AgileBA^® Foundation and Practitioner Certificate Course

Don’t get left behind…

The Business Analyst (BA) is a critical role within an agile project team and with more and more organisations adopting agile approaches, BAs performing this crucial role need to have the necessary skills and expertise.

Despite this, there has been little in the way of detailed best practice guidance that directly addresses the role, responsibilities and skills of the Agile Business Analyst.

The guidance is based on the DSDM^® (Dynamic System Development Method) Agile Project Framework, an approach which defines the role of the project-based Business Analyst in relation to business, development and testing roles at all levels. However, the guidance goes deeper, with many generic and popular agile techniques also included.

The Foundation course prepares candidates for the Agile Business Analysis (AgileBA^®) Foundation certification.

The Practitioner course builds on the AgileBA^® Foundation Course, providing additional depth of understanding, and prepares candidates for the AgileBA Practitioner Certification Examination.

Foundation Course Objectives

The Foundation course includes review, consolidation of concepts and exam questions to prepare participants for the Foundation level certification.

Practitioner Course Objectives

The Practitioner course prepares participants to undertake and pass the AgileBA Practitioner Examination. The Practitioner level qualification aims to measure whether the candidate has sufficient knowledge and understanding of the AgileBA guidance to apply and tailor it to a given scenario situation.

The scenario is designed to allow the candidate to demonstrate they possess the competence to begin working as an AgileBA.

The course includes review, consolidation of concepts and exam questions for the Practitioner level certification.

Please note that the Practitioner course is an examination preparation course and focuses on the application of AgileBA to prepare candidates for the Practitioner examination.

Course Summary

At Foundation level, the course helps participants to:

• Lay the foundations for successful agile projects
• Explain how the business analyst role and skills fit in an Agile environment
• Clarify the different ways of working with the AgileBA during the phases of an Agile project
• Outlines the lifecycle of an Agile requirement and how to write good, effective Agile requirements
• Provide a comprehensive set of techniques and practices for effective business analysis and collaborative agile working

At Practitioner level, the course helps participants to:

• Apply the underpinning philosophy and principles of DSDM in a project situation
• Appropriately configure the processes of an Agile project to a given scenario
• Produce and evaluate the content of BA-developed Agile products created during an Agile project in a given scenario
• Apply the following Agile practices in a project situation: Facilitated Workshops; MoSCoW Prioritisation; Iterative Development; Modelling and Timeboxing
• Identify the Agile practices to be used for a given situation within a scenario
• Understand the roles and responsibilities within an Agile project and the different levels of empowerment with respect to requirements and the business case
• Understand the mechanisms for facilitation and support within an Agile project
• Understand in outline how to test, estimate and evaluate benefits delivery in an Agile project
• Describe the Agile approach to managing and prioritising requirements and identify actions to rectify problems with requirements within an Agile project from a given scenario

Foundation Certification

The Foundation course includes the AgileBA Foundation Examination which consists of:

• 50 multiple choice questions
• 50% pass mark (25/50)
• 40 minutes duration
• Closed book

The Foundation examination addresses knowledge of the terminology of the method and a high-level understanding of the concepts.

Practitioner Certification

The Practitioner course includes the AgileBA Practitioner Examination. Please note a pass in the Foundation examination pass is a prerequisite to sitting the Practitioner examination.

The Practitioner examination consists of:

• Complex multiple choice
• 4 questions per paper
• 40/80 marks required to pass (50%)
• 2.5 hour duration
• Open-book (AgileBA Handbook only)

The Practitioner exam tests knowledge, understanding, application, analysis and evaluation of the method. Please note the examination is taken on the afternoon of the course, and papers sent away for scoring.

The AgileBA Practitioner qualification is valid for 5 years. Practitioners should re-register within 3-5 years of their original certification to demonstrate their commitment to professional development.

APMG International administers the AgileBA examination scheme.

Foundation and Practitioner exams

AgileBA exams are undertaken during the course as follows:

• Foundation Examination: is undertaken on the afternoon of day 3 of the Foundation course
• Practitioner Examination: is undertaken on the afternoon of day 1 of the Practitioner course