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 Wakefield

Wakefield

In West Yorkshire, England, Wakefield is located. Wakefield is on the River Calder and Pennines eastern edge. In 2001 Wakefield had a population of around 77,512. It increased for five Wakefield wards called East, North, South, West and Rural to 77,512 according to 2011 census. Wakefield is also dubbed as ‘ Merrie City’ in Middle Ages. John Leland in 1538 described it as ‘ A quick market town and large and meately large. It is also a well-served market of fish and flesh from sea and rivers so that vital is good and cheap there. Wakefield Battle took place in Wars of the Roses. Wakefield became a famous centre for wool and a market town. In the 18th century, Wakefield made a trade in corn and textiles. In 1888 parish church of Wakefield acquired Cathedral status. It also became a county town of West Riding of Yorkshire. It was the seat of West Riding County Council from 1889 till 1974.

History

Along with railroad, many streams and lakes also played a significant role in economic growth of Wakefield. There were many damn and around twenty mill sites that include fulling mills, gristmills and carding mills along these waterways. Due to this development growing population expanded in seven separate villages, East Wakefield, South Wakefield, North Wakefield, Burleyville Wakefield corner, Sanbornville and Union. Sanbornville villages are now the primary business centre in Wakefield. The new town hall was constructed in Sanbornville in 1895. From Lovell lake , ice was shipped and harvested by two companies with the help of 16 to 20 train carloads to Boston and beyond it every day. At the beginning of 1900’s railroading was to the extreme with 25 trains in and out of Sanbornville every day.

In 1911, due to fire various rail yard buildings burned and operations centre shifted to Dover. After the emergence of electrification, need for ice reduced. The Later popularity of automobiles further reduced the need for rail travel. Finally, in 1969, Snow train which was a passenger train, made its final run.

During Second half of 20th century, a major industry in Wakefield was the development of 11 lakes. Development of summer homes and services needed to be provided. This helped later to provide incomes to many Wakefield residents. It helped to retain the rural character of Wakefield for which Wakefield is known.

Education

Oldest school Surviving in Wakefield is Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, a boys school established in 1591 by Queen Elizabeth by Royal Charter. The original building is in Brook Street that is now the Elizabethan Gallery. In 1854, QEGS school was moved to Northgate. The school was administered by Governors of Wakefield Charities who also opened Wakefield Girls High School ( WGHS) located at Wentworth-street in 1878. Church of England opened National Schools that include St Mary’s in the 1840s and St Johns in 1861. Original St Austin’s Catholic School was opened in 1838. In 1846 Methodist School was opened on Thornhill Street. Eastmoor School previously Pinders Primary School is only opened by Education Act 1870 which is still open.

Wakefield College has origins in School of Art and Craft of 1868. It is today the primary provider of 6th form and further education in the area with around 10,00 part-time and 3000 full-time students. It has campuses in the surrounding towns as well as in the city. In 2007 Wakefield College and Wakefield City Council announced plans to create a University Centre of Wakefield but bid for funding failed in 2009. Other schools with sixth forms include QEGS, Cathedral High School which is now an Arts College for age 11 to 18 and Wakefield High Girls School.