As the saying goes, all rivers flow into the sea! Similarly all the different professional development, studies and certifications will lead to new learnings, new growth paths, new opportunities, new professional networks in your career.
At the same time there are some crucial differences which anyone in a given professional would like to know. Whether to go this way or that way? Whether this certification will be good for me or the other? Or whether this set of education will be more helpful for me or the other. Whether this certification will be more value for money or the other one? Do I have enough budget?
Let's review some of the key differences between two similar looking certifications in the field of Business Analysis, CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional) and CPRE (Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering) (Foundation) certifications. One of the questions I have received often from my participants as well as BA professionals in my circle. Let's delve into those differences.
APPLICATION CRITERIA (STRINGENT OR NO PRE-REQUISITES)
CBAP has a stringent application criteria, including your number of years' experience, specific number of years of BA experience, a detailed breakdown of it, professional references etc. Further even there is maintenance criteria as well for ongoing certification standing. More info out here: https://www.iiba.org/business-analysis-certifications/cbap/
Whereas for CPRE (Foundation) certification there are no pre-requisites as such. At the same time, the participants are well aware of requirements engineering practices most of the times and are practicing BAs too. Still when it comes to application process, there is no stringent criteria as CBAP has. More info out here:https://cpre.ireb.org/en/process
COMPLEXITY LEVELS
While it's hard to compare this part apple to orange, let's start at the very beginning.
CBAP certification is by IIBA. IIBA has organized these certification exams in a 'top down' approach when it comes to number of years of experience. In the sense, they have CBAP , CCBA and ECBA . CBAP is for the business analysis professional with the most extensive (number of years/hours) of BA experience, CCBA is for intermediate level experience and ECBA is for those with no business analysis experience and are looking to profound their BA knowledge with the structured and best practices. As per the experience complexity level of these exams also differs, CBAP is the most complex, CCBA is intermediate and ECBA is beginner level exam. However none of these levels are 'lesser' or 'higher' in the sense, it's just that at given level of work experience, it is assumed that a BA professional would know certain level of complexities, best practices, real life exposures. More info at: https://www.iiba.org/business-analysis-certifications/iiba-certifications/
CPRE certification is by IREB. IREB has organized their certifications in a kind of a 'modular' or 'add-on' way. There are different levels of CPRE certifications. The first one I am comparing here in this article, with CBAP is the level 1 or foundation level. Then there are a few in level 2 and 3 respectively for Practitioner and Specialist. These cover areas such as requirements management, elicitation, agile and modeling. Last level, level 4 is the expert level. In turn IREB has organized these certifications from the 'ground-up' level. More Info at: https://cpre.ireb.org/en/process
ORGANIZATION OF THE HANDBOOK OR BODY-OF-KNOWLEDGE
It is amusing to compare the organization of these exams' handbooks or body of knowledge. For CBAP it is BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) whereas for CPRE it's called as Handbook. As I scan my memory over how I came across BABOK, it was way back in 2012 or so. I already had a good business analysis experience then, of working with enterprise clients and writing specs, create processes, write detailed requirements etc.
I have always loved books. I have a tendency to fall in love with greatly structured documentation, SOPs, processes, materials, knowledge constructs as well as - none other than stories. I have also loved to create exactly the same, something structured, something creative, something visual that brings clarity to the readers.
Now this is the exact difference. BABOK is a very very structured content and is beautifully organized, although initially it might look tedious. I covers the entire and wide set of business analysis spectrum, as a set of knowledge areas, tasks. It is written in the form of SIPOC, I would say. Supplier Input Process, Output and Customer. For each task in a knowledge area. Why I said BABOK to be a wide set, is because it covers everything in one document.
Whereas when it comes to CPRE Handbook, it is a different story. I think CPRE Handbook is written as if it is a story. Meaning, of course it is structured as well, methodically written too, the style of writing is free flowing though while BABOK is far more formal. It has some real life experiences written in it. It also has some interesting analogies, owing to which it seems like a business analysis story. And as I mentioned in the previous difference (Complexity Levels), CPRE Foundation Handbook (Level 1) covers all the topics necessary for foundation exam. For higher levels of CPRE studies, there are different other individual handbooks. Thus BABOK is a complete body of knowledge necessary for all exams CBAP (CCBA and ECBA) whereas CPRE Handbooks are independent handbooks for each levels of certifications in it.
Which one I like more? I really loved both of these and there is fun and beauty in each type of organizing and writing style, be it formally written or a bit informally.
In addition to the above mentioned key differences, of course there are many aspects that are different. Costs are way higher for CBAP whereas CPRE Foundation is relatively lesser. Each higher level prep course and exam costs are different. Some organizations prefer CBAP/IIBA which is global association headquartered in Canada whereas some prefer CPRE/IREB which is also a global organization headquartered in Germany.
At the fundamental level, the range of topics from CPRE (requirements engineering) and CBAP (business analysis) are the same. I loved the content and coverage for both of these for different reasons. Both of these certifications are very valued in the industry; different organizations may prefer one over the other though.
ON AN ENDING NOTE
CBAP vs CPRE is really a vast topic in itself. Here is a brief summary of the three comparison points I have explained above.
- CBAP has a stringent application criteria and process whereas CPRE (Foundation) does not have any particular pre-requisites
- CBAP (CCBA and ECBA) certifications have exam complexities arranged in a top-down manner whereas CPRE (Foundation) and other exams for Level 2,3 are sort of modularly arranged.
- CBAP Handbook (Body of Knowledge: BOK) is very very structured and process, task, input output driven whereas CPRE Handbook is written in a much more story telling way while still having a structure of its own.
It is up to you as a business analysis professional, how to advance your career and professional knowledge, which way to go by weighing the differences (CBAP vs CPRR or any other certifications) or to even do both certifications at different points in time.
Thoughts?
Author: Swati Pitre, CBAP® CPRE®
Sr. Business Analyst, Consultant and Trainer with 25+ years of industry experience across various domains and geographies. Recognized by clients as a valued member of business and technology teams, with a proven track record of delivering artifacts and solutions of high quality. Recognized by participants as a highly effective and hands-on trainer and coach. Self-starter, process-oriented, and creative with unique problem-solving skills.
Her specialities include Process Improvement, BPM, Predictive Analytics, Product Development, Quality, and Governance. She undertakes various training courses such as CBAP®/CCBA®/ECBA® Prep Courses, Comprehensive BA Job oriented Course, CPRE Prep Course, Agile BA Course, and several other customized courses.
She is also a public speaker and has completed the Effective Coaching Pathway at Toastmasters International. She is also a yoga and fitness enthusiast with varied hobbies include reading, writing, art, travelling and music.
LinkedIn Profile: Swati Pitre, CBAP® | LinkedIn