Business Analyst Certifications
A number of business analyst certifications are available in the market. In this post, you will know about these certifications, eligibility criteria, fees and other important details. This article is written to help you in choosing the right business analyst certification.
Business analyst certification bodies
It’s pertinent to look at the international organizations, which offer certifications for business analysts. These organizations are:
- International Institute of business analysis (IIBA)
- Project Management Institute (PMI)
- The International Software Quality Institute (iSQI)
- BCS – The chartered Institute for IT
- APMG International
- Scrum Alliance
Each of these organizations offer business analyst certifications for different experience levels. IIBA offers 4 levels of certifications for a business analyst. BCS also offers multiple levels of certifications.
Flavors of Business Analyst Certifications
We can categorize the business analyst certifications into two flavors:
Generalized Business Analyst Certifications
Most of the certification organizations offer generalized business analyst certifications. The table below shows the details.
Agile Business Analyst Certifications
Business Analyst certifications for Agile is a relatively new flavor of certification. Scrum Alliance provides the Product Owner certification, whereas iSQI offers Agile Business Analyst Certification. The list is as below:
Levels of Certifications
The business analyst certifications are available for entry level business analysts as well as for experienced business analysts.
The entry level certifications does not refer to certifications for fresh graduates. It simply means that there is no requirement for having any business analysis experience.
Entry level business analyst certifications are as follows:
- Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA) from IIBA
- Foundation level certifications from BCS
- Practitioner level certification from BCS (you only need to clear the Foundation level)
- Certified Agile Business Analyst (CABA) from iSQI
- Agile BA from APMG International
The following certifications are for experienced business analysts:
- Certification of capability in Business Analysis (CCBA) from IIBA
- Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
- PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) from PMI
- Certified Business Analyst Though Leader (CBATL)
- Consultant and Expert Level BA certifications from BCS
We will be discussing some of these certifications in the sections below. You can find more information on others from the Internet.
Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA) Certification
This is the level 1 of the certification and will not need any experience as a business analyst. You can go for this certification even if you don’t have any experience as a business analyst.
A simple clarification, even if you are working in the IT industry but don’t have any business analysis experience, you can only go for ECBA.
The only eligibility criteria is to have 21-hrs of PDUs from an IIP endorsed education provider.
The fees structure for this certification is as follows:
Fees: $225-$295
The ECBA certification exam has 50 questions and you get 1 hour to complete it.
Know more about ECBA Certification.
Certification of capability in Business Analysis (CCBA)
This is the second level of business analyst certifications. This certification needs experience as a business analyst. The eligibility criteria for CCBA certifications are as follows:
- Requires a minimum of 3,750 hours of work experience in the last 7 years
- Of this: a minimum of 900 hours in each of 2 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Version 3 Knowledge Areas or a minimum of 500 hours in each of 4 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Version 3 Knowledge Areas
- Minimum of 21 hours of Professional Development in the last 4 years
- Two references from a career manager, client or Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) recipient.
- Agreement with the CCBA® Code of Conduct
The fees structure for this certification is as follows:
Fees: $505-$575
The CCBA certification exam has 130 questions and you get 3 hours to complete it. More details are available at CCBA Certification article.
Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
This is the third level of business analyst certification and requires more business analysis experience to be eligible for this certification. The CBAP eligibility criteria is defined herewith:
- Requires a minimum of 7500 hours of work experience in the last 7 years
- Of this: a minimum of 900 hours in each of 4 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Version 3 Knowledge Areas or a minimum of 500 hours in each of 4 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Version 3 Knowledge Areas
- Minimum of 35 hours of Professional Development in the last 4 years
- Two references from a career manager, client or Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) recipient.
- Agreement with the CCBA® Code of Conduct
The fees structure for this certification is as follows:
Member: US$ 700.00
Non-member: US$ 950.00
The CBAP certification exam has 120 questions and you get 3.5 hours to complete it.
More details are available at the IIBA site on CBAP level 3 certification.
If you would like to look at the type of questions asked in CBAP exam, you can read the following blog post, which has sample questions:
PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)
This business analyst certification is granted by Project Management Institute (PMI). PMI is a well known organization for PMP certification. PMP is the most popular certification for the project managers.
The eligibility criteria for this certification are:
- Bachelor’s degree or the global equivalent
- 4,500 hours of business analysis experience
- 2,000 hours working on project teams*
- 35 contact hours of education in business analysis
The fees structure for this certification is as follows:
Member: US$405.00
Non-member: US$555.00
The PMI-PBA certification exam has 200 questions and you get 4 hours to complete it. To know more about PMI PBA Certification, please visit the PMI PBA page.
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO)
This certification is for Product Owners, who I believe are nothing but Business Analysts with a different name. As per Scrum Alliance web site,
Taking the CSPO course is the first step on your path of becoming more Agile.
Eligibility criteria for CSPO is to complete an in-person, two day (16 hour) CSPO course taught by a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST). You will be eligible for 16 Scrum Education Units (SEUs) upon successful completion of this course.
The certification fees is included in the course fees, generally speaking.
To know more about it, visit the CSPO Certification page.
Certified Agile Business Analyst
This certification is for everyone who is involved in business analysis, who wishes to understand their role in an agile environment.
This certification has no eligibility criteria. Any one can appear for this exam from Pearson Vue centres.
This certification exam is one hour long and has 40 questions. Visit the iSQI CABA page for more details.
Conclusion
If you are an aspiring business analyst and have no experience of business analysis, Entry Certificate in Business Analysis (ECBA) from IIBA is the best option. But please keep in mind that as a new business analyst, you should be focusing on practical skills of a business analyst.
If you are an experienced business analyst, then you have multiple options. With around 3-4 years of experience, you can go for either CCBA and PMI-PBA certifications.
With around 5+ years of business analysis experience, you can decide to go for CBAP or BCS consultant or Expert Level.
About Techcanvass
Techcanvass is an IT certifications training academy offering courses in Data Science, Business Analysis and Automation testing.
We are an IIBA Endorsed education provider (EEP) and iSQI authorized training partner.
Our Business Analyst Certification courses are as shown below:
Business Analyst Certification course for new business analysts (IIBA ECBA Certification course)
IIBA CCBA Certification Course
IIBA CBAP Certification Course
iSQI Certified Agile Business Analyst Course
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