Introduce
Currently, Agile is widely applied not only in the field of software development but also in many other fields such as Marketing, Financial, Manufacturing, HR, Education … In particular, Scrum is always a widely used framework. most widely in the group of Agile methodologies. Therefore, studying and taking Scrum Master certificate is the necessary preparation for current and future public hospitals. However, since the first Scrum Master certificate was introduced in 2001 by the Scrum Alliance, there have been many other certification organizations up to now, which can confuse you with many Scrum certification names. Master different. This article will give you a full overview of the Scrum Master certification organization and its Scrum certification system, from which you will have the right choice for yourself.
Scrum co-founders & Scrum Guide
Scrum was introduced to the public in 1995 by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Ken and Jeff were also two of the 17 co-signers of the Agile manifesto that came six years later in 2001. In 2010, Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland published the first ” Scrum Guide ” to unify and state. understand the core components of Scrum, the parts to do of Scrum Framework. Over the years, the latest version was released in 2017.
Scrum Accreditation Bodies – The Scrum certification organization
Scrum was widely accepted by software professionals and developers but did not have an official accreditation organization for Scrum until 2001 when the Scrum Alliance released its first Scrum Master certification called CSM (Certified). Scrum Master).
By 2009, due to some differences in the way Scrum was developed and certified with the executive board, Ken Schwaber left the Scrum Alliance and founded Scrum.org. The Scrum Master certification by Scrum.org is called PSM (Professional Scrum Master).
In 2006, Jeff founded Scrum.inc, the training partner of the Scrum Alliance, which only provides certification training for the Scrum Alliance. Until 2019, Scrum Inc also developed its own certification program. The Scrum Master Certification by Scrum Inc is called LSM (Licensed Scrum Master).
The above are only Scrum accreditation organizations related to Scrum co-founders Jeff Sutherland, Ken Schwaber and Scrum community influencer Mike Cohn. In addition, there are other Scrum accreditation organizations. We will see details in the following table:
As such, besides the Scrum Alliance, Scrum.org and Scrum Inc, ScrumStudy, EXIN and the International Scrum Institute are also involved in Scrum Master recognition and certification. However, for Scrum Master and EXIN Scrum Master certification, in addition to the knowledge of Scrum, the test also tests general knowledge and Agile methodologies and project management knowledge.
EXIN ASM certification is like a mixture of PMI-ACP and Scrum certificates with a lot of knowledge about other Agile methodologies and PMI-specific concepts. While ASM is a mixture of PMI-ACP and Scrum, SMC of ScrumStudy is a hybrid of PMP and Scrum. The SBOK Guide has a big difference with the Scrum Guide.
Scrum Master accreditation and certification program of accredited organizations
Currently, all Scrum Master certificates of the above organizations can be taken online. However, there are still significant differences in process, difficulty, cost, and other constraints.
Before 2012, the Scrum Alliance did not organize online exams but required students to take offline classes and CSM certificates issued after finishing the course. Currently, the Scrum Alliance still requires students to take a course before taking the exam online.
In addition to the Scrum Alliance, Scrum Inc also requires students to register for a course with Scrum Inc partners to take the certification exam. Training costs vary by country or region around the world. For example, Vietnam and many other countries in Asia belong to group 2, the cost of the course will be lower than in the US or countries in Europe.
PSM, ASM and SMAC certificates are valid indefinitely. CSM, SMC, LSM certificates will have to “renew” after a year or two.
Which Scrum Master certificate should you choose?
If you simply want to learn Scrum without having to take the C / C exam, there is no need to worry about choosing a study program. First, you can read the Scrum Guide, then read any other Scrum documents, or join the Scrum community online. There are many great articles from Scrum.org, the Scrum Alliance and other websites. However, if you want to take the Scrum Master certification, as a confirmation of your Scrum knowledge, the following factors should be considered.
1. Brand value
Brand value lies in the popularity of the certificate, when it comes to many people will know. It is very easy to choose two names for this criterion: PSM and CSM. The number of people with PSM I and CSM certificates is very large, much larger than the rest of the certificates and covers all over the world.
Note, Scrum.org’s statistics as of 1/4/2020 and the total number of CSM certificates are statistics until the end of 2019.
It is quite understandable that Scrum Alliance & Scrum.org was founded early and is run or supported by the three most influential Scrum community members, Ken Schwaber, Jeff Sutherland & Mike Cohn. Trainers of these organizations are well-trained, imbued with the philosophy of Scrum!
Choice of: PSM I, CSM
2. Cost
Top 3 certificates do not require training classes and have the cheapest online exam costs respectively 69 USD, 150 USD & 268 USD. In particular, SMAC certificate is the cheapest when only 69 USD and testers are also granted 10 retests without charge. In other words, it’s hard to spend more than $ 69 on a SMAC certificate.
Choice of: SMAC, PSM I, ASM
3. Training quality (class training)
If you plan to sign up for a class on Scrum before taking the exam, the quality of your placement should also be taken into account. It is not easy to assess the quality of the course because it depends on many factors such as training unit, content of the material, and especially the quality of lecturers. If you consider the strict criteria to become a trainer of Scrum.org, Scrum Inc and Scrum Alliance organizations, PSM, LSM or CSM classes will be more secure in terms of quality.
Choice of: PSM I, LSM, CSM
However, as mentioned above, the quality of training depends greatly on the trainer. This also reflects somewhat in the cost of classes held. Well-known trainers, the course fee can be much higher than the class taught by other trainers.
4. “Certification tracks”
This criterion relates to accreditation bodies having different types of certificates on Agile and Scrum. Learners can continue studying and taking higher qualifications in Scrum and Agile leadership. For example, after obtaining PSM I certificate, students can review for PSM II or PSM III; or after CSM can move towards CSP-SM. There are also certificates for Scrum Developers or Scrum Product Owner whose basic knowledge is still Scrum, meaning that learners have the advantage to get other certificates after they have scrubbed the Scrum Master certificate.
Choice of: PSM I, CSM, SMC, LSM
5. Difficulty level
Personally, I don’t like using this criterion to choose. Difficult is sometimes an interesting challenge that after learners feel more proud of themselves. Conversely, when you want to be safe, it is easy to be the preferred option. Therefore, regarding this criterion, I divided into two groups with easy and moderate difficulty.
Easy: CSM, SMC, SMAC, LSM (?)
Medium: PSM I, ASM
Note, I do not have clear information about the LSM exam, but it is easy to put LSM into a group because it is common sense that certificates that require learners to attend a training course are relatively easy. In addition, currently you will not be able to take Scrum Inc courses in Vietnam because Scrum Inc has only been implemented in the US, Europe and a few countries around the world.
Epilogue
Hopefully, with the above information, you have the choice of Scrum Master certification for you. Please also note that the above are just Scrum Master certificates of different certification organizations, to assess knowledge of the Scrum Framework. A Scrum Master may need additional knowledge about Agile Project Management or Scrum at scale. This knowledge is built into other certification systems such as PMI-ACP, SAFe, [email protected] , Nexus …
Thank you for watching.
Khiem Huynh, Agile Coach, PSM III.
Learn and review Scrum.org’s Scrum certificates at www.coachingagileteam.com
Check out my videos on YouTube channel Agile Education