A large company has thousands of geographically dispersed employees and dozens of IT systems.

The BA should trace the requirements to the business needs, because the business needs are the high-level goals or objectives that the organization or stakeholders want to achieve. By tracing the requirements to the business needs, the BA can ensure that the requirements are aligned with the strategic direction and value proposition of the organization or stakeholders, and that they do not conflict with each other or with the business needs. Tracing the requirements to the business needs can also help to prioritize, validate, and verify the requirements, as well as to manage changes and dependencies. Stakeholder tasks, organizational functions, and solution components are not the best options for tracing the requirements, because they are either too specific or too abstract, and they do not directly measure the value or benefit of the requirements. References:

CBAP / CCBA Certified Business Analysis Study Guide, 2nd Edition, Chapter 5: Requirements Traceability and Monitoring, page 197

Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) Guide, Version 3, Chapter 6: Requirements Analysis and Design Definition, section 6.1: Trace Requirements, page 121

Business Analysis Professional Resources, IIBA Resource Collection, Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) Guide

CBAP / CCBA Certified Business Analysis Study Guide, 2nd Edition, Skillsoft Book, Chapter 5: Requirements Traceability and Monitoring, page 197