ISEB Certificate in Business Analysis Essentials... "Done!!"

I eventually got round to booking for the Business Analysis Essentials Course for the weekend of the 21-22 March 2009 in Central London with Metadata Training. I got there quite early, rearing to get on with it. I had read the recommended Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 12, and 13 of the Business Analysis Book by Don Yeates and Debra Paul; I was saturated. I felt the need to be so ready as a friend had told me that 50% of the student on the course would already be working as BAs hence she felt intimidated at her own course. I got there and realised she was right, I didn't think that it was possible for anyone to become a BA without any formal qualifications e.g. ISEB. Guess I was wrong. Chatting with the more knowledgeable and experienced of the Contemporaries, I gathered that they all had different paths to landing a role as a BA. Some of them started off as office clerks with no degree, some as University Graduates in a Business related course and others just swapped seats within their Company. This gave me faith!


BCS insists that all holders of the ISEB BSD Certificate in Business Analysis Essentials should be able to:
-Demonstrate an understanding of business strategy and strategic analysis techniques.
-Act as effective members of a team investigating an organization’s business systems with a view to recommending business improvements.
-Apply techniques in order to analyse and model business systems.
-Understand how recommendations for business improvement may be identified.
-Assist in the production of a rigorous business case covering the development and implementation of business changes.
-Identify how business requirements may be supported by IT systems.

...After the course, I think I can do all of these, I just need the right situation to show myself first! The course was awesome, every section in the notes required us to carry out a related case study, it was what I would call "Picture Knowledge". We worked in groups and at the end of each section, all the groups compared their work and without voting, the winners were obvious each time. I especially enjoyed the drawing exercises like Rich-Pictures, BAM, etc.

ISEB Certificate in Business Analysis Essentials
Course Syllabus
1. Business analysis rationale
-What is a business system
-The place of business analysis
-Business analysis versus systems analysis
-Approaches to business analysis
2. Strategic analysis in context
-Understanding the organisation's strengths and weaknesses
-External analysis - PESTLE
-Internal analysis - Resource Audit
-Building a comprehensive SWOT analysis
3. A project approach to business analysis
-Business analysis studies as projects
-Terms of reference and project initiation
-Assuring business benefit
4. Understanding the situation/issues
-Types of business 'problem'
-Rich pictures
-Defining the problem
-Review of investigation techniques
5. Business perspectives
-Business perspective - introduction
-Defining the perspective - CATWOE
6. Analysing and modelling the business activities
-Modelling business activities
-Five types of business activity
-Modelling multiple perspectives
-Decomposing activities
-Validating the business activity model
-End-to-end process maps
7. Creative problem solving
-Barriers to creativity
-Brainstorming
-Stimulating creative thinking
8. Identifying potential solutions
-Exploring the gap between the current and desired situation
-Areas for business improvement (structure, processes, people)
-Holistic approach to business solutions
-Discussion of business change programmes
9. Making the business case
-Contents of a business case
-Options
-Costs and benefits
-Impacts and risks
-Payback and discounted cash flow
-Presenting the business case
10. Course summary and review
-Review of concepts and approaches covered

Who is a Business Analyst?

“The term Business Analyst (BA) is used to describe a person who practices the discipline of business analysis (the set of tasks, knowledge, and techniques required to identify business needs and determine solutions to business problems). A business analyst or "BA" is responsible for analyzing the business needs of clients to help identify business problems and propose solutions. Within the systems development life cycle domain (the process of creating or altering systems, and the models and methodologies that people use to develop these systems. The concept generally refers to computer or information systems), the business analyst typically performs a liaison function between the business side of an enterprise and the providers of services to the enterprise. Common alternative titles are business analyst, systems analyst, and functional analyst, although some organizations may differentiate between these titles and corresponding responsibilities.” [Wikipedia]


Model of the Systems Development Life Cycle


And a more simplified definition...
“A business analyst is an information technology worker who improves the efficiency and productivity of business operations. The business analyst achieves this by closely analyzing the business processes in an organization for inefficiencies.” [Kingsley Tagbo]

Roles and Responsibilities of a Business Analyst
Acting as a liaison between the software development team and the business team.Writing feasibility studies, project briefs, cost analysis, testing schedules and user manuals for new business processes.Analyzing business processes to identify problems and implementing solutions that improve the business process.Communicating and presenting technical solutions for business problems to business stakeholders and owners.Documenting or explaining complex business operations to software developers.

Skills and Requirements for a Business Analyst
In some organizations, the business analyst works with a team of computer programmers and does not need to master computer programming.
In other organizations, the line separating the business analyst and the computer programmer is fuzzy, therefore the business analyst must know how to code. In cases like this a beginner or entry-level mastery of computer programming is all that is needed.
Generally, a basic computer expertise in computer programming will help a business analyst perform their work better. To gain this basic expertise in computer programming, an aspiring business analyst should have a solid understanding of SQL, data analysis, reporting, UML, Visual Basic programming, Microsoft Office Automation and a few other software packages. Just bear in mind that this varies from organization to organization.
The ability to work in a team and to coordinate among people is also a skill that the business analyst needs to cultivate. Good writing skills and communication skills are also helpful in this career.

Comparing Computer Programmer Careers To Business Analyst Careers
1. Technology Skills: Computer programmers spend the majority of their time writing code while business analysts spend a minor amount of time writing code.
2. People Skills: Business analysts invest a lot of time interacting with business users a lot, so they need good communication and relationship skills. Computer programmers tend to invest most of their time working on software that will be used by people. So communication and relationship skills are secondary to technical skills for software developers.
3. Entry level requirements: Business analysis positions tend to have lower entry level requirements than computer programming positions. Business analysis positions tend to pay lower than computer programming positions as well.

ISEB Diploma in Business Analysis

I have found an excellent and dare I say very affordable place to go for my Diploma. Its a company called Metadata Training run by Dr Mike Goodland the co-author of the old SSADM book.
The Business Analysis Diploma consists of 3 core modules, 1 of 3 optional modules and 1 oral exam. I have decided to go for:
-Business Analysis Essentials
-Requirements Engineering
-Organisational Context
-Systems Development Essentials - Agile
and the Oral Exam.