{"id":280,"date":"2017-12-14T09:29:14","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T09:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/?p=280"},"modified":"2026-10-24T18:03:26","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T18:03:26","slug":"top-6-agile-certifications-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prepaway.com\/certification\/top-6-agile-certifications-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 6 Agile Certifications in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

The six Agile certifications commonly discussed in 2018 represented different definitions of professional competence. Some introduced the Scrum framework, some assessed cross-method agile project practice, and others concentrated on Kanban flow, enterprise scaling or coaching. The credentials were never interchangeable: facilitating a Scrum team, managing organizational agility and guiding personal behavior change are related but distinct kinds of work. This is a historical look at the six options, with current-program caveats where older course names or versions have changed.<\/p>\n

Agile is not simply another label for faster project management. It emphasizes small feedback cycles, transparency, shared responsibility, adapting to evidence and delivering usable increments. Any training should help a practitioner make those decisions in a real team, rather than promising that acquiring a badge alone transforms an organization.<\/p>\n

1. Scrum Alliance Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)<\/h3>\n

Certified ScrumMaster introduces Scrum accountabilities, events, artifacts and the role of the Scrum Master in helping a team work empirically. A Scrum Master supports productive planning and review, helps expose impediments and teaches the organization how Scrum works. The role does not replace the Product Owner or assign daily tasks by command.<\/p>\n

The official Scrum Alliance route currently requires an approved live course before the online test. The exact course, test and renewal requirements should be checked directly rather than copied from a 2018 list. Practical learning should include facilitating a retrospective and helping a team inspect why a sprint goal was missed without encouraging blame.<\/p>\n

2. PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)<\/h3>\n

The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner<\/a> path is broader than Scrum. It addresses agile mindsets, collaboration, adaptive planning, value delivery, and process improvement across several approaches. For a practitioner managing mixed work, it can be more relevant than a framework-specific introduction because teams sometimes combine flow-based and iteration-based practices.<\/p>\n

The current PMI PMI-ACP examination<\/a> has its own eligibility and skills outline, which PMI updated after the 2018 publication. Treat the historical name as context, and verify current formal learning and experience requirements before applying.<\/p>\n

3. Kanban Management Professional<\/h3>\n

Kanban focuses on understanding how work flows through a system. Instead of asking only how much a team finished this sprint, practitioners examine work in progress, blocked items, flow efficiency and the causes of unstable lead time. A Kanban-oriented professional should know how to make process policies explicit and how to change them based on observed bottlenecks.<\/p>\n

Kanban training and credentialing providers can revise their pathways. Candidates should check the current requirements of the recognized training organization and avoid presenting a course completion as a universal substitute for leading real service-improvement work.<\/p>\n

4. SAFe Agilist (historical SAFe 4 pathway)<\/h3>\n

Scaled Agile Framework training appeared in 2018 lists because large organizations wanted coordination across many teams. The historical ‘SAFe 4 Agilist’ label refers to that period, not automatically to a current examination. The underlying questions remain relevant: how can teams synchronize dependencies, prioritize work and deliver value without making local feedback impossible?<\/p>\n

Scaling introduces overhead and should be justified. An organization with two small teams may need clearer collaboration and shared priorities, not a larger ceremony structure. Candidates interested in SAFe should verify today’s version and curriculum with Scaled Agile rather than using a 2018 course name to register.<\/p>\n

5. Certified Disciplined Agilist<\/h3>\n

Disciplined Agile emphasized choosing a way of working appropriate to the team rather than applying one fixed method. It connected delivery practices with organizational context, governance and improvement. Credential names and providers have changed over time, including PMI’s later involvement with Disciplined Agile, so the 2018 ‘Certified Disciplined Agilist’ label should be treated as historical until verified.<\/p>\n

The useful skill is diagnosing constraints: regulatory review, support incidents, distributed teams, dependencies and continuous delivery affect which practices are feasible. A practitioner should explain why an approach fits the work and revise it when evidence changes.<\/p>\n

6. ICAgile Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC)<\/h3>\n

ICAgile’s Agile Coaching path develops professional facilitation, mentoring, teaching and coaching skills. It is not equivalent to an introductory Scrum assessment. Coaching requires observing group dynamics, handling conflict, helping people identify options and remaining clear about where mentoring ends and the team owns its decisions.<\/p>\n

A useful coaching exercise is to facilitate a discussion between delivery and operations about an unstable release process, clarify the shared problem and help them agree on an experiment. The result should be better decision-making, not dependence on the coach as a permanent referee.<\/p>\n

Choosing a qualification with real development value<\/h3>\n

A new Scrum Master might start with framework fundamentals; a practitioner coordinating varied delivery approaches may benefit from the broader PMI certification<\/a> context; an experienced improvement leader may need facilitation and Kanban flow expertise. More advanced credentials make sense only when the candidate has experience in the work being evaluated.<\/p>\n

The 2018 list was a useful map of options, not a permanent certification catalog. Examine the current provider syllabus, how competence is assessed, what renewal requires and what real-world behaviors the learning can improve. A credential is most meaningful when those conditions match the job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The six Agile certifications commonly discussed in 2018 represented different definitions of professional competence. Some introduced the Scrum framework, some assessed cross-method agile project practice, and others concentrated on Kanban flow, enterprise scaling or coaching. The credentials were never interchangeable: facilitating a Scrum team, managing organizational agility and guiding personal behavior change are related but distinct kinds of work. This is a historical look at the six options, with current-program caveats where older course names or versions have changed. Agile is not simply another label for faster project management. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":447,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2184],"tags":[61,4,62,64,63,59,3],"class_list":["post-280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-project-management","tag-agile","tag-it-career","tag-kanban","tag-lean","tag-pmi","tag-scrummaster","tag-top-certs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t