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Business Analysis Certification: Why and How

February, 2012

Gary A. Gack MBA, SSBB, CSQE

President, Process-fusion.net

1 (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net

Sponsored by …

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Agenda • Why Certify Requirements Engineers / Business Analysts?

• The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB)

• The International Institute for Business Analysis (IIBA)

• IREB CPRE and IIBA CCBA/CBAP Certification Requirements

• Key Differences

• Resources

• The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK)

• The Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE) Foundation Level Syllabus

• InteGREAT tool support

(c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net

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Why Certify? – An Industry Perspective • ~ 20% of all software defects originate in requirements

– On average, only 77% will be removed before delivery (Jones2008, p. 434)

• ~ 1/3 of delivered defects originate in requirements

– Cost to fix will be significantly higher than other defects (~ 10x)

• The “average” software project overruns its budget by 100%

• Software projects that are “on time / on budget” typically deliver less than 70% of promised functionality – “de-scoped” requirements consume ~10-15% of total software resources

• 80% of failed software projects had totally unrealistic estimates from day 1 – Estimates are based on identified requirements

– Canceled projects consume ~20% of total software resources


Why Certify?

• If you are considering professional certification … – what value can you expect to realize?

– how can you justify re-imbursement from your employer?

• I have prepared a paper, with input from Anne Hartley, Kathleen Haas, Ken Berger, and Stefan Sturm, that offers answers to both of these questions.

• You can download it from the Americas Requirements Engineering Association web site –

http://a-re-a.org/default.asp?id=7

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Certification Benefits to Employers • Based on bodies of knowledge and examinations that are up to date and

scientifically validated by internationally recognized boards of experts.

• An industry consensus among employers that certifications have value is clearly evident.

• Certification bodies of knowledge are often used as a basis for position descriptions and expectations for hiring and advancement.

• Certified professionals have the knowledge necessary to perform effectively in a wide variety of application domains.

• Certified professionals help to build organizational maturity. Certifications lead to standardization of terminology and practices worldwide – an important advantage in our increasingly global business climate.


Certification Benefits to Employers

• Certified employees or candidates have demonstrated a commitment to learning & professionalism.

• Certification can be used as an effective screen to reduce the effort required to identify qualified candidates for open positions.

• Employers may reasonably expect a level of productivity and quality from certified professionals that exceeds, on average, that of the majority of uncertified practitioners.

• For employers in certain businesses, such as out-sourcing services, certified staff may offer a competitive advantage relative to firms not employing certified professionals.


Survey 1 – “Employers”

• Do you believe certification is valuable?

• Do you consider certification in your hiring process?

• Does your organization reimburse employees for cost of certification exams and related training?

• Does certification influence pay grade?


Certification Benefits to Practitioners

• National salary data from Indeed.com indicate certified professionals salaries are higher than un-certified counterparts with similar job titles.

• Certification provides an opportunity to differentiate yourself from others in the field.

• Certification may help you find your next job.

• Certification provides an opportunity to gain a broad view of the field.


Certification Benefits to Practitioners

• Certifications are developed by panels of experts and consequently reflect a broad consensus about what concepts and techniques it is important for BAs/REs to know.

• Certification demonstrates your commitment to self-improvement in your chosen area of specialization.

• Certification improves your self-confidence and hence your ability to perform effectively under pressure.

• In many organizations certification will improve your chances for advancement in pay grade and scope of responsibility.


Survey 2 – “Employees”

• Do you believe certification helps you get an interview?

• Do you believe certification leads to higher pay?

• If your employer did NOT reimburse you for the cost of exams and training, would you invest yourself?


What the Numbers Tell Us


Certified Professional earn about 6% more! Source: Indeed.com – US National salary data

Caveats

It is important we recognize the real world limitations of all certifications: – Certification is NOT a guarantee of excellence.

Some certified individuals perform poorly. Some uncertified individuals will outperform some certified individuals.

– Certification does not guarantee employment – it’s about personal development, not about employment per se.


The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB)

Mission – Requirements Engineering is a key discipline – Provide a certification model with syllabi and exams to foster

further education within requirements engineering – Standardize education of requirements engineers worldwide to

facilitate communication efficiency by using the same "language“ (especially advantageous for multinational companies)

– Promote requirements specifications that are less defective, a better basis for project planning, development, and test of products. This leads to a decline in development costs and a higher probability of meeting deadlines.


The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB)

Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE)

– Foundation Level (over 7,000 certified worldwide)

– Advance Levels – Modeling, Elicitation & Consolidation (now in German)

– Business Analysis, Product Planning, Requirements Mgmt, Agile Requirements (under development)

– Expert Level (planned)


The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)

Mission – Develop and maintain standards for the practice of

business analysis and for the certification of its practitioners.

– Strategic goals • Create and develop awareness and recognition of the value and

contribution of the role of the Business Analysis Professional • Define the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK®) • Publicly recognize qualified practitioners through an

internationally acknowledged certification program • Provide forums for knowledge sharing • Advance the practices of business analysis within organizations • Define a roadmap for professional growth and development


The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)

Certification of Competency in Business AnalysisTM (CCBATM) – The Certification of Competency in Business AnalysisTM (CCBATM)

designation is a professional certification for business analysis practitioners who want to be recognized for their expertise and skills by earning formal recognition. With at least 3750 hours of hands-on BA experience, they have developed essential BA skills.

Certified Business Analysis ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) – The Certified Business Analysis ProfessionalTM (CBAP®) designation is a

professional certification for individuals with extensive business analysis experience. With at least 7500 hours of hands-on BA experience, CBAP® recipients are the elite, senior members of the BA community.


IREB and IIBA Certification Requirements


IREB & IIBA Content Comparison


The Key Differences – Pros and Cons

• Architecture – Breadth / depth

• Pre-requisites – Who does/should evaluate experience?

– Do employers value experience evaluation?

• Re-certification / CEUs – Does the Body of Knowledge change?

– Do employers value re-certification?


Survey 3 – Pre-Requisites

• What value do you believe employers assign to certification of experience?

1)Little – 3)some – 5)a lot

• What value do you believe employers assign to passing the certification exam?

1)Little – 3)some – 5)a lot


Survey 4 – Re-Certification

• What value do you believe employers assign to re-certification? 1)Little – 3)some – 5)a lot

• What value do you believe employers assign to a CEU requirements for re-certification? 1)Little – 3)some – 5)a lot

• Do you believe there have been significant changes in the BA/RE body of knowledge in the last 3 years?

• Which approach to re-certification do you believe is more valuable? 1) Fixed 3-year interval 2) Variable interval based on change in the

Body of Knowledge?


Resources


Mobile apps


BABOK Structure (251 pp.)

• Knowledge Areas (7 chapters) – Tasks

• Purpose

• Description

• Input

• Elements

• Techniques (reference to chapter)

• Stakeholders

• Output


BABOK Outline

• Introduction • Business Analysis Planning & Monitoring • Elicitation • Requirements Management & Communication • Enterprise Analysis • Requirements Analysis • Solution Assessment & Validation • Underlying Competencies • Techniques


CPRE Foundation Level Syllabus (29 pp.)

9 “Educational Units” (EUs)

Each EU includes a set of “Educational Objectives” (EOs) – Knowledge level 1 “knowing”

– Knowledge level 2 “applying”

Study Guide – “Requirement Engineering Fundamentals” (163 pp.)


CPRE-FL Outline

• Introduction & Foundations • System & System Context • Requirements Elicitation • Requirements Documentation • Documentation Using Natural Language • Model-Based Documentation • Requirements Validation & Negotiation • Requirements Management • Tool Support


inteGREAT Supports IREB and IIBA


inteGREAT Feature CPRE Educational Units BABOK Tasks/Techniques

Structured Elicitation wizards EU 3 Requirements Elicitation 3.2 Conduct Elicitation Activity

Traceability at an object level EU 8.4 Rqmts Traceability 4.2 Manage Rqmts Traceabilty

Project & Enterprise Reuse EU 8 Requirements Management 4.3 Maintain Rqmts for Reuse

Automatic Document / Diagram / Test Case Generation

EU 4 Requirements Documentation 4.4 Prepare Rqmts Package

Impact Assessment & Gap Analysis EU 7.3 Checking Rqmts Quality 5.2 Assess Capability Gaps

Collaboration, Workflow, Baselining EU 7.3 Checking Rqmts Quality 6.5 Verify Requirements

Specification Checker EU 7 Rqmts Validation & Negotiation 6.6 Validate Requirements

Simulation wizard EU 7.5 Techniques for Rqmts Validation

9.22 Prototyping

Glossary, Conceptual Data Model EU 4.7 Glossary 9.5 Data Dictionary & Glossary

Decision Model (advanced levels) 9.8 Decision Analysis

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Questions?


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