Certified Business Analysis Professional CBAP Updated Exam

The conduct elicitation activity is a technique to understand stakeholder needs and identify potential solutions that may meet those needs. It involves guiding stakeholders and collaborating with them through the elicitation activity, doing research or running experiments, and capturing elicitation outcomes1. The captured outcomes should be recorded in a format that is clear, consistent, and accessible for future reference and analysis. Text messages sent via a secured mobile phone are not an acceptable element for requirements documentation, as they are not easily retrievable, traceable, or verifiable. Written documents, visual or audio recordings, and whiteboards are acceptable elements for requirements documentation, as long as they are properly stored, labeled, and managed2. References: Conduct Elicitation - iiba.org, Conducting elicitation activity – The Functional BA

 The communications management plan is a document that defines the approach, methods, frequency, and responsibilities for communicating with the stakeholders throughout the business analysis process. The communications management plan also specifies how the business analysis communications will be stored, distributed, updated, and disposedof at the end of the project. Therefore, the business analyst must follow the communications management plan to determine what to do with all of the communication documents created as part of the project.

The other options are incorrect because they do not reflect the best practice for managing the business analysis communications. All formal communication must not be destroyed once the project is completed, as they may contain valuable information and lessons learned that can be used for future reference or audit purposes. All communications must not be documented and passed onto the solution’s project manager for analysis and to serve as supporting detail, as this may create unnecessary duplication, confusion, and overhead. The project manager may not be the best person to analyze and use the business analysis communications, as they may have different objectives and perspectives than the business analyst. All communications must not be archived and will become part of the organizational process assets, as this may not be appropriate or feasible for all types of communication. Some communication may be confidential, sensitive, or irrelevant for the organization, and may not need to be archived or shared with others. References:

• BABOK® Guide, p. 29, 32
• CBAP / CCBA Certified Business Analysis Study Guide, p. 45, 48
• Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) | Coursera, Course 1, Week 2, Video: “Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring”

 A test plan is a document that describes the scope, objectives, strategy, and activities of testing a software product or system. A test plan is mandatory in most software development projects because it ensures that the software meets the quality standards and requirements of the stakeholders. A test plan also helps to identify and mitigate the risks, defects, and issues that may affect the software functionality, performance, usability, and security. A test plan is different from a communication management plan, which is a document that describes how the project information will be communicated to the stakeholders. A test plan is also different from a disaster recovery plan, which is a document that describes how the project will resume its operations in the event of a disaster or emergency. A test plan is not a procurement plan, which is a document that describes how the project will acquire the goods and services needed from external sources. References:

• CBAP / CCBA Certified Business Analysis Study Guide, 2nd Edition, Chapter 9: Solution Assessment and Validation, page 329-330.
• How to write a software requirement document (with template), paragraph 6
• These testing methods should be mandatory for any software, paragraph 1
• Software Testing Plan - Tutorialspoint, paragraph 1

 Preparing for elicitation is a process of planning and arranging the elicitation activities that will be used to gather information from the stakeholders. Preparing for elicitation involves clarifying the scope of the selected elicitation technique, gathering any supporting materials, and scheduling all the people and resources that are needed for conducting the elicitation activities. Preparing for elicitation can help to ensure that the elicitation is effective, efficient, and collaborative, and that the desired outcomes are achieved. References: Prepare for Elicitation, page 1; 3 Steps to Preparing for an Elicitation Session.