Business Analysis

My primary ambition while reading this book was to learn the required material for the ISEB Foundation Business Analysis certification. However, I soon found out that it not only refers to business analysis models, techniques and theories but it also refers to many project management aspects and best practices. In fact, this highlights the fact that good project management leads to good business analysis and vice versa.

I was fascinated by its vast range of references to organisational management, business process modelling, data modelling and resource modelling techniques.

Debra Paul and Donald Yeates have succeeded in portraying the overall picture of how it is to be a business analyst and put into practice all the theory behind it.

I would highly recommend this book to business analysts and professionals whose work is somehow related to different aspects of business analysis.

Great overview for junior BAs (6/6 people found this helpful)

This book was great for preparing for job interviews and to brush up on topics you may have studied or worked with previously and not used for a while. It's also a great way to decide on what to specialise in, as there are so many variations of business analysis roles. Also a great starting point for anyone looking to do the ISEB diploma.

Good revision for the ISEB exam (17/17 people found this helpful)

I bought this book to revise for my imminent oral exam for the ISEB Business Analysis Diploma, as it's taken me three years to cover all four modules of the course (I've long since lost my course notes!). It's a great book for revising what you (think you) already know, and picking up a few more things you might not have picked up along the way. It would also make a great introduction for someone without a formal IT qualification who is thinking of becoming a Business Analyst.
It won't, however, teach you to be an expert in any of the techniques and topics it covers, but it will let you know that they are there to be discovered (and hopefully mastered) - and each chapter contains an excellent bibliography, should you be inspired to dig a little deeper. Considering the size of the book and the breadth of the topics it covers, it was never going to deal with each topic in depth.
Whether it gets me through the exam or not - I'll update this review when I find out!

Great breadth, good depth. (54/55 people found this helpful)

This book is a compilation of chapters by a variety of authors who are all experts in the business analysis domain. Thankfully though, the editors have a good job of keeping the structure, language and depth pretty consistent. It is consistently fairly dry but there was little that really sent me to sleep like some books in this domain that I could mention. I think it covers the breadth of skills you are likely to need as a business analysis, but keep in mind that it is published by the British Computer Society to address the ISEB Business Analsys Diploma, so it may cover more that most analysis will use in their daily jobs. In terms of depth, it gives you enough to get started and hold your own for a while, but you will probably want to invest in more detailed references on specific topics such as Soft Systems Methodology, process modelling with UML or data modelling with ERDs - depending on your previous experience and the demands of your role.
In summary: a highly recommended introduction to Business Analysis, useful whether you are new to the role, thinking about a change or have some experience and want to work out in what direction to expand your knowledge.

Don Yeates, Debra Paul, Tony Jenkins, Keith Hindle, Craig Rollason

Reader Reviews:

An excellent reference to Business Analysis! (0/0 people found this helpful)

Great overview for junior BAs (6/6 people found this helpful)

Good revision for the ISEB exam (17/17 people found this helpful)

Great breadth, good depth. (54/55 people found this helpful)

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