At the recent Project Management Institute Global Congress the Business Analysis Practice Guide was announced, to complement the Professional in Business Analysis certification which was launched in November. InfoQ spoke to Dave Bieg, Business Analysis and Requirements Program Manager about the certification and the practice guide.
Thanks for talking to us, Dave. Please can you explain your role and involvement with the PMI Requirements Community?
I am the Business Analysis and Requirements Program Manager at PMI.Requirements has been an important area of emphasis at PMI for over 20 years Current initiatives include PMI’s Requirements Center of Excellence, including active community of practice areas on PMI.org and ProjectManagement.com; PMI’s Pulse of the Profession® In-Depth Report, Requirements Management: A Core Competency for Project and Program Success PMI’s Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)SM credential, which launched in November; and The Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide, which launches in December.
Why is the PMI addressing Business Analysis with the new certification and the forthcoming Practice Guide?
PMI is offering both in response to industry and practitioner demand. PMI’s recent Pulse of the Profession® In-Depth Report, Requirements Management: A Core Competency for Project and Program Success, reveals that organizations waste US$51 million for every US$1 billion spent on projects and programs due to poor requirements management. This report details the findings of a May 2014 research study, which set out to better understand business analysis and requirements in organizations and how it contributes to projects and programs.
The study also found that far too many organizations lack the necessary resources to do requirements properly, lack practice, and lack maturity in requirements management; only 49% report that they have the necessary resources in place, and only one in four organizations report doing well in recognizing and developing skills needed for effective management of requirements.
Our certification and practice guide help to address these needs. Practitioners and organizations can use them to overcome these issues and increase project and program efficiencies and success through better requirements management.
What will the practice guide cover?
Business analysis involves effort in a variety of domains — from identifying business needs to solution evaluation. Within each of these domains, there are a series of supporting tasks and activities. Each of these tasks are defined and explored within this practice guide. The tasks and activities refine the broad definition and articulate other important aspects of business analysis, such as:
- Facilitating the identification of problems or opportunity analysis for portfolio investment
- Understanding the business environmental context and constraints
- Analyzing requirements
- Verifying requirements
- Evaluating solutions
- and many others
One discriminator of the guide is that it is focused on the “how-to” of business analysis as well as the “what-is.”
Who is the practice guide aimed at?
The Practice Guide is for business analysts who play an active role in defining project requirements, and for project sponsors and stakeholders who champion each initiative. This is critical as organizations demand demonstrated business benefit from every project or program.
What does the certification cover?
The PMI-PBASM highlights expertise in business analysis. It spotlights ability to work effectively with stakeholders to define their business requirements, shape the output of projects and drive successful business outcomes through projects and programs. The specific domain areas include:
- Needs Assessment
- Planning
- Analysis
- Traceability & Monitoring
- Evaluation
Who is the certification for?
Developed with input from a broad range of experts, the PMI-PBA certification addresses the specific role business analysts play in defining project requirements. This is critical as organizations demand demonstrated business benefit from every project or program. With this certification, organizations will now be able to validate the skills, knowledge and competence of business analysis practitioners. Likewise, practitioners will be able to demonstrate their expertise, knowledge and experience in performing business analysis in organizations.
Where can people find out more?
Learn more about requirements here
Learn more about the certification here
Learn more about the Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide here