APPENDIX X2
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

There are 110 individual tools and techniques in The PMI Guide to Business Analysis. Some are mentioned once and some appear many times across multiple processes within the guide. Information in this guide, including which techniques to use, need to be tailored to the needs of the environment, organization, or situation. Not every tool or technique in this guide is necessarily required for every business analysis effort nor is the listing of tools and techniques in this guide exhaustive.

Where appropriate, tools and techniques have been grouped by their purpose. The group name describes the intent of what needs to be done and the tools and techniques in the group represent different methods to accomplish the intent. For example, prioritization schemes is a tools and techniques group with the intent on prioritizing portfolio components, programs, projects, requirements, features, or any other product information. Multivoting, timeboxing, and weighted ranking are among the techniques that can be used to prioritize.

To assist practitioners in identifying where specific tools and techniques are used, this appendix identifies each tool and technique, the group to which it belongs (if appropriate), and the process(es) where it is listed in The PMI Guide to Business Analysis. The process in which a tool or technique is described is in boldface type. For other processes where the tool or technique is listed, it references the process where it is fully described and may provide additional verbiage on how a tool or technique is used in that particular process. A reference to the section number where the tool or technique is described in Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide is provided when applicable. The Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide may be consulted for examples and additional information on how to use the tool or perform the technique.

X2.1 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES GROUPS

The following tools and techniques groups are used throughout The PMI Guide to Business Analysis:

• Change control tools. Used to assist with change and/or configuration management.
• Elicitation techniques. Used to draw information from various sources.
• Estimation techniques. Used to provide a quantitative assessment of likely amounts or outcomes.
• Group decision-making techniques. Used in a group setting to bring participants to a final decision on an issue or topic under discussion.
• Modeling elaboration. Used to further identify gaps, inconsistencies, or redundancies in product information.
• Peer reviews. Used to examine business analysis work for logic, readability, and adherence to internal organizational standards for quality characteristics, format, and syntax.
• Planning techniques. Used to plan business analysis work.
• Prioritization schemes. Used to prioritize portfolio components, programs, projects, requirements, features, or any other product information.
• Root cause and opportunity analysis. Root cause analysis is used to determine the basic underlying reason that causes a variance, defect, or risk. Opportunity analysis is used to study the major facets of a potential opportunity to determine the possible changes in products offered to enable its achievement.
• Valuation techniques. Used to quantify the return or value that an option will provide.
• Stakeholder maps. Used for analyzing how stakeholders relate to one another and the solution under analysis.

There are 59 ungrouped tools and techniques. Table X2-1 contains a list of the tools and techniques, identifies them by Knowledge Area, and provides the referenced sections in The PMI Guide to Business Analysis and Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide.