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Modern Analyst Forums Careers Career Advice &... Seeking Guidance in Selecting a Training Provider

8/30/2007 7:31 PM

	bytebugs
4 posts

Seeking Guidance in Selecting a Training Provider

Hello,

This is my first post in the forum. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the moderator and all those people who have provided their guidance and shared their experience. Thanks again.

I am writing this post with a view to seek some guidance from all you intelligent people.

I am a software developer (2.5 yrs exp) working in Melbourne. I wish to pursue a career as a BA. I recently went for a Junior BA interview and blanked out. It was like someone who didn't know the basics of singing trying to compete on Australian Idol. I have never done any SE subjects in my Master of IT at RMIT. Hence I have withdrawn from the job market and am concentrating on building minimum basic skills and knowledge required and expected from a junior BA. I have looked extensively (I think) on the internet but have not found a checklist that could be a guide for junior or aspiring BA's. I urge you experienced people to help me build one.

I have checked out all the suggested training providers websites as well. The BA skills are divided into multiple areas and these training providers offer a short course for each of these areas. When you sum them up, it comes to between 6000 to 7000 AUD which is too expensive for me.

I wish to take some information interviews with professionals currently working as a BA. If you would like to help me with my quest then kindly provide me your contact or reach me at [email protected] (0401420467 Optus). Recently I attended a few lectures at RMIT in the course of Requirement S/W Eng. The lecturer is really good but you can easily make out that they have made a 7 to 15 day course into a 3 month course. I didn’t find it value for time and money.

Could someone please suggest a useful course for someone junior like me, offering really value for time and money? My perception of useful is that the course would provide me with practice, tools and exposure to time tested methods and processes that can help me do the BA task effectively and efficiently.

I am looking at the following two courses that I think will fit my pocket. If you have information or reviews on these providers that kindly share it with me. I am looking for some suggestions and facts to decide where to spend my time and money.

1. Business Analyst Certificate: (Price: 300 USD)

https://www.inquestra.com/offer_ref/signup1.asp

2. Certified Business Analyst: (Price: 10,000 INR =~ 300 AUD)

http://www.spectramindsolutions.com/

My acquaintance visited the facility at Spectramind in Hyderabad(India) and met with the course instructor. They somehow didn't come across as a corporate training provider. Do you know someone who has already done a course with them? In order to attend the course I need to spend on air travel as well. Hence the total cost of the course for me will be around 1000 to 1300 AUD. The BABOK certification requires someone to have over 5 years of BA work exp. Hence I wont qualify. However are there any recognized certification examinations that I could take? The objective is put together skills that will invite and motivate quality employers to hire me.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Regards,

Tejas Goradia.

Many Thanks, Have A Happy Day :) Tejas Goradia

8/30/2007 9:44 PM

	Adrian M.
765 posts

Re: Seeking Guidance in Selecting a Training Provider

bytebugs wrote

...

Hi Tejas,

As a software developer, if you have good communication skills and structured thinking, you should be able to move into a business analyst or systems analyst position. You can read some of my thoughts on this subject in one of my blog entries dealing with moving from Developer to Business Analyst.

Having said that - no one course is enough to give you all the tools to be a successful business analyst. Experience comes over time and the best knowledge is gained through work experience. To get started, I do recommend you take a course. If you have the time and patience to wait, I recommend taking a course which stretches out over a longer duration. Courses which are 3-5 days in length tend to cover lots of topics in a short amount of time. Unless you have prior experience, these courses do no allow you to fully absorb the material.

Try to find a course which has a longer duration as it will provide you with some key benefits:

homework and assignments which make you reflect on what you've learned and force you to practice the material,
opportunity to interact and network with other students who have the same needs as you do,
chance to get feedback from other analysts (via forums such as this one) as you learn new topics and skills.

Business analysis training courses are not cheap but, if you find the right one, are probably well worth the money. Try to find a course or series of course which focus on two main areas:

process analysis & requirement gathering/management skills which are critical to understanding how a business works and the problems to be solved, and
requirements modeling and functional design skills which are used to create solutions to the problems and communicate the solutions to the technical team (focus on use cases, UML, etc.).

Since you mentioned that you enjoyed the instructor at RMIT, you might want to consider taking that course. Their ISYS1051 - Systems Analysis and Design course seems to be a good one since it covers topics such as object oriented analysis, UML (sequence diagrams, class diagrams, etc.), requirements, data modeling, etc.

Swinburne University seems to offer a similar course called Systems Thinking and Business Process Analysis which you might find useful. If you are interested in on-line courses, Villanova University offers two courses which are part of their master certificate program: Essentials of Business Analysis and Mastering Business Analysis. These two courses cover a very wide variety of topics which would give you a good foundation to being your career as a business analyst.

I will also mention ESI International which is a reputable training company offering training courses in Australia. The courses they offer are the 3-5 day ones.

If you want to network locally in Australia I recommend taking a look at the:

Australian Business Analysis Association, and the
Australia Chapter of the IIBA.

Hope this information gives you some guidance to move in the right direction.

Regards,

- Adrian

Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!

8/31/2007 4:59 PM

	bytebugs
4 posts

Re: Seeking Guidance in Selecting a Training Provider

Hello Adrian,

Could you please delete the separate thread that I created by mistake? I somehow didn't see the reply button and I ended up with a double post. Kindly do the necessary to delete the other thread.

Many Thanks for your response. I appreciate your guidance and thank you for sharing the information with such thoroughness and detail.

I am a web developer and have been working on ASP.NET for a while. I am happy to provide you with an technical or non-technical assistance that you may require to keep up with this good work. Feel free to delegate some work if I could be of help and thanks for taking the initiative to give back something to the community. U already are making a difference to my life and I hope that I continue to seek your guidance in the future.

I am a sales guy at heart. And recently I have taken the courage to pursue my dreams. I believe I come across as a consultative salesman as opposed to a box seller. The best sales people understand the business problem and are able to provide a comprehensive solution. I have spoken to my general manager and he has shown support. We both agree that I will need some training and time to absorb and understand the business processes in the Library Management Space. I work for CIVICA www.civica.com.au in the Spydus Division. We have a vacuum between the Development and the Sales team. I think in the near future I am going to be asked to do some BA kind of activities to gain some domain knowledge and get some client interfacing experience. There is a huge scope and need for documenting the business processes and designing automated test plans. Unfortunately I haven't had any experience in this area nor can I look on to someone else in the company to provide me the knowledge. Hence I am looking for some kind of training that can at least give me a brief overview of what is expected in each phase and how its done. If nothing else it will get me started in the right direction.

I believe I need a mentor at this stage to help me monitor my progress and correct my mistakes.

I have a question? Since BA usually are the ones who in due time understand the business issues and challenges very well, Don't they become the best candidates for Sales (assuming that they have those qualities required for a salesperson) as they can authentically provide and design state of the art solutions for their clients. I feel with my strong technical background and a genuine passion in sales is are my strengths. And picking up BA skills will help me grow into a consultative personality.

I will definitely let u know about my progress. If you wish to keep in touch with me on a one to one basis then please drop me an email so that I can have u'r personal contact as well.

Many Thanks Again,
Tejas Goradia.

Many Thanks, Have A Happy Day :) Tejas Goradia

9/1/2007 7:51 PM

	Craig Brown
560 posts
www.betterprojects.net

Re: Seeking Guidance in Selecting a Training Provider

Tejas

Here are a few more courses available at Melbourne - http://businessanalyst.wikia.com/wiki/Training_courses

I'll be in touch.

Craig

9/3/2007 3:50 PM

	Adrian M.
765 posts

Re: Seeking Guidance in Selecting a Training Provider

Hi Tejas,

Since you work for a company which provides software applications and consulting, your development background should be very useful. I also agree with you that picking up business analysis skills will set you apart from your peers. As a sales person of software products and services you are at the forefront of business development. You not only have the opportunity to sell the existing products offered by CIVICA but you also are in the prime position to analyze your clients' problems and potentially work with the development team to create new features or customized solutions which can bring additional revenue to your company and, of course, to you.

On suggestion that I make to those interested in picking up business analysis skills is to volunteer to participate in new projects as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) since you interact directly with the clients and understand their needs. Volunteer to participate in the requirements gathering process.

Regards,

- Adrian

Adrian Marchis
Business Analyst Community Blog - Post your thoughts!