The PMI’s Professional Business Analyst Certification: Competition Or Collaboration?

Written by Steve Blais

There is a new certification in town.* The Project Management Institute (PMI) has announced a certification for business analysts called the PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)®. The reigning business analyst certification, at least in North America, is the Certified Business Analyst Professional (CBAP) from the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA). Does this set up a showdown at High Noon between the two organizations or perhaps the two certifications? Or is there some kind of collaboration between the two organizations? Can the business analysis world support two certifications? Or will the certifications battle it out to the finish because, as they would say in the old Westerns, “this town ain’t big enough for the both of us”?

As might be expected, there is consternation in the ranks of business analysts about this announcement, especially those who already have the CBAP certification. Questions abound:

• Will the PMI-PBA devalue my CBAP?
• Will I now have to make a career-defining decision on which certification to get?
• Will employers who are now requesting or requiring a CBAP also request or require a PMI-PBA, or will they request a PMI-PBA instead of a CBAP?
• Why does the business analysis arena need two certifications?