All Courses

Project Management Courses

PM01 Project Management Fundamentals                           3 days

This 3 day introduction to Project Management is intended for the new Project Manager or experienced Project Manager requiring formal education in Project Management.  It clearly answers the questions “What is Project Management?” and “What skills do I need as a Project Manager?”.

PM03 Introduction to Agile.                                                   2 days

Everyone working in software development has heard the term “Agile”, but what does it really mean.  People, especially developers, when they hear the term Agile, think ad-hoc.  I’ve actually heard developers say “Great, we’re going agile. No Project Manager telling me what to do and no requirements.  All I have to do is cut code!”.

That’s not it at all. Agile and Scrum are actual methodologies that have procedures, rules and behaviours.  The Scrum Master functions as the Project Manager and you still need to elicit requirements.  This 2 day course is an introduction to the Agile methodology.

PM05 Advanced Work Breakdown Structures                       2 days

 Understanding the work to be done on a project is one of the most challenging aspects of Project Management.  Most projects that go over budget or schedule do so because the amount of the work to do was underestimated.  If your Work Breakdown Structure is complete, then your Budget, Schedules and Resource Requirements should be relatively accurate as well.

This advanced 2 day course develops and analyses several Work Breakdown Structures for simple and complex projects.

PM10 Sizing and Estimation Techniques for Software           2 days

(including Monte Carlo Analysis)

Software is a product to be built like any other.  Ask a bricklayer how long it will take to build a wall and how much it will cost and he will ask you how big it will be; how long, how wide, how tall etc.  We need to think similarly about Software.  The problem is software is not 3 dimensional.  It is invisible. It is abstract and conceptual.  How then can we put a size to it?

This 2 day course looks at how to put size measures on software.  Topics covered include; Function Points, Feature Points, Use Case Points, COCOMO and COCOMO II software estimation models.

PM12 Schedules, Budgets and Resources                           2 days

The work that needs to be done on a project is defined in the Work Breakdown Structure.  Once that work is known, then the questions of “How long will it take?”, “How much will it cost?” and “What do I need in order to get it done?” need to be answered.

This 2 day course looks in detail at the tools used by the Project Manager to determine Schedule, Budget and Resources required in order to complete the project on time and on budget.

PM15 Triple Constraints Tradeoff Analysis                           2 days

One of the Project Manager’s most difficult jobs is managing the Triple Constraints, those being Scope, Time and Money.  There is only so much product that can be built in so much time for so much money.  A change in one will impact the other two.  What if one is fixed?  What if two are fixed? What if two are flexible but one has a higher priority than the other?

Triple Constraints Tradeoff Analysis is a 2 day advanced course for the experienced Project Manager.  Understanding how to analyse, negotiate and manage changes to the triple constraints can prevent future projects from being over budget and over schedule ever again.

PM20 Risk Analysis and Management                                 2 days

All projects are risky.  Some companies can go under because they take on a major project without understanding the risks involved.

This 2 day course looks at all the areas in Risk Analysis and Management beginning with Risk Planning and continuing with Risk Identification, Analysis and Responses.

Business Analysis Courses

BA01  Business Analysis Fundamentals                               3 days

          (including How to Elicit and Document Requirements

This 3 day introduction to Business Analysis is intended for the new Business Analyst or experienced Business Analyst requiring formal education in Business Analysis.  It clearly answers the questions “What is Business Analysis?” and “What skills do I need as a Business Analyst?”.

BA05  Logical Data & Process Modeling                               3 days

Software possesses behaviour.  One of the fundamental skills that any Business Analyst must have is the ability to discover what the desired behaviour of a new Software System is and document that behaviour in such a way that a Software Designer and Developer can create it.

This intensive 3 day course trains the Business Analyst in how to elicit the desired behaviour of a Software System from a group of stakeholders and then document it in a clear, complete, consistent, precise and concise manner.

BA10  Use Case Modeling                                                   2 days

Software possesses behaviour.  The majority of that behaviour is invisible, hidden in the code itself.  The only parts of software that are visible are the interfaces, where the user directly interacts with the software.  That requires special treatment.  Use Cases concentrate on that User interaction.

This intensive 2 day course concentrates solely on Use Cases, their discovery and documentation.  You will learn how to create Use Case Models and all their corresponding documentation including Actor Descriptions and Use Case Scenarios.

BA12  Gathering and Documenting                                      2 days

Non-Functional Requirements

Software consists of both behaviour and characteristics.  Many courses concentrate on eliciting and documenting behaviour, but many software projects fail due to the fact that the Non-Functional Requirements were either ambiguous or not gathered at all.

This 2 day course looks in detail at the different categories of Non-Functional Requirements and what questions to ask the stakeholders in order to determine precisely and without ambiguity the needs of the business stakeholders.

BA15  Quality Assurance for Business Analysts                    2 days

(including How to Conduct a Peer Review)

All products that are created require testing.  Someone needs to confirm that the product created conforms to its requirements.  The Business Analyst captured, documented and validated the requirements, therefore no one on the project knows them better.

This 2 day intensive course introduces the Business Analyst to the concept of formal testing.  Testing to be done efficiently must be planned, so we start out with the creation of the test plan, followed with detailed analysis of all the different types of testing and checking.  In the specific area of checking, we concentrate on how to conduct a Peer Review, roles and responsibilities and how to conduct one efficiently in order to find the most defects in the least amount of time and for the least cost.

BA20  Facilitation for Business Analysts                               2 days

Business Analysts are beyond anything else communicators.  We communicate both orally and written.  In oral communication it may be an interview or Focus Group.

In this intensive 2 day course we concentrate on the Focus Group and the Business Analyst’s role.  Well facilitated Focus Groups can dramatically improve your project’s chance of success by making sure all voices and concerns are heard in an open forum.  Emphasis is on respect and setting the ground rules immediately in order to accomplish your objective as a facilitator.