Hello everyone. This time, I would like to write about “CBAP” as one of the qualifications for problem solvers.
“CBAP” is an abbreviation for “Certified Business Analysis Professional” and is literally a qualification for business analysts, and is administered by the Canadian-based “IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis)“. Although it is a global qualification, don’t worry, you can take the exam in local languages.
“Business Analysis” and “BABOK” as its Bible
When taking this exam, the bible is “BABOK” published by IIBA. This is an abbreviation for “Business Analysis Body Of Knowledge”. It is important to read this thoroughly and grasp the key points.
In BABOK, “Business Analysis” is defined as “a specialized activity that enables organizations to effect change in an enterprise by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders”. It may sound a bit formal, but I think you can understand what it means. It’s an activity that falls into the “upstream” stage of a project, such as solving problems or introducing solutions. The important part is “recommending solutions,” not “implementing or executing solutions.”
“6 Knowledge Areas” in BABOK
At the core of BABOK are the 6 knowledge areas, which consist of:
1. Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
2. Elicitation and Collaboration
3. Requirements Life Cycle Management
4. Strategy Analysis
5. Requirements Analysis and Design Definition
6. Solution Evaluation
The word “elicitation” may not be very clear to you, but it means “eliciting requirements from stakeholders.”
If mapping these 6 knowledge areas onto the usual “problem-solving flow,” it looks something like this.
Fig1: Problem solving flow and the 6 knowledge area of BABOK
It covers everything from planning the business analysis to managing the “elicited” requirements in a fairly systematic way.
What is “Business Analyst”?
Similarly, the BABOK defines a “business analyst” as “a person who performs the tasks described in the BABOK Guide, regardless of title or organization.”
In the upstream of a project, you don’t often see people with the title of “business analyst” in Japanese companies. There are cases where they are assigned to foreign companies, but in Japan, the role is not well known, and in many cases, the project manager (PM) also takes on the role. Since it is said that “title or organization is not important,” I think it would be good to have someone in this role.
Exam Information
To take the CBAP exam, you need to have at least 7,500 hours of practical experience as a business analyst. When applying, you will fill in the job description, experience hours, and time period. This is self-reported, but you will need a reference (supervisor or recommender) to back up this content. Normally, references are not contacted, but since the audits are random, if you are caught in an audit, your references may be contacted. Therefore, it is a good idea to contact the people you list as references. This is the same as the PMP.
The exam is held throughout the year and can be taken either at a venue or online, so it is a good idea to prepare thoroughly before applying. In preparation, you will need to study in an official exam course, as the exam requirements state that you must have completed at least 35 hours of specialized education within the past four years.
As I wrote at the beginning, if you take the exam course and have a good understanding of BABOK, you can pass the exam. “Have a good understanding of BABOK” specifically means:
・Understand 30 tasks defined within 6 knowledge areas
・Understand the inputs, outputs, guidelines, and elements of each task (these are found when you actually read the BABOK)
The number of CBAP certified people is still small compared to PMP and other certifications, so it is a rare qualification, and the content allows you to learn about problem solving in general at a high level, so it is a recommended qualification. If you are interested, why not give it a try?
That’s all for this time, and I would like to continue from the next time onwards. Thank you for reading until the end.