Capstone Project: Applying Business Analysis Skills
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Capstone Project: Applying Business Analysis Skills
This course is part of IBM Business Analyst Professional Certificate
Instructor: IBM Skills Network Team
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What you'll learn
Gain practical, in-depth experience that builds confidence and readiness for entry-level roles in business analysis
Apply the concepts and skills acquired to execute a practical business analysis project
Showcase proficiency in core business analysis skills, including process modeling, requirements gathering, risk assessment and system analysis
Demonstrate proficiency in using relevant business analysis tools and technologies, such as Excel and LucidChart
Skills you'll gain
Details to know
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
Build your Business Strategy expertise
- Learn new concepts from industry experts
- Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
- Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
- Earn a shareable career certificate from IBM
There are 6 modules in this course
Elevate your career prospects with this capstone project, designed to help you showcase job-ready business analysis skills applied to a real-world inspired scenario.
This hands-on experience allows you to apply business analysis concepts and techniques through a case study, Enhancing Operational Efficiency in a Multi-Specialty Hospital. While working on this project, you’ll apply key business analysis skills, including requirements gathering, stakeholder analysis, project management, process modeling, and risk assessment. Additionally, you’ll use tools like Excel for data analysis and Cognos or Google Looker for creating impactful dashboards. This project offers an opportunity to design key artifacts integral to a business analysis project, including a Business Requirements Document (BRD), Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM), Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement Plan, Process Model Diagram, Scope Management Plan and Risk Mitigation Plan. To conclude the project, you'll design a professional PowerPoint presentation summarizing your findings, sharpening your analytical and presentation skills. By completing this project, you’ll refine your critical thinking and problem-solving abilities and business analysis skills that stand on your resume. Be prepared to power up your business analysis career!
This module lays the groundwork for the capstone project by introducing the case study that you will work on. It also highlights the prerequisites, including awareness of the key concepts and essential tools of business analysis required to work on the capstone project. The module focuses specifically on requirements gathering, requirements prioritization, and documentation. You'll learn how to identify, organize, and document business requirements effectively. Through hands-on labs and demonstrations, you’ll practice creating a Business Requirements Document (BRD) and a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) – the foundational artifacts in business analysis.
What's included
4 videos1 reading4 assignments4 plugins
4 videos•Total 22 minutes
- Course Introduction •5 minutes
- Capstone Project Overview•5 minutes
- Recap of Requirements Gathering •5 minutes
- Recap of Requirements Prioritization Techniques•7 minutes
1 reading•Total 10 minutes
- Course Overview and Prerequisites•10 minutes
4 assignments•Total 66 minutes
- Checklist: Business Requirements Document (BRD)•18 minutes
- Checklist: Requirements Prioritization and Documentation •18 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Requirements Gathering•15 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Requirements Prioritization and Documentation Techniques •15 minutes
4 plugins•Total 130 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Requirements Gathering•5 minutes
- Lab: Create a Business Requirements Document (BRD) •60 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Techniques for Prioritizing and Documenting Requirements•5 minutes
- Lab: Develop a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM)•60 minutes
This module focuses on two critical aspects of business analysis: stakeholder analysis and engagement and project management. With the demonstration videos and practical labs, you will develop a comprehensive Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement Plan, ensuring alignment with project objectives. Next, you will work on Project Scope Management and create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to define and organize project deliverables. The module will enhance your ability to engage stakeholders strategically and manage project scope efficiently.
What's included
2 videos4 assignments4 plugins
2 videos•Total 9 minutes
- Recap of Effective Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement•5 minutes
- Recap of Project Scope Management and WBS•4 minutes
4 assignments•Total 66 minutes
- Checklist: Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement Plan •18 minutes
- Checklist: Scope Management Plan •18 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Stakeholder Analysis•15 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Project Management •15 minutes
4 plugins•Total 140 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement•5 minutes
- Lab: Create a Stakeholder Analysis and Engagement Plan•60 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Project Management Plan•5 minutes
- Lab: Create a Project Scope Management Plan with WBS •70 minutes
This module focuses on mastering process modeling techniques, a key aspect of business analysis that helps visualize and optimize workflows. You’ll gain hands-on experience with tools like Lucidchart or MS Visio to create clear and actionable process models. Building on these fundamentals, the module progresses to advanced process mapping techniques, including Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Swimlane diagrams. Through guided demonstrations and practical labs, you will refine your ability to create detailed process maps that improve clarity and identify opportunities for process optimization.
What's included
2 videos4 assignments4 plugins
2 videos•Total 11 minutes
- Recap of Process Mapping and Optimization•4 minutes
- Recap of Advanced Process Mapping Techniques•6 minutes
4 assignments•Total 66 minutes
- Checklist: Process Models and Documentation•18 minutes
- Checklist: Advanced Process Maps and Annotations •18 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Process Modeling Techniques •15 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Advanced Process Mapping Techniques•15 minutes
4 plugins•Total 155 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Process Mapping and Optimization•5 minutes
- Lab: Create a Process Model Using Lucidchart •75 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Applying Advanced BPMN and Swimlane Diagrams•5 minutes
- Lab: Create Detailed Process Maps Using Swimlane Diagrams•70 minutes
This module equips you with essential skills in data analysis and visualization, focusing on leveraging tools like Excel, Cognos, and Looker. You’ll begin by mastering data cleaning, manipulation, and analysis in Excel, ensuring the accuracy of your datasets. Next, the module focuses on dashboard creation using Cognos or Looker. You'll learn to design effective dashboards to present insights effectively, improving decision-making and stakeholder communication. Through guided demonstrations and labs, you will build dashboards that transform data into actionable visualizations.
What's included
3 videos4 assignments5 plugins
3 videos•Total 12 minutes
- Recap of Data Cleaning, Manipulation, and Analysis in Excel •5 minutes
- Recap of Creating Dashboards Using IBM Cognos Analytics•4 minutes
- Recap of Dashboard Creation in Looker•3 minutes
4 assignments•Total 70 minutes
- Checklist: Data Analysis Using Excel•20 minutes
- Checklist: Building Effective Visualizations•20 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Data Analysis and Visualization •15 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Dashboard Creation Using Cognos/Looker •15 minutes
5 plugins•Total 155 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Analyzing Data in Excel•10 minutes
- Reading: Practical Guide to Effective Data Visualization•5 minutes
- Lab: Data Cleaning, Manipulation, and Analysis Using Excel•60 minutes
- Reading- Assignment Overview: Data Visualization and Dashboards for Presenting Insights•10 minutes
- Lab: Creating Dashboards in Cognos/Looker•70 minutes
This module focuses on the critical aspects of risk identification, management, and mitigation in business analysis. You’ll begin by learning the essentials of risk management, including how to identify potential risks and document them effectively using tools like a Risk Register and SWOT Analysis. Building on this foundation, the module advances to risk mitigation and control strategies. You’ll explore techniques for developing a Risk Matrix and creating mitigation strategies. Through practical labs and demonstrations, you’ll create a Risk Mitigation Plan that includes contingency measures to address identified risks.
What's included
2 videos4 assignments5 plugins
2 videos•Total 10 minutes
- Recap of Risk Management Essentials•5 minutes
- Recap of Risk Mitigation Plan•4 minutes
4 assignments•Total 70 minutes
- Checklist: Comprehensive Risk Identification and Documentation •20 minutes
- Checklist: Documenting Risk Control Measures and Contingency Plans•20 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Risk Identification and Management•15 minutes
- Graded Quiz: Risk Mitigation and Control Strategies •15 minutes
5 plugins•Total 135 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Developing a Risk Management Plan•10 minutes
- Reading: Risk Assessment and Mitigation Strategies in Business Analysis•5 minutes
- Lab: Creating a Risk Register and Conducting a SWOT Analysis•60 minutes
- Reading - Assignment Overview: Strategic Risk Mitigation Planning•10 minutes
- Lab: Developing a Risk Matrix and Mitigation Strategies •50 minutes
In this final module, you will work on combining and presenting your project work into a compelling presentation that demonstrates your analytical and presentation skills. You’ll learn to structure and design effective presentations, applying best practices for clarity, engagement, and professionalism. Finally, you will submit this presentation highlighting insights derived from the project, which will be AI-graded.
What's included
2 videos3 readings1 assignment1 app item4 plugins
2 videos•Total 10 minutes
- Structure of a Presentation•6 minutes
- Best Practices for Presenting Your Findings•4 minutes
3 readings•Total 5 minutes
- Final Project Overview•2 minutes
- Congratulations and Next Steps •1 minute
- Thanks from the Course Team•2 minutes
1 assignment•Total 16 minutes
- Checklist: Final Presentation Preparation•16 minutes
1 app item•Total 45 minutes
- Final Project: Enhancing Operational Efficiency in a Multi-Specialty Hospital•45 minutes
4 plugins•Total 71 minutes
- Lab: Build and Refine PowerPoint Presentation Summarizing Case Study Findings•60 minutes
- Reading: Job Search Tips and Analysis•5 minutes
- Reading: Resume Writing Tips for Business Analysts•5 minutes
- Reading: Mock Interview Prep and Tips•1 minute
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Frequently asked questions
This course is designed for anyone interested in gaining practical experience using business analysis techniques, including process modeling, requirements gathering, risk assessment and system analysis that they can include on their resume and talk about in interviews. You should either have completed all prior courses in the IBM Business Analyst Professional Certificate or have competency in the various business analysis domains.
Completing this capstone project gives you a hands-on opportunity to apply what you've learned in the IBM Business Analyst Professional Certificate in a practical, real-world context. This helps solidify your understanding and builds your confidence by allowing you to tackle actual challenges you might face in your career. Plus, it’s a valuable asset for showcasing your skills to employers.
A capstone project provides you with a concrete piece of work to show potential employers, demonstrating your ability to apply theoretical knowledge to real problems. It can serve as a powerful portfolio item or discussion point in interviews, making you stand out as a job candidate and proving that you're ready to hit the ground running.
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