AgilePM® passes 150,000 exams milestone

In recent years, and particularly since the launch of the Agile manifesto in 2001, huge and ever-increasing numbers of organizations and project professionals have turned to Agile approaches in a bid to improve the performance of – and return-on-investment from – projects and other change initiatives.

It’s a trend that shows few signs of abating too. The Project Management Institute’s latest ‘Pulse of the Profession’ report¹ highlights that 53% of organizations surveyed place a high priority on building a culture receptive to change.

Since its introduction in 2010, AgilePM has fast established itself as the leading framework and certification for agile project management.

Developed and published by the Agile Business Consortium, AgilePM guidance offers a practical and repeatable methodology that achieves an ideal balance between the standards, rigour and visibility required for good project management, and the fast-pace, change and empowerment provided by Agile. It offers a structured and scalable corporate Agile framework based on proven practice.

There are some key features of AgilePM that contribute to its popularity and success:

• A tried and tested corporate approach: AgilePM is essentially a project manager’s subset of the Agile Business Consortium’s wider Agile Project Framework. The framework – established for over 20 years and regularly refreshed – provides governance and rigour along with the agility and flexibility demanded by organizations today.
• Addresses the full project lifecycle (beyond product development): AgilePM offers a mature Agile approach that, whilst offering agility and flexibility, retains the concepts of a project, project delivery and project management. It goes beyond the realm of Agile product development approaches such as Scrum.
• Quality & governance controls: One of AgilePM’s underlying principles is Never Compromise Quality. In an AgilePM project, high-level acceptance criteria is agreed at various stages throughout the project lifecycle, from initial requirements at the feasibility stage, to objectives for each stage of product/solution development.
• Risk management: AgilePM provides practical ideas for managing risk, directly addressing many of the common risks associated with projects. The Project Approach Questionnaire provides an effective starting point for creating a clear, shared understanding of project risks and their mitigation.
• Clear roles & responsibilities: People working together effectively is the foundation of any successful project. AgilePM recognizes this and assigns clear roles and responsibilities to each person in a project, representing business, solution/technical, management and process interests.
• Popular agile practices incorporated: AgilePM incorporates and encourages a range of popular agile practices to support effective product and solution development, including MoSCoW Prioritisation, Timeboxing and Iterative Development.

AgilePM is a truly global approach and certification. Candidates from over 80 countries have embarked on a journey to AgilePM certification, representing a broad range of organizations, industries and sectors, from small, niche consultancies to large multi-nationals.

Analysis of Foundation candidate data from 2019 demonstrates AgilePM’s appeal in various industries. Below are the eight most popular industries selected by candidates:

• Information and communication (15%)
• Financial and insurance services (13.5%)
• Public administration and defence (7.5%)
• Other service activities (6.4%)
• Professional, scientific and technical activities (6.1%)
• Education (4.8%)
• Manufacturing (4%)
• Human health and social work activities (2.9%)

And here are the top ten countries for Foundation exams in 2019:

• United Kingdom (40.6%)
• Poland (28.3%)
• Australia (7.2%)
• France (5.3%)
• Netherlands (3.0%)
• South Africa (2.6%)
• Italy (2.3%)
• Romania (1.9%)
• Belgium (1.5%)
• Malaysia (1.1%)

Reflecting the global popularity, the official AgilePM Handbook is now available in four languages (English, French, German & Polish), with exams available in seven languages (English, French, German, Polish, Chinese, Dutch & Italian).

Huge appreciation goes to everyone that has contributed to AgilePM's ongoing success including our partners at the Agile Business Consortium, the global network of accredited training partners and trainers, and the organizations and individuals that have committed to AgilePM learning and certification journeys. Big congratulations to all successful candidates!