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BABoK Word Cloud - A guide to understand IIBA Exam Questions

Written by LN Mishra, CBAP, CBDA, AAC & CCA | 4/3/19 4:00 AM

The IIBA certification examinations, CBAP, CCBA, and ECBA, play around a lot with respect to language. As one has to take many questions within a stipulated time (one usually gets about 90 seconds) to answer each question. Many questions play around with words where a similar concept word/synonym is used. The BABoK word cloud tries to organize the key terms in BABoK to coherent groups.

Let’s look at the first group – Benefit, Revenue, Savings, and Value. These terms relate to the organization receiving value from the initiative/change. Find explanations for these terms here.

The next group is Goal, Objective, Strategy, and Vision. These are related to what and how the organization wants to achieve its goals. Find explanations for these terms here.

Scale, Transaction volume, Load, Capacity and Throughput form the next set. These terms can interchangeably be used for the scale of operations carried out by an organization. The terms are explained here.

 

The fourth group consists of Data, Information, Class, Entity, and Concepts. These terms relate to any information which is useful to the business domain. These can be used to determine project requirements. Definitions of these terms can be found here.

The fifth group, Method, Approach, Plan, and Organizational process assets, relate to the collective ways in which an organization plans to achieve its goals, and solve its problems. Find explanations for these terms here.

Request for information (RFI), Request for proposal (RFP), Request for quote (RFQ) and Request for tender (RFT) form the next group of the BABoK Word Cloud. These are various documents that an organization uses to gather information, solution details, and pricing data relevant during a potential procurement. The terms are further explained here.

The seventh group consists of Activity, Process, Task, and Workflow. These terms relate to various tasks or set of activities undertaken in an organization to achieve its goals. Definitions can be found here.

The next group includes To Be, Future state and Scope. These terms relate to what and how the organization desires its activities/scope of the solution in the future. The terms are defined here.

The group coming next has the terms, View, Requirement, Need, and Expectation. These are all the needs and expectations of an organization and its stakeholders. Find the definitions here.

The tenth group has the terms Risk, Uncertainty and Negative impact. These terms refer to the unknown factors in any business domain, which can pose a challenge to the organization. The terms are explained here.

 

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Enterprise, Organization, Function, and Department form the next group. These terms relate to the entire organization or a group in the organization performing specific tasks. Find explanations for these terms here.

The next group- Functional decomposition, Bottom-up, and WBS, relate to breaking up any aspect to them manageable. Find detailed definitions here.

The 13th group consists of Current state, As Is and Context. These terms are used in relation to the present situation and how circumstances influence the solution. The terms are explained here.

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The group coming next has the terms, Quality, Verify, Validate and Right for the purpose. These terms are used to denote whether the product/process meet the requirement and have gone through the quality check. Definitions can be found here.

The next group includes the terms Capability, Feature, Function, and Scope. These terms relate to the solution’s functions, capabilities, features, scope, etc. Find explanations for these terms here.

Constraint, Limitations, and Budget form the next group. They are influencing factors which are fixed and restrictive. The terms are explained here.

The 17th group of this Word Cloud has the terms- Sprint, Iteration and Phase. These terms relate to the duration/cycle of project/process. Explanations can be found here.

The next group- Regulation, Policy, and Rule are terms which relate to rules and directives which are followed in and by the organization. Find the definitions here.

The set of terms Solution, Design and Product form the next group. These relate to the end result of an initiative undertaken by the organization. The terms are explained here.

The next group includes the terms User, Customer, and Actor. These are the end users of the product/process, who pay and interact with it. Find explanations for these terms here.

The 21st group consists of the terms Map, Model, and Diagram. These refer to the various representations which are used in an organization to convey the required information. The terms are explained here.

Metrics, Indicator, KPI and Scorecard form the group with the next set of terms. These all relate to indicators/measurements for the performance. Find explanations for these terms here.

The final set of terms in the Word cloud to fall into one group are Cost, Expense, Budget, Time and Material. These refer to the money, time, material and effort used for organizational goals. The terms are explained here.

Detailed Explanations

Group 1

Value- The worth, importance, or usefulness of something to a stakeholder in a context.

Benefit– Positive output for the organization

Revenue- A Company’s revenue which is earned from its main operations or activities minus expenses, such as financing costs, asset sales, etc.

Savings– Money/effort saved

Group 2

Goal- Long-term, on-going and qualitative statements of a condition that the organization seeks to establish and maintain. For example, we want to be the most preferred technology partner to our clients.

Objective- Descriptive, granular, specific and linked to measures to objectively assess if the objective has been achieved.

Strategy- A description of the chosen approach to applying the capabilities of an enterprise in order to reach the desired set of goals or objectives.

Vision – A position that the organization wishes to achieve in the long term.

Group 3

Scale – Magnitude of business/operation

Transaction volume – Number of transactions carried out

Load - Number of transactions carried out in a certain duration

Capacity– Number of transactions that the system can handle

Throughput- Number of transactions carried out in a certain duration

Group 4

Data – Basic element of information

Information – Useful data

Class- An entity in the object model.

Entity- Anything of interest to the business domain from a data perspective.

Concepts - Anything of interest to the business domain from a business perspective.

Group 5

Method- A body of methods, techniques, procedures, working concepts, and rules used to solve a problem.

Approach- High-level plan to achieve something.

Plan- A detailed scheme for doing or achieving something usually comprising a set of events, dependencies, expected sequence, schedule, results or outcomes, materials and resources needed, and how stakeholders need to be involved.

Organizational process assets- Documents created by an organization for reuse

Group 6

Request for information (RFI)- A formal elicitation method intended to collect information regarding a vendor's capabilities or any other information relevant to a potential upcoming procurement.

Request for proposal (RFP)- A requirements document issued when an organization is seeking a formal proposal from vendors. An RFP typically requires that the proposals be submitted following a specific process and using sealed bids which will be evaluated against a formal evaluation methodology.

Request for quote (RFQ)- A procurement method of soliciting price and solution options from vendors.

Request for tender (RFT)- An open invitation to vendors to submit a proposal for goods or services.

Group 7

Activity – Usually as high-level task

Process- A set of activities designed to accomplish a specific objective by taking one or more defined inputs and turning them into defined outputs.

Task- A discrete piece of work that may be performed formally or informally as part of business analysis.

Workflow – Order of tasks

Group 8

To Be- The desired future state.

Future state- Desired future state and expected value delivery.

Scope- Scope models describe the scope of analysis or scope of a solution.

Group 9

View- Requirement

Requirement- A usable representation of a need.

Need- A problem or opportunity to be addressed.

Expectation– Something stakeholders expect

Group 10

Risk- In business, especially insurance, the amount of money a company stands to lose, or the threat of an action or event which will have an adverse effect on a business.

Uncertainty– Something unknown

Negative impact- Value degradation

Group 11

Enterprise- A Company or business. A business project, often one which is sometimes difficult and/or risky.

Organization- An autonomous group of people under the management of a single individual or board, that works towards common goals and objectives.

Function– Organizational unit performing a specific task

Department- Function

Group 12

Functional decomposition- Breaks down a large aspect (processes, functional areas, deliverables, scope, or problems) into smaller aspects, as independent as possible, so that work can be assigned to different groups.

Bottom-up – Way to estimate using Functional decomposition

WBS– Decomposition of project deliverable

Group 13

Current state– Prevailing situation

As Is- The current state.

Context- The circumstances that influence, are influenced by, and provide an understanding of the change.

Group 14

Quality- The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills needs.

Verify- Test

Validate- The process of checking that a deliverable is suitable for its intended use. See also requirements validation.

Right for the purpose– Can be used effectively

Group 15

Capability- The set of activities the enterprise performs, the knowledge it has, the products and services it provides, the functions it supports, and the methods it uses to make decisions.

Feature- A distinguishing characteristic of a solution that implements a cohesive set of requirements and which delivers value for a set of stakeholders.

Function- Functionality

Scope- Scope models describe the scope of analysis or scope of a solution.

Group 16

Constraint- An influencing factor that cannot be changed, and that places a limit or restriction on a possible solution or solution option.

Limitations– Restriction on some aspect

Budget- Money

Group 17

Sprint– A fixed duration for development

Iteration- A single instance of progressive cycles of analysis, development, testing, or execution.

Phase– Division of change period

Group 18

Regulation– A rule prescribed by authorities

Policy- A non-practicable directive that controls and influences the actions of an enterprise.

Rule– Something to be followed

Group 19

Solution- A specific way of satisfying one or more needs in a context.

Design- A usable representation of a solution.

Product- A solution or component of a solution that is the result of an initiative.

Group 20

User– One who uses the solution

Customer– One who pays for the solution

Actor– Role that interacts with the solution

Group 21

Map– A diagram to help with movement

Model- A representation and simplification of reality developed to convey information to a specific audience to support analysis, communication, and understanding.

Diagram- A picture

Group 22

Metrics– A measurement

Indicator– Indicating some aspect

KPI- A key performance indicator (KPI) is one that measures progress towards a strategic goal or objective.

Score card- A score card enabling a business decision.

Group 23

Cost– Money spent to achieve something

Expense – Money spent

Budget- Allocation of funds or the estimation of costs for a department, project, etc., over a specific period. The management of spending and saving money.

Time- Effort spent

Material– Material used