What was the PMI-PBA Test Really Like? - ASPE SDLC What was...Benefits of Any Certification • Demonstrate (not prove) a prescribed level of knowledge and/or skill • Separate the

What was the PMI-PBA Test

Really Like?

By Rob Snowden, CBAP, CSM,

PMI-PBA

I took it and passed it

OMG

• Will the PMI-PBA devalue my CBAP?

• Will I now have to make a career-defining

decision on which certification to get?

• Will employers who are now requesting or

requiring a CBAP also request or require a PMI-

PBA, or will they request a PMI-PBA instead of a

CBAP?

• Why does the business analysis arena need two

certifications?

Why Are They Doing This?

• This is not a new area for PMI. Defining requirements is

a longstanding area of focus at PMI

• PMI’s Pulse of the Profession illustrated for us that when

projects fail, inaccurate requirements gathering is often

the primary reason (32% of the time)

• Poor requirements management practices are the

second leading cause of project failure

• Requirements have always been a component of project

management

• In short: the business analysis arena is so large in scope

that multiple certifications may certainly be called for

Benefits of Any Certification

• Demonstrate (not prove) a prescribed level of knowledge

and/or skill

• Separate the ‘amateurs,’ from ‘professionals’

• Demonstrate certain amounts of dedication

• Provide motivation to many to burn the midnight oil and

learning how to play the role better

• PMI’s Global Product Manager for the PBA, Ms. Simona

Fallavollita states, “the PMI-PBA recognizes and validates

the critical role that business analysis plays in programs

and projects.”

How Do They Mesh Together?

• The IIBA appears to be moving away from project

oriented business analysis and more toward a strategic

role

• PMI is more project-specific

• Kevin Brennan, Chief Business Analyst (CBA) and

Executive Vice President of the IIBA responds: “Is

business analysis equal to requirements management

and change control? No. Those are things that a

business analyst has to do but aren't the center of our

profession, although they appear to be very heavily

emphasized by the content of the PMI-PBA.”

How Do They Mesh Together?

• “The core purpose of business analysis is to identify and

define changes to an enterprise that deliver value to its

stakeholders.”

• “Business analysts should be focused on business

success, not project success. Project success is the

consequence of effective business analysis, not its

purpose.”

PBA vs CBAP Process?

• This presentation will focus on the PBA

but include some comparisons to the

CBAP process.

The

overall

PMI-PBA

process:

1. Download the PMI-PBA Handbook

2. Understand how to count project

hours

3. Submit the application and $555 if

non-member, $405 if member

4. Receive approval

5. Select the date and time you take

the test

6. If you fail, it is $375 non-member,

$275 member to retake it.

PMI’s Definition of a BA The PMI-PBA Role Delineation states that

candidates for the PMI-PBA credential:

• Perform their duties under general supervision

and are responsible for working with

stakeholders to define an organization’s

business requirements in order to shape the

output of projects and ensure they deliver the

expected business benefit.

.

• Spearhead the discovery, analysis and overall

management of the requirements for a project.

• Demonstrate sufficient knowledge and

experience to appropriately apply business

analysis tools and techniques to enable project

success.

Eligibility

The Application “You need a minimum of 2,000 hours of unique, non-overlapping experience accrued

within the last eight years. This means that each month you worked on multiple,

overlapping projects (projects that ran simultaneously) counts as one month toward the

total requirement.”

For each project, you enter the start and stop months, organizational details,

contacts (for audit purposes) and be very careful about overlapping projects.

The details for each project are pretty minimal.

The Application “Use the General Project Experience Worksheet in the application to record your

general project experience. This can include your business analysis experience, as long

as it was within the context of a project. Record each project you worked on

individually”

So, for the project below, this was the portion of the project that was pure PM work.

The details for each project are pretty minimal.

The Application

But for the same project, I included the work that was pure BA in the separate

section for BA work.

These two activities wouldn’t count as BA work for the CBAP – “Coordinated

testing” might, maybe, squeak by but who knows?

The Application

• In general, PMI-PBA application was easier/faster than the IIBA CBAP

application

• CBAP had check blocks for each Knowledge Area that was

peppered with things a BA should not actually be doing (See

“Tasks to Avoid on Application”)

• CBAP required at least 900 hours in 4 of the 6 Knowledge Areas

(See Excel spreadsheet) The PMI did not have that differentiation

concern.

• The PMI-PBA Handbook was very helpful in completing the application

• The approval of my application was very fast

• PMI staff was very helpful with my questions when I called

CBAP Calculations Template

Preparing for the Test

• There is no equivalent of the BA Body of

Knowledge to study as prep for the CBAP

• When I took the test (July 25, 2014), there were

no prep courses or practice exams

• All that was available were the 11 textbooks from

which the test was derived

BA Work?

• Read, re-read the BABOK - underline

• Memorize the glossary

• Take prep course or obtain prep

materials

• Use flashcards to test yourself

• Learn test taking strategies

(eliminating wrong answers, focus on

what they are asking, etc.)

• Take practice tests over and over

• Understand why you are missing

questions – make a list

• Stop connecting the test questions to

anything you’ve done on real projects

• Drink lots of coffee

• Try not to bite fingernails or acquire

other habits reflecting how stressed

you are about taking the test.

• Order the 11 textbooks

• Stare at the stack and experience

buyer’s remorse

• Realize there is no way you can

possibly remember what’s in those

books

• Review test taking strategies

• Become very relaxed about the test –

so what if you fail? It’s only $555!

And then you’ll know the kind of things

on it.

• Get a good night’s sleep.

• Be prepared to be treated like a

fugitive when you get to the testing

center.

Preparing for the Test

CBAP (Fall 2011) PMI-PBA (Summer 2014)

• Prometric provides testing for many disciplines

• Expect a waiting room of anxious test takers

• You are given a locker and all you can take into the testing

area is your driver’s license and locker key (and clothes you

are wearing)

• They use a wand over your entire body

• You need to turn your pockets out, pull up your pants to

verify no notes are stuck in your socks, roll up your sleeves

• You are given 4 pieces of vinyl “paper” and a pencil to write

what you want (you must turn it in at the end of the test)

• Once you finish the tutorial, the clock starts and you watch it

count down and track at which question you are at out of

200 (175 of which are scored)

• You have 4 hours to take the test

• You can take a break, but the clock runs, rescanned

• A camera above you is always on

The Testing Center - Prometric

• At least most of it is based on the

BABOK

• If you have memorized the

glossary, and are very familiar with

the various terms and knowledge

areas, many questions are easy

• Flag the ones you are not sure of or

you are spending more than a

minute on to review at the end

• Through test taking strategies,

eliminate definitely wrong answers

– a made up term, something a BA

would never do (per the BABOK)

Taking The CBAP (150 Questions)

• Be careful about what is being asked

– which is what you SHOULDN’T DO,

WHICH IS THE LEAST LIKELY. . .,

WHICH IS THE BEST ACTION TO

TAKE NEXT, etc.

• Never relate any question to a project

you worked on, there were more

factors involved than what is posed in

the question

• There are questions I had no idea

what the right answer was – so after

eliminating wrong answers, guess,

leaving it blank is always wrong.

Taking The CBAP (150 Questions)

• Since it is based on those 11

textbooks, you have no anchor to

eliminate things that aren’t in the

BABOK or eliminate answers that

have a BA doing testing, or design

work, for example.

• About10-15 questions of the 200 were

regarding testing situations. What

should BA do when this happens, that

happens, test passes acceptance

criteria but user says it doesn’t meet

business need.

• Probably 10 or so questions about

baselined situations – what to do if

you’re on the verge of getting signoff

and this happens, or just after signoff.

Taking The PMI-PBA (200 Questions)

• Seemed to be 10 or so questions

that had something related to the

value of a requirements matrix.

More than that many questions

had requirements matrix as one of

the possible answers.

• Not many questions, it seemed, on

actual requirements writing.

• There were a couple of questions

about “which of these is a

functional requirement” – but the 4

choices were terribly written – can,

may, etc.

Taking The PMI-PBA (200 Questions)

• When trying to eliminate wrong

answers, because of the

mishmash of terminology that isn’t

consistent with BABOK terms, you

couldn’t eliminate something

because of some term because

just maybe it’s actually in one of

those books – or is it a bogus

term? Who knows?

• Some questions had the BA doing

something they don’t do, like “The

BA has completed the design

document . . .. then this happens.

What should you do? Really?

Become a developer?

Taking The PMI-PBA (200 Questions)

• Likert technique was the only

likely answer, so I thought, on

one question after eliminating

the other choices and I had no

idea what that was until I

looked it up back at home

• Some questions, maybe 20

were very simple and someone

who can’t spell BA could have

gotten, and I’d read it over 4

times to make sure I wasn’t

missing something. Then

others, no matter how many

times I read them, it just was

hard to comprehend what they

were getting at.

Taking The PMI-PBA (200 Questions)

• Some questions had that “What’s the first thing a BA should do

when this happens” and I don’t know if there’s a list somewhere in

the universe that has an answer to some of those. So you pick

which one sounds right.

• Some of the possible, or seemingly most likely answers (i.e. what is

the best course of action), only work if you have super human

powers like “Suggest to the CEO to change the implementation date

based on new regulatory requirements.”

• A chunk of questions that were very much more the PM doing

something or what should the Architect or Engineer do in this

situation? Don’t ask me, I’m a BA.

• Occasional obscure terms popped up. PEST was one possible

answer whatever that is. Maybe I need to expand my knowledge of

things I’ve never used on a regular basis.

• It seems sometimes that the test was aimed at somebody who

dabbles a little bit here and there as a true BA, but is more of a PM

who does some testing too.

Taking The PMI-PBA (200 Questions)

• I took the PMI-PBA during the pilot

period

• PMI has not released how many

people took it, or how many passed

• 6 ASPE BA Instructors took the test

and all passed – Were they more lenient in the pilot period?

All who took it were either CBAPs or PMPs

• There are over 4500 CBAPs but this

took years for this to happen. As of

December, 2011, when I took the test,

there were 1500

General Observations

• Now, there are various prep

courses and practice tests

available.

• ASPE’s course was the result of 3

instructors who passed the test

participating in the development of

the course and practice questions.

• Which was easier to prepare for?

Well, I didn’t prepare for the PBA

but definitely would have taken the

ASPE course if it had been

available.

• Which was easier to pass? Both

seemed about the same except I

couldn’t base my answers on what

the CBAP says for the PBA – I felt

more awash in an ocean of IT work

vs. a pool of BA work.

General Observations

• Thanks for your interest in this

topic

• Feel free to contact me if you

have any questions

• Rob Snowden, CBAP, PMI-PBA

• [email protected]

Best of Luck!