Course Overview
CCBA Training (Module #4) – Requirement Management and Communication:
With the advent of a lot of colleges and institutions the competition has increased to a cut throat level where being normal or average is a blunder for the career. A small negligence cost a professional dearly as there are a lot of options for an employer to fill the void. This is why the first and foremost thing an aspirant should do is to make his or her skills robust and diverse. Versatility is always admired and considered by everyone. So is the CV of a professional who proves himself the most beneficiary for the organization. To add more skills, success seekers need to go through various courses and trainings and get a certification from the reputed institutes for recognition. These certification courses and exams will build the career in a new and better way.
Certification of Competency in Business Analysis
One of the most admired and recognized certification exam is Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA). The professional certification is given by International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) to business analysis admirers and practitioners. The exam is conducted by the institute and after passing it the examinee receives a certification which recognizes him or her as an expert in the respective field. This certification attached in the CV helps to demonstrate the difference between the candidate and other average applicants. It reflects the capability to take great responsibilities and perform them with utmost precision.
About the training program
The certification tells the world that the recipient is an expert in identifying the needs of the business, highlight the problems, seclude the constraints and seek the solutions. This is not an easy job and nor is the preparation for the exam. To achieve the best grades in the exam an aspirant must go through a proper training program that will enlighten his or her knowledge about the business analysis segment even more, imparting a good grip on the basics of the field.
The training program is divided into specific segments to reflect better understanding of the concepts.
- Role of Business Analysts
The first segment deals with the description of the role of a business analyst in an organization. He or she is responsible to assist with the cases
- In the business plan and monitoring strategic implementation,
- Elicit requirements of the organization,
- Translating and clarifying the requirements in simple language for better understanding,
- Maintain proper communication and analyze the requirements properly.
There are four zones where a business analyst can work in the organization:
- Strategic planning where they can identify the needs of the business
- Model analysis of the business to define the policies and approaches the business will adopt.
- Process design where the analyst is responsible to pull the company’s workflow to a new standard.
- System analysis
- Business Analysis Body Of Knowledge (BABOK)
The entire exam is based on the modules in the book ‘Business Analysis Body of Knowledge’. The guidebook has six vivid areas of knowledge which an aspirant has to cover. The simplified version of this book in the tutorial will enhance the perception and the aspirant can easily grab on the fundamentals to develop good insights.
- Exam summary
The specific description of the exam is very necessary for the examinee as he or she should have an idea beforehand to know what he or she is preparing for. Exposing in the exam without any previous knowledge about the question patterns, marks distribution and concepts will not prove beneficial.
- Planning and monitoring
The plans and strategies made by the analyst team are done with pure excellence and perfection. This module will teach the aspirant about the processes adopted and how the entire process is monitored during the progress and even after complete implementation.
- Eliciting problems and solutions
This segment deals with the basic ways to identify the problems and finding their solutions.
- Requirement management and analysis
This segment teaches how to analyze the requirements to deal with the problems and manage them.
- Assessment of solution and validation
The aspirant will be taught how to tackle the problems with specific processes and find their solutions. After recovering the solution it has to be validated to make sure that the problem will be eradicated properly.
There are various other segments that a learner will get to know before appearing for the exam. The precise training program is so well designed that it will definitely morph the learner’s capability to understand the basics for the exam and excel in it.
Advantages of CCBA certification
The benefit is not only for the professional but also for the organization hiring him or her in the team of experts to deal with the problems arising in the industry.
- Advantages of the individual
- Gaining competent knowledge in practices of the prospective business analysis.
- It is a gateway to become an important part in the professional group of a reputed organization.
- After the certification the employers will recognize and differentiate the candidate from the crowd very easily.
- Career potential is increased manifold for the individual.
- CCBA is a milestone considered by the aspirants and those who have achieved it in the due course of their career. It also imparts immense satisfaction of reaching a milestone.
- The certification training improves overall performance capabilities and broadens the opportunities for the individual.
- The rewarding that matters the most is the increase in the remuneration for the individual under a reputed banner. The more experience he or she gathers the better his or her salary becomes in future.
- Advantages for the organizations
- The employers or the organizations get the professional analysts who are certified and graded aptly from a proper exam and they can be assured of their quality of delivery and performance.
- The business can flaunt its professional and expert workforce with such a good credibility in their pocket and can easily get hold to many projects related to the particular field.
- Other organizations seeking the service can trust the practices of the organization having such a good team of certified analysts.
- Stakeholders can be assured with the efficiency of the team and that the business is running in the right track.
- Outcomes will be efficient and richer in quality.
Requirements for the training
The training is very simple and does not demand too many resources that are hard to gather. A simple computer with good internet connectivity is enough to serve the purpose. If the candidate wants to know about business analysis then there are no other requirements. But when the candidate is preparing for the CCBA exam then there are certain criteria set by IIBA that have to be fulfilled before appearing for the exam.
Prerequisites of the exam
Other than gathering proper knowledge in the six segments as directed by BABOK, there are certain set of parameters constructed by IIBA that has to be met by the candidates.
- The candidates must have an exposure to core business analysis work for minimum 3750 hours. The experience span must be covered within the time span of 7 years.
- Another criterion for the experience category is to have at least 900 hours of experience in two of the six knowledge grounds or 500 hours in any four knowledge grounds mentioned in BABOK.
- The candidate must have minimum 21 hours of professional development within the duration of four years in the past.
- The candidate must have an education minimum up to high school graduation.
- The examinee must have two references from a client, a career manager or a certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) recipient.
- Properly signed Code of conduct
The applications are vividly described in the handbook of CCBA exam.
Training materials
The online training material has 123 different lectures based on the six areas of knowledge as guided by BABOK. Other than the lectures it contains 12.5 hours of elaborate content that will clarify the basic understanding of the aspirant about the technical aspects of business analysis.
The techniques, models and methods are demonstrated by expert professionals in such a way that the candidate will develop strong and in-depth knowledge which is expected from the future professionals by the employers. The training material is all an aspirant needs to cross the hurdle at ease.
Target audience for the exam
The training can be undertaken by program managers, project managers, business analysts, software analysts, aspirants who want to be a part of the above mentioned fields, functional analysts, programmers, market analysts, software architects, transition analysts, transition managers, etc. In fact all the personnel who are in the business analysis practicing industry can go for the training and appear in the exam.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between CCBA and CBAP exam?
The CBAP has questions that are situation based and answers are given by the students after proper simulation and understanding. On the other hand CCBA exam has fact and knowledge based questions.
- Is the CBAP study material usable for CCBA?
The study materials are based on the knowledge areas cited by BABOK which are valid for both the exam types. Hence the aspirant will not have any problem perceiving knowledge.
- What is the value of the certification?
In the field of Business Analysis the certification has immense value. The candidate with a CCBA certification is far more deserving than the normal applicants as he or she has better understanding and insight in the prospective grounds. The CCBA certified analyst fits better in the professional analytical team and assures to give good quality results. Almost every business needs analytical department for the betterment of the process and increase profitability. Hence forth the demand of the recognized analysts is not going to fade away in near future for sure.
- What is the time frame generally needed to study for the exam?
The ideal time span to study for the CCBA exam is around 3-6 months. It can vary from person to person and their schedules. The preparation needs around 100 hours of studying in total which can be segregated in the mentioned time span. The time required for online classes are lesser than self or group study or joining physical classes. That is why the online training is the most preferred medium to gain knowledge.
- What is the meaning of professional development of 21 hours in the criteria specified y BABOK?
The 21 hours of professional development is related to the training in any field mentioned in BABOK like requirement elicitation, planning and management of requirements, etc. Core sectors like software development and testing do not apply in this case.
- How long it takes to get approval for the exam?
After receiving the approval, IIBA notifies the candidate within two weeks that it is being processed. When all the criteria match as per the guidelines, IIBA notifies the candidate with the results of the assessment within 21 days of the application.