Why pursue Agile certification? Perhaps your employer is requesting it, or you'd like to pump up your resume. Maybe you just want to learn more, or you're getting ready to join an Agile development team. Whatever the case may be, it's important to note that you don't necessarily need a certification to thrive on an Agile team. After all, credentials alone don't make great programmers, project managers, or Agile practitioners — knowledge, skill, and experience do. But if you're interested in delving deeper into the Agile methodology, learning some high-level applications, and boosting your resume at the same time, certification might be for you.
Here's a list of widely recognized organizations offering certification in Agile and its offshoots, Scrum and XP:
Agile
Agile Certification Institute
Take an exam to prove your Agile expertise and earn one of ACI's 6 professional certifications, including Accredited Agile Practitioner, Accredited Kanban Practitioner, and Accredited Lean Software Development Practitioner.
Details: No training necessary; pass the exams and you're certified. You must earn 45 knowledge points every 4 years to maintain certification.
International Consortium for Agile
Choose from certifications in Agile Programming, Agile Software Design, and Agile Development. Training courses teach participants how to design, develop, and test software while embracing Agile principles like collaboration and adaption to change. In total, ICA offers 13 "Professional" certifications, 8 "Expert" certifications, and 1 "Master" certification (Read the full list of course options).
Details: ICA courses typically involve 2-3 days of instruction.
Scaled Agile Academy
5 certification options, including a two-day Agile Practitioner course that teaches developers to apply Scrum, Lean, and XP-inspired practices to large-scale, Enterprise-level projects.
Pre-requisites: 1+ years of experience in software development, testing, business analysis, product management, or project management.
Scrum
Scrum Alliance
Learn the ins-and-outs of Scrum, Scrum software, and the developer's role on the team with the Certified Scrum Developer and certified Scrum product owner program. Take at least five days of formal training from Scrum Alliance REPs, then take the exam to earn certification. (CSD track course list.)
Details: Certification is good for two years. Full requirements.
Scrum.org
The 3-day Professional Scrum Developer course sorts students into teams and takes them through the Scrum process, from Scrum tools to completing a sprint to developing software in increments.
Prerequisites: Must have studied the Scrum Guide and passed the free Developer and Scrum assessments through Scrum.org's website. Must also have experience with Java and .NET. (Full requirements)
International Scrum Institute
Complete their Online Scrum Training Program and take a 50-question, multiple-choice exam to earn the Accredited Scrum Team Member certification.
Details: No renewals are required to maintain certification.
ScrumStudy
6 certification options, including Scrum Developer Certified. This entry-level certification is designed to teach participants the basics of Scrum so they can fully contribute to their projects and teams.
Maintenance: Need to earn 25 re-certification credits every 2 years.
Extreme Programming (XP)
Agile FAQs
The Extreme Week course is a 5-day workshop for development teams who want intensive, hands-on training in XP. Teams will learn how to self-organize, adapt their designs to changing requirements, and make their development process more efficient.
Details: The course is delivered to the team online, so a projector & screen are required, along with a designated space for the team to work together. (Full requirements)
ASPE SDLC Training
The three-day Extreme Programming Workshop teaches participants the essentials of XP and how to implement it. A combination of lecture and hands-on activities helps teams complete planning, development, and testing for a real software project.
Details: Since these labs include live coding, some experience with Java or a similar object-oriented language is required to complete the project.
Industrial Logic
The 4-day Extreme Programming Workshop teaches participants core Agile principles, including evolutionary design, customer stories, and development tools and strategies.
Details: You’ll need a projector, screen, reliable high-speed internet access, and workstations for your team. (Full requirements)
If you hold an Agile certification, hit the comments to tell us about your experience! What courses do you suggest?
