As some of you may already know, the CCBA® has officially been announced and the exam is coming out soon. This is a new IIBA® certification for competent business analysts.

Who is a competent business analyst?

A competent business analyst is one who has invested time to develop their business analysis skills and expertise but has not yet achieved the level of experience required to sit for the CBAP® exam.

This certification is great for developers who have performed business analysis tasks for a minimum amount of time, or quality assurance analysts, or any other professional who has performed some business analysis task in the last 7 years.

Why should you consider this designation?

According to Michael Gladstone, in his presentation of the CCBA® certification, there are many organizations who want to recognize their staff in the business analysis discipline. However, many organizations are afraid that not all their business analysts meet the requirements to sit for the CBAP®. So the CCBA® would be a great stepping stone to allow organizations to gain competitive advantage and to demonstrate to customers and other stakeholders that they are using the standard business analysis practices. Because of this demand, the CCBA® certification was released.

For the individual, there are also many benefits, including:

1.Career recognition
2.Career advancement
3.Marketing opportunity
4.Professional development toward CBAP®...etc

Why not just go for the CBAP®?

If you only have as few as 600 hours remaining to apply toward your CBAP®, I would recommend that you wait just a few more months to apply for the CBAP®. However, if you know you have some significant experience toward the business analysis discipline but have doubts that you meet the requirements to sit for the CBAP® then CCBA® may just be the recognition you need to establish your presense in your organization as a business analyst practitioner.

Here are the main differences between the two certifications:

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Is there more information about the exam itself?

At this time, the only information about the release of the exam is that it will be available worldwide at the beginning of 2011. But the application for the certification will be release by end of 2010. And as Suzanne Bertschi said during the presentation, do not wait until the last minute to start the process of gathering your information to complete the application.