BCS BA Found. · BCS · Defining the Solution · Bank updated 2026-11-04
BCS BA Found. practice questions: Defining the Solution
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These 5 questions come from the Defining the Solution section of our BCS BA Found. bank (15 questions on this area, which carries 7% of the real exam). Every question is original, with the correct answer explained and linked to the source it is drawn from.
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1/5 · Defining the Solution · easy
What is the primary purpose of carrying out a gap analysis when defining a business solution?
ATo compare the current (as-is) business environment with the future (to-be) business environment across the POPIT elements and identify what must change to close the difference
BTo highlight requirements missing from the requirements catalogue before sign-off, so that the project team can add the omitted requirements to the baseline of the solution
CTo calculate the financial shortfall between the project's cost and its expected return on investment, so that the funding gap can be closed before the business case is approved
DTo identify gaps in stakeholder engagement previously mapped on the stakeholder wheel, and decide which stakeholders must be engaged more actively during the change
2/5 · Defining the Solution
During the shortlisting stage of developing options for a new solution, a business analyst must reduce a long list of ten possible options to a manageable number for detailed evaluation. Which approach is MOST consistent with BCS practice?
AApply a small number of high-level criteria, such as feasibility, indicative cost, and alignment with business objectives, to eliminate clearly unsuitable options
BKeep every option that has any technical merit at all for full, detailed evaluation regardless of cost or strategic fit
CChoose the options that require the least documentation effort from the business analyst
DRetain only the options proposed by the most senior stakeholder present, to avoid disagreement
3/5 · Defining the Solution · hard
A gap analysis using POPIT has found that closing the gap between the current and future business environment will require significant changes to People and Process, with only minor changes to Technology. When the shortlisted options for the new solution are subsequently evaluated, which consideration reflects correct BCS practice?
AThe gap analysis results should be set aside during option evaluation and revisited only after the chosen option has been implemented
BThe evaluation should weigh the impact and feasibility of change across all the POPIT elements identified by the gap analysis, not focus narrowly on the technology component of each option
CThe evaluation can focus solely on selecting the best available technology package, since gap analysis findings relate only to information systems requirements
DBecause the People and Process gaps are the largest, option evaluation should be handed entirely to the HR function and excluded from the business case
4/5 · Defining the Solution · hard
During a complaints-handling redesign project, an analyst completes a gap analysis and identifies three areas where the current process falls short of the required business activity model. The project sponsor, keen to move quickly, asks the analyst to skip straight to writing a final business case recommending one preferred solution. What is the most appropriate response, given the recognised sequence for defining a solution?
AAgree with the sponsor, because once gaps have been identified through gap analysis, the solution and business case are effectively already determined.
BAdvise that gap analysis is an optional step once a business activity model exists, and the business case should be built solely on stakeholder opinion.
CExplain that the identified gaps should first be used to identify a range of business options and assess their feasibility (business, technical and financial) before a preferred option is recommended in a business case.
DAdvise that a formal business case is unnecessary here because the gap analysis output already provides sufficient justification for investment.
Answer: C. The recognised sequence for defining a solution moves from gap analysis (identifying differences between current and required situations) to identifying and evaluating a range of business options against feasibility criteria, and only then to recommending a preferred option within a business case. Treating gap analysis output as if it already constitutes the solution or the business case skips this evaluation step and is a common misconception.
Source: the BCS Business Analysis Foundation syllabus - Defining the Solution
5/5 · Defining the Solution
An analyst plans to describe the current situation for a gap analysis using only a set of 'as is' business process models. The sponsor warns that departmental disagreements and a blame culture are major parts of the problem. What should the analyst do about the current-state view?
Aadd a rich picture to sit alongside the process models
Badd swimlanes that show each department's disagreements
Creplace the process models with a use case diagram
Dlog the blame culture in the requirements catalogue
Answer: A. Technique 54 notes that business culture, stakeholder disagreements, priorities and voiced opinions are represented in techniques such as rich pictures, but they would not be shown in business process models. Where process models document the existing situation, supplementary techniques are required to show these additional issues.
Source: Paul, Cadle, Turner (eds), Business Analysis Techniques, 2nd ed., BCS, Technique 54: Gap analysis, p. n/a
Source: the BCS Business Analysis Foundation syllabus v4.1 + 'Business Analysis, 4th Edition' (Paul & Cadle, BCS 2020) - Investigating the Business Situation
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