Course Overview

The Business Finance course is a comprehensive introduction to a range of finance topics related to business. Learn about financial concepts and how to interpret key documents, and explore techniques through practical sessions. The course is a Business Skills module that contributes to the BCS (ISEB) Advanced International Diploma in Business Analysis.

Course Objectives

A sound grasp of financial concepts and techniques is essential for today’s business analyst. The Business Finance course introduces you to a range of techniques used in business, explaining the key documents and how to interpret them.

You’ll examine business cases and investment appraisal techniques and learn how to evaluate suppliers’ finances and use Financial Ratio Analysis. The course concludes with a session on Financing service delivery.

Presented to you by one of the expert training consultants pictured below. Each member of our Business Finance training team brings substantial practical experience of using business finance tools to the programme.

Course Content

Finance in the project lifecycle

• A financial perspective on the project lifecycle
• Published regulatory accounts
• The statement of cash flows and the distinction between cash and profit
• Cash flow forecasting

Developing the business case

• The business case in the business change lifecycle
• The contents of a business case

Constructing the financial case

• Costs and benefits to include in a business case
• Investment appraisal: payback, NPV and IRR
• The cost of capital and the weighted average cost of capital
• NPV, IRR, systemic risk and project risk
• Return on investment (ROI) and ROI and risk
• The concept of shareholder value added (SVA)

Budgets and budgeting

• Budgeting, long-term plans and corporate objectives
• Cost centres, profit centres and the use of charge-out
• Capital and revenue expenditure
• Actual versus budget comparisons and actions
• Budgetary control

Costs and cost behaviour

• Fixed and variable costs and the concept of contribution
• Breakeven analysis and the margin of safety
• Price/volume calculations and charts
• Marginal analysis: outsourcing, make or buy decisions
• Costing approaches and types of cost

Evaluating supplier financial stability

• Financial analysis and the calculation of ratios
• Calculating and interpreting ratios
• The relationship between primary and secondary ratios
• Principles of shareholder value added (SVA) and economic value added (EVA)
• The limitations of ratio analysis

Financing service delivery

• Depreciation of assets: straight-line and reducing balance
• Depreciation of assets: disposal and upgrade issues
• Financing and leasing
• Outsourcing

Course Overview

Explore the fundamental concepts and techniques of business architecture and learn how to establish a multi-faceted blueprint of an organisation. Designed for business analysts, business architects, project managers and other change specialists, the course contributes towards the BCS Advanced International Diploma in Business Analysis.

Course Objectives

Aimed at business analysts, project and business managers, and business change specialists, this Business Architecture course enables delegates to gain a greater understanding of the key concepts and techniques involved.

The course focuses on the business rather than the technology side of the subject, covering a range of techniques and frameworks as well as the relationship with other architectures and disciplines. Other topics you’ll explore include value chain analysis, understanding business culture and information management.

Presented to you by one of the expert training consultants pictured below, each of whom brings substantial experience of business architecture and business analysis projects to the programme.

Course Content

The Business Architecture Domain

• What is Business Architecture?
• What are the drivers for using Business Architecture?
• Architecture principles.
• Relationship between Business Architecture and other architectures.
• The business change lifecycle.
• The role of the business architect.
• Other roles involved in Business Architecture work.

Business Architecture frameworks

• The use of views within Business Architecture.
• Key Business Architecture artefacts.
• Zachman’s architecture framework.
• TOGAF ADM (Architecture Development Method).
• The Business Architecture Guild framework.
• The AssistKD POPIT™ model.

Motivation view of Business Architecture and the organisational view

• Rationale for business motivation analysis.
• OMG business motivation model.
• Core values and strategy.
• The business model canvas.
• Organisational view of the business.

Capability view of Business Architecture

• Business capabilities and business capability modelling.
• Levels of business capability.
• Defining capabilities.

Process/value view of Business Architecture

• Services, service thinking and value propositions.
• Value stream analysis.
• Value chain analysis.
• Business process analysis.
• Value network analysis.

Information view of Business Architecture

• The importance of the information view.
• Meta-data, data and information.
• Business information modelling.

People/competency view of Business Architecture

• Business culture.
• Organisational structures.
• Roles, responsibilities and relationships.

Business Architecture and Business Change

• The business change lifecycle and Business Architecture.
• Organisational memory and the use of business knowledge.

Course Overview

This one day intensive workshop is designed to prepare you for your BCS BA Diploma Oral Examination. The workshop is conducted by experienced BCS oral examiners.

Course Objectives

Passing the BCS Oral Examination is the final step towards gaining your BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis. This Oral Preparation workshop has been designed to help you prepare thoroughly for your oral exam. 

You will be interviewed by two BCS oral examiners who will evaluate whether you can put all of the techniques you’ve learned from your certificate modules into an overall context and can prove that you’ve gained the analytical and interpersonal skills needed to be awarded the Diploma.

During the workshop you’ll have the opportunity to revise the core and specialist modules you’ve taken and prepare for what the examiners might ask you by practising  sample oral questions.

The workshop is hosted by one of our senior trainers shown below, all of whom are BCS oral examiners.

Course Content

During this course, you will cover:

The context for business analysis

• The rationale for business analysis
• Sectors of the economy
• Business environment analysis
• Legal framework for business analysis
• SWOT analysis
• Business performance measurement
• Business change lifecycle

Business analysis techniques

• Investigating and documenting business situations
• Stakeholders and perspectives
• Business activity modelling
• Business events and business rules
• Gap analysis

Business case

• Rationale for making a business case
• Contents of a business case
• Options
• The financial case
• Investment appraisal techniques
• Risk / impact analysis
• Lifecycle for the business case

Requirements definition

• Rationale for requirements engineering
• Elicitation techniques and their relevance
• Rationale and approach for requirements analysis
• Rationale and approach for requirements negotiation
• Rationale and approach for requirements validation

Requirements management and documentation

• Rationale and approach for requirements management
• Traceability
• Change and version control
• Types of requirements
• Documenting requirements
• Rationale for modelling requirements
• Approach to modelling processing and data

Selected knowledge-based specialist module

• Relevance of specialist module to the business analyst
• Taking a holistic view
• Competencies of a BA
• Professionalism and business analysis
• Lifecycle relevant to the BA and the specialism

Selected practitioner specialism

• Relevance to role and responsibilities of the business analyst
• Description and application of techniques and / or approaches from specialist module

Practice questions

At the end of the workshop the trainer, who is always an experienced oral examiner, provides participants with practice in handling the types of questions that they will face in the oral examination and gives feedback on the participants’ answers and presentation.

Course Overview

Explore the role business analysis plays in successful Agile development projects, the philosophy behind Agile and the relevant methods and techniques. Analytical skills certification within the BCS Advanced International Diploma in Business Analysis.

Course Content

Agile Business Analysis ( a three-day course)

Course Content

The Agile Philosophy

• The history of Agile and Agile Software Development.
• The Agile Manifesto.
• Agile components (principles, methods & techniques).
• Agile in the business context.
• Lean Business Analysis Service, System and Lean thinking.

Agile Principles

• Collaborative working.
• Self-organising teams.
• Continuous Improvement.
• Iterative development/Incremental delivery.
• Plan for and build in change.

Agile Methods

• History of Agile Methods.
• Linear (defined) vs Agile (empirical) methods.
• Evolution of Agile methods.
• Agile methods – DSDM, SAFe, SCRUM, XP, Lean Software.
• BA role in Agile.

Understanding Stakeholders

• Stakeholder groups.
• Understanding the customer.
• Agile BA role in stakeholder engagement.

Agile Modelling

• Purpose and principles behind Agile Modelling.
• The hierarchy of models (business view to system component).
• Prioritisation using MoSCoW.
• Decomposing and organising business goals.

Agile Techniques

• User stories and roles.
• Managing requirements with the solution backlog.
• Estimating story points.
• Managing the iterations (Planning, daily stand-ups, agile boards, velocity and retrospectives).

Agile BA Planning

• BA role in agile projects.
• Storyboarding/scenarios/prototyping.

The Agile World View

• Scaling agile.
• Constraining factors.
• The system of interest.

Course Overview

This course will provide you with an introduction to materials management and provide instruction on creating bills of material using SAP S/4HANA

Course Content

• Master Data for Production
  • Accessing and Creating Types of Data
  • Using Organizational Elements and Master Data in Production
• Material
  • Overview Material
  • Creating a Material
  • Classifying Material
  • Managing the Material
  • Product Master
• Bills of Material (BOMs)
  • Overview: BOM
  • Managing BOMs
  • Changing BOMs with Engineering Change Management (ECM)
  • Mass changes and a browser
  • Analyzing BOMs
• Work Centers
  • Creating Work Centers
  • Creating Capacities in a Work Center
• Task Lists
  • Explaining the Structure of a Task List
  • Creating Material Assignments and Component Allocations
  • Creating Suboperations and User-Defined Fields
  • Creating Production Resources and Tools
  • Analyzing and Changing Task Lists
• Advanced Bill of Material Functions
  • Describing Phantom Assemblies
  • Creating Co-Products and By-Products
  • Creating Alternative Components
  • Creating Multiple BOMs
  • Creating Variant BOMs
• Advanced Routing Functions
  • Modeling Sequences
  • Modeling Alternative Manufacturing Processes
  • Creating Reference Operation Sets
  • Applying Lead-Time Scheduling to Update a Material Master Record
  • Scheduling Time Elements and Reduction in the Routing
  • Allowing for Scrap in the Routing
• Appendix
  • Engineering Workbench
  • PLM Web User Interface
  • Customizing
  • Material
  • Routing

Course Overview

Take your first steps in AI training to understand the principles of AI, its benefits and risks, and the processes behind Machine Learning.

Examples of AI have been in the news a lot lately, it started with chatbots like Google Assistant and now ChatGPT. Of course, AI is much more than just chatbots, yet we will also discuss this to learn the do’s and don’t of this.

This course will teach you the potential benefits of AI; types of Artificial Intelligence (AI); the basic process of Machine Learning (ML); the challenges and risks associated with an AI project, and the future of AI and Humans in work

Course Objectives

• Recall the general definition of human and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• Describe ‘learning from experience’ and how it relates to Machine Learning (ML) (Tom Mitchell’s explicit definition).
• Understand that ML is a significant contribution to the growth of Artificial Intelligence.
• Describe how AI is part of ‘Universal Design,’ and ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’.
• Describe the challenges of Artificial Intelligence, and give general examples of the limitations of AI compared to human systems, general ethical challenges AI raises.
• Demonstrate understanding of the risks of Artificial Intelligence, identify a typical funding source for AI projects and list opportunities for AI.
• Demonstrate an understanding that Artificial Intelligence (in particular, Machine Learning) will drive humans and machines to work together;
• List future directions of humans and machines working together.

Course Content

1.     Artificial and Human Intelligence: An Introduction and History

• general definition of human and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
• ‘learning from experience’ and how it relates to Machine Learning (ML) (Tom Mitchell’s explicit definition).
• ML is a significant contribution to the growth of Artificial Intelligence.
• AI is part of ‘Universal Design,’ and ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’.

2.      Examples of AI: Benefits, Challenges and Risks

• benefits of Artificial Intelligence
• advantages of machine and human and machine systems;
• challenges of Artificial Intelligence
• the limitations of AI compared to human systems
• general ethical challenges AI raises
• understanding of the risks of Artificial Intelligence
• funding source for AI projects
• opportunities for AI

3.      An introduction to Machine Learning

• AI intelligent agent
• differences with Machine Learning (ML)
• the four rational agent dependencies,
• performance measure, environment, actuators and sensors,
• reflex, model-based reflex, goal-based and utility-based.
• examples of Machine Learning in the following contexts:
  –  business
  –  social (media, entertainment)
  –  science
• which typical, narrow AI capability is useful in ML and AI agents’ functionality;
• forms of ML:
  –  supervised
  –  unsupervised
  –  reinforcement
• the basic schematic of a neutral network.

4.      The Future of Artificial Intelligence – Human and Machine Together

• Artificial Intelligence (in particular Machine Learning) will drive humans and machines to work together
• list future directions of humans and machines working together

Course Overview

This AgileBA® Foundation and Practitioner training and certification has been designed to give the Business Analyst the skills needed to successfully gather, analyse, validate and champion the requirements throughout an Agile project. It also gives context to the Agile Business Analyst role beyond the individual project, in relation to organisational mission and strategy, providing additional depth and guidance for business analysis in an Agile context.

The AgileBA syllabus and exams are based on the AgileBA Handbook, published by DSDM. The Handbook offers the first comprehensive set of guidance, framework and practices for the business analyst working on an Agile project. The Business Analyst is a critical role within an Agile project team and with more and more organisations adopting Agile approaches, we need to ensure those performing this crucial role have the necessary skills and expertise.

Developed by APMG in partnership with the Agile Business Consortium (FORMERLY DSDM Consortium), AgileBA® is a new guidance, training and certification scheme designed for business analysts working in an Agile environment.

AgileBA is a registered trademark of Agile Business Consortium Ltd. All rights reserved.

Course Objectives

• Apply the underpinning philosophy, principles and processes of AgileBA in a project situation
• Describe and apply the Agile approach to managing and prioritising requirements
• Produce and evaluate the content of BA-produced products during an Agile project
• Identify and apply popular Agile techniques in a project situation, including MoSCoW prioritisation, iterative development and timeboxing
• Understand the roles and responsibilities within an Agile project and the different levels of empowerment with respect to requirements and the business case
• Understand the mechanisms for facilitation and support within an Agile project
• Understand how to test, estimate and evaluate benefits delivery in an Agile project
• Describe and apply the Agile approach to managing requirements.

Course Content

Day 1

• Introductions and domestics
• The role of a Business Analyst in an Agile World
• Agile Fundamentals and the Agile BA
• The Agile Business Case
• Exercises

Day 2

• Stakeholders in the agile Project
• Requirements and User Stories
• Prioritisation
• Workshops
• Exercises

Day 3

• Modelling
• Timeboxing and iterative Development
• Requirements Planning and Estimating Throughout the lifecycle
• The Requirements Lifecycle in an Agile Project
• Exercises
• Foundation Examination Preparation
• Foundation Examination
• Foundation Examination Marking

Day 4

• Practitioner Examination Overview
• Practitioner Examination Preparation
• Practitioner Examination

Course Overview

Build distributed applications that resolve data ownership issues when working with transactions between multiple parties. Blockchain applications provide a single-shared ledger to eliminate trust issues involving multiple stakeholders. With the help of Introduction to Blockchain and Ethereum, you’ll learn how to create distributed blockchain applications which do not depend on a central server or datacenter.

Course Objectives

The course begins by explaining Bitcoin, Altcoins, and Ethereum, followed by taking you through distributed programming using the Solidity language on the Ethereum blockchain. By the end of this course, you’ll be able to write, compile, and deploy your own smart contracts to the Ethereum blockchain

Course Content

Lesson 1: Ethereum Blockchain

• Introducing the Ethereum Blockchain
• Cryptology and Keys
• Opening an Ethereum Account
• The Ethereum Network, Nodes, and Mining
• Transactions and Blocks
• Sending and Checking Transactions

Lesson 2: Learning Solidity 

• The Solidity Language
• Your First Smart Contract
• Basic Solidity
• Testing Solidity 

Lesson 3: Solidity Contracts

Using an Oracle

Your First dApp

Course Overview

This EC-Council Blockchain FinTech (BFC) course will enable financial professionals to utilize blockchain technology to improve financial services and the insurance industry. Students learn the laws and regulations related to financial applications of blockchain and how to use PoW and PoS consensus mechanisms. In addition, the program provides in-depth insights into cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin wallets and exchanges, among other topics.

Course Objectives

• The structure and elements of a blockchain network, including how decentralization works
• Hashing and consensus algorithms and their role in blockchain networks, including proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms
• The benefits of using blockchain technology and how to determine whether blockchain is the right solution for your business
• Digital currencies, including different types of cryptocurrency assets, the tokenization process, and how leading cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Altcoin, Litecoin, Zcash) work
• Decentralized finance, apps, and exchanges, including Bitcoin wallets and exchanges
• Initial coin offerings (ICOs) vs. initial public offerings (IPOs)
• Securitization of physical assets
• How blockchain works in the financial sector and common blockchain use cases in finance
• Laws and regulations related to the financial applications of blockchain, including how security tokens are regulated
• Blockchain applications in the insurance industry
• The basics of how Solidity and Ethereum work and the elements of the Ethereum ecosystem
• How to create private blockchain networks using Ethereum
• The structure and components of the Bitcoin network and how it works
• Bitcoin cryptomining and its relation to PoW consensus mechanisms
• Bitcoin’s limitations, variants, and clients
• How to build secure smart contracts, including vulnerabilities in smart contracts and how to mitigate them
• Formal verification of smart contracts
• Privacy and confidentiality in blockchains
• Blockchain as a Service
• Permissioned and permissionless blockchains
• The basics of the Hyperledger Fabric framework
• Introduction to blockchain projects (including Fabric, Iroha, Burrow, and Indy)
• Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)

Course Content

Module 1: Introduction

Module 2: Financial Applications

Module 3: Cryptocurrency Assets

Module 4: Insurance Applications

Module 5: Blockchain Project Implementation

Module 6: Bitcoin

Module 7: Security in Blockchains

Module 8: Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)

Module 9: Ethereum

Module 10: Open Source

Module 11: Decentralized Applications (dApps)

Course Overview

The course aims to provide developers with a comprehensive understanding of blockchain technology, including its impact and applications in business and finance. Students will learn about cryptography, cryptomining, quantum computing, blockchain project implementation, Ethereum, and more.

Virtual Learning

This interactive training can be taken from any location, your office or home and is delivered by a trainer. This training does not have any delegates in the class with the instructor, since all delegates are virtually connected. Virtual delegates do not travel to this course, Global Knowledge will send you all the information needed before the start of the course and you can test the logins.

Course Objectives

• The structure and elements of a blockchain network, including how decentralization works
• Hashing and consensus algorithms and their role in blockchain networks, including proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms
• The benefits of using blockchain technology and how to determine whether blockchain is the right solution for your business
• Blockchain scalability issues and how to resolve them
• Digital currencies, including different types of cryptocurrency assets, the tokenization process, and how leading cryptocurrencies (e.g., Bitcoin, Altcoin, Litecoin, Zcash) work
• The structure and components of the Bitcoin network and how it works
• Bitcoin’s limitations, variants, and clients
• Bitcoin cryptomining and its relation to PoW consensus mechanisms
• The processes and tools used in cryptomining, including cryptomining algorithms like Equihash and CryptoNight
• Blockchain development in Python, JavaScript, and Java
• The elements of the Ethereum ecosystem
• How to work with Solidity and Ethereum, including how to use Solidity IDEs like Remix and EthFiddle and create private blockchain networks using Ethereum
• How to build secure smart contracts with Ethereum and Solidity, including vulnerabilities in smart contracts and how to mitigate them
• Formal verification of smart contracts
• Permissioned and permissionless blockchains
• How to work with the Hyperledger Fabric framework
• Deep dive into blockchain projects (including Fabric, Iroha, Burrow, and Indy)
• Privacy and confidentiality in blockchains
• Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs)
• How to design blockchain-based identity solutions
• Machine learning and blockchain technology
• Intelligent smart contracts and the convergence of blockchain and AI
• The basics of the IoT, how to achieve convergence between IoT and blockchain, and the Blockchain of Things
• How blockchain is used in healthcare, fintech, and supply chain contexts
• Blockchain as a Service
• The fundamentals of quantum computing and how quantum computing will affect blockchain networks
• The future of blockchain technology and open research issues

Course Content

Module 1: Introduction to Blockchain Technology

Module 2: Cryptography and Technology Details

Module 3: Impact on the Financial Sector

Module 4: Bitcoin

Module 5: Blockchain Project Implementation

Module 6: Security in Blockchain

Module 7: Cryptomining

Module 8: Ethereum

Module 9: Other Cryptocurrencies

Module 10: AI and Blockchain

Module 11: Blockchain as a Service

Module 12: Open-Source Business Blockchain Frameworks

Module 13: Python for Blockchain

Module 14: JavaScript for Blockchain

Module 15: Java for Blockchain

Module 16: Blockchain Online IDE

Module 17: Industry Use Cases

Module 18: IoT and Blockchain

Module 19: Decentralized Applications (dApps)

Module 20: Future of Blockchain

Module 21: Quantum Computing and Blockchain

Labs and Projects

Exploring blockchain through the Bitcoin command-line interface (bitcoin-cli)

Setting up a private net and cryptomining

Installing Namecoin Client and creating a Namecoin record

Remix IDE deployment and testing

Using Solidity, Truffle, and Ganache to create a new coin

Notarizing and hashing documents with proof of idea

Alternative blockchain smart contract deployment

Finding a bug in a Solidity program

Using Python, Java, and JavaScript for blockchain development

Running Ganache with Metamask

Building a simple productivity app with blockchain