Handbook
Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK)
This document maps the six knowledge areas defined by the BABOK Guide v3 (IIBA — International Institute of Business Analysis) to the blueprint ecosystem. It describes what each knowledge area covers, when it applies…
How BA relates to PDLC and SDLC: BA is a cross-cutting discipline that provides techniques and rigor to both lifecycles. See BA ↔ SDLC ↔ PDLC bridge for the full mapping, role comparison, and worked example.
Techniques: Each knowledge area uses a subset of the 50+ techniques cataloged in BA techniques catalog. The knowledge area guides in knowledge-areas/ list applicable techniques per activity.
Perspectives: BA adapts to context — agile teams, BI initiatives, enterprise architecture, process improvement. See perspectives/.
1. Knowledge areas overview
Summary table
| # | Knowledge Area | Core Question | Key Outputs | Deeper Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BA Planning & Monitoring | How should we approach BA work on this initiative? | BA plan, stakeholder engagement approach, performance metrics | BA Planning & Monitoring |
| 2 | Strategy Analysis | Why is this change needed and what does the future state look like? | Current state assessment, future state definition, change strategy, solution scope | Strategy Analysis |
| 3 | Elicitation & Collaboration | What do stakeholders know, need, and expect? | Elicitation results (confirmed), stakeholder engagement | Elicitation & Collaboration |
| 4 | Requirements Life Cycle Management | Are requirements traced, approved, and maintained? | Traced requirements, approved requirements, requirements architecture | Requirements Life Cycle Management |
| 5 | Requirements Analysis & Design Definition | What does the solution need to do and look like? | Requirement specifications (functional, non-functional), design definitions, verified requirements | Requirements Analysis & Design Definition |
| 6 | Solution Evaluation | Does the solution deliver the expected value? | Solution performance assessment, limitation identification, replacement/retirement recommendation | Solution Evaluation |
2. Knowledge area → lifecycle mapping
Each knowledge area has a primary lifecycle alignment and secondary touchpoints:
| Knowledge Area | PDLC Phases | SDLC Phases | Primary Alignment |
|---|---|---|---|
| BA Planning & Monitoring | Across P1–P6 | Across A–F | Governance layer — scoped per initiative |
| Strategy Analysis | P1–P3 (Discover, Validate, Plan & Commit) | — | PDLC — defines why change is needed |
| Elicitation & Collaboration | P1–P2 (research, interviews) | A–B (requirements gathering) | Both — techniques serve discovery and specification |
| Requirements Life Cycle Management | P3 (scope definition) | A–B (specs, traceability) | Both — bridges validated intent to delivery specs |
| Requirements Analysis & Design Definition | P2 (solution validation) | B–C (specify, design) | SDLC-heavy — models and specifies the solution |
| Solution Evaluation | P5–P6 (grow, sunset) | E (verify) | PDLC-heavy — measures value delivered |
3. Requirement classification
BABOK distinguishes requirement types. This classification maps to existing project artifacts:
| Requirement Type | BABOK Definition | Where It Lives in This Repo |
|---|---|---|
| Business requirements | High-level needs of the organization | docs/product/vision/, PDLC P1–P3 artifacts |
| Stakeholder requirements | Needs of specific stakeholder groups | docs/product/personas/, docs/product/journeys/ |
| Solution requirements (functional) | Capabilities the solution must provide | docs/product/features/, docs/requirements/ (story specs) |
| Solution requirements (non-functional) | Quality attributes, constraints | docs/requirements/ (NFR specs), docs/architecture/ |
| Transition requirements | Temporary capabilities for migration | Release/migration docs, PDLC P4 launch artifacts |
4. Underlying competencies
BABOK defines six competency areas for business analysts. These complement the role definitions in Roles, archetypes & methodology titles:
| Competency | What It Means | Related Blueprint Concept |
|---|---|---|
| Analytical thinking & problem solving | Decomposition, systems thinking, decision-making | Spec-driven development (Spec-driven development) |
| Behavioral characteristics | Ethics, trustworthiness, adaptability, organization | Role expectations in Software development lifecycle §1 and Product development lifecycle (PDLC) §1 |
| Business knowledge | Domain expertise, industry awareness, organizational understanding | Domain context in docs/product/glossary.md and docs/product/data/ |
| Communication skills | Written and verbal clarity, active listening, presentation | Ceremony facilitation — Ceremonies hub |
| Interaction skills | Facilitation, negotiation, conflict resolution, leadership | Stakeholder management, product trio collaboration |
| Tools & technology | Modeling tools, requirements management tools, prototyping | Tool landscape in AI tools and models landscape |
5. BABOK perspectives (summary)
Perspectives describe how BA practices adapt to specific contexts. Full guides are in perspectives/.
| Perspective | Focus | When to Apply |
|---|---|---|
| Agile | Iterative discovery, just-in-time requirements, collaboration over documentation | Teams using Scrum, Kanban, XP, or Dual-Track Agile |
| Business Intelligence | Data requirements, analytics, reporting, data quality | BI/analytics initiatives, data-driven product decisions |
| Business Architecture | Enterprise-level capability mapping, value streams, organizational alignment | Enterprise transformations, cross-product initiatives |
| Business Process Management | Process modeling, optimization, automation | Process improvement, workflow automation, operational efficiency |
BABOK v3 also defines an Information Technology perspective — in this blueprint, IT concerns are already covered by Software delivery and are not duplicated here.
6. External references
| Topic | URL | Why It Is Linked |
|---|---|---|
| IIBA — BABOK Guide v3 | https://www.iiba.org/babok-guide/ | Canonical source — the standard this package aligns to |
| IIBA — Business Analysis Competency Model | https://www.iiba.org/business-analysis-competency-model/ | Competency framework underlying §4 |
| IIBA — Agile Extension to the BABOK Guide | https://www.iiba.org/agile-extension/ | Detailed guidance for agile BA — source for Agile perspective |
| Karl Wiegers — Software Requirements | https://www.processimpact.com/software-requirements/ | Practical requirements engineering — techniques, templates, and process; complements BABOK with an engineering lens |
| Alistair Cockburn — Writing Effective Use Cases | https://alistair.cockburn.us/use-cases/ | Use case technique depth — the authoritative reference for structured use case writing |
| Dean Leffingwell — Agile Software Requirements | https://scaledagileframework.com/agile-software-requirements/ | Scaled agile requirements — how BA works in SAFe/large-scale agile; bridges to SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) |
| BPMN.org | https://www.bpmn.org/ | Process modeling standard — notation used in business process management perspective |
Keep project-specific BA artifacts in docs/product/ and docs/requirements/, not in this file.