Which is the best Agile and Scrum Certification Training Workshop?

Have you been asked questions related to agile and Scrum certifications? I get many questions on LinkedIn and Quora. Here is a list of frequently asked questions. 

• What kind of Scrum and agile workshop is suitable for me?
• Can I go for Scrum Master Training or Product Owner Training?
• I am a tester and wanted to learn agile testing, but how?
• Is there any certificate for Architect, Developer, Tester or Manual Tester?
• Which agile and Scrum certificates carry more value in the job market?
• I have a working knowledge of Agile and Scrum but looking for a certificate to change job ,so which certificate will help me more?
• Which Certificate for Scrum Master more suitable? Which one to choose between CSM, PSM and PMI-ACP?
• I am working in Scrum for long and now looking for a certificate, so please suggest. 

Many more similar questions, so writing about them in detail. Below is my personal suggestions based on interactions with organizations and their leaders.

There are only 2 major Certification Authorities available but don’t worry there are many fake ones as well. In fact, PMI also provides certification but they are confused with their own certificate.

Scrum Alliance is the first organization to start offering quality training and is now accepted across the world. Most popular in countries like USA, UK, Singapore and India. Attending training by an approved trainer is a must in order to earn a certificate and there are no exams for certification apart from CSM (Certified Scrum Master).

Be careful while choosing Scrum Alliance workshop because some of the trainers are not rated well. The below parameters can be applied while choosing.

• What is the batch size? Not too small and not too big is OK. 
• Teaching techniques – is it based on hands-on activities or PPT reading?
• Ask questions like how this workshop is related to are where you operate?
• The workshop is generic Scrum introduction or role-specific?
• Ask for feedback if possible

Scrum.org is founded by Ken Schwaber (co-creator of Scrum) after moving out from Scrum Alliance. Very good courses and highly rated by practitioners. Scrum.org is becoming more popular nowadays because companies are asking for Scrum.org certificates exclusively. Training is not mandatory in order to write exams but is always suggestible for new people.

Which one to choose? Scrum Alliance or Scrum.org?

Personally, I like Scrum.org courses but if you look at the market demand then Scrum Alliance still is the most popular. I am Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) from Scrum.org so you can say I have a natural inclination towards Scrum.org but that's not true because I am also a Certified Scrum Developer Educator from Scrum Alliance and I love teaching Scrum Alliance courses. So why do I like Scrum.org courses? Because of control over the content and nothing more.    

Scrum Alliance courses are popular and you don’t need to explain to anyone about Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),  Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Certified Scrum Developer (CSD). These are well-known certificates and even the recruitment team understand very well. Although In recent times, Scrum.Org courses like Professional Scrum Master (PSM-I), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO-I) or Professional Scrum Developer (PSD-I) became popular and demand is growing due to the better quality (or maybe better marketing). 

Which Scrum Certificate is suitable more for me based on my role?

You are working as a Product Manager, Project Manager, Product Owner, Proxy Product Owner, Business owner, Functional Consultant, Senior Manager or you are responsible for P&L, Business growth, managing large products etc. then better to choose a Certified Scrum Product Owner(CSPO) or ProfessionalScrum Product Owner (PSPO-I). Attending a two-day workshop is enough to earn CSPO but you have to write the exam in case of PSPO and pass with 85% marks. PSPO is a standard course provided by Scrum.Org whereas CSPO content totally depends on the trainer. 

You are working as Scrum Master, Process Consultant or inspired to become any of these 2 then join Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or ProfessionalScrum Master (PSM-I). A 2-day workshop is mandatory followed by an exam for CSM. I have not seen anyone failing in an exam so don’t worry. Training is not mandatory for PSM-1 but passing the PSM-1 assessment with 85% is not easy so advisable to attend a workshop. Attending PSM training has a lot more advantages over CSM and no renewal is required for PSM. 

If you don’t belong to any of the above categories then most likely you are either developer, tester, consultant, team lead, test lead, architect, Salesforce developer, embedded programmer, oracle ERP consultant, BI developer, DBA or Data Warehousing developer and if Yes then go for Certified Scrum Developer (CSD) or Professional Scrum Developer (PSD-I). CSD is a 2-day workshop and there is no assessment. PSD is assessment-based and you have to pass with 85% marks. Training is not essential for PSD but recommended.

Oh, you are looking for leadership, organization change, agile coach or change agent then better to look for Large-Scale Scrum (LeSS) or Nexus Framework.

You wanted to demonstrate scrum knowledge and experience then you may think of becoming Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) or PSM-II as well. No workshop but some processes with pre-requisite.

Note: – I have not mentioned anything about Scrum Study, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) or Discipline Agile Delivery (DA) because I am not yet sure about it or don’t have much information about these. This is a personal view and it may differ from an individual.

Write to me or call me if you wanted to know more about the above certification training.