Babok version 3 vs version 2

1
Watermark Learning Article
BABOK Version 3 vs. Version 2
Taming the New Guide
by:
Richard Larson, PMP, CBAP, PMI-PBA and
Elizabeth Larson, PMP, CBAP, CSM
Co-Principals, Watermark Learning, Inc.
View more articles on our website at:
www.WatermarkLearning.com
Most people in the BA field know that the IIBA® has
produced an important update to its definitive
Business Analysis Body of Knowledge, the BABOK®
Guide. Released in April 2015, the BABOK Guide
includes major upgrades, ranging from the BA Core
Concept Model™ (BACCM), to changes to most
Knowledge Areas, the addition of 16 new techniques,
and the addition of an all-new section containing five
perspectives on Business Analysis.
By IIBA’s estimation, the BABOK has grown 50% from
version 2 to version 3 and now has more than 500
pages. It has a richer and more complete set of
information about the practice of Business Analysis. It
also means the CCBA will have a greater amount of
knowledge on which to test aspiring CBAP and CCBA
candidates. Both points are good for the profession in
our opinion.
Most comparisons of the two versions cover the major
changes and ours is no different. However, we begin
with the familiar aspects of version 2 and how they
change in version 3. Part 1 features changes to
Knowledge Areas and Tasks. Part 2 covers the
expansion of Techniques, and Part 3 presents the two
major BABOK additions: the BACCM and the
Perspectives.
Part 1: Knowledge Area and Tasks

BABOK Version 3 vs. Version 2 (cont.)
© Watermark Learning, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Unmodified copies allowed.
BABOK Version 3 Knowledge Areas and Tasks
We are starting the BABOK differences with the Knowledge Areas (KAs) and tasks instead of the Core Concept
Model for two main reasons. First, most people are familiar with the KAs and their tasks, so it makes the jump to
v3 a little less of a leap. Second, the BACCM surrounds the KAs and for each KA the BABOK Guide version 3 shows
how the BACCM applies to it. Our view is that v3 is not as big a change as one might think when doing a KA to KA
comparison.
Below is a table we compiled to show the differences in tasks. After finishing a draft we then consulted with the
BABOK Guide’s table of differences and the result is shown in Table 1.
Some tasks have not changed much or at all, such as “Plan Business Analysis Approach” or “Verify Requirements. “
The task names of some 10-11 tasks have remained the same, which means roughly 21 tasks have been changed,
added or deleted. There are now only 30 tasks compared with 32 in v2.
BABOK®
Guide Version 2 Knowledge Area and Task Names BABOK®
Guide Version 3 Knowledge Area and Task Names
(additions/changes in v3)
2.0 BA Planning and Monitoring – v2.0 tasks 3.0 BA Planning and Monitoring – v3.0 tasks
2.1 Plan Business Analysis Approach (content for prioritization
and change management moved to Plan BA Governance)
2.3 Plan Business Analysis Activities
3.1 Plan Business Analysis Approach
3.3 Plan Business Analysis Governance
2.2 Conduct Stakeholder Analysis
2.4 Plan Business Analysis Communication
3.2 Plan Stakeholder Engagement
2.5 Plan Requirements Management Process
(see note for Plan BA Approach)
3.4 Plan Business Analysis Information Management
New Task: 3.4 Plan Business Analysis Information Management
2.6 Manage Business Analysis Performance 3.5 Identify Business Analysis Performance Improvements
3.0 Elicitation – v2.0 tasks 4.0 Elicitation and Collaboration – v3.0 tasks
3.1 Prepare for Elicitation 4.1 Prepare for Elicitation
3.2 Conduct Elicitation Activity 4.2 Conduct Elicitation
3.3 Document Elicitation Results
4.4 Prepare Requirements Package
3.5 Communicate Requirements
(Note: ours is more complete than the BABOK comparison)
4.4 Communicate Business Analysis Information
3.4 Confirm Elicitation Results 4.3 Confirm Elicitation Results
New Task: 4.5 Manage Stakeholder Collaboration
4.0 Requirements Management and Communication –
v2.0 tasks
5.0 Requirements Life Cycle Management –
v.3.0 tasks
4.1 Manage Solution Scope and Requirements
5.1 Trace Requirements (Especially relationships)
5.5 Approve Requirements (Conflict and Issue Management;
Approval was formerly an element)
4.2 Manage Requirements Traceability
5.1 Trace Requirements (“Configuration Management System”
becomes “Traceability Repository”)
5.4 Assess Requirements Changes
(Impact Analysis moved here)
4.3 Maintain Requirements for Re-Use 5.2 Maintain Requirements
6.1 Prioritize Requirements (from Requirements Analysis)
5.3 Prioritize Requirements (Moved from Requirements Analysis
in v2)
4.4 Prepare Requirements Package
4.5 Communicate Requirements (both become part of
“Communicate BA Information” in Elicitation and Collaboration)
4.4 Communicate Business Analysis Information

New Task: 5.5 Approve Requirements
5.0 Enterprise Analysis – v2.0 tasks 6.0 Strategy Analysis – v3.0 tasks
5.1 Define Business Need
6.1 Analyze Current State
6.2 Define Future State
5.2 Assess Capability Gaps
6.1 Analyze Current State
6.4 Define Change Strategy
5.3 Determine Solution Approach
7.5 Define Design Options
7.6 Analyze Potential Value and Recommend Solution
(Note: ours is more complete than the BABOK comparison)
5.4 Define Solution Scope
7.4 Define Transition Requirements
5.5 Define Business Case
6.3 Assess Risks (was an Element in v2 Business Case task)
(Business Case is also now a General Technique)
6.0 Requirements Analysis – v2.0 tasks
7.0 Requirements Analysis and Design Definition –
v3.0 tasks
6.1 Prioritize Requirements
(Moved to Requirements Life Cycle Management)
5.3 Prioritize Requirements
6.2 Organize Requirements 7.4 Define Requirements Architecture
6.3 Specify and Model Requirements 7.1 Specify and Model Requirements
6.4 Define Assumptions and Constraints
6.5 Verify Requirements 7.2 Verify Requirements
6.6 Validate Requirements 7.3 Validate Requirements
New Task:
7.5 Define Design Options (pulls together v2 Determine Solution
Approach, Assess Proposed Solution, and Allocate Requirements)
New Task:
(pulls together v2 Define Business Case and Assess Proposed
Solution)
7.0 Solution Assessment & Validation - v2.0 tasks 8.0 Solution Evaluation – v3.0 tasks
7.1 Assess Proposed Solution
7.5 Define Design Options
7.2 Allocate Requirements 7.5 Define Design Options
7.3 Assess Organizational Readiness 6.4 Define Change Strategy
7.4 Define Transition Requirements
(Also see Requirements Classification Schema)
7.5 Validate Solution 8.3 Assess Solution Limitations
7.6 Evaluate Solution Performance 8.5 Recommend Actions to Increase Solution Value
New Task: 8.1 Measure Solution Performance
New Task: 8.2 Analyze Performance Measures
New Task: 8.4 Assess Enterprise Limitations
Table 1: BABOK v2 vs. v3 KA and Task Differences (table modified from BABOK Guide®
version 3)

BABOK Version 3 Knowledge Areas and
Tasks Summary
The changes to BABOK Knowledge Areas and their
associated tasks on the surface may seem to be
significant. Only one KA name (BA Planning and
Monitoring) survives intact from v2 to v3. Only nine
task names are the same or roughly the same. This
article does not cover details like inputs and outputs,
and many of those names have changed from one
release to the next.
Upon closer examination, though, the changes are
actually not so dramatic. We can summarize a few
observations.
• Even though most KA and task names have
changed, in many cases they are merely
refinements rather than significant changes. For
example:
o The Elicitation KA in v2 is now Elicitation
and Collaboration. Most tasks in that KA are
the same with the addition of the “Manage
Stakeholder Collaboration” task.
o The v2 “Conduct Stakeholder Analysis” task
in Planning and Monitoring has been
changed in v3 to “Plan Stakeholder
Engagement”
• The Requirements Management and
Communication KA and Requirements Life Cycle
Management (RLCM) are essentially similar. An
important addition is that prioritize Requirements
is placed in RLCM.
• Enterprise Analysis has become Strategy Analysis,
essentially broadening its scope. It now includes
devising change strategies, transitions, and
organization readiness.
• Requirements Analysis is similar in v2 and v3,
despite the addition of the concept of “Design.”.
An important distinction has been made by IIBA
between requirements and design, which boils
down to the distinction between business needs
and solutions to those needs.
o Requirements – the usable representation
of a need (see our forthcoming article on
the BA Core Concept Mode).
o Designs – usable representation of a
Solution. A new task “Define Design
Options” has been added to focus on the
BA work in designing solutions. Another
new task “Analyze Potential Value and
Recommend Solution” actually pulls
together facets of two tasks from v2.
• Solution Assessment and Validation has been
renamed as Solution Evaluation. There are three
new tasks as the table shows. They were added to
clarify the work of evaluating solution performance
over its lifetime including organizational
constraints.
• Out of the 32 tasks in v2, only eight have been
added, a 25% change. That means 10 have been
removed since there are now 30 tasks in all.
In short, BABOK version 3 is better organized than its
predecessor, and with refined KA and task names
contains a structure that better reflects the practice of
business analysis.
In the next part of this article, we explore changes to
BA techniques in BABOK version 3.

Part 2: Techniques
In Part 1 we started our comparison of BABOK® version 3 and its predecessor, version 2. We outlined the
Knowledge Area and Tasks that are changing with the new release and showed where the major changes are
occurring. Our view is there were substantive, but not necessarily shocking changes in the versions pertaining to
the KAs and Tasks. Now we turn our attention to the updates of the General Techniques in the latest BABOK
version.
BABOK Version 3 Techniques
General BABOK techniques are another major area of change in BABOK v3, which we cover second for similar
reasons as we did for the KAs. Namely, the amount of familiarity people have for the v2 techniques will help make
understanding the changes in v3 a bit easier.
Version 2 of the BABOK included 34 general techniques and 15 task-specific techniques. Version 3 has added 16
additional general techniques, a whopping 47% increase. We could debate whether such an increase was needed,
but one thing is certain: there are several new techniques to master if you plan to pass the CBAP or CCBA exam.
And, for those using the BABOK as a general reference, Business Analysis has more techniques than ever that are
regarded as generally accepted in the industry.
See Table 2 below for a summary of both the stability and changes to general techniques
from BABOK version 2 to 3.
Technique Same Rename New Notes
10.1 Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria X
10.2 Backlog Management X
10.3 Balanced Scoreboard X
10.4 Benchmarking and Market Analysis X Added “Market Analysis”
10.5 Brainstorming X
10.6 Business Capability Analysis X
10.7 Business Cases X Was a task in v2
10.8 Business Model Canvas X
10.9 Business Rules Analysis X
10.10 Collaborative Games X
10.11 Concept Modeling X
10.12 Data Dictionary X Dropped “Glossary”
10.13 Data Flow Diagrams X
10.14 Data Mining X Most applicable to BI Perspective
10.15 Data Modeling

10.16 Decision Analysis X
10.17 Decision Modelling X
Includes Decision Tables and Decision Trees,
both part of “Decision Analysis” in v2
10.18 Document Analysis X
10.19 Estimation X
10.20 Financial Analysis X Moved from Enterprise Analysis in v2
10.21 Focus Groups X
10.22 Functional Decomposition X
10.23 Glossary X Split off from v2 Data Dictionary & Glossary
10.24 Interface Analysis X
10.25 Interviews X
10.26 Item Tracking X
In v2 were part of “Problem Tracking” and an
Element in “Manage Solution Scope &
Requirements”
10.27 Lessons Learned X Dropped “Process” from title
10.28 Metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) X
10.29 Mind Mapping X
10.30 Non-Functional Requirements Analysis X
10.31 Observation X
10.32 Organizational Modelling X
10.33 Prioritization X
Previously were techniques in “Prioritize
Requirements” in v2
10.34 Process Analysis X
Includes SIPOC and Value Stream Mapping,
arguably part of process modeling
10.35 Process Modelling X
10.36 Prototyping X
10.37 Reviews X Formerly “Structured Walkthrough” in v2
10.38 Risk Analysis and Management X Formerly “Risk Analysis” in v2
10.39 Roles and Permissions Matrix X
Previously techniques in “Conduct
Stakeholder Analysis” in v2
10.40 Root Cause Analysis X
10.41 Scope Modelling X
10.42 Sequence Diagrams X
10.43 Stakeholder List, Map, or Personas X
Previously techniques in “Conduct
Stakeholder Analysis” in v2
10.44 State Modelling X Called “State Diagrams” in v2
10.45 Survey or Questionnaire X

10.46 SWOT Analysis X
10.47 Use Cases and Scenarios X
10.48 User Stories X
10.49 Vendor Assessment X
10.50 Workshops X
Table 2: BABOK v2 vs. v3 General Technique Differences
BABOK Version 3 Technique Summary
As you can see in the table above, all 34 general techniques from BABOK version 2 remained intact or were
renamed. Again, we could argue the wisdom of keeping all the techniques or the appropriateness of adding some of
the narrower techniques. Like any Body of Knowledge, there will be tasks and techniques in BABOK Guide v3 that
will never apply to a particular person’s job or career situation. The challenge becomes that of a) mastering the
content enough to pass the CBAP or CCBA exam and/or b) deciding whether to use the particular techniques on the
job.
Of the 16 “new” techniques, half of them are not actually new. Some have been moved out of task-specific
techniques, such as Business Cases. Some are divisions of other techniques such as Process Analysis, which
has many similarities to Process Modeling.
Table 3 below is our list of the truly new techniques added to BABOK version 3.
New Technique BABOK Description Relates To
10.2 Backlog
Management
Used to record, track, and prioritize remaining work items.
Agile Perspective
10.3 Balanced
Scorecard
Used to manage performance in any business model, organizational structure, or
business process.
BPM Perspective and
Process Analysis
10.6 Business
Capability Analysis
Provides a framework for scoping and planning by generating a shared understanding
of outcomes, identifying alignment with strategy, and providing a scope and
prioritization filter.
BPM Perspective and
Process Analysis
10.8 Business Model
Canvas
Describes how an enterprise creates, delivers, and captures value for and from its
customers.
BPM Perspective and
Strategy
10.10 Collaborative
Games
Encourage participants in an elicitation activity to collaborate in building a joint
understanding of a problem or a solution.
Facilitation and
Workshops
10.11 Concept
Modelling
Organize the business vocabulary needed to consistently and thoroughly
communicate the knowledge of a domain.
Glossary
10.14 Data Mining Used to improve decision making by finding useful patterns and insights from data. BI Perspective
10.29 Mind Mapping Used to articulate and capture thoughts, ideas, and information. Conduct Elicitation
Table 3: Truly New Techniques in BABOK Version 3
In the next part of this article, we examine the two major additions to BABOK version 3: the BA Core Concept Model
and Business Analysis Perspectives.

Part 3: BA Core Concept Model and Perspectives
In our continuing series on BABOK® version 3 vs.
version 2, we conclude with the two major additions
made by IIBA: the BA Core Concept Model™ (BACCM)
and an all-new section containing five perspectives on
Business Analysis. This article provides a summary of
the new BACCM, a practical definition of the six core
concepts, and an example of each. This article also
describes the new Perspectives and provides examples
of the common elements in all the Perspectives.
BA Core Concept ModelTM
(BACCM)
Figure 1 above, published by IIBA in the BABOK Guide
version 3.0, shows the BACCM.
One of the key changes in the BABOK Guide version
3.0 is the introduction of the Business Analysis Core
Concept Model (BACCM). This model defines the
framework for all business analysis work, and can be
applied across industries, methodologies, projects, and
organizational cultures. It shows the interrelationships
among six core concepts: Needs, Solutions, Changes,
Stakeholders, Value, and Contexts. There is no order to
these six concepts that can be read in a variety of
different patterns. Let’s look at each of these six
concepts and then some of the ways each relates to
the others.
Needs refer to business problems that require solving
or opportunities that can be seized. Needs are satisfied
by Solutions.
Solutions are the products and services that provide
ways to take advantage of opportunities and solve
business problems. Solutions are developed through
Changes consisting of one or several projects,
programs, or initiatives. Examples include installation
of commercial software and changes to the current
processes, development of a new medical device,
creation of a marketing campaign, or implementation
of new regulations.
Changes are the steps involved in transforming Needs
into Solutions. Note that the word “Change” is used in
the BABOK® Guide in lieu of the terms “Project” and
“Program.”
Stakeholders are individuals or groups that have
Needs, an interest in the Solution, and/or are affected
by the Changes.
Value. Solutions need to provide Value to the
organizations and Stakeholders. If Solutions do not
provide Value, they have not met the Need. Business
analysis is really all about delivering Value to the
organization.
Contexts are all those things that affect and are
relevant to the Changes. This is the environment in

which the Solution will be developed and includes such
things as organizational culture, as well as the culture
of the various countries that might be involved,
languages, organizational process assets and
environmental factors, constraints like weather,
seasons, or other things happening at an organization
or within a division or department.
Let’s look at an example of these interrelationships.
Need. A sponsor is concerned about losing market
share to a competitor. One of the problems that
contributes to this loss is the limited information
provided by the set of Order reports she currently
receives. Her Need, then, is the limited Order
information inhibiting her ability to make good buying
decisions.
Solution. After some analysis and a business case, the
business analyst has recommended commercial
business analytics software as a Solution. This is a
complex Solution that will involve multiple projects
addressing such things as processes, software, and
new technology to name a few.
Changes. The Changes to the organization will be
significant. The analysis of the current state and
definition of the future state done during Strategy
Analysis will need to be refined and expanded. Some
of the Changes include designing new processes,
purchasing new software, modifying data structures in
existing interfacing applications, capturing new data,
building technical ways to transition to the new
software, and more.
Stakeholders. Stakeholders including buyers,
merchandisers, advertising staff, distribution centers,
retail store personnel, customer service specialists,
several vendors, and many areas in IT will be affected
globally.
Value. This Solution will provide Value to the sponsor,
many Stakeholders, and the organization. The business
case included a cost/benefit analysis which showed
that although the costs were high, the organization
would start seeing a benefit within a year. Several
solution performance measures were identified during
Solution Evaluation to help measure the realized value.
Contexts. Since this is a complex project with globally
distributed Stakeholders, there are many Contexts that
need to be considered. Each country’s laws and
regulations, the various national cultures, as well as
the different departmental cultures will affect the
development of the Solution. For example and
speaking generally, the distribution staff tends to be
casual, the buyers more goal-driven and direct, and
the advertisers more expressive. In addition, one of
the facilities is in central Europe, which has recently
experienced massive flooding. Finally, monsoon
season is approaching India, where some of the
technical and support staff are located.
Understandably not all Solutions and Changes are as
complex as this one. This example was meant to
provide an understanding of each of these six core
concepts and how they fit together.
Perspectives
The BABOK Guide Perspectives are focused areas that
need to be addressed depending on the nature of the
project. Each Perspective provides how business
analysis work is completed and its unique
characteristics on projects with these Perspectives:
• Agile
• Business Intelligence
• Information Technology
• Business Architecture
• Business Process Management (BPM)
Some projects will have multiple perspectives. A
business analytics application, for example, might have
elements from all five perspectives.

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Each perspective is organized into five sections:
• Change scope (think project scope) includes such
things as which areas of the organization are
impacted and will be affected by the approach
taken. For example, the Agile perspective alludes
to a constantly changing scope. The BPM
perspective contains four typical lifecycle stages
and several methods to outline the scope.
• Business analysis scope includes the scope of the
business analysis work, including which artifacts or
work products will be produced and which
stakeholders will be involved in the change. For
example, the Agile perspective notes that the
amount of rigor applied to documentation, a
business analysis work product, is dependent on
the nature of the project.
• Methodologies, approaches, and techniques. Each
Perspectives might have some specific
methodologies or approaches that are unique to
that Perspective. Scrum, for example, is an Agile
Methodology. Information Technology has its own
development life cycles. As an example of a
technique, Prioritization is listed as a general
technique, but in the Agile perspective MoSCoW
prioritization is listed as an Agile-specific type of
prioritization.
• Underlying competencies include those that are
most relevant to each perspective. They do not
have to be unique and might be relevant to other
Perspectives as well. For example, the
Communications and Collaboration technique is
listed as an underlying competency in the Agile
perspective. Collaboration Games is listed as a
general technique. Communications Skills is listed
as a general underlying competency.
• Impact on Knowledge Areas shows a mapping of
specific activities relevant to the Perspective to the
BABOK® Guide tasks. For example, the Agile
Perspective discusses the relationship to the
Requirements Life Cycle Knowledge Area, stating
that requirements are defined with increasing
detail and that validation of requirements is done
at the end of each iteration. The BI Perspective
mentions overcoming barriers to utilizing new
analytic tools and techniques in Solution
Evaluation.
This article has provided a summary of the new
BACCM and Perspectives with some examples to help
decipher these new concepts. The overall series of
articles gives an in-depth look at the new BABOK
version 3. The new Guide represents a major increase
in content and improvement over version 2. Our goal
was to explain the major changes and additions, and to
structure and simplify it.
Contact us at info@WatermarkLearning.com if you
would like information on our services to help your
organization apply BABOK 3 or to prepare for the
exams based in it.

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