The PMI-ACP Exam Revisited

Though I was initially skeptical of the new PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) exam, I have recently seen a quite big increase in its adoption which I blogged about before.  I have seen discussion groups sprout on social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook and especially in training and education programs due to the requirement of obtaining 21 PDUs before taking the exam, by established and new Agile training and consulting companies.

 

Due to this, I started looking more into this certification and have to say that I do like its approach.  Unlike the more well known Scrum certifications such as the ones provided by Scrum Alliance and the new fork created by co-founder Ken Schwaber which focus exclusively on Scrum, the PMI-ACP takes a much more broader approach and covers the full gamut of Agile practices, e.g. Scrum, XP, Lean, Kanban, etc.

 

Here’s a summary list of topics that are covered by the PMI-ACP:

Over 2500 people applied for the pilot program which is a record for PMI.  Though I’m usually an early adopter for the latest and the greatest in the PM and technology fields, I decided to sit on the fence for a bit on this.  With the popularity of the Scrum certifications and the glut of new certification from PMI that have not had widespread adoption, I was reluctant to partake in the pilot.  But with the responses I’ve seen on social networking sites, the web and after reviewing the contents of the exam, I’ve now decided to take the exam.  If you’re already a PMP, it integrates nicely under it as you are only required to maintain 30 PDUs per 3 years which is half of the PMP and you can have them count for both.  Though it goes from PMI-ACP to PMP and not the other way around (In other words, your Agile based PDUs can count toward the PMP, but your PMP PDUs if they are not based on Agile cannot be applied to the PMI-ACP).

 

Of course you shouldn’t get a certification just because it is popular (unless that popularity translates directly to getting a better job and/or pay increase, which as of now the PMI-ACP can hardly claim) nor does passing this exam accurately gauge an Agile PM’s competency... I don’t want to revisit this topic and open that can of worms again, as I know it has been debated endlessly both on this site and other places regarding the PMP.

 

But as an actual Agile practitioner, I look forward to the challenge of studying for this exam as when I took the PMP, I found gaps in my knowledge of PM practices that studying for it helped identify and make me a more knowledgeable PM.  And if you’re looking to get the 21 educational PDUs, look for lower cost online classes and if you’re a certified ScrumMaster, you most likely took a 2 day class which already provided you 16 PDUs.  You could just take a 1 day agile class and obtain it, or watch 5 webcasts that have an educational component related to Agile.  I’m taking a low cost but good quality one from Simplilearn that includes 2 full exams (**Disclosure, I’m an affiliate with Simplilearn).

 

If you are interested, I’d start at the PMI site and carefully read the handbook.  I plan on taking mine around July and will blog about that here.  In the meantime, for those pursuing it I wish you luck and let me know how it goes!

If you are interested, I’d start at the PMI site and carefully read the handbook.  I plan on taking mine around July and will blog about that here.  In the meantime, for those pursuing it I wish you luck and let me know how it goes!Though I was initially skeptical of the new PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) exam, I have recently seen a quite big increase in its adoption which I blogged about before.  I have seen discussion groups sprout on social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook and especially in training and education programs due to the requirement of obtaining 21 PDUs before taking the exam, by established and new Agile training and consulting companies.

 

Due to this, I started looking more into this certification and have to say that I do like its approach.  Unlike the more well known Scrum certifications such as the ones provided by Scrum Alliance and the new fork created by co-founder Ken Schwaber which focus exclusively on Scrum, the PMI-ACP takes a much more broader approach and covers the full gamut of Agile practices, e.g. Scrum, XP, Lean, Kanban, etc.

 

Here’s a summary list of topics that are covered by the PMI-ACP:

 

Methods:

Scrum (obviously)

eXtreme Programming

Lean (as applied to software development mostly)

Kanban

Crystal

FDD

DSDM

RUP

Practices:

Osmotic Communication (by Alistair Cockburn in his book “Agile Software Development – The Cooperative Game”)

Servant Leadership

Agile Risk Management (Risk burndown chart, audit backlog, and risk analysis)

Agile Planning and Estimation (user stories, planning poker, etc.)

Communications (standup meetings, customer interactions, etc.)

Agile Quality (definition of “done” and how you qualify this)

Upcoming Practices:

Innovation Games

Control Limits

Agile EVM

 

Over 2500 people applied for the pilot program which is a record for PMI.  Though I’m usually an early adopter for the latest and the greatest in the PM and technology fields, I decided to sit on the fence for a bit on this.  With the popularity of the Scrum certifications and the glut of new certification from PMI that have not had widespread adoption, I was reluctant to partake in the pilot.  But with the responses I’ve seen on social networking sites, the web and after reviewing the contents of the exam, I’ve now decided to take the exam.  If you’re already a PMP, it integrates nicely under it as you are only required to maintain 30 PDUs per 3 years which is half of the PMP and you can have them count for both.  Though it goes from PMI-ACP to PMP and not the other way around (In other words, your Agile based PDUs can count toward the PMP, but your PMP PDUs if they are not based on Agile cannot be applied to the PMI-ACP).

 

Of course you shouldn’t get a certification just because it is popular (unless that popularity translates directly to getting a better job and/or pay increase, which as of now the PMI-ACP can hardly claim) nor does passing this exam accurately gauge an Agile PM’s competency... I don’t want to revisit this topic and open that can of worms again, as I know it has been debated endlessly both on this site and other places regarding the PMP.

 

But as an actual Agile practitioner, I look forward to the challenge of studying for this exam as when I took the PMP, I found gaps in my knowledge of PM practices that studying for it helped identify and make me a more knowledgeable PM.  And if you’re looking to get the 21 educational PDUs, look for lower cost online classes and if you’re a certified ScrumMaster, you most likely took a 2 day class which already provided you 16 PDUs.  You could just take a 1 day agile class and obtain it, or watch 5 webcasts that have an educational component related to Agile.  I’m taking a low cost but good quality one from Simplilearn that includes 2 full exams (**Disclosure, I’m an affiliate with Simplilearn).

 

If you are interested, I’d start at the PMI site and carefully read the handbook.  I plan on taking mine around July and will blog about that here.  In the meantime, for those pursuing it I wish you luck and let me know how it goes!