Currently Agile has been the most talked-about methodology for managing work. And that is the reason people with Agile knowledge and certification are much preferred than any other certification in the industry.
There are a lot of certifications available in the market. Everyone has their own favorite certification which they feel will give them good knowledge and recognition or which they feel are vastly superior or highly popular or favorite in the industry.
So let us put our favorites here for you.
Firstly, when you talk about Agile most of the times it seems to be Scrum. Most of the companies are trying to shift focus from the traditional way of working to Agile or Scrum way of working. And that is why I have listed Scrum certification higher on my list.
Certified Scrum Master® (Scrum Alliance)
Certified Scrum Master® is a well-known Scrum Master Course developed and popularised by the Scrum Alliance. If you are new to Scrum then is course is ideal. But it can also give you depth on the Scrum Master role as well. The training is delivered via workshops or classrooms covering concepts like Savant Leadership, Scrum Life Cycle, burn up / down charts, story points, and sprints. Overall, this will help understand how Scrum teams operate within product teams.
After successfully completing the course, you will need to take the 50 questions CSM® test and answer 37 out of the 50 questions correctly within the 60-minute time limit. Once you complete it, you are awarded a CSM® certificate.
Visit Scrum Alliance.org for further details.
Taking this certification allows you to grow in your career as a Scrum Master.
PMI-ACP®
PMI-ACP® is the fastest-growing certification of PMI®.
This Certification covers many approaches to agile such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, extreme programming (XP) and test-driven development (TDD.) So it will increase your versatility.
The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® formally recognizes your knowledge of agile principles and your skill with agile techniques.
PMI-ACP® Eligibility
Project Management Institute (PMI)® needs you to document 2000 hours (12 months) of experience on Projects. In addition, you will need to document 1500 hours (8 months) of working on the basic practices of Agile.
Diploma or Degree holder
After completion of our course, we will help you document the experience correctly.
Also, you would already have used a few of the best practices of AGILE in your day-to-day life even now. After doing our course you will yourself realize that you can document AGILE experience without really working on an end-to-end AGILE project
Generally, if you have about 2 years (20 months) of experience, you will be eligible to appear for PMI-ACP® examination.
PMI-ACP® Exam Pattern
120 Questions – 50% of them on Agile Processes and 50% on Agile Tools and Techniques
Passing marks are around 65-70% depending on the complexity of the examination that you get
Visit PMI.org for further details
SAFe
SAFe® Stands for Scaled Agile Framework®.
Scaled Agile has a role-based curriculum. SAFe provides guidance for all the levels of the enterprise that are actively engaged in solution development Like Team, Program, Large Solution, and Portfolio.
Scaled Agile, Inc. is the certifying body of the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®).
Certified SAFe professionals are globally recognized for their ability to support the successful transformation of organizations into Lean-Agile enterprise.
How to get certified?
There are different certifications available on SAFe:
Leading SAFe®
SAFe® Product Owner/Product Manager
SAFe® Release Train Engineer
SAFe® Scrum Master
SAFe® Advanced Scrum Master
Implementing SAFe®
SAFe® for Teams
To get certified you need to :
Attend the course related to exam
Study based on the course and exam study materials provided
Incorporate learnings into real-world experiences
Take the practice test on the SAFe Community Platform
Take the actual exam through the SAFe Community Platform
Become a member of the SAFe Community
Visit Scaled Agile for further details
EXIN Agile Scrum Master
The EXIN Agile Scrum Master is a certification from EXIN. It covers topics like Agile Way of Thinking, Scrum Master Role, Agile Estimating, Planning, Monitoring and Control, Complex Projects, Adopting Agile and Scrum practices. The certification exam tests your competencies required to facilitate, coach and enable a cross-functional team as a Scrum Master. To appear for the certification exam you need to successfully complete an EXIN Accredited Agile Scrum Master Training.
Certification exam:
Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Number of questions: 40 (Multiple Choice)
Pass mark: 65%
Requirements: Training is mandatory.
Agile Scrum Master certification is useful for managerial professionals in the fields of IT project management, software development, business management and IT service management.
Visit EXIN for further details
Professional Scrum Master (Scrum.org)
Professional Scrum Master is a certification from Scrum.org. Professional Scrum MasterTM (PSM) is a 2-day course that covers the principles and (empirical) process theory underpinning the Scrum framework, and the role of the Scrum Master in it. You have the option to take the PSM I assessment directly. However, there are courses available to help you prepare for the assessment.
The course also includes a free attempt at the globally recognized Professional Scrum Master-I certification exam (PSM I).
PSM certification tests your depth of knowledge of the Scrum framework and its application as to how to apply Scrum within Scrum Teams.
To get certified- Exam Pattern:
Fee: $150 USD per attempt
Passing score: 85%
Time limit: 60 minutes
Number of Questions: 80
Format: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer and True/False
Difficulty: Intermediate
Language: English only
Scrum Resources
Required course: None
Recommended courses: Professional Scrum Foundations or Professional Scrum Master
PSM Subject Areas
Visit Scrum.org for further details