As a seeker of knowledge, I go around reading everything about business analysis that my hands lay upon. That said, it’s time for disclaimer: I don’t claim to be an expert in either BABOK or BA for Practitioners; and I do realize I still need time to regurgitate both.
However, looking at the discussions on ‘which certification is good: CBAP or PMI-PBA’, ‘BA for Practitioner is limited to business analysis in project management’, ‘BABOK has broader view of BA’, and so on… I decided to share my view on the comparison of the two major works of the BA world! For the sake of convenience, let me call “Business Analysis for Practitioners” as ‘BAP’.
PMBOK 6th Edition PDF Download for PMP Certification: PMBOK Guide Sixth Ed (PDF) is available for download FREE of cost for PMI Members. The BABOK® Guide (International Institute of Business Analysis, 2009, p. 81) shows that the business case is always the final task of a bigger process called 'Enterprise Analysis.' This paper shows the business analysis approach for defining a PMO business case through a full enterprise analysis process.
Fundamental Difference
BABOK is a ‘Body of Knowledge’. BAP is a ‘Practitioner’s Guide’. Let me elaborate:
Wikipedia defines ‘Body of Knowledge’ as : “A Body of Knowledge (BOK or BoK) is the complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a professional domain, as defined by the relevant learned society or professional association.” Which seems to mean: BoK rather sets standards, nomenclature, and commonly accepted view (methods, practices, approaches etc.) of the profession. In section 1.1 of V3, BABOK mentions its purpose: “The primary purpose of the BABOK® Guide is to define the profession of business analysis and provide a set of commonly accepted practices.”
Which seems to imply:
- BOK gives generally accepted definition and the scope of the profession and terms used in a profession
- BOK describes competencies, methods, skills, processes pertaining to a profession, and generall does not prescribewhen to and how to employ what skill, practice, process...
- BOK provides generally accepted view, and as such doesn’t necessarily have to describe the profession in a particular scenario or branch.
Thus, BOK gives overall conceptual framework within which the profession is practiced. By its nature, conceptual framework is rather abstract.
Alas, we don’t seem to have a generally accepted definition of ‘Practitioner’s Guide’, or maybe it’s just that I couldn’t find one. But if I dare interpret (and I would), it guides a practitioner, which means it would elaborate on tools, techniques, methods, and processes, and it could even go to the extent of prescribing what to use and how to use!
According to BAP,
- It provides guidance on how to apply practices, tools and techniques
- It includes several specific examples to illustrate usage of practices, tools and techniques
- It is supporting material and instructions for theapplication of standards
We can thus conclude that BOK is rather concerned with establishing consensus on concepts, framework, terminology, generally employed tools/techniques/skills etc. without going into how and when; whereas a Practitioner’s Guide focuses more on the how and when part.
Question arises then: aren’t both of these complementary to each other? Obviously, yes! Why then IIBA doesn’t have a ‘Practitioner’s Guide’ and why then PMI doesn’t have a BOK like standards document? Does IIBA intend to have such a guide? Does PMI intend to have such a standards document? I hope that veterans from these institutes would give us some hints!
Having talked about the fundamental difference between them, let us have a detailed look at the scope, structure, and content of these two works.
Scope of Business Analysis in BABOK and BAP
It’s a myth that BAP defines business analysis within project management framework OR BAP thinks business analysis is all about requirements management. According to BAP:
- Requirements-management consists a significant portion of business analysis. (This means BAP does acknowledge business analysis is NOT all about requirements management.)
- Business analysis involves several domains: from identifying business needs to solution implementation
- Success of a program (equivalent of ‘initiative’ in BABOK) and project highly depends on effective business analysis.
Definition of Business Analysis according to BAP is (Taken from Section 1.5, Page 3 of “Business Analysis for Practitioners – A Practice Guide” from PMI):
“Business analysis is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to:
- Determine problems and identify business needs;
- Identify and recommend viable solutions for meeting those needs;
- Elicit, document, and manage stakeholder requirements in order to meet business and project objectives;
- Facilitate the successful implementation of the product, service, or end result of the program or project.”
I hope by now you have realized that BABOK and BAP have equally broad view of business analysis. In fact, their definitions of business analysis are somewhat analogous:
People may argue this mapping is not true, however, my aim is not to provide such a ‘true’ mapping. I hope we all would agree they both have equally broad and converging views on business analysis.
Overall Structure of BABOK and BAP
Allow me to skip the explanations and present you this table about key sections in both of the works:
Needless to say they both are covering/touching key areas of business analysis.
Techniques and Tools Covered
Several practitioners give importance to Techniques and Tools, and see it as a great source of value. BABOK has a dedicated section (Section 10: Techniques), where it describes 50 different techniques. However, BAP doesn’t have such a dedicated section, rather, all over the document more than 55 techniques and tools are explained. For your reference, here is a compilation of all tools and techniques (that I could find) in BAP {took me hours to compile it, say thanks to me guys ;-)}. One of the purposes of presenting this extensive list is to also to eliminate any doubts on this claim of number of tools covered in BAP.
Presentation of Tools and Techniques
BABOK elaborates all tools and techniques in alphabetical order in a dedicated section; whereas BAP elaborates each tool and technique in relevant knowledge area (section) in relevant task context throughout the document.
BABOK represents each technique in the following rigid format:
- Purpose of the technique
- Description of the technique
- Elements of the technique
- Usage Consideration while employing the technique, including strengths and weaknesses
Examples or diagrams given for techniques are (more often than not) generic, or with dummy labels (such as Task 1, Task 2, Task 3… in a process diagram).
BAP on the other hand doesn’t follow a strict format and talks of purpose, description, elements, usage etc. in an informal and contextual manner. The examples are very specific, and hence most readers may find it very easy to understand. Furthermore, BAP talks in detail about how to and when to apply these tools and techniques, to the extent that it often prescribes the sequence of actions/tasks under a particular domain (known as ‘Area of Knowledge’ in BABOK).
Composition of Key Sections in BABOK and BAP
Key sections here mean ‘Knowledge Areas’ in BABOK and ‘Domain’ in BAP. To us they are synonyms.
BABOK describes each ‘Knowledge Area’ in a strict format:
- The ‘Core Concept Model’ in XYZ Knowledge Area
- Input-Tasks-Output Diagram for the Knowledge Area
- Then for each ‘Task’ in the Knowledge Area:
- Purpose of the task
- Description of the task
- Input for the Task
- Input-Task-Output Diagram for the Task
- Elements of the Task
- Guideline and Tools for the Task
- Techniques Used for the Task
- Stakeholders concerned with the Task
- Output for the Task
It is noteworthy that tools or techniques mentioned in each task are rather a list. They are elaborated in detail in ‘Techniques’ section.
BAP on the other hand doesn’t follow a rigid structure for each domain, and presents it in more or less flexible flow, including:
- Importance or Purpose of the Domain (aka Knowledge Area)
- Terms, concepts and explanations/definitions related to given Domain
- Set of tasks – in a prescribed sequence – to undertake business analysis under given domain (work-flow, if I may say)
- For each task:
- Set of sub-tasks or actions to be performed in a prescribed sequence (work-flow)
- Inputs needed for a task or sub-task
- Tools and Techniques (with detailed elaboration) associated with these tasks
- Specific examples, tables, diagrams, charts, process, deliverables, etc. related to the task/action/tools
- Guidelines for tasks, limitations/strengths of techniques etc.
- Considerations, challenges, typical issues related to given domain/task
Again, one might not find consistent structure for each Domain, nor all of the parts mentioned above for each domain. The content rather flows in contextual manner.
Before you “whew”, here comes the last part:
Which 'Domain' or 'Knowledge Area' Has More Emphasis/Elaboration?
Well, this is a subject of another debate. I would rather present a finding and leave the rest to you:
To conclude: if you want to study concepts, BABOK is the book. If you want to understand application of concepts, BAP is the book. In terms of the scope of business analysis, coverage of key areas of business analysis, tools/techniques etc. both are nearly equally good!
Please feel free to criticize, debate, argue, support or oppose my views! The comments section below is all yours!
Disclaimer:
'BABOK', 'BACCM', 'Business Analysis for Practitioners – A Practice Guide', 'PMI', 'IIBA' are registered trademarks of respective owners. Material in “BABOK” and “Business Analysis for Practitioners – A Practice Guide” are copyrighted material of their respective publishers/sponsors. This article is written with the aim of professional discussion and bringing awareness about similarities and differences between the two works and there is no commercial motivation at all.
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Standards and Bodies of Knowledge |
Glossaries |
A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK Guide) is a standard for the practice of business analysis.[1]
- 1History
- 2Structure and content
History[edit]
BABOK Guide was first published by International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) as a draft document version 1.4, in October 2005, for consultation with the wider business analysis and project management community, to document and standardize generally accepted business analysis practices. The first formal release was at version 1.6 in June 2006. Version 2.0 was released 31 March 2009. Version 3 was released in April 2015.
Professional Certification[edit]
Once the body of knowledge was established, IIBA created the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) designation to recognise senior business analysts who could demonstrate in-depth long-term experience in these knowledge areas (5–10 years in a dedicated business analyst role).[2]
IIBA also offers the Certification of Competency on Business Analysis (CCBA) designation that recognizes Business Analysts with 3750 hours business analysis experience, including 900 hours experience in two knowledge areas or 500 hours experience in four knowledge areas, and 21 professional development hours.[3]
For both certifications above the applicant must have a minimum high school education (or equivalent), two references from a career manager, client or Certified Business Analyst Professional and sign the IIBA Code of Conduct.[4]
IIBA also offers the Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA) that does not require a reference.
Structure and content[edit]
BABOK Guide includes chapters on:
- Business Analysis Key Concepts: define important terms that are the foundation of the practice of business analysis.
- Knowledge Areas: represents the core content of BABOK Guide and contain the business analysis tasks that are used to perform business analysis.
- Underlying Competencies: describes the behaviours, characteristics, knowledge, and personal qualities that help business analysts be effective in their job.
- Techniques: describes 50 of the most common techniques used by business analysts.
- Perspectives: describes 5 different views of business analysis (Agile, Business Intelligence, Information Technology, Business Architecture, and Business Process Management). New to BABOK Guide version 3, Perspectives demonstrate the continued evolution of the practice of business analysis.
Knowledge areas[edit]
BABOK Guide organizes business analysis tasks within 6 knowledge areas. Each task describes the typical knowledge, skills, deliverables, and techniques that the business analyst requires to be able to perform those tasks competently. The knowledge areas logically organize tasks but do not specify a sequence, process, or methodology.
The knowledge areas of BABOK Guide are:
- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring: describes the tasks used to organize and coordinate business analysis efforts.
- Elicitation and Collaboration: describes the tasks used to prepare for and conduct elicitation activities and confirm the results.
- Requirements Life Cycle Management: the tasks used to manage and maintain requirements and design information from inception to retirement.
- Strategy Analysis: describes the tasks used to identify the business need, address that need, and align the change strategy within the enterprise.
- Requirements Analysis and Design Definition: describes the tasks used to organize requirements, specify and model requirements and designs, validate and verify information, identify solution options, and estimate the potential value that could be realized.
- Solution Evaluation: describes the tasks used to assess the performance of and value delivered by a solution and to recommend improvements on increasing values.
Bibliography[edit]
- BABOK 2, 2009. ISBN9780981129211
- BABOK 3, 2015. ISBN9781927584026.
References[edit]
- ^'BABOK Guide - IIBA | International Institute of Business Analysis'. www.iiba.org. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ^'CBAP Certification - IIBA | International Institute of Business Analysis'. www.iiba.org. Retrieved 2015-10-20.
- ^'CCBA Designation'. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
- ^'Certified Business Analysis Professional'. Certification. IIBA. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
External links[edit]
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Guide_to_the_Business_Analysis_Body_of_Knowledge&oldid=918003311'