Scott M. Graffius Featured in Success Story by BEA

The Book Excellence Awards features Scott M. Graffius, author of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, in a story. The article highlights factors contributing to the book's success — including credit to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the publication. You can check out the story at https://www.bookexcellenceawards.com/scott-graffius-success-story.
About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

© Copyright 2018 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Scott M. Graffius Speaking on Ensuring that Projects are Aligned with Strategic Objectives and Other Key Factors at California Inland Empire Chapter of Project Management Institute

Scott M. Graffius will present “10 Ways to Score and Prioritize Project Proposals Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment” at an event of the California Inland Empire Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMICIE Chapter). The session will occur on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. It will be Scott's third talk at the Chapter.
- Description on PMICIE Chapter’s website
- Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2021
- Time: 6:00-8:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time
- Location: Virtual
Everyone is welcome to attend (PMICIE membership is not required). To register, visit here.
Attendees of this session may be eligible to receive continuing education unit (CEU) credit, equivalent to 1.50 hours. For reporting with the Project Management Institute (PMI), it’s 1.50 professional development units (PDUs), under the Strategic and Business Management category. For reporting with the Scrum Alliance, it’s 1.50 Scrum educational units (SEUs), under either the Learning category or the Events category. For reporting with other organizations, refer to their respective instructions.

Description of Talk
How does your organization assess proposals for new projects? Is there a well-defined scoring and prioritization process — based on alignment with the business’ strategic objectives and other factors — to quickly


Benefits (Key Learning Objectives)
This talk will help you develop and enhance the contributions you make to your organization by being able to:
- Understand the benefits of scoring and prioritizing project proposals based on strategic alignment and other factors.
- Identify selection and prioritization criteria appropriate for your unique organization, leveraging the flexible framework and some or all of the 10 factors presented during the talk.
- Put the practical, actionable information presented to use. During the session, we will run an example project proposal through the process, step-by-step. You will receive a summary “cheat sheet” that you can reference as a guide to help implement or improve this process at your organization.

Audience
This session is designed to be of value to project, program, and portfolio managers; project, program, and portfolio management office staff; Center of Excellence staff; Scrum Masters, Product Owners, agile coaches, and other agile practitioners and staff; executives making decisions about organization strategy; functional managers; researchers; customers; and additional stakeholders.


References
The talk draws on the speaker’s first-hand experience, with his guidance supported by related standards, best practices, and recommendations from the Project Management Institute, IEEE, MIT, Harvard Business Review, Scrum Alliance, Deloitte, and others.

Speaker Bio

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management consultant, practitioner, award-winning author, and keynote speaker. Content from his books, speaking engagements, and more has been used by businesses, governments, and universities, including: Gartner, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the United States Department of Energy, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M, and others. Thinkers360 named Scott a Top 20 Global Thought Leader and Influencer on Agile.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About the California Inland Empire Chapter of the Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute - California Inland Empire (PMICIE) Chapter was chartered by the Project Management Institute in 2002. Based in Rancho Cucamonga, California, it is committed to the advancement of the project management profession. The Chapter provides its members with networking, training, and professional development opportunities. Its website is https://pmicie.org.

© Copyright 2020 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Scott M. Graffius Speaking at Southwest Virginia Chapter of Project Management Institute

Scott M. Graffius will deliver the talk, “10 Ways to Score and Prioritize Project Proposals Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment,” at a virtual event of the Southwest Virginia Chapter of the Project Management Institute on May 11, 2021, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To learn more and to register for the event, visit here.
Attendees may be eligible to receive continuing education unit (CEU) credit, equivalent to 1.50 hours. For reporting with the Project Management Institute (PMI), it's 1.50 professional development units (PDUs), under the Strategic and Business Management category. For reporting with the Scrum Alliance, it's 1.50 Scrum educational units (SEUs), under either the Learning category or the Events category. For reporting with other organizations, refer to their respective instructions.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over one billion dollars of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™, based in Los Angeles, California. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Microsoft, Deloitte, Oracle, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the National Academy of Sciences, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, Project Management Institute, the IEEE, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, Loughborough University London, and others. Graffius has spoken at 58 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About the Southwest Virginia Chapter of the Project Management Institute
The Southwest Virginia Chapter of the Project Management Institute was founded in 2003 to serve the southwestern part of Virginia including the metro areas of Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg, Lexington, Martinsville, Danville, and Bristol. The Chapter's mission is to foster a community of project management excellence in Southwest Virginia. To learn more, visit https://pmi-swva.org.

© Copyright 2021 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Scott M. Graffius Speaking on Ensuring Strategic Alignment at PMI Central Virginia

Scott M. Graffius will lead a session on strategic alignment, “10 Ways to Score and Prioritize Project Proposals Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment,” at a virtual event of the Central Virginia Chapter of the Project Management Institute on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. To learn more and to register for the event, visit https://pmicvc.org/calendar?eventId=6905.
Attendees may be eligible to receive continuing education unit (CEU) credit, equivalent to 1.50 hours. For reporting with the Project Management Institute (PMI), it's 1.50 professional development units (PDUs), under the Strategic and Business Management category. For reporting with the Scrum Alliance, it's 1.50 Scrum educational units (SEUs), under either the Learning category or the Events category. For reporting with other organizations, refer to their respective instructions.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over one billion dollars of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™, based in Los Angeles, California. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Microsoft, Deloitte, Oracle, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the National Academy of Sciences, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, Project Management Institute, the IEEE, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, Loughborough University London, and others. Graffius has spoken at 58 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About the Central Virginia Chapter of the Project Management Institute
The vision of the Central Virginia Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMICVC) is to be the premier professional project management organization for business, civic, government, and education communities in Central Virginia. Its mission is to serve the professional interests of chapter members by enhancing expertise through project management education and training, supporting PMI certifications, and promoting association with other project management professionals. To learn more, visit the PMICVC website at https://pmicvc.org.

© Copyright 2021 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Scott M. Graffius Speaking on Ensuring Strategic Alignment at Florida Suncoast Chapter of the Project Management Institute

Scott M. Graffius will lead a session on strategic alignment, “10 Ways to Score and Prioritize Project Proposals Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment,” at an online event of the Florida Suncoast Chapter of the Project Management Institute on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. To learn more and to register for the event, visit https://suncoastpmi.org/meetinginfo.php?id=125.
Attendees may be eligible to receive continuing education unit (CEU) credit, equivalent to 1.50 hours. For reporting with the Project Management Institute (PMI), it's 1.50 professional development units (PDUs), under the Strategic and Business Management category. For reporting with the Scrum Alliance, it's 1.50 Scrum educational units (SEUs), under either the Learning category or the Events category. For reporting with other organizations, refer to their respective instructions.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over one billion dollars of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™, based in Los Angeles, California. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Microsoft, Deloitte, Oracle, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the National Academy of Sciences, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, Project Management Institute, the IEEE, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, Loughborough University London, and others. Graffius has spoken at 58 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About the Florida Suncoast Chapter of the Project Management Institute
The Florida Suncoast Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) leads the local community in the advancement of project management by promoting the PMI’s values and principles, as well as by organizing and facilitating events, activities, and initiatives to support individuals and organizations. The Chapter's objectives include:
- Advance the mission and objectives of the Project Management Institute within the West Coast Florida area.
- Develop a growing and committed membership of local Project Management Professionals through an aggressive recruiting and retention plan.
- Promote Professional Project Management principles and techniques with local businesses, universities and professional associations.
- Support and enhance Project Management Professionalism by developing and providing quality programs based on local Project Manager needs.
- Create and deliver an educational program that strengthens local Project Manager skills and supports the Project Management Institute Certification Program.
To learn more, visit the Chapter's website at https://suncoastpmi.org.
© Copyright 2021 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Scott M. Graffius Speaking at United Arab Emirates Chapter of Project Management Institute

Scott M. Graffius will present a talk on team development and leadership, "Navigate the Phases of Team Development with Speed and Agility for Happier and More Productive Teams," at an event of the United Arab Emirates Chapter of the Project Management Institute on Thursday, 13 January 2022, from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m. Gulf Time. Register at https://pmiuae.org/en/event-registrations/webinar-navigate-the-phases-of-team-development-with-speed-and-agility-for-happier-and-more-productive-teams.

About "Navigate the Phases of Team Development with Speed and Agility or Happier and More Productive Teams"
Description
Want happier and more productive teams? Among other things, it takes great leadership. And proven strategies can provide a real edge! Enter Bruce Tuckman's phases of team development — a model that’s stood the test of time because it remains highly relevant and beneficial. If you are a leader (or aspire to be one), a member of a team (or may be in one in the future), or are just looking to develop your skills, this talk (based on Bruce Tuckman's model, but with a fresh angle: 0% theory, 100% real-world-based) will give you a practical framework with actionable tips for working in and leading teams of all types successfully. You'll learn about the five phases — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — including detailed descriptions of each along with proven strategies for addressing challenges or issues which may occur along the way. You'll understand how to use the model to your advantage by effectively navigating all of the phases with speed and agility, from team set-up to the after-party! Which helps advance the teams’ happiness, productivity, and success.
The presentation draws on the speaker’s first-hand, real-world experience, with guidance supported by research, recommendations, and coverage from the Project Management Institute, Google, Microsoft, IEEE, MIT, Software Engineering Institute, Harvard Business Review, and many others.
Benefits/Key Learning Objectives
This talk will help attendees develop and enhance the contributions they make to their organizations by being able to:
- Understand the five stages of team development: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning.
- Learn the characteristics of each phase.
- Apply proven strategies to help handle challenges or issues experienced by teams. By doing so, they’ll advance the teams' (and their own) success.


About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over 1.75 billion dollars of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™, based in Los Angeles, California. His expertise spans project, program, portfolio, and PMO leadership inclusive of agile, traditional, and hybrid approaches. Content from his books (Agile Scrum and Agile Transformation), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, governments, and universities including Gartner, Microsoft, Deloitte, Oracle, Cisco, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Bayer, the National Academy of Sciences, the United States Department of Energy, the United States Army, Project Management Institute, the IEEE, the New Zealand Ministry of Education, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, Loughborough University London, and others. Graffius has spoken at 58 conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Thinkers360 named Graffius a global top thought leader and influencer in four domains: Agile, Change Management, Digital Transformation, and GovTech.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About the United Arab Emirates Chapter of the Project Management Institute
The United Arab Emirates Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI UAE) is a professional project management organization, chartered by the PMI in 2014. The Chapter’s vision is: “Empower and influence individuals with the innovative Project Economy principals to turn ideas into a reality.” Its mission is: “To disrupt and create value driven to our chapter members and partners to become agile, innovative, productive in the platform for the growth of Project Economy.” And the Chapter is driven by 11 values: innovation, accountability, trust, equality, compassion, collaboration, commitment, community, determination, engagement, and learning.
To learn more about the PMI UAE, visit https://pmiuae.org/en/.

About the Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is the world's leading professional association for a growing community of millions of project professionals and change-makers worldwide. As the leading authority on project management, the PMI empowers people to make ideas a reality. Through global advocacy, networking, collaboration, research, and education, the PMI helps prepare organizations and individuals to work smarter in a dynamic and rapidly changing world.
Building on a prominent legacy dating to 1969, the PMI is a “for-purpose” organization working in nearly every country around the world to advance careers, strengthen organizational success, and enable change-makers with new skills and ways of working to maximize their impact. The PMI provides global standards, certifications, online courses, thought leadership, tools, digital publications, communities, and more.
To learn more about the PMI, visit https://www.pmi.org/.

The short link for this article is: https://bit.ly/blg-uae
The event covered by this article appears in the Public Speaker section of the website here
© Copyright 2021 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

The 14 Most Valuable IT Certifications

Click here to download this article as a PDF.
In Technology, there's no substitute for experience. However, certifications remain a valuable tool for advancing one's career. Employers want candidates (and employees) with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate a person’s mastery of the respective subject. The author reviewed data from multiple sources — including BMC, CIO, Clearance Jobs, Indeed, and Robert Half — to determine the consensus on the most valuable Technology related certifications. Fourteen emerged. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
- Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
- Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE)
- Certified Data Professional (CDP)
- Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
- CompTIA (A+, Cloud+, Security+)
- Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
- Oracle MySQL Database Administration
- Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Salesforce Certified Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer
If you're interested in learning about the project management related certifications, visit the Scrum Alliance for the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) and the Project Management Institute for the Project Management Professional (PMP).
Many employers prefer to hire certified professionals, especially those who also have college degrees and successful work experience. Those who invest in professional credentials typically enjoy larger salaries.

Sources:
- Hamilton, Jillian (2021, July 9). Top 10 IT Certifications Held by Cleared Professionals. Clearance Jobs. Accessed at https://news.clearancejobs.com/2021/07/09/top-10-it-certifications-held-by-cleared-professionals-2/.
- Miller, Austin (2021, June 25). Top Paying IT Certifications in 2022. BMC Software, Inc. Accessed at https://www.bmc.com/blogs/top-paying-it-certifications/.
- Robert Half (2021, September 9). The 29 Most Valuable IT Certifications. Robert Half. Accessed at https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
- Vallee, Megan (2022, March 4). 21 IT Certifications in Demand for 2022. Indeed. Accessed at https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications.
- White, Sarah K. (2022, January 14). Top 15 IT Certifications in Demand for 2022. CIO. Accessed at https://www.cio.com/article/193586/top-15-it-certifications-in-demand-for-2021.html.


Post-Publication Notes
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
This article by Scott M. Graffius on the most valuable IT certifications was published in 2022. Graffius periodically refreshes his work. The most current (2024) edition of his report is here.


About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and international speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the founder, CEO, and principal consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. Content from his books (Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions and Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change), workshops, speaking engagements, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities including Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Deloitte, EY, Project Management Institute, IEEE, SANS Institute, U.S. Soccer Federation, English Institute of Sport, Ford, Qantas, Atlassian, Wrike, Bayer, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, United States Army, United States National Park Service, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Tufts University, Texas A&M University, Warsaw University of Technology, University of Waterloo, National University of Ireland Galway, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, and others. Graffius delivers dynamic and engaging talks and workshops at public and private/corporate events. His engagements total 78 in-person and online conferences and other events around the world, including Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. Graffius delights audiences with sessions on technology leadership and project, program, portfolio, and PMO management inclusive of agile, waterfall, and hybrid approaches. He uses everyday language and vibrant custom visuals to make complex topics clear, and he provides audiences with practical information they can use.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

The short link for this article is: bit.ly/14-certs
© Copyright 2022 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2023

Click here to download this article as a PDF.

In 2017, Scott M. Graffius started developing and reporting information on the most valuable Information Technology (IT) certifications. As technology advances and the marketplace changes over time, the skills and knowledge required to succeed may also change. Accordingly, Graffius periodically updates his respective work. The prior version was published in 2022. This article provides the new, 2023 version of “The Most Valuable IT Certifications.”

In Technology, there's no substitute for experience. However, certifications remain a valuable tool for advancing one's career. Employers want candidates (and employees) with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate a person’s mastery of the respective subject. Graffius compiled and analyzed data from multiple sources — including CIO, Robert Half, Indeed, PC Magazine, Skillsoft, Statista, and ComputerScience.org — to determine the general consensus on the most valuable IT related certifications. Fifteen emerged. Here they are, in alphabetical order:
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- AWS Certified Security – Specialty, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, offered from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
- Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), offered by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
- Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), offered by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), offered by the International System Security Certification Consortium (ISC).
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), offered from Scrum Alliance.
- Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP), offered by Cisco.
- Google Cloud: Cloud Digital Leader, offered by Google.
- Google Cloud: Professional Cloud Architect, offered by Google.
- Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect, offered by Microsoft.
- Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI), offered by Nutanix.
- Project Management Professional (PMP), offered from the Project Management Institute (PMI).
- VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization (VCP-DCV), offered by VMware.
Many employers prefer to hire certified professionals, especially those who also have college degrees and successful work experience. Those who invest in professional credentials typically enjoy larger salaries.

References/Sources:
- CIO (2022, October 20). The 15 Most Valuable IT Certifications Today. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/286762/careers-staffing-12-it-certifications-that-deliver-career-advancement.html.
- ComputerScience.org (2022, December 22). Best IT Certifications to Boost Your Computer Science Career. Available at: https://www.computerscience.org/resources/top-it-certifications.
- Indeed (2022, December 27). Top 17 IT Certifications in Demand for 2023. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications.
- PC Magazine (2023, March 1). The 10 Highest-Paying IT Certifications for 2023. Available at: https://www.pcmag.com/news/highest-paying-it-certifications.
- Robert Half (2022, October 6). The 29 More Valuable IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
- Skillsoft (2022, September 29). 15 Top-Paying IT Certifications of 2022. Available at: https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/15-top-paying-it-certifications-of-2022.
- Statista (2023, February 23). 15 Top-Paying IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1258216/us-top-10-highest-paying-certifications-among-it-professionals.

How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2022, April 11). The Most Valuable IT Certifications: 2023 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com.


Post-Publication Notes
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
This article by Scott M. Graffius on the most valuable IT certifications was published in 2023. Graffius periodically refreshes his work. The most current (2024) edition of his report is here.



About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi award-winning author, and highly sought-after international keynote speaker. He has generated over $1.75 billion of business value in aggregate for the organizations he has served. Graffius is the CEO and Principal Consultant at Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. Content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Select examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, U.S. Soccer Federation, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. National Park Service, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Warsaw University of Technology, and others. Graffius has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology leadership at 82 conferences and other events across 24 countries.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow instructions, the multi award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book by Scott M. Graffius (Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors) helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇳🇴 Norway
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

The short URL for this article is: https://bit.ly/certs-2023
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Leverage the Power of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Select here to download this article as a PDF.
Minimum viable products (MVPs)—coined by Frank Robinson in 2001, and subsequently popularized by Steve Blank and Eric Ries—can be advantageous tools for the development of products and services. This article is informed by Graffius' first-hand experience with MVPs as well as research and coverage from the Harvard Business Review, IEEE, MIT Sloan Management Review, Product Development and Management Association, Product School, Project Management Institute, Scaled Agile, and others (all listed in the bibliography section of this article).

Introduction
Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) can be game changers. They can be used by businesses to validate ideas, reduce time to market, and minimize risks associated with building fully featured products from the outset. This article provides those involved or interested in Agile, Lean, Product Management, Product Development, Project Management, and entrepreneurship with information on the significance of MVPs and how to leverage them.

Defining MVPs
First, it's paramount to understand what constitutes an MVP and why it matters. A Minimum Viable Product is a version of a product (or service) that incorporates just the essential features to address core customer needs and validate the viability of the concept. By employing an MVP, companies can gather valuable user feedback early on, allowing them to iterate, refine, and pivot their offering—if needed—based on market demand. This process saves time and resources, and it advances the chances of building a successful and customer-centric offering.
Here's a succinct definition of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP):
"The MVP has just those features considered sufficient for it to be of value to customers and allow for it to be shipped or sold to early adopters. Customer feedback will inform future development of the product." — Scott M. Graffius, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions
Next, examples of seven successful MVPs—Zappos, Spotify, Airbnb, Facebook, Amazon, Dropbox, and Groupon—will illustrate the power of MVPs.
MVP Success Stories
- Zappos: Zappos revolutionized the online shoe market by focusing on customer-centricity and rapid experimentation. Their MVP allowed them to validate their hypothesis, gather customer feedback, and iterate their offering to create a seamless and personalized shopping experience. Zappos is a prime example of the power of MVPs.
- Spotify: Global music streaming platform Spotify started as a simple streaming service MVP and they and continuously improved and expanded it based on customer feedback. By iterating their product, Spotify became a household name. Their MVP-driven approach ensured a product-market fit and helped them stay ahead in a competitive industry.
- Airbnb: Airbnb's success story speaks to the effectiveness of MVPs in validating an idea and subsequently scaling it to a global marketplace. Airbnb's founders started by testing their marketplace concept using an MVP strategy. By leveraging existing resources and validating demand through early adopters, they gained critical insights that shaped their platform's evolution. Today, Airbnb is a household name, offering unique accommodations worldwide.
- Facebook: Facebook's journey from a simple MVP to the world's largest social network demonstrates the power of incremental growth and user feedback. Mark Zuckerberg and fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes initially created a minimal profile-based social networking MVP (initially called "Thefacebook"), focusing on connecting people at Harvard. Through continuous iterations and the addition of features based on user needs and feedback, Facebook reshaped the social media landscape, connecting billions of people globally.
- Amazon: E-commerce giant Amazon is renowned for its relentless focus on customer experience. They started with an MVP approach, catering to customers' fundamental needs related to books, and subsequently expanded into new product categories incrementally. By prioritizing customer satisfaction, Amazon established itself as a trusted and innovative marketplace, continuously raising the bar for online shopping.
- Dropbox: Dropbox, a prominent player in the cloud storage market, kick-started its journey with a basic file-syncing MVP. By offering a simple yet essential solution to the problem of file synchronization across devices, Dropbox gained traction and valuable user insights. They leveraged this feedback to iterate and improve their product, eventually becoming a leader in the highly competitive cloud storage industry.
- Groupon: Popular online deals platform Groupon employed an MVP approach by testing deal offerings on a WordPress blog. That allowed them to validate market interest and adjust their strategy based on customer responses. By embracing the importance of market validation and adaptability, Groupon transformed into a global leader, providing users with discounted offers across various categories.
Key Principles and Best Practices for MVPs
Building a successful MVP requires adhering to key principles and best practices. It involves thoughtfully determining the relatively few features and limited scope to address core customer needs. Collecting and analyzing user feedback plays a pivotal role in making informed decisions and prioritizing enhancements. By embracing an iterative mindset and focusing on the most valuable aspects of the product, businesses can create an MVP that resonates with their target audience.
Avoiding Common Pitfalls and Challenges with MVPs
While MVPs offer significant advantages, they are not without challenges. Over-engineering the product, prematurely scaling, and failing to validate crucial assumptions are common pitfalls that can hinder success. It’s vital to strike a balance between building a viable product and avoiding unnecessary complexity. By remaining adaptable and open to change, businesses can navigate these challenges and increase the chances of achieving their goals.
Validating and Iterating via Lean and Agile Approaches
The MVP is particularly well-suited for Lean and Agile approaches and environments. Lean principles emphasize continuous learning, eliminating waste, and rapid experimentation. Agile (such as Scrum, Kanban, and SAFe) involve iterative development, frequent feedback loops, and continuous improvement. Utilizing Lean/Agile can help maximize the value of MVPs and increase chances of success.
Beyond the MVP
Once an MVP proves its viability, the focus shifts to scaling and launching the product. This stage requires a broad and deep understanding of the target market, competition, and customer preferences. It involves adapting the product based on user feedback, exploring different marketing strategies, and leveraging data-driven insights. Staying agile, continuously learning, and adapting to market dynamics are crucial for sustained growth and long-term success.

Conclusion
MVPs are powerful tools for innovation and the successful development of products/services. The examples of Zappos, Spotify, Airbnb, Facebook, Amazon, Dropbox, and Groupon highlight the transformative impact of MVPs across diverse industries. By embracing the core principles, avoiding common pitfalls, and leveraging Lean and Agile approaches, businesses can unlock the full potential of their MVPs and pave the way for sustained growth, customer satisfaction, and market leadership with their offerings. Which makes MVPs game changers.

Bibliography
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- Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
- Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 4). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered to an audience of startups and others in the entrepreneurial community at the Techstars Startup Week Conference at The Box Theater, Riverside, California, United States. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
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- Groupon (2013, July 30). The History of Groupon. Available at: https://www.groupon.com/merchant/working-with-groupon/groupon-news/the-history-of-groupon.
- Harvard Business School (2021). MVP Development. Available at: https://entrepreneurship.hbs.edu/Documents/Session%20Summary/HBSRockMVPDevelopment.pdf.
- Krishnamurthy, Rajeshwari (2021, January 29). Why is Agile Product Development Process So Popular? Product Development & Management Association (PDMA). Available at: https://community.pdma.org/knowledgehub/bok/product-innovation-process/why-is-agile-product-development-process-so-popular.
- Lenarduzzi, Valentina, & Taibi, Davide (2016, August). MVP Explained: A Systematic Mapping Study on the Definitions of Minimal Viable Product. Proceedings from the 2016 42nd Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications (SEAA): 112–119.
- Merryweather, Ellen (2023, January 9). Product-Led Growth Strategy for Product Managers. Product School. Available at: https://productschool.com/blog/product-strategy/product-led-growth-strategy.
- Meta (n.d.). About Meta. Available at: https://about.meta.com/company-info.
- Miski, A. (2014). Development of a Mobile Application Using the Lean Startup Methodology. International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, 5 (1): 1743-1748.
- Moogk, Dobrila R. (2012, March). Minimum Viable Product and the Importance of Experimentation in Technology Startups. Technology Innovation and Management Review. Available at: https://timreview.ca/article/535.
- Olsen, Dan (2015). The Lean Product Playbook: How to Innovate with Minimum Viable Products and Rapid Customer Feedback. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
- Osterwalder, Alexander, & Pigneur, Yves (2010). Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons.
- Project Management Institute (n.d.). Minimum Business Increments (MBIs). Available at: https://www.pmi.org/disciplined-agile/da-flex-toc/minimum-business-increments.
- Putten, Alexander B. van, & MacMillan, Ian (2004, December). Making Real Options Really Work. Harvard Business Review, 82 (12): 134-141, 150.
- Ries, Eric (2011). The Lean Startup: How Today's Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Businesses. New York, New York: Penguin Random House.
- Scaled Agile (n.d.). Applied Innovation Accounting in SAFe. Available at: https://scaledagileframework.com/guidance-applied-innovation-accounting-in-safe.
- Spotify (n.d.). About Spotify. Available at: https://newsroom.spotify.com/company-info.
- Templeton, Chuck (2014, December 9). 10 Lessons Every Entrepreneur Should Learn. Fortune. Available at: https://fortune.com/2014/12/09/10-lessons-every-entrepreneur-should-learn.
- Thomsen, Dave (2013, December 20). Why Human-Centered Design Matters. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/insights/2013/12/human-centered-design-matters.
- Umbreen, J., Mirza, Muhammad Z., Ahmad, Yasir, & Naseem, Afshan. (2022, December). Assessing the Role of Minimum Viable Products in Digital Startups. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM): 1073-1077.
- Wikipedia (n.d.). History of Amazon. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Amazon.
- Zappos (n.d.). About Zappos. Available at: https://www.zappos.com/marty/c/about-zappos.

How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 15). Leverage the Power of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/mvp2023.html. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.24064.20486. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.24064.20486.



About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius, PMP, SA, CSP-SM, CSP-PO, CSM, CSPO, SFE, ITIL, LSSGB is an agile project management practitioner, consultant, multi-award-winning author, and international keynote speaker. He is the Founder of Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions™ and subsidiary Exceptional Agility™. He has generated over $1.9 billion of business value in aggregate for Global Fortune 500 businesses and other organizations he has served. Graffius and content from his books, talks, workshops, and more have been featured and used by businesses, professional associations, governments, and universities. Examples include Microsoft, Oracle, Broadcom, Cisco, Gartner, Project Management Institute, IEEE, Qantas, National Academy of Sciences, United States Department of Energy, New Zealand Ministry of Education, Yale University, Tufts University, and others. He has delighted audiences with dynamic and engaging talks and workshops on agile, project management, and technology (including AI) leadership at 86 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
His full bio is available here.
Connect with Scott on:


About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive.
There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.
With clear and easy to follow instructions, the multi award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions book by Scott M. Graffius (Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, Technical Editors) helps the reader:
- Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
- Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
- Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.
Hailed by Literary Titan as “the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully.”
Winner of 17 first place awards.
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇭🇺 Hungary
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇮🇱 Israel
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- 🇯🇵 Japan
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- 🇲🇽 Mexico
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- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 UAE
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

About Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change

Thriving in today's marketplace frequently depends on making a transformation to become more agile. Those successful in the transition enjoy faster delivery speed and ROI, higher satisfaction, continuous improvement, and additional benefits.
Based on actual events, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change provides a quick (60-90 minute) read about a successful agile transformation at a multinational entertainment and media company, told from the author's perspective as an agile coach.
The award-winning book by Scott M. Graffius is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world. Some links by country follow.
- 🇦🇺 Australia
- 🇦🇹 Austria
- 🇧🇷 Brazil
- 🇨🇦 Canada
- 🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- 🇩🇰 Denmark
- 🇫🇮 Finland
- 🇫🇷 France
- 🇩🇪 Germany
- 🇬🇷 Greece
- 🇮🇳 India
- 🇮🇪 Ireland
- 🇯🇵 Japan
- 🇱🇺 Luxembourg
- 🇲🇽 Mexico
- 🇳🇱 Netherlands
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- 🇸🇪 Sweden
- 🇨🇭 Switzerland
- 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇺🇸 United States

The short URL for this article is: https://bit.ly/mvp-7
© Copyright 2023 Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

The PMI + Agile Alliance Merger: A Recipe for Success?


Introduction
In a significant move for the project management community, the Project Management Institute® (PMI) and Agile Alliance® announced a merger, effective December 31, 2024, as detailed in PMI's press release and Agile Alliance’s announcement. This union aims to combine the structured methodologies of PMI with the adaptive practices of Agile Alliance, heralding a new era for professionals in the field.
With the merger between PMI and Agile Alliance sizzling in the project management community, it’s only fitting to present a recipe that blends both worlds. Bon Appétit!


Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup of Agile Manifesto Values - The foundation of adaptability and collaboration.
- 2 tablespoons of PMI's Traditional Project Management - Adds structure with a dash of predictability.
- A sprinkle of PMI's Global Reach - Expands influence for widespread appeal.
- 3 doses of Agile Thought Leadership - Infuses bold ideas with a rebellious spirit.
- 1 part Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) - Previously acquired by PMI, it layers in complexity.
- A pinch of Controversy - Keeps the medley lively.
- Generous helping of Certification Programs - Thickens with professional credibility.
- A dash of Agile Events - Enhances community engagement and networking.
- 1 heaping tablespoon of Integration - Ensures Agile methodologies blend smoothly with PMI's framework.
- A few drops of Irony - A nod to Agile’s transformation from disruptor to establishment.
- Optional: A hint of Corporate Speak - Adds a polished, boardroom-friendly finish.
Steps
- Heat Expectations: Begin by heating the industry's expectations in a large pot over medium heat.
- Establish the Base: Pour in the Agile Manifesto Values, ensuring an even spread at the bottom.
- Add Structure: Slowly stir in PMI's Traditional Project Management, ensuring it blends without overpowering Agile.
- Expand the Flavor: Introduce PMI's Global Reach, ensuring it is distributed throughout.
- Infuse Innovation: Gently add doses of Agile Thought Leadership to ensure innovative ideas simmer into the mix without boiling over.
- Layer Complexity and Controversy: Incorporate Disciplined Agile Delivery for depth, and a pinch of Controversy to keep the medley bubbling.
- Thicken the Mix: Add Certification Programs to refine the medley’s texture.
- Foster Community: Diligently mix in Agile Events, ensuring they enhance rather than dissolve the communal spirit of the medley.
- Integrate: Add a cup of Integration and stir until seamless.
- Serve with Irony: Add a few drops of Irony for a reflective touch.
- Garnish as Desired: Optionally, top with Corporate Speak for boardroom appeal.
Serving Suggestion
Serve the PMI Agile Alliance Medley hot at industry conferences, where it will be both critiqued and celebrated. Pair with a side of LinkedIn posts and blog articles for the full experience.
Note: This medley is meant to be enjoyed by all (agile or otherwise) in the project management community. Taste may vary depending on one’s perspective on the merger.

This article was simultaneously published here (the initial, working title was "Recipe for PMI® Agile Alliance® Medley") and on LinkedIn.

Read on for:
- About the Project Management Institute,
- About the Agile Alliance,
- About Scott M. Graffius,
- How to cite this article,
- A PDF of a stylized version of this article,
- and more.

About the Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a leading global association for professionals in the field of project management. Founded in 1969, PMI is dedicated to advancing the profession through research, standards development, education, and certification. With members in nearly every country, PMI offers resources like the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, which is recognized worldwide as a benchmark for project management expertise. The organization also promotes project management practices that drive better results, foster innovation, and enhance career opportunities for professionals across various industries. Through its extensive network and resources, PMI helps in connecting project managers, sharing knowledge, and advocating for the strategic value of project management.

About the Agile Alliance
The Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting Agile software development principles and practices. Founded in 2001, it was established by a group of leading figures in software development who crafted the Agile Manifesto—emphasizing values like collaboration, customer focus, and adaptability. The organization supports a community of over 90,000 members through various initiatives, including conferences, resource sharing, and local community groups. Agile Alliance has been instrumental in advancing Agile methodologies, providing educational resources, and fostering professional development. Its merger with the Project Management Institute (PMI) aims to enhance the integration of Agile practices with traditional project management, offering new opportunities for professionals worldwide.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.
Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.
Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.
He is the author of two award-winning books.
- His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
- His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.
Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:
- Adobe,
- American Management Association,
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
- Bayer,
- BMC Software,
- Boston University,
- Broadcom,
- Cisco,
- Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
- Computer Weekly,
- Constructor University Germany,
- Data Governance Success,
- Deimos Aerospace,
- DevOps Institute,
- EU's European Commission,
- Ford Motor Company,
- Gartner,
- GoDaddy,
- Harvard Medical School,
- Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
- IEEE,
- Innovation Project Management,
- Johns Hopkins University,
- Journal of Neurosurgery,
- Lam Research (Semiconductors),
- Leadership Worthy,
- Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
- London South Bank University,
- Microsoft,
- NASSCOM,
- National Academy of Sciences,
- New Zealand Government,
- Oracle,
- Pinterest Inc.,
- Project Management Institute,
- SANS Institute,
- SBG Neumark Germany,
- Singapore Institute of Technology,
- Torrens University Australia,
- TBS Switzerland,
- Tufts University,
- UC San Diego,
- UK Sports Institute,
- University of Galway Ireland,
- US Department of Energy,
- US National Park Service,
- US Tennis Association,
- Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
- Verizon,
- Virginia Tech,
- Warsaw University of Technology,
- Wrike,
- Yale University,
- and many others.
Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.
Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:
- Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
- Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
- Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
- Project Management Professional (PMP),
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
- IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).
He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
He divides his time between Los Angeles and Paris, France.
Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email














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How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 3). The PMI + Agile Alliance Merger: A Recipe for Success? (The earlier, working title was: Recipe for PMI® Agile Alliance® Medley.) Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/recipe-for-pmi-agile-alliance-medley.html.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20537.48485
PDF
A PDF of a stylized version of this article is here.
Short Link for Article
The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/pmi-aa
Copyright
Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.
Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025



In Technology, there's no substitute for experience. However, certifications remain a valuable tool for advancing one's career.
Since 2017, Scott M. Graffius has researched and reported on the most valuable Information Technology (IT) related certifications. As new technologies emerge and business needs shift, the landscape of in-demand skills evolves. To reflect these ongoing changes, Graffius regularly updates his work. This article presents the 2025 edition of the most valuable IT certifications.


Certifications can help position people as a valuable asset to their current—and prospective future—employers.
Employers want employees and candidates with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate one's mastery of the respective subject. Additionally, certifications can advance marketability, leading to promotions and higher pay.
Graffius compiled and analyzed data from 15 sources—including the California Institute of Arts and Technology, CIO, CIO Dive, Computer Science, eWeek, Exceptional Agility, Forbes, Fortune, Global Knowledge, Indeed, ITTA, PC Magazine, Robert Half, Skillsoft, and Workday—to identify which IT certifications are widely seen as the most valuable. Ten certifications stood out as the top choices.
Now, on to this list for 2025!


1. CompTIA A+
- Certification name: CompTIA A+
- Certification name abbreviation: A+
- Governing organization - name: CompTIA
- Governing organization - website: https://www.comptia.org
- Short description of certification: This is generally considered to be a certification for people who want to start careers in the IT industry. To acquire the CompTIA A+ certification, you must pass two separate tests: Core 1 and Core 2. Core 1 (220-1101) covers mobile devices, networking technology, hardware, virtualization, and cloud computing. Core 2 (220-1102) covers operating systems, security, software, and operational procedures.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None
- Certification exam – cost: Total cost for the two exams varies by location and other factors. The average total combined cost is $492
- Certification exam – delivery (in-person or online): in-person or online
- Certification exam – number of questions: Core 1 exam has 90 questions, Core 2 exam also has 90 questions
- Certification exam – time to complete it: 90 minutes for Core 1 exam, and 90 minutes for Core 2 exam
- Certification exam – minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 83% for the Core 1 exam. Estimated to be 86% for the Core 2 exam.
- Certification expiration – does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration – how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $75
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


2. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
- Certification name: Cisco Certified Network Associate
- Certification name abbreviation: CCNA
- Governing organization - name: Cisco
- Governing organization - website: https://www.cisco.com
- Short description of certification: Validates the ability to install, operate, configure, and troubleshoot basic Cisco networking devices and technologies.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: No prerequisites. However, Cisco recommends having at least a basic knowledge of networking and at least one year of experience with Cisco products.
- Certification exam – cost: $300
- Certification exam – delivery (in-person or online): In-person or online
- Certification exam – number of questions: Varies, between 50-75 questions
- Certification exam – time to complete it: 120 minutes
- Certification exam – minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 80%
- Certification expiration – does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration – how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $150
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


3. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- Certification name: Certified Information Systems Security Professional
- Certification name abbreviation: CISSP
- Governing organization - name: (ISC)²
- Governing organization - website: https://www.isc2.org
- Short description of certification: The CISSP is a highly respective, vendor-neutral certification that validates a broad understanding of information security and best practices.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: At least five years of paid, full time work experience involving two or more (of the eight) domains of the CISSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)
- Certification exam - cost: $749, although the cost may vary by location and other factors
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person at a Pearson VUE testing center
- Certification exam - number of questions: Between 125-175 questions
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 4 hours
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $125
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


4. Project Management Professional (PMP)
- Certification name: Project Management Professional
- Certification name abbreviation: PMP
- Governing organization - name: Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Governing organization - website: https://www.pmi.org/
- Short description of certification: PMP certification is a globally recognized and sought-after project management credential that recognizes experienced project managers for successfully leading teams through a project’s life cycle.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: A or B. (A) Bachelor's degree (or global equivalent) + 36 months of project management experience + 35 hours of project management education/training. Or (B) Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or global equivalent) + 60 months of project management experience + 35 hours of project management education/training.
- Certification exam - cost: $405 for members of the PMI, $575 for those not a member of the PMI
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person
- Certification exam - number of questions: Between 180-200 questions
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 230 minutes
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 81%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $150
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


5. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
- Certification name: Certified Ethical Hacker
- Certification name abbreviation: CEH
- Governing organization - name: EC-Council
- Governing organization - website: https://www.eccouncil.org
- Short description of certification: This certification is obtained by demonstrating knowledge of assessing the security of computer systems by looking for vulnerabilities in target systems, using the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker, but in a lawful and legitimate manner to assess the security posture of a target system.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Candidates need to have experience in a job related to network security or complete approved training courses before taking the exam
- Certification exam - cost: $1,199, can vary based on registration options and other factors
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person at a Pearson VUE testing center or online proctored
- Certification exam - number of questions: 125
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 4 hours
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $85
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


6. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS SA)
- Certification name: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
- Certification name abbreviation: AWS SA
- Governing organization - name: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Governing organization - website: http://aws.amazon.com
- Short description of certification: This certification showcases knowledge and skills in AWS technology, across a wide range of AWS services. The focus is on the design of cost- and performance-optimized solutions, demonstrating a strong understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None
- Certification exam - cost: $150
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person or online
- Certification exam - number of questions: 65 questions
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 130 minutes
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $75
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


7. Azure Administrator Associate
- Certification name: Azure Administrator Associate
- Certification name abbreviation: There isn't an abbreviation designated. AZ-104 (the corresponding exam code for the certification) is sometimes used as an identifier.
- Governing organization - name: Microsoft
- Governing organization - website: https://learn.microsoft.com
- Short description of certification: Azure Administrator Associate (also referred to as Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate) certification validates one’s ability to manage Azure subscriptions, implement and secure infrastructure, configure virtual networks, deploy virtual machines, monitor resources, and troubleshoot issues.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None, but Microsoft recommends at least six months of experience administering Azure
- Certification exam - cost: $165
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person or online proctored
- Certification exam - number of questions: Varies, typically between 40-60 questions
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 120 minutes
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 1 year
- Certification renewal cost: Free renewal
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


8. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP Architect)
- Certification name: Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
- Certification name abbreviation: GCP Architect
- Governing organization - name: Google
- Governing organization - website: https://cloud.google.com
- Short description of certification: Demonstrates expertise in designing, developing, and managing secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective solutions on the Google Cloud Platforms (GCP)
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None; familiarity with GCP products and services is recommended
- Certification exam - cost: $200
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person
- Certification exam - number of questions: 50 questions
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 120 minutes
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 2 years
- Certification renewal cost: $100
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


9. Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- Certification name: Certified ScrumMaster
- Certification name abbreviation: CSM
- Governing organization - name: Scrum Alliance
- Governing organization - website: https://www.scrumalliance.org
- Short description of certification: Validates a solid understanding of Scrum including practical ways to apply it on one’s team and organization
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Completion of a two-day course by an authorized trainer
- Certification exam - cost: Course (referenced above) includes the cost of the exam. Cost ranges from about $500 to $1,500 depending on the location, delivery format, and other factors
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): Online
- Certification exam - number of questions: 50
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 1 hour
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 74%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 2 years
- Certification renewal cost: $100
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


10. Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CSAI)
- Certification name: Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist
- Certification name abbreviation: CAIS
- Governing organization - name: United States Artificial Intelligence Institute (USAII)
- Governing organization - website: https://www.usaii.org
- Short description of certification: The CAIS is publicized by USAII as the most sophisticated and ground-breaking certification program for senior AI professionals and business leaders to develop the perfect AI solutions and strategy, bringing the right organizational change leading to an absolute business transformation.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: One of three eligibility paths and completion of a self-paced course. Path 1: Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in any academic discipline; and at least five years of experience in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Project Management, or any Programming Languages. Path 2: Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in any academic discipline; and at least four years of experience in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Engineering, Finance, or Management. Path 3: Certified Artificial Intelligence Consultant (CAIC) (or other equivalent) certification; and at least four years of experience for a candidate who has a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent), or three years of experience for a candidate who has a Master's degree (or equivalent).
- Certification exam - cost: Course (referenced above) includes the cost of the exam. Cost is $894.
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person
- Certification exam - number of questions: 80
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 100 minutes
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): 70%
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $249
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.


Certifications can provide significant value for professionals looking to enhance their skills and credibility in the marketplace. Employers often prefer to hire certified professionals, and people who invest in professional credentials typically enjoy larger salaries.
Informed by data from multiple sources, this article identified and profiled 10 IT-related certifications: CompTIA A+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS SA), Azure Administrator Associate, Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP Architect), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), and Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS).
Those interested in securing one or more IT-related certifications can leverage the data presented in this article to assist in their decision-making.


References/Sources:
- California Institute of Arts and Technology (CIAT) (2024, February). 10 In-Demand IT Jobs You Can Get With Tech Certifications. Available at: https://www.ciat.edu/blog/10-in-demand-it-jobs-you-can-get-with-tech-certifications.
- CIO (2024, November 24). The 15 Most Valuable IT Certifications Today. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/286762/careers-staffing-12-it-certifications-that-deliver-career-advancement.html.
- CIO.com (2024, June 7). Top 8 IT Certifications in Demand Today. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/193586/top-15-it-certifications-in-demand-today.html.
- CIO Dive (2023, November 14). 5 Highest-Paying IT Certifications in 2023. Available at: https://www.ciodive.com/news/top-paying-IT-certifications-project-management-security/699641.
- Computer Science(dot)org. (2023, November 9). Best IT Certifications To Boost Your Computer Science Career. Available at: https://www.computerscience.org/resources/top-it-certifications.
- eWeek (2024, February 8). 30 Top AI Certifications: Hotlist of 2024. Available at: https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-certifications.
- Exceptional Agility (2024, January 4). Top Agile Certifications: Update for 2024. Available at: https://exceptionalagility.com/blog/files/top-agile-certifications-2024.html.
- Forbes (2024, March 21). 10 Certificates To Put On Your Resume In 2024. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2024/03/21/10-certificates-to-put-on-your-resume-in-2024/.
- Fortune (2023, November 14). How Much Can You Make with IT Certifications? Available at: https://fortune.com/education/articles/how-much-can-you-make-with-it-certifications-average-salaries.
- Global Knowledge (2023, April 27). 10 Top-Paying IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/10-top-paying-it-certifications.
- Graffius, Scott M. (2024, March 15). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2024. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/it-certs-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11776.03849.
- Indeed (2023, December 18). Top 17 IT Certifications in Demand for 2024. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications.
- Indeed (2024, April 18). 10 High-Paying IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/highest-paying-it-certifications.
- ITTA (2024, November 7). Top 10 Must-have IT certifications for 2025. Available at: https://www.itta.net/en/blog/top-10-must-have-it-certifications-for-2025/.
- PC Magazine (2023, December 1). Level Up Your Career: The Highest-Paying IT Certifications for 2024. Available at: https://www.pcmag.com/news/highest-paying-it-certifications.
- Robert Half (2023, November 27). The 29 Most Valuable IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
- Robert Half (2024, December 17). 34 of the Best IT Certifications for Boosting Your Tech Career. Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
- Skillsoft (2024, January 16). The 20 Top-Paying Microsoft Certifications in 2024. Available at: https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/top-paying-microsoft-certifications.
- Workday (2025, February 4). Ultimate Guide to IT Certifications in 2025. Available at: https://blog.workday.com/en-us/ultimate-guide-to-it-certifications-in-2025.html.


How to Cite This Article
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 5). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/top-it-certifications-update-for-2025.html.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.
Experience
Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.
Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.
He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.
Award-Winning Author
Graffius has authored three books.
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
- Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.
International Public Speaker
Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.
With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.
The speaker engagement request form is here.
Thought Leadership and Influence
Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:
- Adobe,
- American Management Association,
- Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
- Bayer,
- BMC Software,
- Boston University,
- Broadcom,
- Cisco,
- Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
- Computer Weekly,
- Constructor University - Germany,
- Data Governance Success,
- Deimos Aerospace,
- DevOps Institute,
- Dropbox,
- EU's European Commission,
- Ford Motor Company,
- Gartner,
- GoDaddy,
- Harvard Medical School,
- Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
- IEEE,
- Innovation Project Management,
- Johns Hopkins University,
- Journal of Neurosurgery,
- Lam Research (Semiconductors),
- Leadership Worthy,
- Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
- London South Bank University,
- Microsoft,
- NASSCOM,
- National Academy of Sciences,
- New Zealand Government,
- Oracle,
- Pinterest Inc.,
- Project Management Institute,
- Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
- SANS Institute,
- SBG Neumark - Germany,
- Singapore Institute of Technology,
- Torrens University - Australia,
- TBS Switzerland,
- Tufts University,
- UC San Diego,
- UK Sports Institute,
- University of Galway - Ireland,
- US Department of Energy,
- US National Park Service,
- US Soccer,
- US Tennis Association,
- Verizon,
- Wrike,
- Yale University,
- and many others.
Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:
- Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
- The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
- The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.
Additional details are here.
He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.
Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.
The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.
Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.
Education and Professional Certifications
Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:
- Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
- Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
- Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
- Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
- Project Management Professional (PMP),
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
- IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).
He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management
Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.
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Copyright
Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.