Start a conversation ↗

Description

Business Ownership in IT Projects: Defining Requirements, Testing and Steering Delivery

Equip the business owner with the tools required to hold the role through to go-live

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

The project begins before the requirement has ever been written down. The business owner arbitrates as issues arise, then discovers the gaps at acceptance testing. Users expect a tool that mirrors the way they actually work and receive an application designed by others. Without proper tools, the relationship with the delivery team rests on verbal exchanges that cannot be relied upon later.

These two days provide tools for every stage of the role. Participants learn to frame a project, to gather and then formalise a requirement that the delivery team can work from, to build an acceptance test plan, and to track progress and change requests through to go-live.

Learning objectives

  • Position the business owner role in relation to the delivery team and end users
  • Conduct requirements gathering with the business functions concerned
  • Write a requirements statement and use cases that can be acted upon
  • Build an acceptance test plan and test data sets covering edge cases
  • Track progress and assess change requests
  • Prepare the switchover and user support arrangements

What makes this programme different

A requirements statement is drafted and then reviewed by a participant acting as the delivery team
The acceptance test packs produced are stress-tested against deliberately awkward data sets
Every tool presented is applied to a live project brought by the participants

Programme

1The Role and Project Framing

Setting out what the business owner must hold

  • Division of responsibilities between the business owner and the delivery team
  • Project framing note and scope definition
  • Identification of stakeholders and target users
  • Initial estimate of the business workload to be planned for

2Gathering and Formalising Requirements

Translating the business into requirements

  • Interview techniques and facilitation of user workshops
  • Description of the existing process and the target process
  • Writing use cases and business rules
  • Prioritising requirements and arbitrating scope
  • Requirements traceability matrix

3Acceptance Testing and Qualification

Proving the solution does the job

  • Acceptance testing strategy and test levels
  • Building test data sets from the requirements
  • Logging and tracking defects
  • Criteria for signing off acceptance
  • Organising regression testing

4Steering and Go-Live

Holding the project through to real use

  • Progress dashboard and meaningful indicators
  • Assessing change requests
  • Identifying and tracking project risks
  • Data migration and switchover scenario
  • Supporting users after go-live

Who is it for

IT liaison officers and business referents, as well as project managers on the user side and department heads involved in an application project.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.