Top Certifications Every Scrum Team Needs

Here is our guide to the skills/certifications that make for the best cross-functional Scrum Teams! So every Scrum team is different but usually they all have around 5-9 members who each specialize in their own unique roles.

ScrumMaster Certifications

There are really two options available for ScrumMaster certifications, Certified ScrumMaster and PMI Agile Certified Practitioner. Additionally any training in risk management can also help as a large part of your role to remove the impediments the Product Owner identifies as a result of his/her assessment and response to risk potential. These certifications have a number of differences, but overall both complement years of hands-on experience and are not meant to replace that.

Certified ScrumMaster (CSM): This certification is provides an overview of Scrum practices and principles. It is focused largely on the software industry and training that can only be provided by other Certified Scrum Trainers as designated by the Scrum Alliance.

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP): This certification is not specific to any industry and covers what agile means to a variety of organizations and industries. This training addresses various techniques that support agile methodologies and the certification’s PDU requirement should be earned through an REP (Registered Education Provider).

Product Owner Certifications

The Scrum Product Owner oversees that the backlog is completed and focuses on prioritizing tasks effectively in terms of the business value it provides and the potential for risk incurred. Therefore, it is no surprise that the below certifications prove most useful to a Product Owner.

Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO): This is another Scrum Alliance certification and it helps Product Owners to perfect their ability to speak to business value and engage their Scrum Team, organization and customers in an effective way that stays true to the Scrum methodology.

PMI- Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP): This certification is a solution to Product Owner’s need to limit risks for the business. This training helps individuals learn to best identify and manage risk to employers.

Scrum Team Member Certifications

For the sake of this post, we will assume your Scrum Team has its own software engineer, programmer, architect, UI developer/designer, QA person, tester and analyst. Below is an extensive list of potential skills and knowledge that members of a Scrum Team could use in their career, however, the specific need for any of this training will be relative to the types of projects their particular group works on.  (All skills derived from various LinkedIn job postings for Agile/Scrum Teams)

Software Engineer

• C#
• C++
• Java
• Perl
• Python
• Shell Scripting
• Linux / Red Hat
• Cloudera
• Microsoft

Software Architect

• Linux
• Data Management and Analysis
• Business Intelligence
• Powershell Scripting
• SQL Server
• XML
• .Net Frameworks
• Oracle
• Design in Java, Python, etc.
• Cloud Systems (SaaS, PaaS, etc)

Programmer

• Java, JavaScript, Java JEE frameworks
• Eclipse/IntelliJ/NetBeans/FireBug/Chrome Dev Tools
• Ruby on Rails
• HTML/CSS
• Databases, Data Modeling
• Mobile Dev
• Responsive Web Dev
• Oracle RDBMS
• .NET
• ASP.NET
• C#
• SQL Server

User Interface (UI) Designer/Developer

• Java
• J2EE
• JavaScript
• Web Services
• XML
• XSLT
• Unix Shell Scripts
• WebLogic
• JBOSS
• Tomcat
• Oracle Database
• C++
• C#
• .NET
• SQL CE Database
• HTML 4/5
• CSS 2/3
• PhotoShop, Illustrator, Omnigraffle etc.
• jQuery

Quality Assurance (QA) Lead

• .NET Back End
• SQL Server
• Selenium, Robot or other Automation Tools
• VBScript/Jscript
• Visual Studio
• Jmeter
• Management Skills
• Strong Communication and Critical Thinking Skills
• Multi-Platform Testing for Applications and OSs
• Security Application Testing
• Backend Server and Multi-Function Application/Server Testing
• SaaS
• HTTP(s) Protocol Knowledge

Analyst

• System Analysis through Use Cases, Process Models, Activity Models and Data Models
• Business Analysis Certifications
• Data Structuring
• Scripting Knowledge
• Fundamentals of Programming Languages
• Solutions Design

Tester

• Linux
• QTP
• Selenium-WebDriver
• Python
• Ruby
• Shell scripting
• Javascript
• Java
• C++
• SQL and Oracle Databases
• Perl
• JMeter
• Robot
• Experience with Issue Tracking Systems