Watermark Learning Blog

Categories: CBAPCCBAIIBA

South Africa Journal #5 – IIBA Cape Town – Aug 10, 2011

After a few days of enjoying the scenery of the southern coast, and the fun of whale watching every day, we ventured back to Cape Town. The Southern Right Whales had begun their migration up from Antarctica – what a sight!

The local branch of IIBA hosted a presentation on “CBAP/CCBA Application Tips and Tricks.” There were 30 interested, motivated BAs present and asking great questions about their applications and qualifications for the CBAP or in some cases a few CCBAs.

We came away thinking that an international organization like the IIBA is adding tremendous value to the practice of business analysis. It is fostering a common BA language around the world, and bringing us together as a profession. (No, Kathleen Barrett did not pay me to write that!) I had assumed the presentation audience would be similar to US-based ones, and I had no idea just how similar they would be. Heck, they even laughed at all my lame jokes!

Before leaving, we of course posed for more pictures. We were glad to return home, and at the same time, had already missed our South African friends and colleagues. We’d love to go back!

Richard Larson, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA

Richard Larson, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA, was the founder of and is now a consultant for Watermark Learning. He is a successful entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience in product development, business analysis, project management, training, and consulting. As an internal entrepreneur, Rich led the development of several Watermark Learning online products as a business analyst and product owner. Rich is a frequent speaker at Business Analysis and Project Management national conferences and IIBA® and PMI® chapters around the world. He has contributed as a lead author to the BA Body of Knowledge version 2.0 and 3.0 and was a lead author on PMI’s Business Analysis Practice Guide. He and his wife Elizabeth Larson have co-authored five books on business analysis.