FTI was the gold sponsor of South Africa's second ever Business Analysis conference, held in Cape Town from 2 to 4 September 2013. The conference, which drew more than 200 participants from leading companies across South Africa and featured respected international speakers, was a resounding success. Faculty Training Institute (FTI) is a national training firm and is recognised for pioneering the profession of business analysis in South Africa.
In line with its goal to continue to build the leading business analysis training framework in South Africa, FTI sponsored the Business Analysis Summit Southern Africa 2013 (BASSA2013). The two-day conference was presented by the South African Chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA-SA). The IIBA is an independent, non-profit international professional society for the growing field of business analysis.
"Participation in the BASSA2013 conference is part of FTI's comprehensive spectrum of business analysis programmes and projects within its scope as a MICT SETA recognised Business Analysis 'Centre of Excellence'," says Steve Erlank, CEO of FTI. "FTI's mandate is to increase the strategic and scarce skill of business analysis in the country, which is why we are dedicated to lending our support to the local chapter of the IIBA. The conference provided a forum for business analysts to network and develop their knowledge, skills and practice. It also provided an opportunity for managers, technical and business specialists, as well as service providers, to explore ways in which to leverage the professional business analyst in unlocking business value."
The conference, themed "The Professional Business Analyst: Unlocking Business Value", provided a platform for all business analysts, and the leading organisations that employ them, to come together to debate and understand how the business analyst can drive out business value and support strategic business change.
The conference programme included five pre-conference workshops run over one full day. Thereafter, the two-day conference comprised two facilitated panel discussions and two tracks, which were led by 27 expert speakers. The tracks ran concurrently and focused on Business Analysis in the Organisation and the Practice of Business Analysis.
Conference highlights included a keynote address from acclaimed author and business rules guru, Ron Ross, and guest speaker Gladys Lam, a world-renowned authority on applied business rule techniques. Certified Business Analyst Professionals (CBAP), Richard and Elizabeth Larson, Principals of USA-based business analysis training company Watermark Learning, addressed audiences on the "7 Ways to Build Trust for Effective Elicitation", "Bulletproof Business Cases", and also ran a workshop that outlined a plan for candidates preparing to attain their Certification of Competence in Business Analysis (CCBA) and Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) certification.
Commenting on the speakers at this year's event, Erlank said: "Their experience and breadth of knowledge across the business analysis profession contributed enormously to the success of the conference."
The next BASSA conference is being planned for the third quarter of 2014 and will be held in Johannesburg.
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