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Business Analyst Course
Need, Focus, Types of BA Training, Course Coverage, Providers
In the modern age of digital transformation, the role of a business analyst is more important than ever. Business analysts provide organizations with an in-depth understanding of how to best use technology and data to develop innovative strategies and solutions. If you’re looking to join the ranks of successful business analysts, then taking a business analyst course can be a great way to get started. In this blog post, we'll discuss why it's important, how it can help you reach your goals, what makes a good business analyst course, what you can expect in a business analyst course and some of the reputed providers of business analyst courses.
Need for Business Analyst Course
The Business Analyst role is crucial to the success of any organization. By definition, Business Analysts are responsible for improving processes and systems within an organization. In order to be successful in this role, it is essential to have strong analysis, stakeholder management and problem-solving skills.
A business analyst course can provide you with the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful in this role. The course will teach you how to effectively communicate with stakeholders, understand business requirements, and create solution designs that meet those requirements. You will also learn how to use various tools and techniques to improve processes and systems within an organization.
If you are looking for a career that is both challenging and rewarding, then a career as a Business Analyst may be right for you. With the right skills and training, you can make a real difference in an organization and help it to succeed.
39%* of project failures are attributable to poor business analysis. Organizations with high BA maturity out-perform in multiple aspects. * According to the PMI Pulse of the Profession® report
Here is an interesting summary of the research carried out by PMI, USA.
Business analysts transform businesses. They make digital transformation easier. They facilitate change. Business analysts wear many hats. They translate complex processes into developer language during system development. They drive change and act as information conduits.
Investing into business analyst training will provide one of the highest returns on the investment to the organization.
Business analysts transform businesses. They make digital transformation easier. They facilitate change. Business analysts wear many hats. They translate complex processes into developer language during system development. They drive change and act as information conduits.
“Business analysts enable the organization to choose the right business needs, define stakeholder needs correctly, and enable stakeholders to move to a better state.”
Investing into business analyst training will provide one of the highest returns on the investment to the organization.
Who should join the business analyst course?
If you want to pursue a career in business analysis, then a business analyst course is ideal for you. The course will help you understand the various aspects of business analysis and equip you with the skills required to be a successful business analyst.
The course is designed for individuals who want to pursue a career in business analysis or are already working as business analysts. It will benefit those who want to improve their understanding of the subject and learn new techniques. The course is also suitable for those who want to change their career path and move into business analysis.
Focus of Business Analyst Training
As business analysis is a huge domain, organizations need to carefully choose the areas to focus during the business analyst training. It is possible to train on multiple focus areas but they are better done when conducted with a single focus. 4 dominant focus areas of business analyst training are:
- Business needs analysis training
- Business data analysis training
- Business process analysis training
- Business performance analysis training
Business needs analysis training
In business needs analysis training, the focus is to understand organizational problems (mainly poor process performance) issues, think about developing a solution, largely software applications. The training focus is primarily on planning the business needs analysis, eliciting stakeholder requirements for the new solution, describing them in sufficient detail so that developers can build the software to fulfill the business needs.
Business data analysis training
In business data analysis training, the focus is to understand organizational problems (mainly poor process performance) issues, identify underlying causes using data, identifying business opportunities, answering research questions posed by stakeholders. The training focus is primarily on planning the business data analysis, understand stakeholder information needs, collect data, build models to predict process performance. Data analysis can be effectively used to identify likely fraudulent transactions, predict customer behavior, suggest products that customer is likely to buy etc.
Business process analysis training
In business process analysis training, the focus is to understand process problems and issues, identify underlying causes using data, identifying process improvement opportunities, implementing process improvement suggestions and monitoring process performance. The training focus is primarily on planning the process analysis, collect data, build models to understand process performance.
Business performance analysis training
In business performance analysis training, the focus is to define organizational performance metrics, identify performance variances against targets set, trends of organizational performance metrics, and identify areas of improvement.
Types of Business Analyst Training
Skill improvement-oriented business analyst training
Skill improvement training focus on improving specific skills for the business analysts. It may cover aspects like how to conduct effective requirements elicitation, how to model requirements, how to analyze data using excel etc. These trainings are usually short and have in-class assignments. These types of training are quite popular with corporate customers. Read benefits of skill training.
Certifications-oriented business analyst training
Certification training focus on improving knowledge of the business analysts. It may cover much broader concepts compared to skill improvement training. Other than covering topics such as how to conduct effective requirements elicitation, how to model requirements, these may cover aspects such as change strategy, solution performance evaluation. These trainings are usually long and do not have in-class assignments. These types of training are quite popular with practicing business analysts. Read benefits of certifications.
Boot camps
Intensive adult software training programs, also called as boot camps have become popular in recent years as the software skills gap has widened. Boot camps are rigorous and fast-paced, combine theory, hands-on applications, and support towards interview preparation skills (e.g., resume-building, interviewing etc.). Explore Business Analysis Boot Camp here.
What Business Analyst training covers
In most business analyst courses, students can expect to cover a range of topics related to business analysis. This may include learning how to effectively communicate with stakeholders, requirements gathering techniques, business process modeling, and data analysis. Many courses may also include a project where students can put their skills into practice.
Sample Deliverables Produced During the Business Analyst Training
Sample deliverables produced during Business needs analysis training
- User stories and acceptance criteria
- UI prototypes
- Process models
- Business requirements document
- System Requirements document
Sample deliverables produced during Business data analysis training
- User stories and acceptance criteria
- Research questions
- Data visualizations
- Regression models
- Reports on findings
Sample deliverables produced during Business process analysis training
- Current performance metrics
- Process models
- Process analysis findings
- Improvement suggestions
Sample deliverables produced during Business performance analysis training
- Current performance metrics
- Performance analysis findings
- Improvement suggestions
Tools Covered During the Business Analyst Training
Tools taught during Business needs analysis training
Popular tools covered during the business needs analysis training are:
- Flowcharting and process modeling tools such as MS Visio
- Requirements management tools such as Jira
- Prototyping tools such as Balsamiq
- Documentation tools such as Confluence
- Modeling tools such as StarUML
Tools taught during Business data analysis training
Popular tools covered during the business data analysis training are:
- Simple data analysis tools such as MS Excel
- Statistical analysis tools such as Minitab
- Advanced data analysis tools such as R
- Data analysis programming language such as Python
Tools taught during Business process analysis training
Popular tools covered during the business process analysis training are:
- Simple data analysis tools such as MS Excel
- Statistical analysis tools such as Minitab
- Case management tools
Tools taught during Business performance analysis training
Popular tools covered during the business performance analysis training are:
- Simple data analysis tools such as MS Excel
- Ratio analysis techniques
Certifications Associated with The Business Analyst Training
Many business analyst training sessions qualify for taking up certification exams later on. Do make sure that the training is recognized by the certification body.
Certifications Associated with Business Needs Analysis
- IIBA ECBA
- IIBA CCBA
- IIBA CBAP
- BCS BA foundations
- IREB CPRE-FL
Certifications - Business data analysis
- IIBA CBDA
- Certified Analytics Professional (CAP)
Certifications - Business process analysis
- Motorola University – Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt
- American Society for Quality - Six Sigma Green Belt and Black Belt
- International Association for Six Sigma Certification - Certified Lean Practitioner
Certifications - Business performance analysis training
- Corporate Finance Institute - Financial Analysis Fundamentals
How to select the right business analyst course
As a business analyst, you need to have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. You also need to be able to communicate effectively with different stakeholders in an organization. If you want to develop these skills further, you should consider taking a business analyst course.
However, with so many courses available, it can be difficult to know which one is right for you. Here are some things to consider when choosing a business analyst course:
1. The content of the course: Make sure that the course covers the topics that you want to learn about. For example, if you want to learn about data analysis techniques, make sure that the course includes this topic in its syllabus.
2. The level of the course: There are introductory courses as well as more advanced ones. Choose a course based on your current level of knowledge and experience.
3. The format of the course: Some courses are offered online while others are classroom-based. Consider your learning style and choose a course format that suits you best.
4. The price of the course: Courses can vary widely in price. Make sure to compare the price of different courses before making a decision.
Organizations providing business analyst courses
- Adaptive US Inc., USA
- IRM Training, Australia
- IAG Consulting, Canada