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