Sponsored by Business Analysis Certification: Why and How February, 2012 Gary A. Gack MBA, SSBB, CSQE President, Process-fusion.net (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 1
Agenda Why Certify Requirements Engineers / Business Analysts? The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB) The International Institute for Business Analysis (IIBA) IREB CPRE and IIBA CCBA/CBAP Certification Requirements Key Differences Resources The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) The Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE) Foundation Level Syllabus InteGREAT tool support (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 2
Why Certify? An Industry Perspective ~ 20% of all software defects originate in requirements On average, only 77% will be removed before delivery (Jones2008, p. 434) ~ 1/3 of delivered defects originate in requirements Cost to fix will be significantly higher than other defects (~ 10x) The average software project overruns its budget by 100% Software projects that are on time / on budget typically deliver less than 70% of promised functionality de-scoped requirements consume ~10-15% of total software resources 80% of failed software projects had totally unrealistic estimates from day 1 Estimates are based on identified requirements Canceled projects consume ~20% of total software resources (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 3
Why Certify? If you are considering professional certification what value can you expect to realize? how can you justify re-imbursement from your employer? I have prepared a paper, with input from Anne Hartley, Kathleen Haas, Ken Berger, and Stefan Sturm, that offers answers to both of these questions. You can download it from the Americas Requirements Engineering Association web site http://a-re-a.org/default.asp?id=7 (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 4
Certification Benefits to Employers Based on bodies of knowledge and examinations that are up to date and scientifically validated by internationally recognized boards of experts. An industry consensus among employers that certifications have value is clearly evident. Certification bodies of knowledge are often used as a basis for position descriptions and expectations for hiring and advancement. Certified professionals have the knowledge necessary to perform effectively in a wide variety of application domains. Certified professionals help to build organizational maturity. Certifications lead to standardization of terminology and practices worldwide an important advantage in our increasingly global business climate. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 5
Certification Benefits to Employers Certified employees or candidates have demonstrated a commitment to learning & professionalism. Certification can be used as an effective screen to reduce the effort required to identify qualified candidates for open positions. Employers may reasonably expect a level of productivity and quality from certified professionals that exceeds, on average, that of the majority of uncertified practitioners. For employers in certain businesses, such as out-sourcing services, certified staff may offer a competitive advantage relative to firms not employing certified professionals. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 6
Survey 1 Employers Do you believe certification is valuable? Do you consider certification in your hiring process? Does your organization reimburse employees for cost of certification exams and related training? Does certification influence pay grade? (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 7
Certification Benefits to Practitioners National salary data from Indeed.com indicate certified professionals salaries are higher than un-certified counterparts with similar job titles. Certification provides an opportunity to differentiate yourself from others in the field. Certification may help you find your next job. Certification provides an opportunity to gain a broad view of the field. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 8
Certification Benefits to Practitioners Certifications are developed by panels of experts and consequently reflect a broad consensus about what concepts and techniques it is important for BAs/REs to know. Certification demonstrates your commitment to selfimprovement in your chosen area of specialization. Certification improves your self-confidence and hence your ability to perform effectively under pressure. In many organizations certification will improve your chances for advancement in pay grade and scope of responsibility. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 9
Survey 2 Employees Do you believe certification helps you get an interview? Do you believe certification leads to higher pay? If your employer did NOT reimburse you for the cost of exams and training, would you invest yourself? (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 10
What the Numbers Tell Us Certified Professional earn about 6% more! Source: Indeed.com US National salary data (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 11
Caveats It is important we recognize the real world limitations of all certifications: Certification is NOT a guarantee of excellence. Some certified individuals perform poorly. Some uncertified individuals will outperform some certified individuals. Certification does not guarantee employment it s about personal development, not about employment per se. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 12
The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB) Mission Requirements Engineering is a key discipline Provide a certification model with syllabi and exams to foster further education within requirements engineering Standardize education of requirements engineers worldwide to facilitate communication efficiency by using the same "language (especially advantageous for multinational companies) Promote requirements specifications that are less defective, a better basis for project planning, development, and test of products. This leads to a decline in development costs and a higher probability of meeting deadlines. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 13
The International Requirements Engineering Board (IREB) Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE) Foundation Level (over 7,000 certified worldwide) Advance Levels Modeling, Elicitation & Consolidation (now in German) Business Analysis, Product Planning, Requirements Mgmt, Agile Requirements (under development) Expert Level (planned) (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 14
The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Mission Develop and maintain standards for the practice of business analysis and for the certification of its practitioners. Strategic goals Create and develop awareness and recognition of the value and contribution of the role of the Business Analysis Professional Define the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK ) Publicly recognize qualified practitioners through an internationally acknowledged certification program Provide forums for knowledge sharing Advance the practices of business analysis within organizations Define a roadmap for professional growth and development (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 15
The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Certification of Competency in Business Analysis TM (CCBA TM ) The Certification of Competency in Business Analysis TM (CCBA TM ) 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 BA experience, they have developed essential BA skills. Certified Business Analysis Professional TM (CBAP ) The Certified Business Analysis Professional TM (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. (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 16
IREB and IIBA Certification Requirements (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 17
IREB & IIBA Content Comparison (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 18
The Key Differences Pros and Cons Architecture Breadth / depth Pre-requisites Who does/should evaluate experience? Do employers value experience evaluation? Re-certification / CEUs Does the Body of Knowledge change? Do employers value re-certification? (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 19
Survey 3 Pre-Requisites What value do you believe employers assign to certification of experience? 1)Little 3)some 5)a lot What value do you believe employers assign to passing the certification exam? 1)Little 3)some 5)a lot (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 20
Survey 4 Re-Certification What value do you believe employers assign to recertification? 1)Little 3)some 5)a lot What value do you believe employers assign to a CEU requirements for re-certification? 1)Little 3)some 5)a lot Do you believe there have been significant changes in the BA/RE body of knowledge in the last 3 years? Which approach to re-certification do you believe is more valuable? 1) Fixed 3-year interval 2) Variable interval based on change in the Body of Knowledge? (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 21
Resources (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 22
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Mobile apps (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 24
BABOK Structure (251 pp.) Knowledge Areas (7 chapters) Tasks Purpose Description Input Elements Techniques (reference to chapter) Stakeholders Output (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 25
BABOK Outline Introduction Business Analysis Planning & Monitoring Elicitation Requirements Management & Communication Enterprise Analysis Requirements Analysis Solution Assessment & Validation Underlying Competencies Techniques (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 26
CPRE Foundation Level Syllabus (29 pp.) 9 Educational Units (EUs) Each EU includes a set of Educational Objectives (EOs) Knowledge level 1 knowing Knowledge level 2 applying Study Guide Requirement Engineering Fundamentals (163 pp.) (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 27
CPRE-FL Outline Introduction & Foundations System & System Context Requirements Elicitation Requirements Documentation Documentation Using Natural Language Model-Based Documentation Requirements Validation & Negotiation Requirements Management Tool Support (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 28
integreat Supports IREB and IIBA integreat Feature CPRE Educational Units BABOK Tasks/Techniques Structured Elicitation wizards EU 3 Requirements Elicitation 3.2 Conduct Elicitation Activity Traceability at an object level EU 8.4 Rqmts Traceability 4.2 Manage Rqmts Traceabilty Project & Enterprise Reuse EU 8 Requirements Management 4.3 Maintain Rqmts for Reuse Automatic Document / Diagram / Test Case Generation EU 4 Requirements Documentation 4.4 Prepare Rqmts Package Impact Assessment & Gap Analysis EU 7.3 Checking Rqmts Quality 5.2 Assess Capability Gaps Collaboration, Workflow, Baselining EU 7.3 Checking Rqmts Quality 6.5 Verify Requirements Specification Checker EU 7 Rqmts Validation & Negotiation 6.6 Validate Requirements Simulation wizard EU 7.5 Techniques for Rqmts Validation 9.22 Prototyping Glossary, Conceptual Data Model EU 4.7 Glossary 9.5 Data Dictionary & Glossary Decision Model (advanced levels) 9.8 Decision Analysis (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 29
Questions? (c) 2012 Process-Fusion.net 30