A business analyst and stakeholders have completed documentation of the acceptance criteria for the requirements of a new vehicle leasing database. A concern is raised that some of the key performance indicators may not validate the desired benefits of the implementation. What should the business analyst do to ensure that the business need can be validated?

The issue is that the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may not be correctly measuring the achievement of business benefits. KPIs are quantitative metrics that are often derived from or constrained by business rules. A business rule is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business. To ensure the business need can be validated, the business analyst must clarify or document the specific business rules that define how success is measured and how performance translates into business value. This directly addresses the potential misalignment between the KPIs and the desired benefits.

A. Documenting an assumption avoids the problem rather than solving it; it does not ensure the business need can be validated.
B. Documenting a constraint identifies a limitation but does not fix the underlying logic of how benefits are measured via KPIs.
C. A defect is a flaw in the product or system. The problem described is with the measurement framework, not the product itself.

1. Project Management Institute. (2017). The PMI Guide to Business Analysis. Section 5.3.3.2, Business Rules Analysis, pp. 141-142. (This section explains that business rules guide operational behavior and can be a source for requirements that dictate how performance is measured).

2. von Halle, B. (2001). Business Rules Applied: Building Better Systems Using the Business Rules Approach. Wiley. (While not a PMI source, this is a foundational academic text explaining that business rules are the basis for business logic, including performance metrics). Chapter 2, "What is a Business Rule?".