A Comparison: CBAP®, CPRE-FL & PMI-PBA®

1. A Comparison: CBAP®, CPRE-FL & PMI-PBA® With the addition of PMI’s new certification in Business Analysis in the name of PMI-PBA® the latest question amongst the Business Analysis community is what is the difference when compared to the existing Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) certification from IIBA, Canada and Certified Professional in Requirements Engineering-Foundation Level (CPRE-FL) from International Requirements Engineering Board, Germany. Also if one is looking at the certification which one should they explore? The US Bureau of Labor Stastics has projected that the number of BA jobs is set to increase by about 19% from 2012 during the year 2022 due to the criticality of BA as being a vital function that defines business requirements to shape and scope overall output of projects leading to a higher success rate for businesses. To ensure a better and a consistent quality of requirements in projects it thus becomes critical that the BA’s are skilled, knowledgeable in the best practices and industry standards. For this BA’s are required to acquire these skill sets through certifications offered by the 3 institutes mentioned above in the context of this article. For this important decision on the choice of the certification an individual needs a clear insight about the offerings and the scope that each certification offers. Let’s look at the highest level as to what each of them offers in their framework for individuals to look forward to: While PMI-PBA certification is more focussed on addressing BA in the context of project and program management with a clear orientation on requirements management and development, the CBAP shall look at

2. incorporating enterprise analysis in addition to requirements management. There is an existing, well-established body of knowledge developed by the IIBA, covering all areas of business analysis. The CPRE-FL shall lay special emphasis on covering the fundamentals of the Requirements Engineering domain, methodology and available techniques. Now with the coverage of contents addressed by the 3 certifications let’s look into the eligibility criteria and costing to be considered: So to conclude based on your goal choose the certification and if: • you are an individual wanting to continue to naturally update your skills in lines with project management explore the PMI-PBA certification. • you are open to exploring a wider ambit specialised to more BA activities then explore the CBAP certification. • you are willing to pay an in-depth attention to requirements then CPRE- FL might be a better bet!