ISO for Business Analysis
When professionals ask “Is there an ISO standard for Business Analysis?” the short answer is: not directly. Unlike project management, which has ISO 21500 and its family of standards as international counterparts to PMBOK® (Project Management Body of Knowledge), business analysis does not yet have a dedicated ISO standard carrying its exact name.
However, business analysts do have a very close equivalent: ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2018 – Requirements Engineering.
This standard outlines best practices for defining, analyzing, documenting, and managing requirements throughout the life cycle of a project or system. In many ways, it reflects the core practices of the BABOK® Guide (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge), which is the global reference framework for business analysis professionals.
Just as PMBOK practitioners reference ISO 21500, BABOK practitioners can align themselves with ISO 29148. This alignment provides several benefits:
- ✅ Consistency: Ensures requirements are structured and traceable.
- ✅ Quality: Promotes complete, clear, and verifiable requirements.
- ✅ Recognition: Gives business analysts an international benchmark to compare their practices against.
- ✅ Lifecycle Perspective: Covers requirements “from cradle to grave” — from initial business need to final retirement.
While ISO 29148 is not labeled “Business Analysis,” it is the closest ISO match to the BABOK framework. By applying its principles, business analysts can strengthen their work, gain credibility, and align with international standards recognized across industries.
So, if you’ve ever wondered whether there is an ISO for Business Analysis, the answer is: look to ISO 29148 — the Requirements Engineering standard.
📎 Download ISO/IEC/IEEE 29148:2018 in the attachment.
