enclyclopedia.jpgThinking of trying your hand at business analysis? Already a BA, and want to find information that will help you hone your skills? Just wondering what in the world a Business Analyst is, and what he/she does? If so, I hope you’ll find this post helpful.

There are lots of great Web resources available to BA’s and those with similar interests. Below is a list of just a few of my current favorites, in no particular order:

  • “Nexus“ – the Tyner Blain powered repository of select articles is quickly becoming a solid networking and social bookmarking center for folks interested in systems and product development. The Tyner Blain blog is also one of my first stops for informative, and intuitive information on systems development. Scott used the development of Nexus as a teaching opportunity as he walked his blog audience step-by-step from conception through implementation as an example of an agile approach to system development.
  • Catalyze is a new community portal for people interested in business analysis, project management, and UI design that appears to have a lot of potential. Scott provides a nice summary of Catalyze here.
  • Requirements Network Articles [free registration required] are authored by industry leaders on a wide variety of topics and issues facing today’s Business Analyst.
  • The Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) from the IIBA is a resource that spans the entire breadth of business analysis. It includes standards, definitions and best practices. The CBAP exam for Business Analyst professional certification is based on the BABOK.
  • Business Analyst’s Handbook is a relatively new wiki with great potential as a quick-reference tool for information about business analysis. The handbook’s founder, Craig Brown, also has a blog with lots of good information on business analysis and project management.

Also on my short list of sites to visit are the following:

Not that I have a great deal to add to this fine list, but, as this is my blog, I’ll allow myself a little personal plug as well.

I sift through feeds from numerous industry-related blogs each day and cherry pick my favorite articles that apply to business analysis, project management and systems development and list the most recent 25 of them in the “Faves from Other Blogs” section on the near-right sidebar of this site.

If you’re doing more research on business analysis, project management and systems development, and want to save yourself wading through the search engine gobbledy-gook, check out my del.icio.us page. You’re bound to find something of use there. Add me to your network if you’d like.

What are your favorite BA resources? Have a Business Analysis community or blog that you’d like to plug? Please let me know. I’ll look forward to your comments!