The foundation for guiding the elicitation effort in business analysis is supporting material. According to the BABOK® Guide v3, before initiating elicitation activities, a business analyst must review and gather relevant background information, which includes existing documentation, enterprise environmental factors, and business rules. This supporting material provides the necessary context and guidance to determine what information needs to be elicited and from whom.
Supporting material includes:
Existing system documents
Business processes and models
Organizational policies and procedures
Historical data from previous initiatives
Stakeholder and user manuals
The use of supporting material ensures that the elicitation is purposeful, well-directed, and focused on identifying information gaps and opportunities for refinement.
BABOK® Reference:
This is covered under the Elicitation and Collaboration knowledge area, particularly in the task "Prepare for Elicitation," which lists supporting materials as a key input to the planning of elicitation activities.
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