location: accreditation / iseb / business analysis
"consistently high quality business analysis courses"

Faye Macarthur,
Manager Business Enhancement & Support Team (BEST) Professional Services,
Nationwide Trust Limited

ISEB Diploma in Business Analysis

To gain the Diploma in Business Analysis, candidates must pass four one-hour written examinations on a number of business analysis topics, each of which leads to a certificate which has value in its own right. To convert their set of certificates into the Diploma, candidates then attend an interview with two ISEB examiners to confirm their technical, business and interpersonal competencies.

Module Course Duration Fee
Core Organisational Context 2 days £885
Core Business Analysis Essentials 3 days £1195
Core Requirements Engineering 3 days £1195
Specialist Modelling Business Processes 2 days £885
Specialist Systems Development Essentials with Agile 3 days £1195
Specialist Systems Modelling Techniques 3 days £1195
Specialist Benefits Management and Business Acceptance 3 days £1195
Specialist Foundation in Business Analysis 3 days £995

Core Modules

There are three core modules in the Diploma, which all candidates must attain. These modules may be gained in any order.

  • The Organisational Context

    This covers the essential knowledge and competencies that underpin the work of a business analyst:

    • Sectors of the economy (public, private, not-for-profit) and types of organisation within each
    • Organisational structures
    • Key legal regulations for business and, in particular, IT
    • Business finance.
  • Business Analysis Essentials

    This module provides a set of core techniques for use in business analysis assignments:

    • Strategic analysis tools (for example, PESTLE, MOST, SWOT)
    • Initial analysis of business problems, for instance using 'rich pictures'
    • Stakeholder analysis
    • Business perspectives
    • Business activity modelling
    • Gap analysis
    • Business case development.
  • Requirements Engineering

    This addresses how to capture, analyse and document good business and system requirements and includes the following topics:

    • The requirements engineering process
    • Actors in requirements engineering
    • Requirements elicitation techniques
    • Documenting and modelling requirements
    • Characteristics of good requirements
    • Requirements analysis, negotiation and validation
    • Requirements management.

Specialist Modules

Candidates must choose one of the following specialist modules to complete their set of certificates. Which they choose will depend on their own background and preferences (business versus technical, for example), what their organisation requires and the nature of their current roles. The available modules are:

  • Modelling Business Processes

    This module provides more detailed coverage of the techniques for business process improvement:

    • Organisational and context diagrams
    • 'As is' process models
    • 'To be' process models
    • Human aspects of performance
    • Managing and measuring processes
    • Process improvement and redesign
    • Implementing process change.
  • Systems Development Essentials

    This module is suited to business analysts who need a good understanding of systems development:

    • The role of the analyst and system designer
    • Systems architecture
    • Development lifecycles, methods and approaches, in particular the Agile approach
    • Systems investigation and development using Agile.
    • Quality assurance.
  • Systems Modelling Techniques

    This module provides a more detailed knowledge of the techniques used in modelling IT systems. The techniques covered on this module are those from the Unified Modeling Language (UML):

    • The benefits of standardised approaches
    • Views of an IT system (process, static data, event-driven, user-interface)
    • Construction of models from each viewpoint, using Activity Diagrams, Use Case Diagrams, Class Models, Sequence Diagrams, State Machine Diagrams.
    • Consistency checking between the models
    • Validation against business objectives.
  • Benefits Management and Business Acceptance

    This module explores the issues concerned with the delivery of successful business change solutions, including the user acceptance and benefits management:

    • Defining business benefits
    • Planning the delivery of business benefits
    • Business acceptance of the IT solution
    • Reviewing the business case
    • Implementing the IT solution
    • Delivering the business benefits.
  • Foundation in Business Analysis

    This encompasses a broad range of techniques within the structure of the business analysis process model. The ISEB qualification in based on the BCS publication Business Analysis. The course covers the topics within this publication and provides the knowledge that underpins other core and specialist qualifications.

    • Introduction to business analysis and the role of the business analyst
    • Business strategy analysis
    • The Business Analysis Process Model
    • Investigation techniques
    • Stakeholder analysis
    • Modelling the business system
    • Business process modelling
    • Requirements engineering
    • Modelling the IT system
    • Making a business and financial case
    • Managing business change

Oral Examination

The oral examination lasts for approximately 50 minutes and the candidate is required to demonstrate that they can put the competencies gained in the written examinations into a coherent context. Each candidate must also demonstrate the interpersonal skills required to function effectively as a business analyst.

Further information

Assist Knowledge Development offers courses leading to all certificates in the Business Analysis diploma and can provide detailed course outlines, prices and course dates. Please contact Martin Pearson, either by phone on 01844 211665 or by email at martin.pearson@assistkd.com.

More information on the Business Analysis Diploma can be obtained at the ISEB website: www.iseb.org.uk