More about the BABOK Guide v3

BABOK Guide®: Global Standards for Business Analysis

What is the BABOK® Guide? The ever-evolving business world requires reliable guidelines to assess and maximize corporate productivity. Thankfully, the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®) created and maintains the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK) Guide — an indispensable reference that is widely regarded as a gold standard in business analysis. It’s essential for …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Vicki develops and maintains Watermark's Business Analysis Training programs and is an instructor for in-person and online classes. James has 15 years’ experience in the public and private sectors as a project manager, business analyst, author, and independent industry consultant and trainer, where her clients included Microsoft Corporation. She also spent time in the public sector successfully delivering projects to support governmental operations. James is co-author of Strategies for Project Sponsorship and contributor to The Complete Project Manager. She is president of the IIBA Seattle Chapter, and past vice president of the PMI Olympia Chapter.

BABOK vs. PMBOK Guide: What’s the Difference?

BABOK vs PMBOK Guide: What’s the Difference?

With more than 174,727 business analysts in the United States alone, there’s bound to be a plethora of opinions about how to analyze operations and steer companies toward success. In some ways, PMI, BABOK, and PMBOK unite many of the best practices that analysts have found successful — putting them into guides that any analyst …

Ben Schwartz

Business Relationships

An Intro into the World of Business Relationship Management, Part 4: A Continued Review into BRM

We are on the last leg of our four-part series. In our previous BRM blogs, we provided you with a summary overview of BRM, BRMP®, and BRM Institute®. We then followed with more detailed information about the BRM role and the BRMP®. This final blog provides additional information to round out what we provided you regarding …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.

Business Relationship Management

An Intro into the World of Business Relationship Management, Part 3: What is BRMP and How Do I Get Certified?

We are on the third leg of our four-part series. In our previous Business Relationship Management blogs, we provided you with a summary overview of BRM, BRMP®, and BRM Institute. We then followed with more detailed information about the BRM role and its organizational value. Today, we will take you to the world of the BRMP — …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.

In-Depth BRM

An Intro into the World of Business Relationship Management, Part 2: An In-depth Look at a BRM

Our BRM exploration journey continues. In our last BRM blog, we provided you with a high-level view of the BRM, BRMP®, and BRM Institute®. In this blog, we take a closer, more detailed look about the BRM role, a brief history, what BRMs do, and the core competencies needed to be a successful BRM. As you may remember …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.

Business Institute

An Intro into the World of Business Relationship Management, Part 1: What is a BRM, a BRMP, and the BRM Institute?

Welcome to the first in a series of four blogs in which we will introduce you to the world of Business Relationship Management, the role of the Business Relationship Manager, its corresponding certification, the value BRMs bring to the organization, and how to move into a BRM role as the next step of your career …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.

Business Professionals

Business Relationship Management – A Great Professional Development Move for Project Managers

A Business Relationship Management (BRM) role is often thought to be a natural professional development path for business analysts. But what about project managers? Does it make sense for PMs to consider this as a logical professional growth opportunity for them? We think so. Consider the points in this article regarding what BRM is and …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.

modeling is for everyone

Modeling is for Everyone

On this page: What is a Model? Benefits of Modeling Types of Models The Iterative Nature of Elicitation and Modeling Modeling and the Project Professional Modeling is one of the most important practices for any project professional. As the adage states, “A picture is worth 1000 words.” Models allow us to better understand the stakeholder needs and provide …

Susan Heidorn, Ed.D., PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP

Dr. Susan Heidorn, PMP, CBAP, HSDP, CSM, BRMP is the Director of Business Solutions for Watermark Learning in Minneapolis. Susan is an experienced consultant, facilitator, speaker, and trainer, with over 25 years of business experience. Susan directs programs in business analysis, business relationship management, and leadership, including developing and delivering courses and providing consulting. She has been a speaker at a number of IIBA® and PMI® conferences as well as local and regional organizations, boards, and private clients. She is a lifelong learner whose passion it is to guide people into achieving excellence in their personal and professional lives and works on creating positive impacts to the organization.

how to speak business analysis

How to “Speak BA”: A Peek Inside the BABOK®

One of the perhaps most frustrating aspects of studying for one of IIBA’s (International Institute of Business Analysis) core certification exams (ECBA™, CCBA®, CBAP®), is learning the lingo or terminology utilized within the practice framework. Remember, the BABOK® reflects an international framework created by BA thought leaders/professionals around the world so the terms are used …

Ben Schwartz

demystifying the ccba-cbap application

Demystifying the CCBA®/CBAP® Application Process

The single most important piece of advice we at Watermark Learning can offer regarding the CCBA® or CBAP® application process is (drum roll please) – DON’T WAIT! The majority of students in our certification classes report that they haven’t started their application; later they share that they wish they had that out of the way …

Ben Schwartz