Agile experts think great product owners act as entrepreneurs for their product. Product owners and entrepreneurs have a major thing in common – they strive to keep both stakeholders and users happy by:
- Recognizing improvement opportunities
- Focusing on business value
- Proactively mitigating risk
However, without strong support from a scrum master, a product owner will find it difficult to focus on being an entrepreneur for their product. Since both roles are equally valuable, you’re probably questioning which class to take – we’ve got the answers to your questions below!
Is there really a difference between CSM and CSPO?
Take a look at the general descriptions and see for yourself!
CSM Course and Certification: The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) training class provides students a full immersion into Agile principles and the concepts and practices that define the Scrum framework. The class dives into each role within the Scrum team to ensure an overall understanding of how a Scrum team works.
CSPO Course and Certification: The Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) training class provides an understanding of how Scrum transforms initial concepts and goals into a Product Backlog and user stories, which are ultimately developed into project deliverables. The class delves into creating requirements in an Agile environment, effective prioritization, long-term and short-term planning and providing vision.
If you want to better understand the key differences between the CSM and the CSPO classes, check out our CSM vs CSPO comparison guide and decide for yourself which class goals you align with.
So, which one do I choose?
The answer to this question depends on your situation.
Get your CSM certification if you:
- Are looking to obtain general Agile and Scrum knowledge while gaining an understanding of the roles within the Scrum framework.
- Are going to be on a Scrum team, whether that means a role as scrum master, development team member, or product owner.
- Need a general Scrum certification.
Get your CSPO certification if you:
- Are interested in learning how to deliver valuable products by providing a product vision to the Scrum team.
- Focus on providing business value to stakeholders.
- Are providing a vision for the product and collaborating with stakeholders and user to build the Product Backlog.
- Need training specific to the Product Owner role.
Or, better yet, why not get both?
In the end, it really is a personal preference based on what you want to accomplish; maybe learning both perspectives will transform you into a well-rounded Agilist. Whichever direction you go in, you will be receiving a highly-regarded certification that is recognized by all in the industry.
The Scrum Alliance uses Registered Education Partners (REP), who have Certified Scrum Trainers (CST) that administer the actual two-day classes to certify students.
Do you have a team of people that you would like certified?
Excella also offers private certified group trainings, which are even more tailored to your group’s needs.