Business Analysis is a Discipline of understanding a company, identifying business needs and recommending solutions to meet those requirements. It involves understanding how organizations operate, who the key stakeholders are and what their relationships are. Business needs stem from client request, a problem or a problem, a strategic initiative or a market opportunity. Someone Who performs Business Analysis is called a Business Analyst or a BA. This ability can be used quite heavily in building systems or applications for automation of business operations. Because of this, there are numerous functions like IT Business Analysts, Systems Analysts, etc that execute BA activities.

One of the major causes for project failure is poor quality of business requirements. A BA should understand the requirements, record, communicate and receive stakeholder arrangement; then work together with the solution group and validate the proposed solution will really meet the requirements. So as to execute his/her role efficiently, a BA must possess different competencies such as facilitation skills, communication skills, leadership and critical thinking, experience in software applications.

IIBA and BABOK

International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) was founded in 2003 to serve the subject of Business Analysis. It is a not for profit professional organization. Currently they have 100 chapters and over 12,000 members. Among the major contributions of this organization is Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK), a globally recognized standard for the practice of Business Analysis. BABOK describes knowledge areas, tasks, inputs, outputs, techniques and skills necessary for effective analysis. BABOK 2.0 is the latest edition.

CBAP

IIBA has also established CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) designation to recognize experienced professionals. So as to certify, BAs will need to meet certain requirements, submit a detailed application, and prepare for the certification exam according to BABOK and pass in the exam.

Why Certify?

In the competitive environment and demanding job market of today, a professional certification distinguishes a person from a heap of other candidates and reveals their greater credibility concerning knowledge and experience. cbap training provides a similar benefit to Business Analysts. A BA with CBAP can establish credibility as a knowledgeable, skilled, experienced and capable professional with strong foundation of principles and practices. Certification can also help in career growth and recognition in the peers. It adds value to the person as well concerning the organization.

Requirements

These Are the basic requirements to qualify for CBAP

• Minimum education requirement: High School

• Professional Development requirement: 21 hours of professional development – It may be Business Analysis training, CBAP prep test, or some other inherent skills like Facilitation, communicating, etc..

• Experience requirement: This is the most difficult requirement. A candidate should possess at least 7500 hours of experience in Business Analysis actions over last ten decades. Out of this, at least 900 hours each ought to be in four of the six knowledge areas. Six knowledge areas in BABOK are