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GetAhead in analysis SKILLS

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This 2 part training course will teach you the core skills needed for the analysis and design of the key processes that constitute any business system and any information (data) based business system.

Analysis Skills Part 1 - Business Analysis

You will learn how to:

Apply the recognized industry standard approach to business analysis.
Identify opportunities and problem areas within an existing business environment.
Model and assess the impact of any proposed changes to a business system.
Design and document robust and reliable business systems.
Carry out the analysis and design to precisely the level of detail required.

Study Area 1 - Introduction

Business analysis provides a foundation for the analysis, comprehension and design of new business processes. It is also a technique that underpins business process re-engineering. This course teaches candidates how to create business models that depict the current, or planned, business system and how to optimize the use of business processes within any business environment.

Study Area 2 - Modelling Simple Scenarios

Diagram Notation - Explains the structure and notation of business process diagrams. Topics covered include: entities, data flows, processes, data stores and resource flows.
Context Diagrams - Introduces and tests knowledge and skills in producing simple context diagrams as a way of documenting system boundaries.

Study Area 3 - Conducting the Analysis

Level 1 Diagrams - Explains how to analyse and document the main functional areas of the system under investigation.
Resource Flow - Demonstrates how to identify, read and draw resource flow diagrams.
Organization Structure - Teaches candidates to conduct an analysis from the perspective of the organization structure.
Document Flow - Describes how to conduct the investigation by analysing the flow of documents and information within a business system.

Study Area 4 - Refining the Model

Simplifying Diagrams - Explains how to simplify business process diagrams so that they can be used to communicate to senior management.
Top Down Expansion - Explains how to conduct top down expansion, or ‘decomposition’.
Elementary Processes - Illustrates how to identify and annotate elementary processes.
Checking Diagrams - Explains how to examine and verify the entire business model to ensure that it is meaningful, intelligible and complete.

Analysis Skills Part 2 - Data Analysis

You will learn how to:

Apply the recognized industry standard analysis technique of data modeling.
Analyze any information-based system and produce a clear pictorial representation of it.
Identify opportunities and problem areas within an existing data environment.
Model and assess the impact of any proposed changes to information flows.
Optimize the storage and processing of information within a database.

Study Area 1 - Introduction

Data analysis enables you to analyze, understand and then optimize the way that information is stored and retrieved within a business system. This course teaches candidates how to create data models that depict the current, or planned, business system and how to optimize the way that information is stored and processed.

Study Area 2 - Entities & Relationships

Entities - Introduces, explains and illustrates what constitutes an entity and discusses in detail; types, occurrences, data groups and items.
Identification Guidelines - Introduces a set of accepted, practical standards for entity identification.
Entity Keys - Explains: compound keys, primary keys, foreign keys and candidate keys.
Entity Descriptions - Candidates learn the basic principles of completing a formal entity description.
Relationships – Introduces the second element of a data model, the relationship between entities. It explains: occurrences, link phrase, cardinality and participation/optionality.
Identifying Relationships - Teaches the basic skills required to identify and model entity relationships and how to define accurate relationship statements.

Study Area 3 - Modelling Complex Relationships

Resolving M:M Relationships - The practical techniques used to resolve many-to-many relationships are explained.
Resolving 1:1 Relationships - Teaches users how to identify and resolve one-to-one relationships.
Multiple Relationships - Explains how to portray entities when they have multiple relationships.
Exclusive Relationships - Explains the special nature of exclusive relationship groups and how to depict them in the data model.
Recursive Relationships - Explains how to identify and model recursive relationships.

Study Area 4 – Building the Data Model

Entity Cross Referencing – Explains the formal approach of entity cross-referencing.
Informal Relationship Identification - Candidates learn a less formal approach, which takes into account probable relationships, as the model evolves.
Drawing the Preliminary Model - Provides candidates with practice in drawing a preliminary data model.
Refining the Preliminary Model - Interactive exercises aimed at enhancing and refining a simple preliminary data model.

Study Area 5 - Advanced Exercises

1 - interactive exercise applies all of the concepts and techniques learned on the course to a straightforward business scenario. Full case study support is provided.
2 - The second interactive exercise introduces more advanced data modelling techniques, including ‘connection traps’. This exercise uses a more complex business environment, supported by a detailed case study.

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