PMBOK vs BABOK

We seem to be getting into “the operation was a success but the patient died.” No doubt some people think of the roles in very narrow ways, such as define a product vs. define and oversee completion of the project tasks needed to deliver the product. In my experience, though, both are judged by others based on whether the delivered product/system/software provides needed value.

Effective project managers know for their project to succeed, they and the project must have a valid and reliable understanding of the needed value and how to achieve it, so they can guide the project in fact to deliver it. Business analysis is the process for obtaining such understandings.

If there is no business analyst charged with performing such business analysis, or if the people/role(s) assigned to perform the business analysis don’t do it adequately (which unfortunately is very common, even with certified and/or experienced business analysts), the project and its manager still need adequate analysis to know what to deliver, to determine how to deliver it, and to make sure it not only is delivered as defined but also in fact provides needed value. Hitting budgets and schedules is necessary but not sufficient. “The analysis was poor” is not an acceptable excuse.

Wow! This thread has given me more understanding than dozen of books and webinars!
In my projects I usually considered business-analysts as specialsts in modeling "as to be" IDEF0 diagrams. And I didn't understand why they thought that I was wrong, that there work was something else.
Now I have much more clearence about their role.
I wanted to get the PMI-PBA, but it is hard to prove the 3-year BA experience, if you work as PM.

Hello,
i've been following the evolution of both roles since 2007. The time frame is important because at that time most of the "projects" demand a clear understanding of the requisites that compose the scope before progressing to implementation. The professional would spend a considerable part of his workday managing the requisites and everything else, e.g. writing or compiling a request for proposal with the team, analyzing the proposals, selecting the vendor and then moving forward with the implementation.

Although i do agree PM and BA are different roles working on together is harder said than done. Nowadays i'm managing a project where the vendor has a PM working with the several BAs. The BA understands the requisite and pass it down to the development team.

The PMBOK and the PMI-PBA has many similarities with the BABOK.

In the end the issue for me is does it make sense to pay both certifications?

@Kik, apparently I didn’t explain adequately, for being a ‘backstop’ was not at all my main focus. Rather, I’m saying to do his/her job, the Project Manager must understand the business, its needed value, and the set of what I call REAL business requirements deliverable _whats_ that will achieve the value when satisfied by a product/system/software way _how_ to satisfy the business _whats_ that the project implements.

We call the process for gaining such understandings ‘business analysis.’ It may be carried out by someone called a ‘business analyst’ or by other roles including in many instances the project manager. Regardless, to be effective, a project manager must understand business analysis sufficiently to assure it is performed, and more importantly performed adequately, to thereby provide the basis for a project which successfully provides needed value.

IMHO, neither BABOK nor PMBOK recognize or deal adequately with this essential aspect of projects; and unfortunately too narrowly following either could actually lead projects astray.