Notes from the BABOK 2.0 Launch Webcast

| March 31, 2009 | 9 Comments

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First off, if you didn’t get a chance to attend the webcast, I understand it will be available via the IIBA website in about 4 business days.

Secondly, Kevin and Julian did a nice job with the presentation today and answered a lot of questions. I am glad I attended. Maybe it’s my inner geek coming to the surface, but I was really pretty excited by some of the ideas IIBA is working on and about the new and improved body of knowledge.

I have to admit that I had let my membership lapse over the past few months and had to renew just a few minutes ago just so I can get my hands on a copy of the updated BABOK.

Anyway, below are just a few notes I jotted down while listening that I thought my readers might find interesting.

Wider Appeal

For v2.0, the IIBA made a conscious effort to ensure that the BOK reflects the techniques used by most business analysts, and it applies to a wider range of methods, including agile and BPM.

I recall some felt that previous BABOK offerings were more  traditional, waterfall-type methodology-centric. 2.0 has been mapped against CMMI, agile and DoD methods so far to name a few and is relevant to practitioners using all these methodologies.

What’s next for IIBA?

Here’s the stuff that really interested me. There are no plans or dates for the next version of the BABOK as yet. Instead, the IIBA is working on things such as:

  • Developing specialty-based extensions to the BABOK, such as for the strategic planning-level BA.
  • Launching a community portal for IIBA members. According to Julian, the community will represent IIBA’s efforts to integrate new media and the professional development experience. Expect the community to include collaborative projects on the topic of business analysis, blogs, wikis, group discussions, whitepapers, links to existing resources with ratings by the community and lots of other goodies.
  • Providing the BABOK in wiki format on the community portal. The intent here is to allow community to annotate, add detail, and discuss/refine BOK content. It will enable IIBA to gather feedback from the community to help identify gaps, and it doesn’t have some of the same constraints that a printed document has. In Kevin’s words, it could really become “an encyclopedic resource.”
  • Finding common ground with other professional organizations. PMI was mentioned specifically. It will be interesting to see what synergies can be reached between the two organizations. At the same time, the effort to map the BABOK to other methodologies will continue.

So, what about the CBAP?

  • The CBAP exam will remain based on 1.6 until July 31, 2009. August 1 or later will be against v2.0.
  • The updated exam for 2.0 hasn’t been written yet.
  • Solution assessment & validation will be more important (weighted more) in the 2.0 exams.
  • Another webcast will be scheduled later to discuss the CBAP exam specifically.

Well, there you have my highlights in about 500 words. Obviously much more was covered, such as translation of the BOK into other languages, key differences between 1.6 and 2.0 regarding the knowledge areas, and other items.

Do check out the webinar when it comes out for all the details.

So, did any of you attend the webinar? What were your thoughts and impressions on the whole deal?

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About the Author ()

Jonathan Babcock is a business analyst who thoroughly enjoys what he does. Practical Analyst is his outlet for sharing what he's learned, and for interacting with like-minded folks. To keep up with the latest on Practical Analyst, you can subscribe to the RSS feed, follow Jonathan on Twitter, or view his profile on Linked In.
  • Babokgirl

    I thought Kevin said the BABOL Wiki is an idea and not a full fledged goal yet.?? Also I thought
    Mapping to CMMI and other such models has yet to happen but is in the works??? I could be wrong.

    • http://practicalanalyst.com Jonathan

      Thanks for the comment, Babokgirl!

      Re: The wiki, I think you're right. Most of the stuff mentioned for the community portal was probably more conceptual, although the fact that they were comfortable giving some time to an "idea" as big (and exciting) as that on the webcast tells me they've probably given it some serious thought. Personally, I'll be surprised if they don't see it through.

      As for the mappings, IIBA may not have completed some of the mappings, but a few of Kevin's blog posts tell us they've done quite a bit of work on them. Take a look here for a bit more detail: http://blog.theiiba.org/search?q=mapping

      He specifically mentions work that has been done so far on mappings to CMMI, BPM (WURM?) and Scott Ambler's Agile SDLC. So the mappings are definitely "in the works."

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  • http://intensedebate.com/people/jbabcock JB

    Thanks for the comment, Babokgirl!

    Re: The wiki, I think you're right. Most of the stuff mentioned for the community portal was probably more conceptual, although the fact that they were comfortable giving some time to an "idea" as big (and exciting) as that on the webcast tells me they've probably given it some serious thought. Personally, I'll be surprised if they don't see it through.

    As for the mappings, IIBA may not have completed some of the mappings, but a few of Kevin's blog posts tell us they've done quite a bit of work on them. Take a look here for a bit more detail: <a href="http://blog.theiiba.org/search?q=mapping” target=”_blank”>http://blog.theiiba.org/search?q=mapping

    He specifically mentions work that has been done so far on mappings to CMMI, BPM (WURM?) and Scott Ambler's Agile SDLC. So the mappings are definitely "in the works."

  • http://blog.theiiba.org/ Kevin Brennan

    I have done a CMMI mapping of version 2, but it was based on the draft that we released for feedback last year and not the final text. It needs to be cleaned up and updated before release and I'm trying to get in touch with someone at SEI to see if they'd be interested in looking it over. I think it also needs to be cleaned up and made more understandable. However, if you really need to see it for some reason email me and I could pass along the draft. The big thing I got out of it was that standardization of BA practices mostly takes place at CMMI level 3, as opposed to PM practices which are a focus at level 2.

    The BPMM mapping is more informal, as is the one against Ambler's agile SLDC. I had originally wanted to map against the Scrum PO role but there's no one definitive statement of what that role is that I can use. Nevertheless, I am confident that the IIBA BA role and the Scrum PO role closely map to one another (when talking about custom software for internal use).

    Some kind of wiki is inevitable…we just have some practical and technical issues to sort out before we can say for certain how it can be used for future BABOK development.

  • http://practicalanalyst.com Jonathan

    Thanks for chiming in to clarify, Kevin. Good stuff.

  • http://www.bamentor.com alexpapworth

    Thanks for the update Jonathan. I wasn't able to dial in so I shall look out for it when it's on the web.
    I'm most interested in the community and any collaborative efforts. Anything that creates a source of knowledge on open source lines is bound to be huge.

    The big challenge is getting committed individuals to manage and organise it a la wikipedia.
    I've applied for the knowledge management position in my UK chapter so I may be coming back to IIBA to learn more about this.

  • http://intensedebate.com/people/jbabcock JB

    No problem, Alex.

    Yeah, the community portal-type stuff and wiki are exciting possibilities. I think we'll find that there are plenty who are willing to step up and help organize and contribute.

    By the way, I've been checking in at <a href="http://businessanalystmentor.com” target=”_blank”>http://businessanalystmentor.com periodically, and you've really got the site looking good. Nice work!

  • http://www.bamentor.com alexpapworth

    Thanks. I really like the look of your site and have taken a lot of inspiration from yours.
    I've been trying to find a WordPress widget that gives me the flexibility in managing the sidebar that you have.
    I hope you don't mind if I ask how you have achieved that look.

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