Business Analysis Homebase

The short version

Probably not. A certificate from a small online training course will never be the single deciding factor between 2 candidates, and even the big courses (IIBA, BCS, etc) aren’t recognised enough to warrant the investment beyond building up skills.

A longer conversation

On the Business Analysis certification front, there is IIBA and BCS who have decent courses run by 3rd parties, which are great ways to learn the skill set if you’re brand new or formalise your knowledge if you’ve never done any formal study but have the work experience. Just know that BA’s don’t have a CISCO CCNA or a Microsoft exam equivalent; Whilst the big courses are equally expensive, they’re not known/recognised outside of other BAs. Plenty of roles ask for “certification in BABOK or equivalent” but can’t tell you what that would look like. If you’re going for the smaller “online only” providers like Udemy or LinkedIn Learning, they’re even less recognised and respected out in industry.

On the technical certification front, there are entire BA careers that will never touch any of the skills you can get certified for, so getting certs then never using it is wasted time, effort, money and brain power. You can learn Google Analytics, R, Power BI, API development and do your barista coffee course but a lot of practical skills are “use it or lose it”. If it’s not a skill you’ll directly use on a semi-regular basis, it can be tough to justify and even tougher to not get rusty.

As mentioned above, there aren’t many certifications that lead to career growth, mainly because the majority aren’t recognised. Lots of people do an MBA, but that’s more for Director and Management career paths rather than your more traditional BA.

So pick up the skills you’re interested in because the “I got a cert from a [insert company here]” doesn’t make careers, passion and your achievement does.

But my work is paying for it!

Hey, go for it, if they’ll fund it and pay for your time to study, then you really have nothing to lose. No expense and paid study time is a great way to convince staff to up-skill, so take advantage.

So where should I study?

We are not affiliated nor sponsored by any of these organisations, below are the largest international providers:

International Institute of Business Analysis

ℹ Experience and Education requirements must be met before sitting an exam.

• Certification of Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA)
• Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP)
• Endorsed Education Provider Training

Project Management Institute

ℹ Experience and Education requirements must be met before sitting an exam.

• Link to certifications

British Computer Society

A modular approach, allowing candidates to gain individual certifications in specific areas before taking overarching exams at Foundation Level, Practitioner Level, Professional Level and Consultant/Expert Level.

• Link to certifications

Stefan Carton

Updated: 1/08/2022