What Are New Changes to PMI ACP Exam
Agile is a type of philosophy that makes use of organizational models that are based on collaboration, people, as well as shared values. This philosophy makes use of flexible and quick respond to changes, rolling wave planning, open line of communication between customers, stakeholders, and teams, as well as incremental and iterative delivery. In order for a person to become a certified agilist from PMI, it is important that you meet the PMI-ACP criteria to be eligible for the new PMI-ACP examination.
As of July 15, 2015 up to August 16 of the same year, new changes to the PMI-ACP will take effect and for those who will be taking up PMI-ACP examination this year, it is best that you understand the various PMI-ACP exam changes so you’ll be better prepared.
Certifications for PMI are backed by current practices in the industry with exams authored by practitioners who are active in the field for the tests to be up to industry standards. Simply put, businesses that will be employing agility in their company will require PMI certified employees and as such, taking the PMI-ACP exam is a must for those who are skilled in this industry to gain more experience in this field.
PMI-ACP Exam Changes – Why did it Happen?
An RDS or Role Delineation Study was conducted recently with over 1,000 agilists from several countries participating that produced a new meaning to what an agile practitioner is. This plays an important role in the construction of the PMI-ACP exam as both non-certified practitioners and PMI-ACP certified practitioners validated the revisions needed for the tasks, skills, domains, knowledge, including the techniques and tools used by agilists.
And since RDS is often every 3 to 5 years, PMI-ACP exam changes are sure to occur as active practitioners are looking for more ways to improve their craft to aid those in various job sectors.
What Are New Changes to PMI ACP Exam?
One example of PMI-ACP exam changes that you will discover is the addition of a new domain practice in the exam where aside from the usual value-driven delivery, team performance, problem detection and resolution, stakeholder engagement, adaptive planning, and continuous improvement, the Agile principles and mindset is now included. This means that there are 62 tasks that are validated within the 7 domains of practice for the next PMI-ACP exam as opposed to the 56 tasks that were validated based on the 6 domains of practice that were used in the previous examination.
Those who will be taking the PMI-ACP exam during the pilot testing will have to wait to get a results, the scores will be delivered on or before October 22 of this year. PMI-ACP exam changes will be focused on the tasks and domains with secondary reference to the skills or knowledge as well as techniques needed by a professional agilist. With that being said, examinees should compare their previous training with the current PMI-ACP exam content outline to get an idea whether additional training is required for you to be better equipped during the examination proper.
Although there are many changes in the examination, there are some aspects that still remain the same. The PMI-ACP criteria for those who are eligible to take the new examination remain the same. You will still need to meet the education and experience requirements before you can take the exam along with the PMI-ACP exam changes. As for the scoring, there won’t be changes at all. The exam report won’t be changed as well in spite of the new additions to the PMI-ACP exam. Just keep in mind, however, that those who will be taking the pilot exam will have to wait on or before the 22nd of October to get their exam reports.
New PMI-ACP Reference List
In order to prepare for the PMI-ACP exam changes, you can check out the reference lists in pmi.org. Among the references that are found here include Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products by Jim Highsmith, Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game by Alistair Cockburn, Agile Estimating and Planning by Mike Cohn, Kanban in Action by Marcus Hammarberg and JoakimSunden, and The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility by Michele Sliger and Stacia Broderick.
| Previous Reference List | New Reference List |
|---|---|
| Agile Estimating and Planning Mike Cohn ISBN #0131479415 | Agile Estimating and Planning Author: Mike Cohn Publisher: Pearson Education/Addison Wesley Professional |
| Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products – 2nd Edition Jim Highsmith ISBN #0321658396 | Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products Author: Jim Highsmith Publisher: Pearson Education/Addison Wesley Professional |
| Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, Ken Schwaber ISBN #0977616649 | Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great Author: Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, Ken Schwaber Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf |
| Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game – 2nd Edition Alistair Cockburn ISBN #0321482751 | Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game Author: Alistair Cockburn Publisher: Pearson Education |
| Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition Lyssa Adkins ISBN #0321637704 | Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition Author: Lyssa Adkins Publisher: Pearson Education/Addison Wesley Professional |
| Lean-Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James R. Trott ISBN #0321532899 | Lean-Agile Software Development Author: Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James R. Trott Publisher: Pearson Education |
| The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility Michele Sliger, Stacia Broderick ISBN #0321502752 | The Software Project Manager’s Bridge to Agility Author: Michele Sliger, Stacia Broderick Publisher: Pearson Education |
| User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development MikeCohn ISBN #0321205685 | User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development Author: Mike Cohn Publisher: Pearson Education |
| [Removed] Becoming Agile: ...in an imperfect world Greg Smith, Ahmed Sidky ISBN #1933988258 | [New] Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile Extreme Author: Robert K. Wysocki Publisher: Wiley |
| [Removed] The Art of Agile Development James Shore ISBN #0596527675 | [New] Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals Author: Dan Rawsthorne with Doug Shimp Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing |
| [Removed] Agile Project Management with Scrum Ken Schwaber ISBN #073561993X | [New] Kanban In Action Author: Marcus Hammarberg, Joakim Sunden Publisher: Manning Publications |
However, examinees who will be preparing for the new PMI-ACP examination should take into account that the examination isn’t written specifically for a certain reference as there are other sources available that can contribute to the knowledge and information you will need to take the exam. Also, PMI doesn’t endorse any resources, review courses, references as well as other materials to prepare for the examination.
What Else Should You Know About the PMI-ACP Exam Changes?
For those whose examination is scheduled prior to the update on the PMI-ACP exam, you will need to prepare for the new test if your schedule falls on July 15 and onwards. The old examination will still be in place until July 14. No extensions are given to those who have already scheduled their examination date prior to the release of the updated version of the PMI certification exam. Take your time to look at the PMI-ACP examination content outline to get an idea on what possible tasks will be included in the examination and from there, you can determine whether you need further training or not.
The PMI-ACP exam changes will encompass the new domain practice which is the Agile principles and mindset along with the rest to ensure that those who will pass the examination will be able to provide the correct practices as accepted by the industry.
With the help of the new PMI-ACP reference list, you can check if the information that you currently have are up to date so that you can take the necessary steps to gain sufficient knowledge about the industry. For those who already have a schedule for their PMI-ACP exam or are planning to take one, make sure that you update yourself of the new changes involved.
Download your copy of 360PMO PMI-ACP course outline poster/reference card
Reference: http://www.pmi.org/certification/exam-changes/pmi-acp.aspx
