Scrum Certification is a course and a series of exams that professionals undertake to validate their knowledge, skills and aptitude in Scrum, as well as Agile methodology and framework for managing complex projects.
There are numerous accreditation bodies around the globe which provide Scrum training and certification programs, most of which are widely accepted and recognized.
This article discusses a few top Scrum Training and Certification options which are available, starting right from the basics. Read along to know more!
The Scrum Framework comprises of three categories, which are Scrum Roles, Scrum Events and Scrum Artifacts. The following discusses, in brief, the mentioned three categories.
The Scrum framework is defined by three core roles: Development team, Scrum Master and Product Owner.
Development Team: The Development team is a group of self-organised, cross-functional people, who work together to create products as well as test the incremental releases of the products at the end of each sprint.
Scrum Master: The Scrum Master serves as a facilitator for his team members. It is his responsibility to ensure that the Team adheres to the Scrum practices and rules. He acts as a coach to the development team, product owner and stakeholders, and works towards removing the impediments that the team faces.
Product Owner: A Product Owner is responsible for conveying the vision of the project to his team members who are building it. He is accountable for managing the product backlog and testing the increment work that is completed.
The Scrum Events consists of five components, namely Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Stand-up, Sprint Review, Retrospective.
Sprint: A Sprint is a fixed time period, that is, it is a time-boxed period within which a Scrum Team completes a specific work so that it can be ready for a review. A Sprint can be as short as one week.
Sprint Planning: During a Sprint Planning meeting, the tasks which have to be accomplished during a Sprint is decided upon. It discusses the product backlogs which are needed to be delivered and how it can be achieved.
Daily Stand-up: It is a short meeting of 15-minutes duration which is conducted on an everyday basis. The main objective behind this short meeting is to make sure that the whole team is on the same page and is aligned to the sprint goal. The tasks covered in the previous 24 hours is discussed and the tasks to be carried out during the next 24 hours is planned out.
Sprint Review: A Sprint Review is conducted after Sprint ends. The increment completed and the tasks that have not been completed are discussed during the Sprint Review.
Sprint Retrospective: During a Sprint Retrospective, the whole team comes together and reflects on the Sprint process, that is, discuss what tasks were completed and what problems they faced. The main motive behind this is continuous improvement.
According to The 13th Annual State of Agile Report, the top 5 Agile Techniques are:
Scrum Artifacts include product backlog, sprint backlog and product increment.
It is a document which consists of an ordered list of all the product requirements. The Product Owner looks after the Product Backlog, who prioritises them as per the requirement.
The Sprint Backlog is a specific list of all the items from the Product Backlog which are to be worked on in a sprint.
A product increment is the sum of all the completed product backlogs since the software release.
CSM is modestly the most used Scrum Master Certification. With the help of this certification process, you can learn about the Scrum framework and get a better understanding of team events, roles and artifacts.
Accreditation body: Scrum Alliance
Prerequisites: The CSM® course can be taken by any professional who wants to deepen their Scrum understanding. CSM® course is usually taken up by the professionals working in IT and Non-IT industries. Therefore, it is recommended to become familiar with the basics of Scrum to understand the overall framework perfectly in less time.
The following individuals can take this course:
If you are already working as a Scrum Master, then taking this course will help you to strengthen your Scrum knowledge and skills.
Certification Procedure: You will have to attend a training of two days duration, after which you will be required to take an online test. The two-day training is conducted by a Certified Scrum Trainer who has been authorised by the Scrum Alliance.
The CSM certification has to be renewed every two years by paying a fee of $100 without any additional examination or training.
After attaining your Scrum Master Certification, you can act as a Scrum Master. Scrum Masters can opt to become mentors, coaches, managers, product owners or continue being a Scrum Master in more challenging situations.
Cost: Depending on factors like location and trainer, the cost of Scrum Master Certification comes approximately between $700 to $1500. The price bracket of the CSM certification varies across the globe, click here to know more.
Average Salary: The average salary of a Certified Scrum Master ranges between $100,00 to $130,000 across the United States.
| Certification | Scrum Master Certification |
| Accreditation Body | Scrum Alliance |
| Prerequisites | Basics of Scrum to understand the overall framework perfectly in less time. |
| Exam Information | Answer a set of 50 within an hour; out of which 37 should be answered correctly. |
| Career Path | Scrum Master, Mentor, Coach, Manager, Product Owner. |
| Average Salary | $100,00 to $130,000 |
| Training Cost | $1000 |
| Cost of Certification | $700 to $1500. |
| Average Salary | $100,00 to $130,000 |
| Renewal Cost | $100 |
If you are a Certified Scrum Master and have a working experience of minimum one year as a Scrum Master, then you can apply for this course. This course will help you get a deeper insight of Scrum along with its practical usage and learns multiple ways to coach the Product owner and the team members.
Accreditation Body: Scrum Alliance
Prerequisites: As a certified Scrum Master, you should have a minimum of twelve months of working experience to become an Advanced CSM. You should also have a basic understanding of Scrum along with its usage and implementation.
The following individuals can take this course:
Certification Procedure: You will have to attend an education offering of certified ACSM to learn techniques and skills which go beyond the basics of Scrum, like interaction, coaching, facilitation and team dynamics. Also, you will be required to have an experience of 12 months as a working Scrum Master in the last five years.
The certification has to be renewed every two years by paying a fee of $175 without any additional examination or training.
Work towards becoming a more professional practitioner of Scrum Master, learn how to untap the underlying potential of your team. Work as a Scrum Master, coach, mentor or a Product Owner.
Cost: Depending on different factors like location and trainer, the cost of Scrum Master Certification ranges approximately between $1295 to $1495.
Average Salary: The average salary of an Advance Certified Scrum Master ranges between $100,00 to $130,000 across the United States.
| Certification | Advanced Scrum Master Certification |
| Accreditation Body | Scrum Alliance |
| Prerequisites |
|
| Career Path | Scrum Master, Mentor, Coach, Manager, Product Owner. |
| Average Salary | $100,00 to $130,000 |
| Cost of Certification | $1295 to $1495 |
| Renewal Cost | $175 |
This course focuses on topics like lean concepts, system thinking, coaching, emotional intelligence, facilitation, deeper understanding of the Scrum Framework and scaling Scrum to big organizations.
Accreditation Body: Scrum Alliance
Prerequisites:
The following individuals can take this course:
Work towards becoming a more professional practitioner of Scrum Master for big organisations, learn how to un-tap the underlying potential of different teams. Work as a Scrum Master, coach, mentor or a Product Owner. Get various opportunities to attend exclusive CSP events along with many other leaders in Scrum and Agile
Cost: Depending on various factors, the cost of the certification costs around $1295.
Average Salary: The average salary of a Certified Scrum Professional (CSP-SM)
is calculated to be approximately $115,000 across the United States.
| Certification | Certified Scrum Professional (CSP-SM) |
| Accreditation Body | Scrum Alliance |
| Prerequisites |
|
| Career Path | Scrum Master, Mentor, Coach, Manager, Product Owner for big organisations. |
| Average Salary | $115,000 |
| Cost of Certification | $1295 |
| Renewal Cost | $250 |
Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM), is a two-day course which covers the theory and principles of the Scrum Framework and the roles of a Scrum Master. This course combines team-based exercises with instructions in order to teach the heart of the Scrum and Agile movement.
Accreditation Body: Scrum.org
Prerequisites: The PSM course can be taken by any professional who wants to deepen their Scrum understanding. It is recommended to familiarize with the basics of Scrum to understand the overall framework perfectly in a shorter course of time.
This course is apt for professionals who are involved in product delivery using the Scrum Framework. It is particularly most beneficial for Scrum Master, Team members and managers, that is, those people who are accountable for getting the most out of Scrum.
After being a certified Professional Scrum Master, the candidate can apply for various fields, to name a few:
Cost: Starts from $150.
Average Salary: $100,500
| Certification | Professional Scrum Master Training (PSM) |
| Accreditation Body | Scrum.org |
| Prerequisites | Basics of Scrum to understand the overall framework perfectly in less time. |
| Exam Information |
|
| Career Path | Scrum Master, Mentor, Coach, Manager, Product Owner for big organisations. |
| Average Salary | $100,500 |
| Cost of Certification | $150 |
It is a two-day course, during which the attendees gain a proper understanding of the roles of a Scrum Master in the context of SAFe enterprise while at the same time, prepare them to plan and execute the Program Increment(PI) successfully. PI is an enabler of alignment for all the levels of a SAFe organisation, which includes the facilitation of Scrum in the enterprise and executing the Iteration Planning.
This course will validate that you can now perform the role of a Scrum Master in a SAFe environment, which will help you increase your value to organisations and teams which are implementing SAFe.
Accreditation Body: Scaled Agile.
Prerequisites:Regardless of experience, this course can be attended by anyone. But it is recommended to have the following prerequisites for the ones who intend to take the SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM) certification exam:
This course can be taken up by Scrum Master who are new to this and need to perform the role. While this course can also be taken up by the existing Scrum Masters who wish to know about their role as a Scrum Master in a SAFe environment.
Other than them, Team leads who wish to understand the roles of Scrum Master can also take up this course.
Based on the candidates' experience, the candidate can apply for various roles. To name a few:
Cost: The first attempt of the exam is included in the course registration fee, provided the exam is taken within 30 days after completing the course. After that, each retake costs $50.
Average Salary: $114,546
| Certification | SAFe 4.0 Scrum Master (SSM) |
| Accreditation Body | Scaled Agile |
| Prerequisites |
|
| Exam Information | Answer a set of 45 questions within a duration of 90 minutes; out of which 33 should be answered correctly. |
| Career Path |
|
| Average Salary | $114,546 |
| Cost of Certification | The first attempt of the exam is included in the course registration fee, provided the exam is taken within 30 days after completing the course. After that, each retake costs $50. |
| Renewal Cost | $100; Every one year from the date of certification earned. |
The professionals who are certified as Scrum Master Certified (SMC) ensure that the Scrum team is working in an environment which helps them in completing their project successfully. The Scrum Master has the responsibility to ensure that the Scrum process is being followed. He guides the Scrum practices to everyone who is involved in the project.
Accreditation Body: SCRUMstudy
Prerequisites:There are no particular prerequisites for this certification, but a SDC™certified professional is more preferred.
This course is apt for professionals who are involved in product delivery using the Scrum Framework. It is particularly most beneficial for Scrum Master, Team members and managers, that is, those people who are accountable for getting the most out of Scrum.
After completion of the course, you can opt for the following job opportunities:
Cost: $450 USD
Average Salary: The average salary for a Scrum Master Certified professional ranges between $100,00 to $130,00 USD.
| Certification | Scrum Master Certified (SMC) |
| Accreditation Body | SCRUMstudy |
| Prerequisites | There are no particular prerequisites for this certification, but a SDC™certified professional is more preferred. |
| Exam Information | Answer a set of 100 questions within a duration of two hours. |
| Career Path |
|
| Average Salary | $100,00 to $130,00 USD |
| Cost of Certification | $450 USD |
| Renewal Cost | Earn 40 recertification credits every three years. |
The Agile Scrum Master certification combines scrum practices and agile methodologies with practical assignments. It tests the ability of the professional that is required to facilitate, enable and coach a cross-functional Scrum Team as a Scrum Master.
Accreditation Body: Exin.
Prerequisites: You are required to have successfully completed an EXIN Accredited Agile Scrum Master Training, which is mandatory.
Who can take up this certification?
This certification aims the managerial professionals who are in the fields of IT project management, business management, software development, and IT service management.
The professional can look forward to the following job opportunities after completing the Agile Scrum Master course:
Cost: $260 USD
Average Salary: The average salary of an Agile Scrum Master ranges between $100,00 to $130,000 across the United States.
| Certification | Agile Scrum Master (ASM) |
| Accreditation Body | EXIN |
| Prerequisites | The candidate is required to have successfully completed an EXIN Accredited Agile Scrum Master Training, which is mandatory. |
| Exam Information | Answer a set of 40 questions within a duration of 90 minutes; Pass mark being 65%. |
| Career Path |
|
| Average Salary | $100,00 to $130,00 USD |
| Cost of Certification | $260 USD |
Scrum is a lightweight framework with the help of which people can address complex problems to deliver projects of the highest possible value. It is primarily used for software development processes by using iterative and incremental practices to work towards a well-defined goal.
It is a subset of Agile as it follows the Agile Manifesto, which expresses a set of values and principles to help make decisions on how to develop higher-quality software in a quicker and better manner. Organisations have benefitted by Agile Scrum process as:
Scrum and Agile are related, but distinctly. Agile is a methodology that describes a set of guiding principles to build software through iterative development, which is described in the Agile Manifesto.
Scrum follows a set of rules while practising agile software development. Even though these two models look similar and function in a similar manner, there are differences as well. Scrum aims for a product team with firm rules and guidelines. It is an incremental and iterative development methodology of Agile, that is, it can be said that it is an agile framework for developing software. Scrum does not state any detailed description or template of the process of software development, unlike many other software development methodologies. It states the desired outcome that is required, leaving it on the agile scrum team to determine the solutions to the problems that they are facing or will come across. It may be used for software maintenance projects or software development. Scrum increases the flexibility and speed of the process of product development. Organisations which have switched to agile processes like Scrum have experienced many benefits like higher stakeholder satisfaction, higher productivity, etc. The benefits experienced are further discussed in detail.
The following is a list of a few Scrum Certifying Bodies.
Scrum Alliance was founded in the year 2011. Being a globally renowned organisation, it supports Scrum adoption, research and networking, focusing on organisational transformations. It is the largest, most established organisation for Agile membership and certification that has trained more than 750,000 professionals worldwide.
Scrum.org provides training, assessments and certifications based on the principles of Scrum and Agile manifesto in order to improve software delivery. They empower people and organisations all around the world to achieve agility through Scrum. The global organisation was found in the year 2009 by Ken Schwaber.
Scaled Agile, Inc. (SAI) is the leading provider of SAFe® courses. Being a knowledge base for enterprises to adopt Agile, it uplifts the career growth of an individual as it offers various role-based courses and certifications.
SCRUMstudy is a globally acknowledged accreditation body for Agile and Scrum certifications. It has a large global partner network of ATPs, Authorized Training Providers, delivering training and certifications. The SBOK™ Guide has been authored by the SCRUMstudy, which is a comprehensive guide to deliver projects successfully using Scrum.
EXIN offers professionals certifications in a wide range of exams in the field of IT qualifications. It innovates in a continuous manner by developing exams in-house. They developed exams are both independent and with partners, which is done in order to enhance its portfolio as well as broaden the scope of the exams that are offered.
Summary:
Various accreditation bodies provide various Scrum Certifications around the globe. The main objective behind all the Scrum Certifications being making of a Scrum Master which will help his/her organisation achieve the goals following the Scrum framework. Choose the best certification course according to your requirements and make the best out of it!
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