Bruce Wentz Wu

A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information (state or organizational secrets) or to restricted areas, after completion of a thorough background check.

The term “security clearance” is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal process to vet employees for access to sensitive information. A clearance by itself is normally not sufficient to gain access; the organization must also determine that the cleared individual needs to know specific information. No one is supposed to be granted automatic access to classified information solely because of rank, position, or a security clearance.

• A solution addresses a requirement; a requirement addresses a need
• Requirement Types
  • Business Requirements
  • Stakeholder Requirements
  • Solution Requirements

• Goals and Objectives
  • Corporate strategies translate goals identified in business plans into actionable plans and objectives.
  • Goals are typically broad-based and may span one or more years. (organization or strategy level, long-term)
  • Objectives, on the other hand, are used to enable goals; these are more specific and tend to be of shorter term than goals, often with duration of 1 year or less. (project or tactical level, short-team/less than 1 year)
  • Objectives describe business value; requirements describe how to achieve it.
• Problem Analysis
  • the first step of problem analysis is to clarify the need by finding the root cause.
  • the second step is describing the problem or situation so everyone in the organization sees the need in the same way.
  • fishbone & five why
  • Situation Statement
    • a clear, agreed-upon business need is the foundation of the entire project.
    • creating a situation statement is a way to get consensus on the business need.
• Market Analysis
• Competitive Analysis
• Benchmarking
• Job Analysis
  • used to identity the job requirements and competencies required to perform effectively in a specific job or role
• Decomposition Model (aka decomposition diagram)
  • Business Analysis: used to identify business analysis tasks, activities, and deliverables by detailing out the business analysis work.
  • Stakeholder Analysis: used to analyze the organization with the goal of discovering stakeholder groups.
  • IT Projects: to break down solutions into solution components to further understand their features.
• Solution Evaluation Metrics and Acceptance Criteria
  • Business goals and objectives
  • Key Performance Indicators
    • Customer Metrics
    • Sales and Marketing Metrics
    • Operational Metrics
    • Functionality
• Measurable Acceptance Criteria
  • nonfunctional requirements
  • service-level agreement
• Evaluation Techniques
  • Surveys and focus group
  • Results from exploratory testing and user acceptance testing
  • Results from day-in-the-life (DITL) testing
  • Results from integration testing
  • Expected vs actual results for functionality
  • Expected vs actual results for nonfunctionality requirements
  • Outcome measurements and financial calculation of benefits

After attending a 40-hour instructor-led course and 60 hours of study, Bruce passed the PMI-ACP Exam today. This is the second milestone for Bruce’s learning plan of 2018.

The following is the preparation list for this exam:

1. PMI-ACP Certification ExamPrep Course from Advanced Business Consulting Inc.
2. Pluralsight Online Courses
3. RMC PMI-ACP Exam Prep
4. PMI Agile Practice Guide
5. Agile Project Management with Scrum by Ken Schwaber
6. Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals Paperback by Dan Rawsthorne,‎ Doug Shimp
7. User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development by Cohn, Mike
8. User Story Mapping: Discover the Whole Story, Build the Right Product by by Jeff Patton