International Institute of Business Analysis(TM) (IIBA(R)) announces international public review of A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge(R) (BABOK(R) Guide v3)

• Reflects growing global demand for strategic BA professionals with enterprise-wide vision

TORONTO, May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide v3) sets the standards for the way millions of business analysis professionals do their work in companies and organizations all over the world.

The International Institute of Business Analysis™ (IIBA®) announced today the launch of the International Public Review of A Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge® (BABOK® Guide v3). Developed over the last three years, the BABOK® Guide v3 will be released to business analysis professionals in a review that will last until July 11, 2014. During this time, business analysis professionals from any industry sector or discipline, including information technology, process improvement, business analytics or business transformation can provide their input and feedback for incorporation into the final standard.

"Businesses today are under increasing pressure from new technologies, global competition, and competitors with innovative business models. We set out to meet the changing demands of business leaders who need business analysis professionals who can find solutions to these challenges and align those solutions with the strategic needs of the business," said Kevin Brennan, IIBA's Chief Business Analyst and Executive Vice President. "BABOK® Guide v3 reflects today's business demands.

"The BABOK® Guide is the world's only consensus-driven, community built standard for business analysis professionals. We need BAs at all levels and from every country in the world to review this draft and to help us shape the future of the profession through their feedback."

The BABOK® Guide v3 is being released in the wake of a U.S. Department of Labor Statistics report suggesting demand for BA skills are expected to grow by 22% by 2020. A Canadian Information and Communications Council report also anticipating double-digit growth in the profession, and warned that current educational programs may fail to meet the demand for this high-profile emerging profession. In its CIO Survey last year, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited said that business analysis skills are more in demand than those of any other profession, and that companies and organizations are looking for business analysis professionals who will align technology projects to business strategy, who drive ongoing process improvement, and who deliver innovative solutions.

The BABOK® Guide v3 is the product of a truly global effort that brought together 70 volunteers from 20 countries spanning business analysis professionals from 15 industries. It was led by a nine-member committee of recognized thought leaders in business analysis representing six different countries.

As the recognized global leader in business analysis, IIBA introduced the first BABOK® Guide in 2005 to establish an international standard that reflected best practice and provided an industry framework that groups together related sets of tasks and techniques. Each of these tasks and techniques describes the typical knowledge, skills, processes, and deliverables that the business analyst requires to be able to perform those tasks competently. The BABOK® Guide serves as the basis for university courses, competency and skill development, and professional development around the world. Over the last 10 years the BABOK® Guide has been developed to reflect the evolution of the BA profession and it has been translated into French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.

BABOK® Guide v3 reflects the new enterprise-wide view of business analysis and includes:

• The introduction of the Business Analysis Core Concept Model™ (BACCM™), a guide that creates a common language and understanding around important terms used among business analysis professionals. The model ensures these terms have common meaning, language and terminology no matter what field they are used in or where they are used around the world.
• Support for business analysis within strategic planning, business transformation, process re-engineering and improvement, and information technology projects.
• Five Perspectives that expand the understanding of where business analysis professionals can add value including Agile, business intelligence, information technology, business architecture and business process management.
• A comprehensive examination and update of techniques and underlying competencies that business analysis professionals require.

"This version responds to a growing world-wide demand for strategic business analysis professionals who align technology projects to business strategy, drive ongoing process improvement and deliver innovative solutions,'' said Ashish Mehta, a volunteer regional director of IIBA. "It marks an important milestone in the evolution of the business analysis profession and establishes a new standard by positioning BAs as leaders who contribute to enterprise-wide success through alignment of change with strategy and innovation in business architecture, processes and information technology."

The public review follows a practitioner assessment that engaged dozens of professionals around the world and generated more than 3,000 comments. In this phase, business analysis professionals will use a new commenting tool to post suggestions, propose edits and submit feedback. Comments can be posted by individuals, companies or collectively by study groups or IIBA Chapters. The IIBA standards development process follows best practices of other standards development bodies around the world, and is designed to guarantee that the concerns of all stakeholders are taken into account before the final release of version 3.