BCS Certificate in Requirements Engineering

Understanding Customer Requirements

Candidates learn the ways to managing requirements in an organization
The course is accredited by BCS and part of the International Diploma
Delegates learn from experienced and certified faculty
The certification provides high level jobs and subsequently better salaries in the respective field

Today Business Analysis is becoming a field much sought after by any business and Business Analysts are in demand as such. The Business Analyst needs to learn a range of techniques to benefit them so that they can be used to identify, analyse and document business system requirements within a context framework for requirements engineering. Stakeholders who wish to gain or improve their skills in business system requirements investigation and specification can also benefit. We at Pentagon Training believe in providing these skills to our delegates so that they can accomplish the required tasks of their job profile. This course is a part of the Core modules which needs to be completed as a part of the International Diploma in Business Analysis.

Who should take this course

This BCS Certificate in Requirement Engineering is meant for those delegates who want an indepth knowledge of Business Analysis. They can be business managers and their staff,business change managers,Business analysts, and project managers. Those hoping to acquire the BCS Diploma in Business Analysis can also attend. The BCS Certificate in Requirements Engineering is one of the four modules that are covered under the BCS International Diploma Program.

Prerequisites

There are no special prerequisites for the said course. The delegates would, however, find themselves in good stead if they have some knowledge of business analysis basics.

The Roles And Responsibilities Of Key Stakeholders In The Requirements Engineering Process
Application of A Range Requirements Elicitation Techniques
Requirements Elicitation Techniques - Uses And Relevance To Given Situations
Documenting And Prioritizing User Requirements For An Information System
Problems with Requirements
Improving Requirements Documentation

Key Learning Points

Tutor Support

Courseware

Course Overview

Requirements stakeholders in order to make sure that different perspectives are fulfilled by the requirements and that conflicts are negotiated in such a way that they become the opinion of all.

Requirement Engineering

The course is targeted to those people ambitious to acquire the skills for establishing system requirements.

Exam:

The Exam Fees is not covered/ included in the course fees and has to be paid while registering for the exam.
The exam can only be taken after completing the BCS Certificate in Requirement Engineering course.

Course Content

Introduction to Requirement Engineering

Framework for Requirements Engineering
Rationale for Requirements Engineering and the problems with requirements
The Definition and Characteristics of Requirement
The Characteristics of a Requirements Engineering Process
The Problems of Defining Requirements
The Requirements Engineering Framework
Requirement Engineering Activities
Importance of Requirements Planning and Estimating
Business Rationale and Input
Business Process Analysis Model and Inputs into ‘The Define Requirements’ Stage
Business Case in Project Life-Cycle
Terms of Reference/ Project Initiation Document/ Project Charter–business objectives, project objectives, scope, constraints (budget, timescale, standards), sponsor (authority), resources and assumptions

Hierarchy of requirements

Building the hierarchy through decomposition of requirements
Categories of requirements within the hierarchy
General business requirements, including legal and business policy
Technical policy requirements
Functional requirements
Non-functional requirements, that include performance, availability, robustness, usability, robustness, access, security, archiving, backup and recovery

Stakeholders in the requirements process

The definition of the term ‘stakeholder
Role and Contribution of Project Stakeholders to the requirements engineering process
- Project Manager
- Business Analysis
- Solution
- Developer
- Testers
- Architects
Role and contribution of Business Stakeholders to the requirements engineering process
- Project Sponsor
- Subject matter expert
- End users and managers
- Role and Contribution of External stakeholders to the requirements engineering process
  - Customers
  - Regulators
  - Suppliers - products and services

Requirements Elicitation

Knowledge types –tacit and non-tacit(explicit)
Elicitation techniques
- Interviews
- Workshops
- Observation
- Formal/informal
- Shadowing
- Focus groups
- Prototyping
- Scenarios
- Document Analysis
- Special purpose records
- Questionnaires
- Activity sampling
Understanding the applicability of techniques

Use of models in Requirements Engineering

The purpose of modelling requirements
- Generating questions
- Cross checking for consistency and completeness
- Defining business rules
Modelling the business context for the system using a context diagram that identifies the inputs and outputs of the system
Developing a model to represent the system processing requirements .Use case diagrams – actors, boundaries, associations, use cases
Interpreting a data model based upon the system data requirements Class diagram –classes, simple associations, multiplicities, attributes

Requirement documentation

Documentation styles and levels of definition
- User Stories
- Use Cases
- Requirements List
- Requirements Catalogue
Requirements Catalogue
Identifier
Name
Description
Acceptance criteria
Source
Owner
Rationale/Benefits
Related non-functional requirements
Priority
Type (functional, non-functional, general, technical)
Related requirements/documents
Author
Version control/status
Change history
Resolution
Requirements Document
Introduction and Background
Business Process Models
Function models (use case diagram) of defined requirements
Data model (class model) of defined requirements
Requirements catalogue
Glossary

Requirements Analysis

Prioritising and packaging requirements for delivery
Organising requirements
Requirements filters
Characteristics of a good requirement
Removing duplicated requirements
Reconciling overlapping requirements
Identifying and negotiating conflicts between requirements
Removing ambiguity
Ensuring feasibility(technical, business and financial)
Ensuring testability
Ensuring traceability
Prototyping requirements
Verifying requirements

Requirements Validation

Agreeing the requirements document
Types of reviews
- Informal reviews
- Structured walkthroughs (author-led review)
- Technical reviews
- Inspections
Stakeholders and their areas of concern

Requirements Management

Dealing with changing requirements
The sources of change
Change Management
Configuration management
The importance of traceability
- Vertical traceability (to business objectives)
- Horizontal traceability (from origin to deliver)
Traceability and ownership
Requirements Engineering support tools
- CARE Tools (Computer Aided Requirements Engineering)
- CASE Tools (Computer Aided Software Engineering)

Requirement Engineering

The candidates appearing for the BCS exam must bring some kind of photographic evidence to show at the examination hall to the invigilator.BCS allow additional time for candidates having some kind of disability or whose native language differs to that of the examination paper. For details refer to the BCS Reasonable Adjustments Policy which is available to view on the BCS website. If you believe you qualify for this then please notify the Exam Administration team at least two weeks prior to the exam. Delegates failing to do so and provide evidence when requested, may not be allowed the additional support.

About Reading

Located in Berkshire, Reading is a large and historically significant town. It was an important center of trade as well as religion in the medieval period. The Reading Abbey, still has its 12th century abbey gateway and significant ruins intact. Due to the English Civil War the town was damaged severely, causing a significant loss in trade. Reading also played an important role in the Revolution of 1688. It is where the revolution's only significant military action was took place. The Great Western Railway , the brewing business, baking and seed growing all happened in 19th century. Now,Reading boasts of being a major commercial centre, that involves information technology and insurance. Reading has, despite its nearness to London, a net inward traveler flow.

Reading came up as a settlement way back in the 8th century. It had become the largest town in Berkshire by 1525 and had a population of around 5000 in the early 17th Century. It was in the 18th century that major iron works in the town came up and the city saw the growth of the brewing business for which Reading is known till date. It was in the 19th century that Reading saw the growth of manufacturing business also.

Economy

Reading is a vital commercial centre in the Thames Valley and Southern England. It is home to the headquarters of many British companies and UK offices of foreign multinationals. It is also a major retail centre. Daily Reading has an inflow of 30,000 commuters as compared to 24,000 departures. Large companies such as Microsoft and Oracle have their headquarters in Reading. Other businesses in Reading are Prudential, PepsiCo and Wrigley. In 2007, an independent poll placed Reading 16th in a league table of best performing retail centres in the UK.

Culture

Reading is known for its Reading Beer Festival which was first held in 1994 and is now known to be one of the largest beer festivals in the UK. It takes place at King's Meadow for the five days immediately preceding the May Day bank holiday every year. Reading Pride also takes place at Reading, an annual LGBTA festival in Kings Meadow.

Museums

The Museum of Reading contains galleries that showcase the history of Reading . The museum is also home to the excavations of Calleva Atrebatum. It also houses a full-size replica of the Bayeux Tapestry, an art collection, and galleries relating to Huntley and Palmers.

Located in East Reading, The Museum of English Rural Life,is dedicated to the changing face of rural England. It also has collections of public value. It is not only owned but also managed by the University of Reading. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Musum of Zoology and the Harris Botanic Gardens are also under the same management. All these museums can be found on the university's Whiteknights Campus.

There is also a small Riverside Museum at Blake's Lock which tells one about Reading's two rivers, the Thames and the Kennet. The Museum of Berkshire Aviation houses a collection of aircraft and other aviation accessories.