PMI, the Project Management Institute®, will be developing a new standard for business analysis akin to what it already provides for project management with its PMBOK®. The not-for-profit organization expects to release the new foundational standard in 2017 to provide a “definitive body of knowledge” for people doing business analysis of projects, programs and portfolios.

This work follows on PMI’s introduction of Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide and its certification, Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA).

The new publication will become part of a family of similar guides that includes the PMBOK Guide, The Standard for Program Management, The Standard for Portfolio Management, and the Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3).

“As the role of business analyst becomes more essential to organizations, PMI will continue to expand its line of business analysis products and resources to meet the needs of BA professionals all over the world,” said PMI President and CEO Mark Langley in a prepared statement.