The learning process to achieve the certification is divided into Domains, which was specified in PBA-Examination Content Outline. So, the next 5 tasks for you are to prepare for each Domain. You need to download the next to do this, if you haven’t done this before:
- The PMI Guide to Business Analysis (The Guide to BA)
- Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide (The Practice Guide)
- PMBOK Guide – Sixth Edition
NOTE: You cannot simply practice answering questions to prepare for the BPM exam. The questions are provided to help you assess your knowledge and to get you familiar with the types of questions that are on the exam. Make sure you focus your study efforts on reading Guides of PMI and other books, watching videos, passing mock exams, review your Knowledge Map, and filling gaps in your knowledge of Business Analysis.
If you haven’t read Introductions of these three Guides yet, it’s time to do it now, before you will start the tasks of this phase.
The Guide to BA provides a framework of suggested Process Groups, corresponding processes, Knowledge Areas, inputs, and outputs. To receive the most value from the Guide to BA, PMI recommends its use in conjunction with the Practice Guide. Where the Guide to BA describes the “what”, the Practice Guide describes the “how to.” For example, the guide describes what technique can be used while the practice guide describes how to perform the technique.
BA processes in the framework of Domains
According to PBA-Exam-Outline, there are five steps – five domains for exam preparation. The table below shows how the information from Guide to BA is divided into Domains.
| DEFINING AND ALIGNING | INITIATING | PLANNING (Domain 2) | EXECUTING | MONITORING AND CONTROLLING | RELEASING | |
| NEEDS ASSESSMENT (Domain 1) |
4.1 Identify Problem or Opportunity 4.2 Assess Current State 4.3 Determine Future State 4.4 Determine Viable Options and Provide Recommendation 4.5 Facilitate Product Roadmap Development 4.6 Assemble Business Case |
4.7 Support Charter Development | ||||
| STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT | 5.1 Identify Stakeholders |
5.2 Conduct Stakeholder Analysis 5.3 Determine Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Approach 5.4 Conduct Business Analysis Planning |
5.5 Prepare for Transition to Future State | 5.6 Manage Stakeholder Engagement and Communication 5.7 Assess Business Analysis Performance |
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| ELICITATION | 6.1 Determine Elicitation Approach |
6.2 Prepare for Elicitation 6.3 Conduct Elicitation 6.4 Confirm Elicitation Results |
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| ANALYSIS (Domain 3) |
7.1 Determine Analysis Approach |
7.2 Create and Analyze Models 7.3 Define and Elaborate Requirements 7.4 Define Acceptance Criteria 7.5 Verify Requirements 7.6 Validate Requirements 7.7 Prioritize Requirements and Other Product Information 7.8 Identify and Analyze Product Risks 7.9 Assess Product Design Options |
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| TRACEABILITY & MONITORING (Domain 4) |
8.1 Determine Traceability and Monitoring Approach |
8.2 Establish Relationships and Dependencies 8.3 Select and Approve Requirements |
8.4 Manage Changes to Requirements and Other Product Information | |||
| SOLUTION EVALUATION (Domain 5) |
9.1 Evaluate Solution Performance | 9.2 Determine Solution Evaluation Approach | 9.3 Evaluate Acceptance Results and Address Defects | 9.4 Obtain Solution Acceptance for Release |
Сorrelation with Project Management
Sometimes, business analysis and project management activities overlap, which is why these roles work closely together. Project managers are responsible for the successful delivery of the project, while business analysts are responsible for successful delivery of the product. Therefore, the processes presented and discussed in The Guide to BA are product focused. However, The Guide to BA has the mapping tables located in the Process Group introductions to compare project management processes in PMBOK Guide (Sixth Edition) to business analysis processes to understand how business analysis is used to support successful project management. Our lists of project management processes in tasks of the phase “PBA Domain Learning” are based on these tables. It is essential to learn PMBOK Guide also.
You will learn about Relationships among PM and BA Process Groups deeper making the “Learn the Standard for Business Analysis” task.
Help your mates to become PBAs!
Write your comment below if you know the books, videos, articles, and tutorials, which help to learn the PMI Guides.