About the Exam
CBAP or Certified Business Analysis Professional is a renowned business analysis certification organized by International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). It is designed for professionals who have significant working experience in the field of Business Analysis. This certification validates your mastery of effective planning, advanced documentation, and creating business solutions. There are six knowledge areas defined in the BABOK® Guide. Those knowledge areas are requirements management & communication, requirements analysis, business analysis planning & monitoring, solution assessment & validation, elicitation, and enterprise analysis.
This is the world’s most recognized certification in the world. For professionals having over 5 years of industry experience, CBAP is the best certification. It is regarded very highly in the circuit of Systems Analysis, Requirement Analysis, Business Consulting & of course Business Analysis.
Eligibility for the Exam
For attempting the exam, candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria
- Complete a minimum of 7,500 hours of Business Analysis Work experience in the last 10 years.
- Within this experience, a minimum of 900 hours completed in 4 of the 6 BABOK® Guide Knowledge Areas, for a total of at least 3,600 of the required 7,500 total.
- Complete a minimum of 35 hours of Professional Development in the last 4 years.
- Provide two references.
- Agree to Code of Conduct.
- Agree to Terms and Conditions.
- Pass the exam.
Who is This Certification Right For?
The CBAP certification is for:
- Individuals with significant experience in business analysis
- Individuals with a CCBA™ designation
- Product Managers
- Non-BA consultants
- Trainers
- Hybrid Business Analysis professionals, including: Project Manager, Testers, Quality Assurance (QA) professionals, Change/Transformation Managers, and Designers.
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Benefits of CBAP Certification
The Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP®) offers members of the BA community a variety of benefits, including:
- Highlighting their expertise
- Demonstrated senior knowledge and professional competence
- Marketability, employability and earning potential
- Success and path to leadership
- It demonstrates you have the knowledge, competencies, and experience as a highly effective business analysis professional.
- It allows you to stand out to employers and peers by showcasing your dedication to your career and the profession of business analysis.
CBAP recognizes your expertise in multiple business domains and your ability to tackle more complex projects, work with stakeholders to define and manage their business requirements, drive business processes, lead the BA effort, and identify opportunities to achieve better business results. The IIBA® Annual Business Analysis Salary Survey(1) reports that the average salary of respondents with CBAP® certification holders is 13% higher on average in earnings in comparison to non-certification holders.
To summarize, the benefits also include
- A globally reputed certification from IIBA
- Member of a reputed professional group
- Understanding of the principles and practices of business analysis
- Definite career path with specialized knowledge on technology industry
- Better job roles in organizations
Companies have hired more CBAP recipients in recent years owing to their skill sets and expertise in business analysis. Also a CBAP designation holder earns more salary than a non-credential business analyst. Thus, with a CBAP designation, you earn better job opportunities, better income and global recognition. According to Indeed.com, a CBAP earns an average salary of $90,000 every year.
Salary for IIBA
As per the latest salary survey of IIBA.
- CBAP Certified Professionals earn 16% more
- There is an 11% increment in salary for certification holders than the overall average salary
- The expected salary increase is in the range of 15 -20%
The median salary of a CBAP is in the range of $90–92,000 and IIBA asserts that certified CBAPs earn around 15% more than non-certified Business Analysts.
CBAP Exam Blueprint
| Business analysis planning and monitoring | 14% |
| Elicitation and collaboration | 12% |
| Requirements life cycle management | 15% |
| Strategy analysis | 15% |
| Requirements analysis and design definition | 30% |
| Solution evaluation | 14% |
CBAP Certification Cost and Recertification Process
The validity of CBAP certification from IIBA is 3 years and it needs to be renewed. The application fee is $125 USD and is not refundable, regardless of whether your application is approved or declined. The exam fee is $325 USD for IIBA members and $450 USD for non-members. IIBA does not disclose the passing score or the percentage. All we know is that it is based on BABOK v3. However, given past passing percentages, it is safe to assume that the score is around 70%.
The purpose of renewing CBAP certification/ recertification is to:
- Encourage the ongoing professional development of recipients, ensuring that business analysis professionals are keeping up with changes in the profession.
- Encourage and recognize individual growth.
- Encourage the efforts of recipients to give back to the profession.
- Offer a standard and objective mechanism for recording professional development activities.
- Sustain the global recognition and value of our designations.
The process of getting re-certified requires the candidate to earn at least 60 CDUS (Continuing Development Units) in the three years’ time. These CDUs need to be logged into the reporting form which then needs to be attached to the Recertification Application, which can be found at the official site of IIBA. Finally, a recertification fee needs to be paid to complete the process.
You should fill the CBAP CDU Reporting Form. Then, fill the CBAP Recertification Application form, attaching your completed CDU reporting form to it. You need to pay $85 for members / $120 non-members towards recertification. IIBA must receive the CBAP recipient’s re-certification application package including payment by their certification expiration date. If recertification is declined for any reason, IIBA shall send a decline notice.
Where to Get Online Resources for CBAP?
IIBA’s portal offers the relevant training materials and practice exams for the main exam. Apart from that, providers like PluralSight, Adaptive US, Simpli Learn, Udemy all offer relevant coursework and other resources to prepare for the exam.
