, bearing system security features such as providing access only tothe allowed users, i.e. have good authentication features. In general, one should take indata as well as information security measures in place, putting in mind that thedocumentation should also be able to bend to the changing needs of its users as well as themarket conditions.

State the different software methodologies.

The term software methodology, software development methodology and software processmean almost the same thing in computer software or system development, i.e. the activitiescarried out by computer system engineers or computer software engineers in an attempt toprocure particular computer software that servers a certain function or purpose. Thisincludes the framework adopted, structure, plan as well as the control of the resourcesengaged in the software or system development process.

There are so many software methodologies and the choice as to which one to adopt isusually dependant on so many other factors such as the purpose of the given software, the

prevailing conditions regarding the software development environment and the will of thecompany or the client procuring or intending to use the final software as some clients evenlook into the software or system engineers methodology to as one of the factorsdetermining whether to contract him or not.

Regarding the purpose of the software, lets look at the following, example is a situation of asafety critical system such as an aircraft navigation system and a business system, onewould find that in a business system, one can have its prototype done and users start usingit as they identify its weaknesses and tell the engineers to rectify whereas in an aircraft

navigation system, no weakness would be allowed at all for it can cause huge loss ofproperty and life thus all the possible identifiable weaknesses are eliminated first before thatsystem comes into operation. Much stories and arguments apart, the following are theavailable software methodologies:

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i) SLDC- Software Development Life Cycle , also understood as SystemDevelopment Life Cycle which encompasses activities such as Analysis, Design,Implementation, Testing, Inauguration and Maintenance in that order and thenback to Analysis, note that it is a cycle hence once we get to the last stage, i.e.the maintenance we still go back to the analysis stage and move along to the

maintenance once more iteratively

ii) The RUP – The Rational Unified Process , which when looked intointuitively is an iterative software development process framework that wascreated by the Rational Software Corporation in the US which is a division of theIBM (International Business Machine). However, this process is usually notconsidered as a single prescriptive framework yet as an adaptable process whichcan be tailored by the development team or organization selectively in order toend up with their respective results depending on the needs prevailing either on

the client s side, the industry standards or even the development constraintswhich involve time, scope as well as the budget, Intuitively, this process hascharacteristics overlapping with other development processes and methodologyas will be seen when considering the other methodologies below.

iii) The iterative process

iv) The waterfall model

v) The agile software development methodology

vi) The XP (Extreme programming)

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vii) The ISO 9000 methodology – provided by the International StandardsOrganization

viii) The ISO 15504 model – also provided by the International Standardsorganization

ix) The Capability Maturing Model Integration (CMMI) which replaced theformer Capability Maturing Model (CMM)

x) The Six Sigma methodology

xi) The Test Driven Development (TDD)

Describe the abbreviation OOAD as used in Object Oriented Programming.

The term OOAD is an abbreviation of the phrase Object Oriented Analysis and Design.Contrary to the traditional programming, also called procedural programming whereby theentire code of a given program is written line by line, from scratch. There is a new morepowerful approach to software development or simply programming referred to as theObject Technology where predefined objects pertaining to particular situations are pre-

designed by experienced software engineers and then the programmers just call them intotheir code in order to implement a given function in their code.

Just the way experienced civil engineers design building blocks for particular situations in aparticular house so that the inexperienced mason just lays them appropriately in order toend up with a nice house is the way experienced software engineers make these objects.

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This helps even novice programmers to use the objects to build nice computer software or aprogram. It is the analysis and design of these objects with intention to make good softwarethat is referred to as Object Oriented Analysis and Design, the OOAD. Programminglanguages that use the Object Technology include C++, JAVA, and the PHP among others.

Describe the meaning of the term data mapping.

By definition, the term data mapping is the process by which a system developer createsdata element mappings that relates two models of data (databases) in order to assist indata integration. This usually assists in the following manner:

Data mediation or transformation between the source and the destination

of data Assisting in data lineage analysis by identifying the data relationships Assists in data masking by discovering sensitive data Assists in data de-identification process Assists in consolidating multiple databases into one thus identification of

redundant columns and advising the developers for consideration or evenelimination.

Describe the term black box testing.

Black box testing is the type of testing whereby the entire unit is tested as a whole withoutconsidering the contents or even how the inner components of the unit under test work, thetester s only consideration is to enter a known input signal and check whether the outputbehavior is the one expected out of that unit given his input signal.

Give the importance of using a flowchart.

It is easier to interpret as it is graphical in nature and thus all persons involved in theproject development can understand it with ease.

Briefly explain the use case model.

This is a model used by software engineers to describe the business environment of a givenproject. It encompasses of a series of workflow that are pertained to a particular actor.

What do you understand by the term UML?

The term UML is an abbreviation of the term Unified Modeling Language which is thestandard language used in construction of as well as visualization and documentation of

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varied system components. It has a collection of graphical notation techniques used in thedevelopment of abstract models for certain specific systems.

Describe the importance of an activity diagram.

This is the diagram used in a business system to show the workflow involved, activitieshappening as well as the completed actions. In a company comprising of severaldepartments e.g. the medical department, accounting department, and even the humanresource department, usually each department has its own peculiar privileges to thesystem, for instance the medical department can only be allowed to access the screensrelated to their activities such as medical records while the human resource department willbe allowed to view only the screens which are relevant to them too, thus these activitydiagrams assist in showing the relationship between particular activities with their relevantand related departments so that during coding, the coders may refer to them to implementthe discrepancies accordingly. Designers too can be guided by these activity diagrams.

How many types of diagrams do you know and what do you know about them?

Am aware of two types of diagrams namely the use case diagram and the collaborationdiagram, the use case diagram has been discussed above and as a result I will only talkabout the collaboration diagram here, these are diagrams put into being by modeling theobjects of a given systems and then representing the prevalent associations between theobjects in questions with the use of links.

Describe your understanding regarding the so called alternate flow in use case.

These are the contingent flows that arise when a system fails to curb an encountered

situation and thus the system doesn t result in the expected results. When the systemresorts to the alternate flow under this circumstance, it may still end up yielding theexpected results.

Describe your understanding regarding the exception flow in use case.

This is generally unpredicted situation that may lead to undesired result under normalcircumstance in a system; several methodologies called exception handlers are available tohelp control such situation

Describe the meaning of the following words as used in the use case scenario:

i) Extends

ii) Includes

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In the use case scenario, the term extends is used to imply that a certain action needs tohave taken place in order for the other to take place too whereas includes implies that it isnot important, as in the action may take place or as well may fail to take place but the otherwill still take place.

What are the documents related to the use case?

There are two documents related, namely the FRD (Functional Requirement Document) andthe SSD (System Design Document) or the TRS (Technical Requirement Specifications).

Describe your understanding regarding logical data model.

It is the data model, which is not actually physical and describes how data is physicallystored in the given database.

Describe your understanding regarding high level and low level use cases.

The high level use case usually refers to the entire business process whereas when it isdivided into smaller units, the outcome or the sub units are what are then referred to as thelow level use case

Describe your understanding regarding the SDD.

This is the abbreviation of the term System Design Document; it acts as the mediatorbetween business users and the system developers so as the system developers mayunderstand the business requirements of the system they are developing in order to knowwhere to put emphasis and end up with a quality and objective based system.

Describe your understanding regarding the following terms

i) URS

ii) FS

The URS is the User Requirement Specification whilst the FS is the Functional Specification;traceability matrix is usually used to keep track of these requirements. TEST DIRECTOR can

be used to do the traceability of the given requirements during the testing phase.

How is use case prepared?

It is prepared using drawing application software such as the Microsoft Visio and the alsothe Rational rose.

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Describe how you would participate in testing as a BA (Business Analyst).

As a Business Analyst, I would participate by reviewing the test cases to ensure that all the

stipulated requirements have been met by the system in question.

Describe the main qualities of a good requirement.

There are several qualities regarding a good requirement but the most outstanding onesinclude the:

Clarity – the requirement should be clear enough to be understood by its users.

Understandable – the requirements should be put in a manner easy to understand byusers of all levels.

Consistent – the requirement should be such that it doesn t contradict itself, i t is importantnoting that during system development, all users need to be consulted, including themanagers as well as the junior staff, one would find that the managers would like a widercontrol of the system so as to monitor the junior staff to the date whereas the junior staffare objecting these view, hence a contradiction. When this issue is not considered carefully,usually through consultation or negotiation either the managers or junior staff may resent

the system thus by this, once the users resent the system, obviously it will not be exploitedto the maximum thus lowering the benefits the organization derives from it thus consistencymust always be considered in the system development requirements.

Verifiable – The requirements of a given system should always be verifiable as in theyshould be put in a manner that can be checked across in future so as one can clearlyidentify whether the particular requirement has been met or not, it is usually advised thatthe requirements are put in a manner that during verification, the answer is either true orfalse and nothing vague as it is during this stage that legal action can be taken by the eitherthe contractor or client if at all the answer is no and always with the law, matters of doubtare generally not recommended.

What is the meaning of the word UML?

This usually is the abbreviation of the Unified Modeling Language, a standard language inthe system development used to implement the understanding, documentation andconstruction of varied system components

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Describe the diagrams which should be known by the Business Analyst (BA).

The Business Analyst (BA) is expected to be conversant with the following diagrams:

i) Use case Diagram: this is the diagram which gives the details concerningthe given business environment, this entails the series of action usuallyperformed by given actors such as analyzing the procurement portfolio, givingout an order to a certain supplier, acknowledging the reception of the goods,processing them as appropriate, doing the relevant marketing, handing the goodsto the hands of a customer at a profit, receiving payments, either by cheque orcash, printing a receipt, and entering the transactions into relevant accounts,making payrolls, preparing final accounts including the balance sheets as well asthe profits and loss accounts.

ii) Activity Diagram: this is the diagram which is usually employed in earlyanalysis stages to describe the involved components.

iii) Sequence diagram: This is the type of diagram used to tell the wayparticular objects interact with other objects in a manner arranged in both timeand sequences. This is usually very useful for system developers as well as thesystem testers as it enhances the level at which a given system can beunderstood.

Explain where you would use the rational rose and the requisite pro.

In a situation whereby different modules of a given requirements have been created forvaried functions, then collected together and made into a single document, the requisite prois the one which comes in handy. The other one, the rational rose, is used to create thebusiness model as a visual representation. It is helpful in creating high level and low leveluse cases, activity diagrams, state diagrams, collaboration diagrams, sequence diagramsetc.

Business analyst interview questions 2

What is mean by logical data model?

Data model tells clear details about the data and how the data is stored physically in adatabase.

What do u mean by high level & low level use case?

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A broad view of a business process is called a high level use case. And if we divide the bigview into different small sub use cases, then it is called low level use case.

What do you know about SDD ?

It is also called system design document. My role as a BA is just a mediator or a middlelayer between business users and developers and we make developers to understand thebusiness requirements.

What do understand by URS & FS ?

User requirement specifications and Functional specifications. To keep track of theserequirements, we generally use Traceability matrix.

By using Test director we can do traceability of requirements n testing phase.

How do you prepare use cases?

BY using MS Visio and Rational rose.

How do you participate in testing as a BA?

I participate mainly in reviewing the test cases to see if all the requirements have been met.

What is the main quality of a good requirement?

The requirement should be good, clear, understandable, and consistent and should be easily

verifiable.

What do u understand by UML ?

UML is basically Unified Modeling Language. This is the standard language used in thesystem to understand, document, construct different components in the system.

What are different diagrams to be known by a BA?

Entity relationship diagram, data flow diagram, use case diagram, class diagram, activitydiagram, state chart diagram, sequence diagram, collaboration diagram, component

diagrams, deployment diagrams etc..

Use case diagram: basically explains the business environment. Series of all relatedactions performed by actor.

Activity diagram: Used in the early stage of analysis and designing level. It describes eachindividual component.

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Sequence diagram: It tells the objects interactions with each others arranged in timesequence. Very useful for developers and testers to understand the system better.

Where did u use rational rose & requisite pro ?

When we created different modules of requirements for different functions, and finallycollected all together and made a single requirement document, we used requisite pro to dothis.

And we used rational rose to create the business model as a visual representation.

Created High level & low level use cases.

Activity diagrams

State diagrams

Collaboration diagrams

Sequence diagrams

Business analyst interview questions 3

What do understand by version control & configuration management ?

Basically version control is a part of configuration management. Mainly it handles when theprevious document changes. Where as configuration management handles the individualcomponent.

What is meant by good documentation management system ?

Should allow to make any changes if required.

Good security features.

Should be able to change versions.

Authorizations to only required people. (renditioning capability)

Hide imp information from others. (redaction capable)

What are different software methodologies.?

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SDLC, RUP, SEI-CMM, Six sigma, SWOT, Cost benefit analysis, Risk analysis, Gap analysis.

What is OOAD ?

Object oriented analysis and designing. Used in coding od object oriented languages like

c++, Java, and SAP Badis etc.

What is UAT ?

User acceptance testing.

If the UAT fails, BA did not understand the requirements properly.

What do u mean by Data mapping ?

It is the mapping of data from source system to a destination system.

What is black box testing?

It is completely a functional testing. i .e the tester need not know how it works technically.He only bothers what input he is giving and what output he is getting.

What do u mean by white box testing?

It requires slight programming knowledge to examine the outputs.

What is bug?

Mainly used to see the performance issues and system hangs.

How do u measure the quality of a product?

We do it by seeing min bugs in the product according to standards maintained by company.

What is RAD ?

It is called as rapid application development.

It is a development process that is used to build applications in smaller periods like 50-70days i.e with some compromises.

What is ETL ?

Extraction Transformation and loading. Used mainly in data warehousing.

Types of testing ?

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Unit testing : by developer

Black box testing : Functional and module level.

Ad hoc testing : Random testing..no particular pocess.

White box testing : Very detailed..into the code.

Exploratory : ad hoc testing with some purpose/ goal.

Front end : for web based applications.

Back end : database level

Regression : Testing again and again the same application.

UAT : User acceptamce testing

Integration : testing the interaction of 2 or more than 2 modules at a time.

System testing : Testing all the modules together.

Business analyst interview questions 4

Why is winrunner ?

Winrunner is used For regression testing.

Why is load runner ?

Loadrunner is used for Performance testing

What is a business process?

It s a collection of related structural activities in a system.

How to identify risks in any business process?

Have to examine all sources of risk from perspective of stakeholders by brainstorming flowcharting, system design review, system analysis and a proper judgement.

Difference between SDLC & RUP ?

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SDLC

Initiation stage : problem definition, project plan, roles

Feasibility stage : feasibility report, user requirement, concept, design

General design stage : Functional specs and design plan

Development : coding

Implementation : project completion, notice for approval

Post installation : post installation data & evaluation report.

RUP

Inception phase : Project plan, BRD, High level use case

Elaboration : UML diagrams, change management, configuration mgmt

Construction : System code, QA test cases / test scripts, A test plan., use cases

Transition : Product delivery, Project documentation., data base integrity

User interfacing ? its uses ? ur experience?

Mostly done while prototyping.

Advtgs:

Requirement validations. Filling communication gap between developers and business users. Demonstrating a working system. User training Testing the final system Lower development cost Easy maintenance

How to categorize the requirements?

Performance Business.

System

Global business

Functional / non functional

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How to analyze the requirements?

Interview. Document analysis . prototyping, usecases.

Role of SA, DBA, & PM.?

Discuss the business requirements and get feed back from them.

Your Role after implementation ?

Integration testing, acceptance and maintenance.

Explain BRD & FRD ?

BRD tells what is required for the product. And FRD explains BRD in detail.

Resume writing tips for business analyst

Resume Writing Tips for a business analyst:

Resume – This carefully crafted piece of artwork is actually your ticket to land in your dream

job. In fact one of the reasons you receive a call for an interview, is because you have

marketed your skills enough to get the attention of the employer. A good resume is not a

tool for the interviewer, it is in fact a tool for you – a means to make it clear to the target

company as to how you would be a perfect fit for the organization and what is it in you that

gives you an edge over other potential candidates for especially a business analyst role.

Start with a precise and impressive objective in your resume. It has been proven that most

employers take 1-2 minutes to read your resume. It is that initial screening, where they

decide whether to continue further or not. When we read a document, we start at the top

and go down and as our interest is lost, we don t read later down in the document. Your

objective or summary should capture all important points like years of experience, keyfunctional and technical skills, and key educational components, significant

accomplishments that would be beneficial for the position you are applying for and yet

should be as crisp as possible. The whole purpose of an impressive objective is to generate

interest among the employers to read further and consider you as an ideal candidate as a

business analyst for the organization.

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Educational components are a key area in your resume. Education does not have to be

listed specifically with your degrees. It might be better marketing to have that section as

“Education and Training” or “Education and Professional Development”. You can also include

any professional training or certifications like PRINCE2 or ISEB that you have done. In short

it can be a section listing all the training you have undergone that will help you marketyourself to the goal.

Highlighting accomplishments in your role as a business analyst for any software projects

or products, requires you to first have a comprehensive knowledge of what your objectives

a re. The “Accomplishments” section should give a brief about the kind of work in your

previous organization if you are an experienced business analyst. While if you are a student

it should detail the projects done as part of the curriculum. This should be followed by your

role in the project, and the responsibilities that you took as the BA for the successful

completion of the different phases of the software lifecycle. You can also mention the

achieved results and TAT (turnaround time), and how it helped both you and the

organization benefit in terms of achieved versus desired results. It is important that you

bring out your key traits that will give the employer an outline of your personality. It would

be worth mentioning about your personal qualities that fueled your success in the project,

for example your self-learning abilities, your capacity to work in a team, motivate other

team member, self-management skills etc. Your needs, goals and priorities would decide

what to include and what not to include in the resume.

Last but not the least, be original. Ensure that all the data and facts given in your resume

(as a Business Analyst) are true because every company do have their systems in place to

perform background checks!!

aa

General business analyst interview questions

General Business Analyst Q & A....

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What do you consider is your greatest strength as a Business Analyst?

I think the biggest strength is the domain and the technical experience that I have had over

the years as a business analyst. I have the right communication and leadership skills

required to excel in this role.

What do you consider is your biggest weakness as a Business Analyst?

I would like to think that my weaknesses are like my stepping stones towards success. At

present I would like to fine tune my technical abilities to the constantly changing

technologies available in the market.

What are the methods you use for gathering requirements ?

As a business analyst, we not only have to gather the requirements but also provide

solutions often with the help of the technical team

Requirement gathering with Zachman framework - Use the famous 5W + 1H formula

(Who – What – When – Where – Why + How). Keep asking about the problem withthis formula to find the principle requirements

Implicit requirements – we should not forget about these as they can make or break

the whole project

Prototyping and process flows – these tools help in illustrating the requirements to

the end users and confirm whether the Business analyst has done the requirement

analysis correctly

What is the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control and how are

they related to the Business Analyst profile ?

Quality Assurance focuses on the process: is the method chosen able to produce the

product or is the deliverable free from errors and/or defects. Quality Control speaks about

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the products or deliverables themselves: the final examination of the product or deliverable

to ensure they stand to the specifications and they re free from error of defect.

A business analyst has to take care of Quality Assurance as well as control is in place in the

final product which is delivered.

What are the challenges which you would face as a business analyst?

A balance between technology constraints and business needs should be maintained at all

times. Technology is used to help fulfilling business need, so it s usually close to the need.

You also have to keep an open mind as to how a process works effectively and accurately

produce the required product. Then, you must make sure that the written specifications are

written properly to avoid misinterpretations.

How did you handle a requirement/enhancement that was not feasible?

I know that even if I think a requirement was not feasible, I have a responsibility to

explai n why it was not feasible to the business representatives. So first I d clarify the

requirement, what was the true requirement there. Then, I d explain the technical

limitations in non- technical language to them as to why the requirements couldn t be

accommodated at the same time. Most of the times, the reason was not feasible because

it s not affordable. After I present the business representatives with the estimated cost,

they would decide whether or not the requirement was really needed. Whichever theoutcome was, the business representatives would feel that they re in command and

they re involved in the decision making process.