Reddit reviews Business Analysis

Hey fella,

Can't help you with practise exams. BCS are extremely anal about keeping courses focused on their books and material.

I took this course a couple of years ago now and to the best of my memory it was entirely focused on the following book:
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Analysis-Malcolm-Eva/dp/178017277X

It focused heavily on going through the book end to end and ensuring you grasped the fundamental of each stage and the terminology across it.
I think it was multiple choice as well.

In addition to this I can send you an image that our tutor drew over the three day course on the white board which were diagrammatical representations of the major points that we reached during the course. There are a lot of acronyms to help remember the main parts. These were the main areas we were told to focus on and should revise as they would most likely come up in the exam.

If you do choose to use a company, QA were the company I did it with in Leeds and they were pretty good. You actually got a hard copy of the above book AND a slimmer QA/BCS specific exam focused printed notebook which summarised the larger book down.

Drop me your email addy and I'll send the diagram over. I've actually added a little more info to expand it for my benefit. It's a pretty useful tool to have on your desk regardless.

If you know the book and terminology well you should do OK in the exam.

Good luck.
Andy.

Some great points here but from the sounds of your post that you are now "in charge of Salesforce" there aren't people telling you what to do in it. It sounds to me your job role has changed from "The Admin" to "The Consultant/BA". Yes go for some certifications but mostly I think it's about moving more into the Consultant/BA role. Find how Salesforce can be used more effectively in your company to add value and measure it!. Actually, sit with some of your users who are advocates of Salesforce and understand how they do their job. I always look for people who use Excel/paper forms or are chasing different people for the same information again and again. Excel and paper forms can be turned into Salesforce objects, the chasing emails can be turned into workflows/process builder/automation. Work out how many times they have to copy/paste/send emails etc based on what you have automated. Then go to your boss and say hey I just saved the company $$ by automating this process. Maybe go look at common processes that the company does as a whole where you can make a bigger saving.

IMO That sounds a million times more compelling to your boss than hey look I passed the Salesforce Admin exam and completed 100 badges on Trailhead. I'm not saying not to do training but once you have identified the need for Salesforce its time to fill in your knowledge gaps with Trailhead/Certs etc and what better way to learn than on a real life scenario.

This sounds like a great opportunity and if it doesn't work out you can always put on your CV I saved the company $xxx,xxx in automating their processes using Salesforce.

Some books which I've had for YEARS but are (IMO) the bibles on Business Analysis:
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Analysis-Techniques-Essential-Success/dp/1780172737
https://www.amazon.com/Business-Analysis-James-Cadle/dp/178017277X