Organizational Excellence
Business AnalysisBusiness Analysis
Business analysis can be defined as:
The practice of enabling change in an organizational context by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.
Share your thoughts for how you would define business analysis by sending a note to strategicplan@psu.edu.
Resources
- International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) – The International Institute of Business Analysis™ (IIBA®) is a non-profit professional association serving the growing field of business analysis. As the global thought leader and voice of the business analysis community, IIBA actively supports the recognition of the profession, and works to maintain global standards for the ongoing development of the practice and certifications.
- Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) Guide – The BABOK is the globally recognized standard for the practice of business analysis guiding professionals in their work and adopted by enterprises to achieve better business outcomes.
- Penn State IT Connects – This program is open to all members of the University community and includes a Peer-to-Peer element where Penn State staff teach various topics to other staff; Project Management, Organizational Change Management, and Business Analysis are frequent offerings.
- LinkedIn Learning – LinkedIn Learning, free to all Penn State students, faculty, and staff, has more than 25 courses on Business Analysis. It also includes the Become a Business Analyst and Improve Your Business Analysis Skills learning paths.
- Association of American University Data Exchange (AAUDE) – The Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE) is a public service organization whose purpose is to improve the quality and usability of information about higher education. Membership is comprised of AAU institutions that support this purpose and participate in the exchange of data/information to support decision-making at their institution. The data exchanged and reports prepared by AAUDE include both public and confidential topics. Other information is exchanged among member institutions on the basis of mutual confidentiality and on the expectation that those who do not provide data will not use them.
- Council of Graduate Schools – The Council of Graduate Schools serves to advance graduate education and research in the U.S. and globally. They support their mission through advocacy in the policy arena, innovative research, and the development and dissemination of best practices.
Communities of Practice
- Business Analyst Professional – Business Analyst Professional Group is the largest BA group on LinkedIn. It is a place where analysts organize together, share modeling techniques, discuss latest trends, and network for job opportunities.
- Business Analysis Mentor – A group dedicated to helping new or experienced business analysis further develop their skills and answer questions.
- Business Analysis Forum – The Business Analysis Forum is for all things related to business analysis and is offered in collaboration with IIBA’s official conference, Building Business Capability, produced by IIBA, Rising Media, Process Renewal Group and Business Rule Solutions.
Professional Organizations
- International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) – The International Institute of Business Analysis™ (IIBA®) is a non-profit professional association serving the growing field of business analysis. As the global thought leader and voice of the business analysis community, IIBA actively supports the recognition of the profession, and works to maintain global standards for the ongoing development of the practice and certifications.
Tools
- US Census Bureau’s Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) program – This site provides earnings data by college degree, with the ability to compare across majors, institutions, etc.
- National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) – The National Center for Education Statistics is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education.
- Microsoft Power BI – Power BI is a collection of software services, apps, and connectors that work together to turn your unrelated sources of data into coherent, visually immersive, and interactive insights. Your data may be an Excel spreadsheet, or a collection of cloud-based and on-premises hybrid data warehouses. Power BI lets you easily connect to your data sources, visualize and discover what’s important, and share that with anyone or everyone you want.
Formal Educational Opportunities
- Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) – The Certified Business Analysis Professional™ (CBAP ®) designation is a professional certification for individuals with extensive business analysis (BA) experience. CBAP® recipients are the leading, senior members of the BA community.
- International Qualification Board for Business Analysts (IQBBA) – IQBBA provides a certification scheme with knowledge and skills necessary for improving your business and focus on the following areas:
- Enterprise Analysis – understanding the business processes performed within an organization, identifying the change needed, and preparing feasibility studies together with risk analysis.
- Business Analysis – identifying business needs and determining solutions to business problems.
- Process Improvement – optimizing an organization’s performance.
- Innovation, design and customer – applying modern techniques of innovation and creative design in order to produce new, competitive products.