PMI-PBA vs. PMI-ACP

Good Luck Rich

Good to see that somebody is "on the side of the light" (hehehehe). Business Analysit is the critical role to help organizations to perform the needed transformations to implement Agile. That is something missing. I have experienced it from years ago.

Good point Sergio. But then I would recommend even better certification when it comes to a blank space in agile transformation apart from agile project managers, and that is BRMP, Business Management Professional. That is role specifically designed to operate on a strategic level and connect business strategy with IT portfolio. This role is skilled to define the large solution requirements and define priorities for program and product managers in large enterprises. Business Analyst, especially as in the scope of PMI-PBA, is more suitable to play key role in program or project teams.

Thanks Lenka. I was the leader to implement BRM and BA role in my current work place. You are talking about IT but Agile is not related to IT or software. Agile is related to the enterprise as a whole, That is the way Agile was born. BAs are not related to projects. BAs are related to strategy and solution from idea formulation to implementation and monitoring. BRMs and BAs are the same but BRM institute people were smarter than IIBA and PMI (PMI statrted to play in the field of business analysis later) and they are positioning harder in the market. No matter that, if you ask me, I would go for the PMI-PBA. But, as I stated previously, in my personal case, to decide about a certification is a matter of estimation on future market demands.

Hi Sergio, I agree with all what you’re saying about agile and enterprise wide approach. But when it comes to BRM I see that differently. I have both BRM and PBA trainings and certificates and I was also head of BRM team for a large corporation.
IT is a key enabler for agile when talking about enterprise level. Agile mindset is one think, you need to see opportunities for learning and use that for supporting change, that’s all good, but once you start improving processes and want to bring up to speed your reactiveness, you see how many limits or opportunities are given by IT functions, it’s hard to avoid that. Digitalization is a great example. But then becomes crucial how are you able to understand company value chain and connect business strategy with IT strategy.
When I compare the scope of BRM and PBA preparation, I really believe BRM fits much more, it is more conceptual and broader. PBA focuses a lot on requirements management, agile techniques but not that much on strategic topics. I’m not saying at all that a Business Analyst as a person cannot take BRM role, sure they can. It depends a lot on company size and their experience. But from certification and preparation point of view I think PBA is not enough.

Thank you very much for your time because I learned a lot from your comment. IT is not a key enabler for Agile. Agile is a practice that was created in 1990 as an alternative of Lean (because that Agile and Lean are not the same). For a chance of the destiny I was part of the genesis as well as I was part of the genesis of business analysis. Business analysis was born in 1990 not matter the IIBA was formally created time before. BRM is a new endeavour that was created in 2013 and I think if PMI really push BA then BRM will not to much success to survive. At the end, unfortunatelly, all the institutes that started with a good reason after some time forget that we are here performing a role and only think about to transform role and practices into business.

Sometimes I wish we can talk in real time, I appreciate your views yet I disagree:) But I’ll open new discussion thread because we are now moving out of the original question of Rich.

Btw I know personally one of the BRMI co-founders and he was working on the concept for about 40 years so I don’t consider that a new endavour that would emerge recently. But yes, I agree on the point that PMI does not push BA and does not use its potential.