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PMI and IPMA certifications

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This is rather old news, but given that more and more people understand the importance of being certified by either the PMI or the IPMA, this should still be mentioned. In 2008 already, the Project Management Institute and the International Project Management Association signed an agreement that they will join forces in order to boost the project management profession. As a consequence, the PMI certification Project Management Professional and the IPMA certification Level C will be accepted by both parties as being equivalent. This is a huge step, given that both organisations were perceived as being two different religions that were not compatible to each other, despite the fact that some project managers have certifications from both.

Furthermore, the Project Management Institute and the International Project Management Association will work together building university programs and doing research. The agreement has been signed for three years so that we should see the outcome soon.

At the end of the day, there is no alternative than working together for the two big organisations. The project management profession is still very young, and too often project management is done by people who may have experience but lack a professional education. Compare this to the dentist profession: centuries ago, the barber was also the dentist. Obviously, there was not too much education available so that most barbers relied on experience which must not have been a bad thing in all cases. There was no alternative. Project Management in the early days was done by the “barbers”, and while more and more professional project managers are available, too many projects are still being managed by “barbers” because businesses have not seen the importance of professional project management by now; project management seems to be doable by everyone who has enough experience in another profession. The blame must not be put on these businesses: The PMI and the IPMA have failed to prove the value of professional project management by now, and they MUST work together in order to make sure project management is perceived as the art of improving the bottom line.

And while the barber comparison may sound odd: Centuries ago, a tooth was just pulled out by the barber, there was no way to save a tooth from being extracted. At the same time, teeth did not have the aesthetic value as they have today. Compared to today, often enough there is no alternative to loosing money due to unprofessional project management, and people believe that this may just be the way it is. It is not. It is time the attitude towards project management is changed. And this is the challenge the PMI and the IPMA must face together.

PMI and IPMA Certifications

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Two premiere project management organizations, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) and the Project Management Institute (PMI), have been facilitating first-rate project management services since the mid nineteen sixties. These organizations serve businesses needs on a local and global scale. In order to best suit a businesses needs, the IPMA and the PMI use various and different means to certify the most qualified talent pool. But there are differences in the testing procedures between the IPMA and the PMI. First off, the testing procedures for the International Project Management Association are broken down into levels. Level A is the highest achievable certification. The title for a Level A certification is Certified Projects Director. Next is Level B. It’s proper title is Certified Senior Projects Manager. Level C is refferd to as a Certified Projects Manager. And finally, a Level D certification is called Certified Project Management Associate. Now we shall look into the certification procedures of the PMI.

The Project Management Institute uses testing and work hours completed as a judge of potential candidates for certification. They have three different levels of certification. First is the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM). Second is the Program Management Professional (PgMP). The last certification offered is the Project Management Professional (PMP). The PMP was recently accredited by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This may give its holders a very competitive edge. The Institute also requires its PMP certified members to maintain their membership status by completing Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR). These world-class project management organizations have been on the cutting edge for over forty years. With the varied but rigorous certification programs they employ, these organizations will stay on the cutting edge for years to come.