BoKs to the fore - Its now BABOK for Business Analysts

Nov 23rd, 2007 by arunram

BoKs or the “Body of Knowledge”. Does this ring a bell? I am sure it does… Remember the PMBOK from PMI?

How many BoKs do you think there are in vogue? Here are some that I know…

PMBOK - Project Management BoK from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
SWEBOK - Software Engineering BoK from IEEE.
Usability - Usability BoK from the Usability Professionals’ Association
PDMA BOK - BoK for Product Development from Product Development and Management Association (PDMA).
CST CBOK - The Certified Software Tester BoK from QAI.

And then there is the International Institute of Business Analysis’ (IIBA) BABOK for Business Analysts gaining prevalence and traction.

The BABOK intends to be a standard for Business Analysts. It defines Business Analysis, The BA profession, Knowledge Areas and key skills required for a BA. Certifications based on the BABOK are now being offered in the US. Certified BA are called Certified Business Analysis Professionals (CBAP™ ). IIBA model is similar to that of PMI at a macro level with regional chapters for professionals to network and interact.

The interesting thing about all BoKs is the following:

they bring standardized definitions and terms for the profession.
they rally the community of professional around the standard.
they create local communities of professionals in the field to meetup and network.
they are built around a certification model.

and most importantly certification is a measure of awareness of the profession but by no means a measure of guaranteed results.

What are you experiences with BoKs? Are there any other you have come across besides the above?

EDIT:

Came across a few other attempts at BoKs that might one might find of interest…