Exploring the CBAP (Certified Business Analyst Professional) designation

by Laura Brandau on July 2, 2009 · 4 comments

in Career Advice

This morning I had the great pleasure of speaking with Linda Erzah, CBAP and Executive Director of BAMentor, who is extremely passionate about the BABOK as a tool for business analysts and helping individuals become Certified Business Analyst Profressionals (CBAPs). With the BABOK 2.0 recently released and the availability of new, cost effective training options, [...]

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Sometimes B.A. stands for Being an Ambassador [guest post]

by DougHillJuly 1, 2009

How do you respond to negative energy and confrontational situations? Doug Hill tells us a beautiful story of how small gestures can have a great impact. Enjoy. – Laura
I walked into the office last week and as I turned the corner to my desk, I witnessed it.  It was the breaching of the dam, the [...]

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Is your strength grounded in system knowledge or business analyst competencies?

by Laura BrandauJune 29, 2009

Do you pull from your strengths as in communicating and analyzing or from your knowledge of a system, tool, or industry? If the former, good for you! If the latter, consider refocusing on your business analyst competencies to broaden your perspective and take your business analyst career to the next level.
Let me share a story [...]

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The value of an open mind in conversations

by Laura BrandauJune 25, 2009

We’ve all been there. You go into a conversation with a person you’ve talked to several times before. You are set up for the worst (or the best) or just the status quo. And BAM! Something happens and the conversation takes a turn you weren’t expecting. Now you feel unprepared, disheveled, and maybe downright agitated. [...]

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What do I need to know about affiliate marketing?

by Laura BrandauJune 24, 2009

If you are like me, you like to understand how systems and businesses work. I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about the nature of affiliates last week at the Affiliate Convention here in Denver, Colorado. I learned that affiliate marketing is embedded in much more deeply in the web than I had [...]

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It doesn’t matter if you were right, resist the urge to say “I told you so”

by Laura BrandauJune 22, 2009

Business analysts tend to be detailed, thorough, and well-informed through research. It’s part of what makes us so good at helping people analyze and solve problems. But if we feel committed to letting people know when we’re right (and they are wrong) we can quickly sabotage some of our best relationships and alienate ourselves.
One way [...]

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Making it Work Between Business and IT: There’s No Such thing as Their Problem [guest post]

by DougGtheBAJune 17, 2009

The last couple of posts about the collaboration between Business and IT have revolved around the active reaching out from one side or the other to engage the other team. Much of the commentary described problems with regard to different teams communicating poorly, which resulted in poor understanding of the total picture. Resolutions to these [...]

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On big-L and small-l leadership

by Adriana BealJune 16, 2009

Leadership doesn’t have to be about supervisory authority, big egos, or the popular myth of the hard-driving, high-living CEO. Business analysts, like other brain-powered workers, function on a knowledge-intensive environment that require a whole new form of leadership, practiced among peers, most often in teams. BAs are used to a delineation of leadership duties among [...]

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Job post trends: use of business analyst, product owner, and project manager as a position title

by Laura BrandauJune 14, 2009

With the job market still in churn and available candidates far out-pacing the number of open positions, it make sense to take a step back and evaluate where the job market really is. Is the product owner the new business analyst in an agile environment? Are business analyst position slowly being replaced by project management [...]

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Can we elevate constraints in the requirements process to encourage creativity?

by Laura BrandauJune 10, 2009

One of my favorite shows to watch is improv theater. It wasn’t until this most recent show that I realized why I like it so much. There is something a wee bit magical in experiencing highly intelligent and creative people make you laugh uncontrollably when faced with the most bizarre of constraints. Need to make [...]

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