Introduction

The content of this book revolves around A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide) Version 3.0, published in 2015 by the IIBAT headquartered in Toronto, Canada. You will notice references to the BABOK® Guide throughout this book. Its contents drive the discussions on performing successful business analysis work across the project life cycle. In some cases, certain phrases are used verbatim to ensure strict conformance with the BABOK® Guide. Both certification exams focus on the contents of the BABOK® Guide. Consider getting a copy of the guide to assist you while you are using this book to prepare you for the exams.

The book contains many hints and tips about preparing for and passing the exam and using what you have learned in your everyday work. The first tip for anyone wanting to become familiar with the BABOK® Guide is that you need to learn its language. Speaking this language gives you a common business analysis language, regardless of the industry or organization you work in. The terms and definitions found there may be different from the terms and definitions you use at work. So, your first step is to familiarize yourself with the terms and definitions so you are comfortable with BABOK® Guide-speak.

The second tip is that you need to be familiar with the six knowledge areas defined in the BABOK® Guide. These knowledge areas divide your business analysis knowledge and skills into six common areas. You will start with the high-level definitions and then drill down into the detailed tasks and techniques that successful business analysts use to get the job done. Let's move on and talk a little bit about the focus of this book.

What You Will Learn

This book helps you prepare to take the CBAP® or CCBAT certification exam. The CBAP® exam is designed for experienced business analysts, while the CCBAT exam targets people who have less experience in the business analysis profession. Reading this book does not guarantee that you will pass the exam, but ideally you will find its contents motivating and helpful.

In the new certification exam structure, the CCBAT exam provides less experienced business analysts with their first step toward obtaining the CBAP® designation. This exam targets individuals who are proficient in some aspects of business analysis, are in the process of developing business analysis skills and expertise, and who apply business analysis to smaller scope projects and less complex tasks. The CCBAT certification expires after five years. The expectation is that you will then apply to take the CBAP® exam when you have gained more business analysis experience. You can also retake the CCBAT exam if you have not yet met the required CBAP® exam level of business analysis experience.

What Is Covered in This Book

The CBAP®/CCBAT: Certified Business Analysis Study Guide, Second Edition follows a simple project life cycle frequently used as the basis for many projects. The life cycle consists of three high-level phases.

• Controlled start, where you plan for your project's business analysis activities and define the scope of the new solution your project will create
• Controlled middle, where the project work is actually being performed to define, design, and build the new solution
• Controlled end, when you wrap up your work activities and transition the new solution into operational use

The knowledge areas of the BABOK® Guide are placed within these three life cycle phases in order to work through the business analysis tasks and techniques from project start to end.

To get the most out of this book, you should read each chapter from start to finish and then check your memory and understanding with the chapter-end elements. Even if you're already familiar with a topic, you should skim the chapter; business analysis is complex. There are often multiple ways to accomplish a task, and you may learn something even if you're already competent in an area.

• Chapter 1, "Foundation Concepts," lays the groundwork for navigating and understanding the content and intent of the BABOK®Guide. This chapter gives you a high-level look at what it means to be a business analyst and reviews the underlying competencies of the business analyst, the key business analysis stakeholders, and the BABOK®Guide requirements classification scheme.
• Chapter 2, "Controlled Start: Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring," takes you through planning the business analysis activities for your project using tasks from your first knowledge area. To achieve a controlled start to a project or project phase, you must plan what needs to be done, how to go about doing it, and who needs to be involved with the work.
• Chapter 3, "Controlled Start: Strategy Analysis," steps you through translating your organization's business strategy into a proposed new business solution. During your project's controlled start, you will define and document the business requirements for your project. The business requirements justify why a particular project should be initiated to address a particular business need.
• Chapter 4, "Overarching Tasks: Requirements Life Cycle Management," focuses on ensuring that the right people are involved with developing, understanding, and approving the project requirements. In addition, your project requirements must be accessible and managed during your requirements development work and throughout the project life cycle.
• Chapter 5, "Controlled Middle: Elicitation and Collaboration," guides you through gathering, organizing, and understanding the necessary information to develop the business, stakeholder, solution, and transition requirements for your project, and understanding what your project stakeholders need from the new solution.
• Chapter 6, "Controlled Middle: Requirements Analysis and Design Definition," takes your elicited requirements information and makes sense of it. The tasks in this knowledge area focus on analyzing the stated requirements from your elicitation efforts and building the real stakeholder or solution requirements for your project.
• Chapter 7, "Controlled End: Solution Evaluation," focuses on assessing proposed solutions, allocating requirements to solution components, and validating the solution to make sure that it will meet the business need and deliver value to the organization and its stakeholders.
• Chapter 8, "Underlying Competencies," defines the core framework of business, technical, and domain knowledge possessed by effective business analysts. Your core framework of knowledge is enhanced by your management, interpersonal, business, and structured problem-solving skills.
• Chapter 9, "Perspectives," steps through five perspectives on business analysis. You will dig into business analysis work on agile, business intelligence, information technology, business architecture, and business process management projects.
• Appendix A, "Advice on Completing Your Exam Application," examines the required qualifications and application process for successfully completing and submitting your application to sit for the CBAP® or CCBAT certification exam.
• Appendix B, "Knowledge Areas, Tasks, and Elements," lists the knowledge areas, tasks, and elements to assist you in your study efforts.
• Appendix C, "Mapping Techniques, Stakeholders, and Deliverables to Knowledge Areas and Tasks," provides you with a coverage matrix mapping business analysis techniques, deliverables, and stakeholders to the knowledge area tasks that use them.
• Appendix D, "Quick Summary of Business Analysis Techniques," provides you with brief descriptions of each business analysis technique in the BABOK®Guide.
• Appendix E, "Quick Summary of Business Analysis Deliverables," provides you with brief descriptions of each deliverable produced as a business analysis task output in the BABOK®Guide.
• Appendix F, "Answers to Review Questions," contains both the answers and explanations for the chapter review questions.
• Glossary: A glossary of terms is available with the online testing materials in PDF format.
• BABOK® Techniques Matrix: Maps of techniques, stakeholders and deliverables across the knowledge area tasks are available for download in Microsoft Excel format.

How to Become CBAP®/CCBAT Certified

The CBAP® and CCBAT certification exams each address all six knowledge areas from the BABOK® Guide. The exams also test your knowledge of sources referenced by the BABOK® Guide and your own business analysis experience.

The CBAP® exam is designed for experienced business analysts, while the newer CCBAT exam targets folks who have less experience in the business analysis profession. You can apply and pay for the exams online using the...