CertByte is a bi-weekly blog and segment on the CyberWire Daily podcast hosted by Chris Hare, a content developer and project management specialist at N2K. On CertByte, we share practice questions from our suite of industry-leading content and a study tip to help you achieve the professional certifications you need to fast-track your career growth. View our CertByte series on YouTube.
CertByte: Project Management Institute® Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®
On this edition of CertByte, we discuss a question from N2K’s PMI® CAPM® 7th Edition practice test.
As your news-to-knowledge partner, N2K will advance your career while bringing you the industry news and trends that help you stay a step ahead. Through our bi-weekly episodes of CertByte on the CyberWire Daily podcast, and these companion articles, we aim to support your certification journey and fast-track your career growth in IT, cybersecurity, and project management. As your host, I’ll share a practice question from N2K’s suite of industry-leading content and a study tip (or study “bit” as I like to call it) to increase your confidence and readiness on exam day.
In this segment, I’m joined by my teammate Dan Neville to break down a question from N2K’s PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Practice Test. For a bit of background, the PMI CAPM is an entry-level test for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of project management or is new to the profession. The question I posed to Dan is a sample from N2K's PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Practice Test*, and not from the actual PMI exam.
Quick PMI CAPM study bit
I shared an important study bit that you should know before you sit for the CAPM exam: Study for this exam as if you were studying for the PMP. As the CAPM is based on the PMP 7th Edition, it uses the PMBOK® Guide, along with seven other sources that the PMI freely shares. A bonus bit: I also wrote a comprehensive CAPM Study Guide, which is offered free when you purchase N2K's PMI Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) Practice Test. This exam was last updated in July 2023.
This week’s question.
Which of the following is NOT an input to a product roadmap?
Answer choices:
- Business objectives
- Business feature requirements
- Business architecture
- Business goals
Working through the logic of each answer choice.
Before allowing Dan to assess each answer option, I offered a bit of background to help frame the context of the question. First, I mentioned that per the PMI, a product roadmap is defined as: “A high-level view of the features and functionality to include in a product, along with the sequence in which they will be built or delivered.” Further, I mentioned that this question is part of Domain 4 - Business Analysis Frameworks, which is 27% of what is covered on the CAPM exam.
Dan worked through the logic of each answer choice to narrow down his options, rationalizing that business objectives would be part of a project’s definition, business feature requirements would be part of a high-level view of features, and business goals, like the prior two choices, all seem to be part of a project plan rather than an input to a product roadmap. Therefore, by process of elimination, Dan chose “C. Business architecture” as the correct answer.
I shared the good news with Dan that his answer was correct. Business architecture is not an input to a product roadmap. It is defined as a set of organizational functions, documents, locations, processes, and structures that is a component of enterprise architecture. Business architecture serves as an input to assessing current and future states as part of a needs assessment, among other activities that are part of business analysis processes and practices. The other answer options: “business objectives,” “business feature requirements,” and “business goals” are all inputs to a product roadmap. Some of the main benefits of a product roadmap are establishing expectations for a project and prioritizing features.
Dan then asked some additional clarifying questions. For one, he inquired about whether the business analysis domain is a new addition to this exam. I confirmed this to be true, as business analysis is a new core concept in this exam’s 7th edition. Business analysis is key in project management when creating or improving products, identifying and translating requirements, solving problems, determining solutions, and assessing stakeholder needs.
Next, Dan followed up with a question regarding whether business goals and objectives are defined differently according to PMI standards, as they seem closely related. I confirmed this fact as well. The two definitions arose from a combination of PMI sources for the exam: A goal is defined as what an organization wants to achieve or accomplish, whereas an objective is defined as more of a quantifiable outcome that is required from a product, service, or result. The main difference is that the former is broad and overarching, and the latter is specific and measurable. PMI's "Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide" (now in its second edition) includes a section about goal models and business objectives if our listeners would like to learn more (noted in its first edition).
In other product news, I shared for all the project managers out there that the next major PMI update is going to be the PMI-ACP®, which is the Agile Certified Practitioner® exam. PMI plans its release in November of this year, and N2K will have a practice test ready shortly thereafter. In the meantime, N2K offers the current version of the PMI-ACP exam here on our website.
Want more help with this exam?
Whether you are actively studying for the PMI CAPM exam or would like to suggest a future certification question, email us at certbyte at n2k.com.
Premium certification prep tools.
If you're studying for an IT, cybersecurity, or project management certification exam, check out N2K’s full exam prep library of certification practice tests, practice labs, and training courses by visiting our website at n2k.com/certify. To get the full news-to-knowledge experience, learn more about our N2K Pro subscription at https://thecyberwire.com/pro.
Explore key terms from the PMI CAPM certification.
Visit N2K CyberWire’s glossary to dive deeper into these key terms, in the order discussed in our segment: project management, PMP, PMI, PMBOK Guide, product roadmap, business objective, business feature requirements, business architecture, business goal, and business analysis.
Happy certifying!
*For sources and citations for this practice question, please check out our show notes.