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Privacy policy

Capiro recognises the importance of your privacy. We are concerned to protect all personal data that we obtain from you in the course of operating our business.

This privacy policy identifies what personal data we collect, why we collect it, where it is stored, what we do with it and how long we store it.

IMPORTANT – We use cookies only to support essential functions of the website. We do not use cookies for tracking visitors to the site, or to support advertising.

By using our website and purchasing our training courses you agree to the use of the data that we collect as defined in this Privacy Policy.

We may update this policy as necessary, e.g.

  • To comply with changes in the law.
  • To reflect changes in the services and products that we offer.
  • If we start to collect any personal data other than that described in this policy.
  • If we store data in other locations to those described in this policy.
  • If we start to process the data differently to what is described in this policy.

Capiro Ltd. is registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office.

Information about the data we collect

When do we collect personal data?

We collect personal data about you in the following circumstances:

  • When you subscribe to be kept informed about events, changes and additions to our range of products and services.
  • When you purchase a product or service from us.
  • When you email us or send us a contact form.

What data do we collect?

Subscribing to be kept informed about upcoming courses

  • Your email address.

You may cancel your subscriptions or memberships at any time, either by clicking ‘unsubscribe’ at the footer of emails we send you or by notifying us, e.g. by sending us a contact form.

Completing a contact form

  • To submit a contact form to us, you will need to provide your email address, first name and family name. This allows us to address you in a polite and respectful manner.
  • When completing a contact form, you may optionally add your company name and a phone number.

Purchasing a course

When purchasing an online course from us, you are asked to provide:

  • First and last name
  • Postal address
  • Phone number

Optionally, you may supply your company name

What do we use your data for?

We use the personal data you share with us to:

  • Provide the products or services that you request.
  • Provide help and guidance whilst you are using that product or service.
  • Answer your questions and communicate with you about your member account or transactions with us.

Where is your data stored?

Our web site is hosted by the company, Rainmaker Data Services (RMDS), which is based in the United States of America.

Therefore, when you submit data to us, e.g. by completing and submitting a form on our website, you are transferring this data into the USA and in using our services you consent to such transfer.

How long do we retain your data?

Legal constraints

If you purchase a product from Capiro, we will hold the data in accordance with UK law, particularly legislation related to taxation.

Subscriptions to a mailing list

Normally we retain data associated with subscriptions until we receive a request from you to unsubscribe from a mailing list.

We will periodically review our list of subscribers and members. If your membership appears to be inactive, we may contact you to see if you still want your information to be held by us. If you do not, we will delete it.

Other

We would normally retain information that you communicate to us by email or by submitting a contact form for only as long as it is useful to dealing with the matter that you raise. We may retain specific information if it will help us to provide a better and more personalised service to you.

Who do we share your information with?

The information we collect about you is not shared with or sold to any other organisation.

Online payments for our products and services are made exclusively by you via Stripe or PayPal. All such transactions are therefore strictly between you and Stripe or PayPal.

We use Google Analytics to help us analyse our web traffic.

Your right to see what data we store about you.

You have a right in law to see the information that we hold about you.

If you are a subscriber to an email list, the only information that we hold is your email address and possibly your first name and/or family name, as specified by you. You may unsubscribe from a list at any time.

If you purchase a course from you, a member account is set up automatically; the system will recognise you as a ‘member’. The details of your member account are shown on your ‘profile’. You may view and update your profile, online, at any time. You can also access your profile to change your password.

You may let us know if you want your member account to be deleted.

Additional comments

If you would like to comment on our privacy policy, or request additional information about it, please submit a contact form.

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Home » Business analysis online training » How to learn business analysis
Self studying to learn business analysis

How to learn business analysis

As the demand for business analysts grows, many people are asking, 'How to learn business analysis?'

Business analysis is a very broad topic with many specialisms. To master it and gain the skills you need I recommend that you employ a combination of approaches. For example,

  • Take a training course
  • Read a book
  • Watch a webinar
  • Visit relevant websites
  • Engage with social media
  • Become a member of a business analysis online group
  • Become a member of a business analysis society

No one way is necessarily better than the others for how to learn business analysis; business analysts may use all of them. The ones that BA chooses may depend on their current skills and experience.

We will consider some of them in a bit more detail.

Learning business analysis with a training course

What are you looking for?

When you are first learning how to be a business analyst, you are probably looking for two things:

  1. A general introduction to business analysis
  2. A recognised certificate to say you have taken a course and/or passed an exam

You might choose the first option to learn about business analysis. You might need option two to help you get a job. Certificates are becoming increasingly popular with employers. You should always bear in mind however, that training to improve your skills and training to obtain a certificate are two quite different things. Failure to recognise this can lead to disappointment with your training.

Popular certification schemes

There are a number of well known training schemes offering certificates and diplomas.

For example,

  • BCS: British computer society
  • IIBA: International institute of business analysis
  • IREB: International requirements engineering board
  • Business Architecture Guild

BCS business analysis certifications are well established in the UK. They are gaining increasing international popularity.

IIBA certification schemes, e.g. CBAP certification, are well known internationally.

Traditionally these courses were taught mainly in classrooms.

In these days of Covid 19, training companies have rushed to satisfy the demand for online training.

How to learn business analysis with online training courses

Online courses may be trainer led or self paced, e-learning style.

Online training has a number of advantages:

  1. It's likely to be cheaper than classroom training
  2. You can study from home - No travel or accommodation requirements
  3. Your approach to studying can be made to fit your lifestyle
  4. You can take the exam when you're ready, not when the timetable says so
  5. It's better for the environment
Trainer led online business analysis training courses

Trainer led courses tend to run the training company's standard courses, but do so remotely.

This approach to online learning obviously needs to be held on specific dates and at specific times.

You may be able to choose your preferred date and time to take exams.

Self paced online business analysis training courses

True e-learning, self paced, courses are likely to be the cheapest option and the most flexible.

There are also other advantages:

  1. Study where you like, when you like. Trainer led online courses have fixed start times for sessions.
  2. Relax while you study on your computer, tablet or smartphone
  3. Repeat lessons as often as you like
  4. Focus on specific parts of lessons

Technologies such as video and interactive, game style, learning can provide a very efficient and economic solution to people's training needs.

A concern that some people may have with this style of learning is that they feel they will have no one to go to if they do not understand the material. If that is a concern, look at 'Blended online learning', below. At Capiro, we ask our course members to contact us when they want to discuss anything. We then agree times for a phone call or a Zoom meeting.

Specialist training courses

Ambitious BAs should look out for courses on topics such as,

  • Analytics
  • Machine learning
  • Big data
  • Artificial intelligence

All of these will impact the role of a business analyst. I recommend looking for specialists in such topics.

Some accreditation schemes require you to retake their exams every so often. I've never understood this. You don't have to keep retaking your degree, assuming you passed. Once it's done its job of getting you your job, you move on. Rather than retake a business qualification that you already have, I recommend that get into specialist areas and really advance your careers, marketability and prospects. You can always explain at an interview why you decided not a retake a required qualification.

Blended online learning

Some companies provide a mix of trainer led and self paced training courses. Check to see if your chosen training company offers support via messaging, phone, Zoom or social media. This can be great for additional support for exam preparation or reviews. You can take advantage of this option with Capiro courses.

Reading a book

Books can go into a lot more detail than is usually possible on a training course.

The book will always be available to refer to, especially if it's an e-book.

Look for books written by people with established, perhaps international, reputations in business analysis or related areas such as business processes, data and rules. You can check the reviews for the publication before buying.

Although books may not be cheap, they do tend to be cheaper than training courses.

Some books may help you prepare for an exam by providing exam style exercises and quizzes. They may also have an associated website.

Whether or not you take a training course, books can be an effective way to really extend your knowledge.

TIP: Check out the background of the author to ensure that they can speak from real experience.

Personally recommended books

The following books have stood the test of time. If you are preparing for your first interview I would recommend reading at least one of them.

  • Mastering the requirements process - Robertsons
  • Software requirements - Weigers
  • Requirements Styles and Techniques - Lauesen
  • Succeeding with Agile - Cohn
  • Workflow modeling - Sharpe and McDermott
  • UML 2 and the Unified Process - Arlow and Neustadt
  • Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning for Business - Finlay

Watch a webinar

There are many webinars although some are mainly broadcast to talk about the presenter's own company, training courses, books or toolsets.

You generally, if not always, have to provide some personal or company information to get invited to attend.

They are a quick and convenient way of gaining information and perhaps extending your knowledge about

  • The range of business analysis activities
  • The latest thinking or toolset

You can also learn about areas that are related to business analysis.

Websites, blogs and social media

Searches on the web will quickly take you to other sites that should give you at least some answers to your questions.

It is possible of course to become overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, with some people trying to game the system to bring their work to your attention. In the world of SEO, techniques intended to fool Google and get someone into the top three slots for the response to a search query are known as 'black hat', or possibly 'grey hat'.

Social Media

Not all social media is useful of course, but there are some excellent videos to be found.

From the huge amount you can selectively subscribe to a few channels that give you exactly what you want.

Final words

Business analysts must be lifetime learners. The subject is evolving all the time. That said, radical changes are infrequent, as mentioned above. The techniques that became associated with agile approaches, for example, evolved over many years. You can use the same approaches as I have described above to support your practical experience and continually improve your capability.

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