Business Analyst Training by Saizen ITC
“Business Analysis is the task of understanding business change needs, assessing the business impact of those changes, capturing, analysing and documenting requirements and supporting the communication and delivery of requirements with relevant stakeholders.”
What is Business Analysis?
If you had a plot of land and wanted to build a house, we hope that you would first engage the services of an architect. The architect would ask you questions – what is your budget, what style of house, how many bedrooms, how much parking or garage space you need, etc. The architect would then draw up plans which they would agree with you before approaching builders to understand the cost of building the house. Once the build was underway the architect would monitor the build to make sure the house was built according to your needs. Occasionally problems might arise requiring the plans to be revised, or, you might want to make some modifications to the plans which would need to be agreed with the builder.
Being a business analyst is a bit like being an architect but instead of building a house, we are developing or updating a computer system. A business analyst takes responsibility for talking to the business users of the computer system to understand their needs. Instead of producing plans, the business analyst produces ‘requirements’ which clearly state the business needs and align with business processes. The requirements are then used by the IT team or an external supplier to build or modify the system. While the system is being built the business analyst is on hand to deal with issues and questions, and to support the business in implementing the required changes to make effective use of the new system.
What does it take to be a (Saizen BA) Business Analyst?
The business analyst role is often seen as a communication bridge between IT and the business stakeholders. Business analysts must be great verbal and written communicators, tactful diplomats, problem solvers, thinkers and analysers – with the ability to engage with stakeholders to understand and respond to their needs in rapidly changing business environments. This can often involve dealing with very senior stakeholders and can often involve challenging and questioning to ensure that value for money is achieved from IT developments.
A business analyst does not need to have an IT background although it can help to have some basic understanding of how IT systems work. Some business analysts come from a technical or programming background but they will often come from within the business itself – having a detailed knowledge of the business domain can be equally useful (if not more so!)
What we offer – Business Analyst Training
The focus of our training is on business analysis within a project environment, initially supporting the assessment of change proposals, assisting the development of business cases, defining the scope and objectives of the project, defining the requirements for change and then supporting both the technical and business delivery of those changes. We focus on the business analyst’s responsibilities as a change facilitator throughout the business change lifecycle regardless of whether the organisation is ‘agile’ or using traditional project approaches.
As well as providing business analysts with the key skills to effectively contribute to business change projects, our business analysis training courses coach delegates in a ‘way of thinking’ and analysing that delivers the right result first time with minimal cost and maximum benefit.
The Certified Business Analysis Professional (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
CBAP® certification eligible criteria
To earn the CBAP® certification, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Minimum 7500 hours of BA work experience aligned with BABOK® Guide in the last 10 years
- Minimum 900 hours in four of the six knowledge areas
- Minimum 21 hours of Professional Development in the past four years
- Two references from a career manager, client or Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) recipient
- Signed Code of Conduct
Who should attend?
- Business Analysts
- Software Analysts
- Functional Analysts
- Market Analyst
- Project Managers
- Software Architects
- Senior Programmers
- Transition Analysts
- Transition Managers
- Transition Leads
The Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA®) 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 business analysis experience, they have developed essential BA skills.
CCBA® certification eligible criteria
To apply for Certification of Competency in Business Analysis exam & earn the CCBA® designation, a business analyst will need to be knowledgeable in all six knowledge areas of A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide), with proficiency in at least two. Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Minimum 3750 hours of business analysis work experience aligned with the BABOK® Guide in the last 7 years
- Minimum 900 hours in two of the six knowledge areas or 500 hours in four of the six knowledge areas
- Minimum 21 hours of Professional Development in the past four years
- Minimum high school education or equivalent
- Two references from a career manager, client or certified Analysis Professional TM (CBAP®) recipient.
- Signed Code of Conduct
FAQ
Becoming a Business Analyst is so easy,
- I want to be a business analyst, but I’m not entirely sure what the role involves and want to know more
- I want to be a business analyst, but I’m not sure I have the right skills
- I want to get some training and/or formal qualification to increase my chances of getting a job as a business analyst
- I’m thinking about a career change to become a business analyst
- I am in a job, but have been asked to take on some business analyst tasks. It’s not something I have done before and I am looking for some support
If the answer is yes then you are in the right place. Please keep reading for our advice on what to do next.
Business Analysts are responsible for identifying change needs, assessing the impact of the change, capturing and documenting requirements and then ensuring that those requirements are delivered by IT whilst supporting the business through the implementation process.
Business Analysts are likely to be the key change facilitators within an organisation. They must deliver effective solutions which provide tangible business benefits often within short timescales. You must be a great communicator (both written and verbal), have business acumen and be willing to tackle complex problems head-on while dealing with the challenges of short timescales and demanding business stakeholders.
Having evidence of training and a formal qualification, such as the Saizen BA Training & Certification will increase your chances of successfully becoming a business analyst. Employers will value an individual’s commitment to training and qualifications so having these on your CV will help. It is also important that you fully understand the role that you are applying for, can evidence that you have the skills to perform that role and can answer relevant questions in an interview situation. You can start to address these items by attending one of our ‘starter’ courses.
Your chances of successfully getting a job as a BA will also depend on your salary expectations and the industry and geographical location in which you want to work. It will also depend on the current opportunities available which meet your criteria. To get an understanding of this you will need to look at the local press, visit your local job office or try some recruitment websites. Many websites now allow you to put in your job criteria, so you can see opportunities that match what you are looking for, or check if your expectations are realistic.
If you are currently in employment you should try to get involved in any projects or change activities that are going on within your organisation. This could include helping with testing, contributing ideas to workshops or even designing/writing procedure manuals. This may mean that you get to work with business analysts, or understand more the work that they do. It will also provide you with examples you can relate to when it comes to applying for a BA position.
- Our trainers are specialists in the area in which they teach, with at least 15 years experience of working in the environment in which they train
- Our trainers are experienced in delivering training to a wide range of audiences with different industry backgrounds including banking, finance, government offices, not for profit, retail, travel and telecoms.
- Our training courses focus on real world skills, rather than just teaching delegates to pass exams
- We limit the number of delegates on our public Foundation Business Analysis course to 10
- We limit the number of delegates on all other public courses to a maximum of 12
- We offer both IIBA-CBAP/CCBA and non-accredited skills based training courses
“We also offer post training support, free resources through our website and a range of additional business analysis related services”