CBAP and BABOK

Presented to the Albany

Capital District Chapter of
the IIBA
February 3, 2009

Mission: To develop and maintain

standards for the practice of
business analysis and for the
certification of its practitioners
The IIBA is an international nonprofit professional association for
business analysis professionals

March 2004
37 members
2 countries (Canada & US)

December 2008
7,791 members
81 chapters
68 countries
462 CBAPs (Certified Business Analysis
Professional)

Business Analysis

Business Analysis is the set of tasks,

knowledge and techniques required to identify
business needs and determine solutions to
business problems.

Solutions often include a systems development

component, but may also consist of process
improvement or organizational change.

International Institute of Business Analysis Body of Knowledge

(BABOK)

A Business Analyst works as

a liaison among stakeholders
in order to elicit, analyze,
communicate, and validate
requirements for changes to
business processes, policies,
and information systems.

Business Analysis Body of

Knowledge

The BABOK is the collection of knowledge

within the profession of Business Analysis
and reflects generally accepted practice
Describes business analysis areas of
knowledge, their associated activities and
tasks and the skills necessary to be
effective in their execution
Provides the basis for the CBAP
certification

CBAP Certification

Qualified practitioners will receive the

designation Certified Business Analysis
Professional (CBAP)
This certification is designed for individuals
with an advanced level of knowledge and
experience
The IIBA is considering a secondary
certification to meet the needs of less senior
Business Analysts
Membership in the IIBA is not required to take
the certification examination

CBAP

A recognized expert in identifying the

business needs of an organization in
order to determine business solutions
CBAPs are acknowledged as
competent individuals performing a
role which is increasingly recognized
as a vital component of any
successful project

Benefits of CBAP
Certification
Validation of skills and capabilities by a
recognized external authority
Recognition by peers and management as
qualified and experienced to practice
business analysis
Confirmation of competence in the principles
and practices of business analysis
Advanced career potential by creating a
separate and distinct career path within the
information technology industry and business
community

Certification
Requirements
5 years (7,500 hours) of business analysis
work in the last 10 years
Demonstrated experience and expertise in
at least 4 of the 6 BABOK Knowledge Areas
Minimum high school diploma or
equivalent
21 hours of BA professional development in
the last 4 years
2 professional references

Work Experience

Acceptable activities include:

Hands-on business analysis activities (as
per BABOK)
Coaching or mentoring Business Analysts
with respect to business analysis activities
Development of an organizations business
analysis methodology and/or best practices
Development of business analysis training
courses

Work Experience

Activities that will not apply include:

Non-supervisory management of business
analysis activities (e.g., resource
management, status reporting, performance
management, etc.)
Teaching business analysis training courses
Selling requirements tools/software
Project Management
Testing
Programming

Knowledge Areas

Enterprise Analysis
Requirements Planning and
Management
Requirements Elicitation
Requirements Analysis and
Documentation
Requirements Communication
Solution Assessment and Validation

Professional
Development

Directly related to business analysis

or its underlying fundamentals
IIBA endorsed education provider
courses qualify note if EEP course
IIBA will review course outline to
determine if other courses qualify
Project management, programming,
or testing courses will not qualify

References

Must be provided by a:
Career Manager (person who is
responsible for your annual
performance review)
Internal or external client
Certified Business Analysis Professional
(CBAP)

The Certification Process

Submit application including:

Application form and application fee
References
Code of Conduct form
Examination fee (due at least 60 days
prior to exam date)

IIBA reviews to determine if

requirements are met notifies via email within 30 days

Register for Exam

Approved applicant has one year to

successfully pass the exam
Within a month of approval, e-mail from
Castle Worldwide with user ID and
password to register online for a test
center and test date
If exam is passed granted CBAP
certification
If exam is not passed may retake the
exam once after three month wait if still
within one year eligibility

Current CBAP Exam

Blueprint
Percent of
Knowledge Area
Enterprise Analysis
Requirements Planning and
Management
Requirements Elicitation
Requirements Analysis and
Documentation
Requirements
Communication
Solution Assessment and

Questions
22.0%
22.7%
18.7%
20.7%
10.7%
5.2%

Certification Fees

Initial fees
$125 application fee that is nonrefundable
$325 exam fee for IIBA members
$450 exam fee for non-members

Rewrite fees
$250 for IIBA members
$375 for non-members

Recertification

Recertification is required every 3

years
Require 60 Continuing Development
Units (CDUs) to recertify
Renewal fee - $85 for IIBA members
and $120 for non-members

Latest Developments

IIBA is piloting an online application

process which includes payment of the
application fee - plans are to launch the
process in March
BABOK v2 expected to be released in March
Plans are to begin working on the next
version of the CBAP exam in March or April
2009
New Career Center on IIBA website for job
seekers and employers

BABOK v2 Knowledge
Areas
Business Analysis Planning and
Monitoring
Enterpr Elicitati Requireme Solution
ise
on
nts
Assessme
Analysis
Analysis
nt
&
Validation
Requirements Management and
Communication
Underlying Competencies

BABOK

Identifies currently accepted practices

Recognizes business analysis is not
synonymous with software
requirements
Defined and enhanced by the
professionals who apply it
Captures the sum of the knowledge
required for the practice of business
analysis as a profession

What the BABOK is NOT

It is NOT a methodology nor does it

prescribe or favor a methodology

It is NOT a how to business

analysis instruction manual

Tasks

Applicable to all business analysis

efforts
Necessary components of business
analysis
May be executed as often as necessary
Consistently defined inputs and outputs

Techniques

Cover different methodologies or

approaches
BPM (business process management),
Agile, Iterative, waterfall, etc.
Usage depends on the purpose
Understand when techniques are
appropriate

Example Task &

Techniques

Task: Conduct Elicitation Activity

Techniques:
Brainstorming
Requirements Workshop
Interview
Prototyping
Etc.

Future Plans

Publication of BABOK v2
Release of electronic copy in late March
2009
Free for IIBA members, nonmembers
will be charged
IIBA is investigating print options

Future editions expected every five

years

Knowledge Sharing

Suman Akula has successfully

completed his application to sit for
the CBAP exam and is willing to
answer questions about his
experience
Is there anyone else here who has
completed or is in the process of
applying to take the exam?