Top 10 Business Analyst Online Courses

Business analysis is one of the booming careers in recent days. The need for business analysts will increase by 14% at the end of the year 2024, predicts the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many financial institutions and consultancies like Ernst&Young, Deloitte, Walmart, and e-commerce sites like Amazon also require business analyst professionals. 

The role of a business analyst is very important for an organization to understand the business requirements and provide solutions accordingly. The job of a business analyst is to gather, analyze and make use of the available data sets to improve the performance of a brand or an organization.

A business analyst helps a firm or organization in decision-making with real-time data analysis and develops internal skills. It is a perfect offer for those individuals who are good at evaluating and analyzing data.

It is also suitable for those who can develop solutions. Knowledge of domain areas and understanding of analytical tools is also very important for the job of a business analyst. The business analyst is the person who coordinates between the business, project, and IT teams. So, excellent verbal and written communication skills are also important for a business analyst.

This article is for aspiring business analysts. It will also be of value to someone who seeks to build on their Business Analyst capabilities. A business analysis certification would help you to showcase your proficiency and expertise in this domain. Certified professionals are in great demand in the growing job market.

Certification will improve overall performance and will increase market opportunities. Certified Business Analyst has a broader perspective of the business analysis techniques and approaches.

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The top 10 business analyst online courses are:

1. ECBA certification course:

The ECBA is the Entry Certificate in Business Analysis. It is the first level of certification offered by the Indian Institute of Business Analytics. As cited in the IIBA website, an ECBA Business Analyst course online provides fundamental knowledge on business analysis.

The business analysis depicted is according to the BABOK Guide. It showcases that a person who underwent the ECBA training has core knowledge and competency in the business analytics field. It is a globally recognized certification.

The competencies discussed in the ECBA business analyst course online are:

• Business Analysis Knowledge
• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
• Elicitation and Collaboration
• Requirements Life Cycle Management
• Requirements Analysis and Design Definition

Eligibility criteria: You must complete a minimum of 21 professional development hours within the last four years.

Application fee: The ECBA application fee is $60.

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2. CCBA certification course: 

The CCBA is the Certification of Capability in Business Analysis. This course is for persons who have two to three years’ experience as a business analyst. Earning CCBA recognizes your ability to take on more project responsibility compared to others who don’t have a certification. This certification is globally recognized.

The competencies discussed in this course level is:

• Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring
• Elicitation and Collaboration
• Requirements Life Cycle Management
• Strategy Analysis
• Requirement Analysis and Design definition
• Solution Evaluation.

The CCBA business analyst online courses are for individuals with an ECBA designation, product managers, who aren’t business analysis consultants, hybrid business analysis professionals.

You must have a minimum of 3750 hours of business analysis work experience in the last 7 years. The application fee for the CCBA course is $125.00

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3. CBAP Certification:

The CBAP is the Certification for Business Analysis Professional for individuals with considerable Business Analysis experience. The people who receive CBAP certifications are the leading, senior members of the Business Analysis community. This certification is globally recognized.

It helps you demonstrate the knowledge, competencies, and experience you have as a highly effective business analysis professional. People who attended CBAP business analyst online courses and gained the certification earn up to 13% more than others without a CBAP certification.

You should have completed a minimum of 7,500 hours of Business Analysis work experience in the last ten years. People with CCBA designation can also apply for the CCBA business analyst online courses to advance in their careers. The application fee for the CBAP certification course is $125.00

4. CPRE certification course:

The CPRE is the Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering certification scheme. It is provided by the International Requirements Engineering Board that is a non-profit organization.

The CPRE certification scheme addresses individuals working in Business Analysis, Testing team, and those working in Requirements Engineering. This certification scheme is offered at three levels. They are foundation level, advanced level, and expert level.

At the foundation level, you will be certified in the basics of Requirement Engineering. At the advanced level, you can choose between three paths that include Requirements, Elicitation and Consolidation, Requirements Modeling, and Requirements Management.

To take the advanced level exam, you will have to wait for 12 months after taking the fundamental level. At the expert level high-level excellence in Requirements Engineering that results from continuous involvement and activity in the field.

This certification scheme doesn’t have a particular syllabus or training course. Training is provided for these business analyst online courses by the partner training provider. Apart from the fundamental, advanced, and expert levels, certifications on Agile like RE@Agile Primer and Advanced level RE@Agile are offered as part of the CPRE scheme.

The RE@agile Primer deals with RE methods and techniques in the agile development process. It also deals with how few agile approach techniques can improve the RE practice. The advanced RE@agile level deals with in-depth knowledge on the subject of Agile.

5. PMI – PBA certification:

The PMI – PBA is the Professional in Business Analysis certification offered by the Project Management Institute. It is designed for business analysts who work with stakeholders in defining requirements, those who shape outputs of a project, and those who drive intended business outcomes to spotlight the valuable skills.

The PMI – PBA certification business analyst online courses are for those who work with project teams and manage requirements or product development.  It is also the right one if you’re a project or program manager who performs business analysis in your role.

Prerequisites:

You must be a bachelor’s degree holder. Thirty-six months of business analysis experience and 35 contact hours of education in business analysis are required to be eligible for this program.

6. CFLBA course:

The CFLBA is the Certified Foundation Level Business Analyst course. It is one of the business analyst online courses provided by the International Qualifications Board for Business Analysis. There are two levels of certification provided in this scheme. They are foundational and advanced levels.

The business analysts, system analysts, requirements engineers, product owners, and product managers can enroll themselves for a foundation-level certification program. It enlightens us about business process modeling, improving, collecting, and analyzing requirements, designing business solutions, and innovating more.

As cited on the iqbba.org website, one can further go for the advanced level training course that is the IQBBA Certified Foundation Level Business Analyst after finishing the foundation level.

In the advanced levels, the modules aim to improve the foundation level skills further. The advanced level is designed to develop advanced skills in specific areas of the business analysis approach. It covers the following areas:

• Business Analysis Process Management.
• Requirements Management
• Strategic Analysis and Optimization

7. Business Analysis Foundation Certification:

The Business Analysis Foundation is provided by the British Computer Society (BMS). This certification has value and respect around the world. The foundation certificate is designed by bcs.org to understand business analysis, how to support change in a business process, and to improve business processes.

Many reputed institutes in India provide training for foundation-level business analyst online courses. It usually takes at least 27 hours to prepare for this certification exam. The exam fee is around €192.

It is suitable for business analysts, business managers, and project managers. Apart from the Business Analysis Foundation, Business Change and Organizational Behavior Certification are also offered at the foundation level.

8. Business Analysis Practitioner:

After gaining a foundation-level certificate, you can move on to gain the certification as a Business Analysis Practitioner. This certification is accredited by the British Computer Society (BCS). By taking part in the business analyst online courses for the Practitioner Certificate in Business Analysis Practice, you can take your career to the next level.

You can advance your career by knowing how to support a business change successfully. Here you can explore several strategic analysis and performance management techniques. You will also be taught to apply business analysis techniques within a defined framework. The only requirement to attain this certificate is to have some practical experience in business analysis.

It is suitable for people who are already business analysts and who would like to gain an in-depth understanding of business analysis strategy and application. It usually takes at least 18 hours to prepare for this exam. The exam price is €228.

9. International Diploma in Business Analysis:

The International Diploma in Business Analysis certificate by the BCS is designed to demonstrate a detailed understanding of business analysis best practices. You must pass Business Analysis Practice and Requirements Engineering core modules to be able to get the diploma.

In addition, you must pass one of the knowledge-based modules such as Business Analysis Foundation or Business Change. You must also pass one of the Practitioner modules to gain the International Diploma.

Those who have CBAP Certification from IIBA can skip the Requirements Engineering module and the knowledge-based specialist module. Those who have CPRE Certification from IREB need not take the Requirements Engineering certificate from BCS. You have to sit for an oral examination after passing the four required modules. It will be a 50-minute session with two examiners. The cost of the exam is €390.

10. Agile Business Analysis:

The Professional Certificate in Agile Business Analysis is a certification offered by the British Computer Society organization. It is designed to enlighten about the Agile approach and how the agile ways of working support the business analysis role.

It is suitable for business analysts, business architects, project managers, business managers, and their teams. No entry requirements are necessary for this certification. A range of agile methods, the role of business analysts in an agile team, how to use Agile analysis, modeling documentation techniques are discussed here.

You will also be taught how to apply user story techniques. The training for this business analyst online courses is provided by many BCS-approved training providers across the world.

This is an internationally recognized certification. It enables you to exhibit your skills around the world. The duration of the exam is 90 minutes with 40 multiple-choice questions. The course price varies depending upon the training provider and course format.

Steps one must follow to become a business analyst along with enrolling yourself in business analyst online courses:

• The initial step to becoming a business analyst is to understand how businesses run. Going through the APCQ’s Process Classification Framework will help you to understand the tasks an organization performs. It shows you how they’re grouped hierarchically to show how they are connected. APQC is the American Productivity and Quality Center that provides the information, data, and insights an organization needs to work smarter, faster, and with greater confidence.

• You can also start reading books on business strategy like Business Analyst Body of Knowledge provided by the International Institute of Business Analysis, Seven steps to mastering Business Analysis, PMI Practitioners Guide to understand the business analysis process. In addition to these books, IIBA’s global business analysis core standard book gives you an idea about the fundamental practices of business analysis. This book is available for free of cost on their website. Anyone can have access to it.

• One must hone his behavioral skills like communication, negotiation skills, assertiveness, and facilitation skills to work as a business analyst. You must learn to interact with a stakeholder and other authorities so that there would be a notable effect on the growth of the business.

• Having a strong foundation in key programming languages is also essential for business analysts as they are likely to work with data and coding. Other technical skills like Data Visualization, Database Proficiency, Software Development, and presentation skills are also important to be an effective business analyst.

• You should learn about the modeling tools and management tools used in business analytics. You can get your hands on Microsoft Visio, a software application that can be used for Up and presenting ideas for stakeholders. In addition, you can also get your hands on other free tools like Lucid chart, BizAgi.,

• Domain knowledge is essential to be an effective Business Analyst. Domain Knowledge helps you to connect with requirements accurately and to explore new areas for the customers.

• Domain knowledge is one thing you should possess before gaining a certification in business analytics.

• Even if you gain certification through a business analyst online course, you cannot replace a person with domain expertise that comes with experience. So always find ways to improve your Domain Knowledge.

• Analytical and critical thinking are the most needed skills for a business analyst. You should be able to analyze the client’s requirements. Critical thinking helps you to prioritize the business requirements at every phase of the project. A successful negotiator always sees the opposing party as a friend rather than an opponent. You negotiate with others for mutual satisfaction.

• Always seek feedback on your performance about the project and your performance. You must learn to be open to criticism and try to improve your performance in the future. You can take out the list of various individuals involved in the project and ask them to honestly evaluate your performance and assess whether you have delivered your objectives or not.

• Elicitation skills are also essential for the requirement gathering process in business analysis.

• Documentation, a significant technical skill a business analyst should possess to write reports, plans, documentation, and several analysis aspects.

Conclusion:

As mentioned on the Wikipedia site, in addition to the business analyst online courses mentioned above, several universities in the United States, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom offer master’s degrees with a specific discipline in Business Analysis, Business Transformation, or Process Management.

Many reputed universities like the University of Manchester, Victorian University of Wellington offer Bachelor’s degrees or Master’s degrees in Business Analysis. The best way to prove your competence as a business analyst is to get certified in business analysis. Hence, you need to take business analyst online courses to kick-start your career as a business analyst.

Apart from gaining certification, you should gather knowledge about the practical aspects of the role of a business analyst as the day-to-day activities of a business analyst, the challenges that a business analyst face at work, and so on.