CCBA or CBAP – What next should be the plan? This is a question that is common after graduation. Everyone wants his career to be on track and making an appropriate choice is essential! CCBA or CBAP whichever exam you decide to take requires a lot of hard work, time, and money. Both CCBA and CBAP certifications cover business analysis yet there are differences between the two. If you are planning to go for CBAP, you need more experience compared to CCBA. Also, the difficulty level in both the exam would be different but since the requirement of experience in CCBA is less, the overall exam is easier.
Check out a brief comparison between CCBA and CBAP:
Exam Objectives: IIBA CCBA certification exam objectives and their coverage are as follows:
- Strategy Analysis (12%)
- Solution Evaluation (6%)
- Elicitation and Collaboration (20%)
- Requirements Life Cycle Management (18%)
- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring (12%)
- Requirements Analysis and Design Definition (32%)
where as IIBA CBAP exam objectives and their coverage are:
- Strategy Analysis (15%)
- Solution Evaluation (14%)
- Elicitation and Collaboration (12%)
- Requirements Life Cycle Management (15%)
- Business Analysis Planning and Monitoring (14%)
- Requirements Analysis and Design Definition (30%)
Work Experience: For CCBA certification candidates need to have at least 3750 hours of work experience aligned with BABOK Guide in last seven years while for CBAP candidates need to have at least 7500 hours of work experience aligned with BABOK Guide in last ten years.
Pre-requisites: For CCBA certification, candidates must have at least 900 hours in 2 of the 6 knowledge areas or 500 hours in 4 of the 6 knowledge areas while for CBAP, candidates must be able to document 900 hours in 4 of the 6 knowledge areas.
Question Type: CCBA exam have 150 multiple choice questions that include knowledge and fact-oriented questions about task and techniques in the BABOK whereas CBAP exam have 150 multiple choice questions comprising of situation-based questions that require candidates to apply their knowledge of BABOK.
Exam Cost: Both CCBA and CBAP cost USD 450 for IIBA members and USD 575 for non-members.
Comparing CBAP and CCBA, if the required experience for the CBAP can be met by you than pursuing CBAP instead of CCBA is better. In the case, if you do not have the amount of experience for CBAP then consider CCBA as an interim certification as it also helps to leverage your business analysis skills and experience in business analysis.