Prince2 vs PMP

What is PMP?

PMP stands for Project Management Professional and PMP a professional certificate from PMI (Project Management Institute). PMI is a USA based non-for-profit organization focused on project management, which has developed and published a number of standards, including:

◈ A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) : PMBOK
◈ The Standard for Program Management
◈ The Standard for Portfolio Management
◈ Organizational Project Management Maturity Model (OPM3®)

And also a number of practice standards and frameworks:

◈ Practice Standard for Project Risk Management
◈ Practice Standard for Earned Value Management
◈ Practice Standard for Project Configuration Management
◈ Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures
◈ Practice Standard for Scheduling
◈ Project Manager Competency Development Framework

The PMBOK guide is the most famous standard among these, and its worldwide use led to the development of three extensions for it, which allows for a more effective use in certain areas of application:

◈ Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide
◈ Construction Extension to the PMBOK Guide
◈ Government Extension to the PMBOK Guide

PMI has recently added a line of practice guides, which includes:

◈ Managing Changes in Organizations: A Practice Guide

PMI Certifications

PMI has a number of popular certifications and these are globally recognised. Getting one of these certification is an easy way to prove your knowledge later on, but is also beneficial as preparations for the exams will give you the chance to learn more and fill in the gaps in your knowledge.

These are the PMI’s certifications:

◈ Project Management Professional (PMP)® – Although based on the PMBOK Guide, the exam questions are about the project management body of knowledge in general, and the PMBOK Guide is just a part of it; well, an important part.
◈ Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)® – a simple form of PMP
◈ Program Management Professional (PgMP)®
◈ Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)SM
◈ PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® – There is no standalone publication for this yet, but there is a syllabus and they award certifications
◈ PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)®
◈ PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)® – A certification useful for project planners
◈ OPM3® Professional Certification

PRINCE2

PRINCE2 is a project management methodology previously owned by the UK’s Cabinet Office. PRINCE2, among other “Best Practices” are now owned by AXELOS, a new joint venture company in the UK.

This “Best Practice” family consist of the following:

◈ PRINCE2 : Project management
◈ MSP : Program management
◈ MoP : Portfolio management
◈ M_o_R – Risk management
◈ MoV – Value management
◈ P3O – Project, program, and portfolio management offices (PMO)
◈ P3M3 – Project, program, and portfolio management maturity model
◈ ITIL : IT service management

PRINCE2 Certifications

There are three levels of certification for PRINCE2 however:

◈ PRINCE2 Foundation – the simple one

◈ PRINCE2 Practitioner – the important one

◈ PRINCE2 Professional – just too hard! (don't bother with this)

When people are talking about PRINCE2 certifications, they usually refer to the PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioner. The former is easier than PMP and it is unfair to compare them, while the latter is as hard as PMP or, as some people believe, even harder than PMP.

The main source for the both Foundation and Practitioner exams is an official publication named “Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2” however the official guide should not be used if you are just preparing for the PRINCE2 Foundation Exam as it makes it to difficult.