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Key Changes in Version 2.0

Area	What Changed / Emphasis	Why It’s Valuable
Types of Requirements	There are now four main categories: business, stakeholder, solution (functional & nonfunctional), and transition.	Helps distinguish what the business wants vs. what systems need to do.
Structure & Organization	Techniques are decoupled from tasks, making each knowledge area easier to follow.	More flexible — you can apply techniques across areas consistently.
Project Lifecycle Language	Moves from “waterfall/iterative/agile” to “plan-driven” vs. “change-driven.”	More neutral and adaptable across project types.
Business Analysis Performance	Now includes a task to monitor and measure BA performance.	Encourages continuous improvement in how analysts deliver value.
Elicitation	Mostly unchanged, except reverse engineering was removed as a formal technique.	You can still use it, but its role is less emphasized.
Enterprise Analysis	Simplified: removed enterprise architecture discussions, project launch sections, and project selection.	More focused on feasibility, scoping, and business cases.
Requirements Management & Communication	Combines communication, change control, traceability, and adds Maintain Requirements for Reuse.	Helps keep requirements organized, reusable, and controlled across projects.
Solution Assessment & Validation	Expanded to better ensure solutions align with evolving business goals.	Reduces the risk of delivering something that doesn’t truly fit.
Underlying Competencies	Now treated as a “knowledge area” — includes skills like communication, problem solving, domain knowledge, ethics, etc.	Highlights the importance of “soft skills” in being a successful BA.
Glossary	226 terms are defined to standardize language.	Reduces confusion between projects, organizations, and teams.

What It Means for You & Your Organization

• For individual analysts
  Use BABOK 2.0 as a guide for planning your work, choosing techniques, and developing your career.
• For organizations
  You can base your BA competency model on it — defining what skills, tasks, and outcomes your analysts should deliver.
• Shift in focus
  The emphasis is more on **delivering the “right” solution** (i.e., business value) than just getting software “right.”

Summary

The Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^® (BABOK^® Guide) Version 2.0 has reached a level of maturity that is likely to see widespread adoption in all industries, and will likely be the definitive reference about business analysis for the next couple of years.

Version 2.0 focuses more on getting the right solution that adds business value, rather than on getting a software solution right. As such, it truly concentrates on business analysis rather than system analysis or project management.

If you are a business analyst, you could use the BABOK^® Guide as a reference for planning and conducting business analysis initiatives, and as a roadmap to help you with your own professional development.

If your organization employs or engages business analysts, Version 2.0 of the BABOK^® Guide could serve as the basis for a competency model that defines the skills and abilities that your business analysts should have.

For more information on The Guide to the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^® (BABOK^® Guide) Version 2.0, please contact a training consultant at +1.978.649.8200.

About the Author:

Phil Vincent, CBAP^®, PMP^®, is a senior consultant with the Corporate Education Group.

IIBA^®, BABOK^® and Business Analysis Body of Knowledge^® are registered trademarks owned by International Institute of Business Analysis.

PMI^®, Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge^® and PMBOK^® are registered trademarks owned by the Project Management Institute.