Agile Training Courses and Certification

Agile Training Courses and Certification

by | Jul 28, 2021 | Agile Courses

Becoming Agile certificated is an advantageous decision that can assist your company in growing into a flexible Agile mindset and environment.

Here at LurnAgile, we offer a variety of engaging and thoughtful Agile training courses that will cover everything from the basics to advanced Agile methods. Explore our certification courses below!

Table of Contents:

Leading SAFe (SA Certification)

Gain the insights you need to lead a Lean-Agile enterprise using SAFe and its underlying principles. Help your organization master business agility to thrive in competitive markets with this beneficial Agile training certification. Explore why it’s critical to adopt a customer-centric mindset and Design-Thinking approach for the highest quality Agile Product Delivery.

Curriculum

This course will cover topics such as:

  • Thriving in the Digital Age with Business Agility
  • Becoming a Lean-Agile Leader
  • Establishing Team and Technical Agility
  • Building Solutions with Agile Product Delivery
  • Exploring Lean Portfolio Management
  • Leading the Change
  • Practicing SAFe

Who This Course Will Benefit

Individuals in the following roles may benefit from this certification:

  • Executives and Leaders, Managers, Directors, CIOs, and VPs
  • Development, QA, and Infrastructure Management
  • Program and Project Managers
  • Product and Product Line Management
  • Portfolio Managers, PMO, and ProcessLeads
  • Enterprise, System, and SolutionArchitects

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for receiving this Agile training certification. Anyone interested in learning more about leading an Agile environment is welcome!

Lead your business’ agile transformation — reserve your spot for the next Leading SAFe course.

SAFe for Teams (SP Certification)

In this Agile training certification course, you will gain an in-depth understanding of the team dynamic, how it delivers value, and what you can do to effectively perform the role using Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming (XP).

Curriculum

Experience all-new topics like:

  • Introducing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
  • Building an Agile Team
  • Planning the Iteration
  • Executing the Iteration
  • Executing the Program Increment
  • Practicing SAFe®

Who This Course Will Benefit

The following individuals will benefit from this course:

  • Team members who apply Lean and Agile at scale
  • All members of an Agile Release Train preparing for launch

Prerequisites

This course requires no prerequisites. All are welcome to attend without prior SAFe experience.

Succeed together — sign up for SAFe for Teams.

SAFe Scrum Master (SSM Certification)

In this Agile training course, you’ll gain an understanding of the role of Scrum Master in a SAFe enterprise. The SAFe Scrum Master course explores the role of the Scrum Master in the context of the entire company and prepares you to successfully plan and execute the Program Increment (PI), the primary enabler of alignment throughout all levels of a SAFe organization.

Curriculum

Experience a range of insightful topics, including:

  • Introducing Scrum in SAFe
  • Characterizing the role of the Scrum Master
  • Experiencing Program Increment planning
  • Facilitating Iteration execution
  • Finishing the Program Increment
  • Coaching the Agile team

Who This Course Will Benefit

Attendees for this Agile project management training course typically include:

  • New or existing Scrum Masters
  • Team Leads
  • Release Train Engineers

Prerequisites

Luckily, this course does not require any prerequisites! Whether you have previous Agile experience or are brand new to the process, this course can benefit you.

Lead with confidence. Sign up for the SAFe Scrum Master course and earn your SSM certification with LurnAgile.

agile project management training courses

SAFe Advanced Scrum Master (SASM Certification)

This Agile training course prepares current Scrum Masters for their leadership role in facilitating Agile team, program, and enterprise success in a SAFe implementation. Learn actionable tools for building high-performing teams and explore practical ways of addressing Agile and Scrum anti-patterns in this Agile training course.

Curriculum

The curriculum for this course includes:

  • Exploring the Scrum Master role in the SAFe enterprise
  • Applying SAFe Principles: A Scrum Master’s perspective
  • Exploring Agile and Scrum anti-patterns
  • Facilitating program execution
  • Improving flow with Kanban and XP
  • Building high-performing teams
  • Improving program performance with Inspect and Adapt

Who This Course Will Benefit

This is the ideal course for individuals such as:

  • Existing Scrum Masters
  • Team leaders, project managers, and others who have assumed the role of an Agile Team facilitator in a SAFe or enterprise Agile context
  • Engineering and development managers who are responsible for Agile execution and coaching teams, including teams of teams
  • Agile coaches
  • Agile Program Managers
  • Prospective Release Train Engineers

Prerequisites

All are welcome to attend the course, regardless of experience.

However, it is highly recommended to have completed one or more of the following Agile training certifications for those who intend to take the certification exam:

  • SAFe® 5 Scrum Master (SSM) certification
  • Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification
  • Professional Scrum Master (PSM) certification

If you’re ready to progress your Scrum Master skills and lead your team to success, sign up for the SAFe Advanced Scrum Master course and become SASM certified.

SAFe Release Train Engineer (RTE Certification)

During this Agile training certification course, you’ll gain an in-depth understanding of the role and responsibilities of an RTE in the SAFe enterprise. Through experiential learning, examine the RTE role in a Lean-Agile transformation. Learn how to facilitate ART processes and execution. Explore how to prepare, plan, and execute a Program Increment (PI) planning event.

Curriculum

Explore topics such as the following in this in-depth course:

  • Exploring the RTE Role and Responsibilities
  • Applying SAFe Principles
  • Organizing the ART
  • Planning a Program Increment
  • Executing a Program Increment
  • Fostering relentless improvement
  • Serving the ART
  • Continuing your learning journey

Who This Course Will Benefit

Individuals in the following roles may benefit from this course:

  • RTEs and Solution Train
  • Engineers (STEs)
  • Program and project managers
  • Scrum Masters
  • Leaders and managers
  • Agile coaches
  • SAFe Program Consultants (SPCs)

Prerequisites

The following prerequisites are highly recommended but not required:

  • Hold at least one current SAFe certification
  • Have launched or participated in at least one ART and one PI

If this seems like the course for you, reserve your spot for the next available SAFe Release Train Engineer course.

agile methodology training courses

SAFe Product Owner/Manager (POPM Certification)

During this Agile training course, attendees gain an in-depth understanding of how to effectively perform their role on the team as it delivers value through Program Increments. Attendees explore how to apply Lean thinking to decompose Epics into Features and Stories, refine Features and Stories, manage Program and Team backlogs, and plan and execute Iterations and Program Increments.

Curriculum

During this exciting course, you’ll learn all about:

  • Becoming a Product Owner/Product Manager in the SAFe enterprise
  • Preparing for PI Planning
  • Leading PI Planning
  • Executing Iterations
  • Executing the PI
  • Becoming a Certified SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager

Who This Course Will Benefit

Individuals who register for this Agile project management training course typically include:

  • New or existing Product Managers
  • Team Leads
  • Release Train Engineers

Prerequisites

Individuals at all SAFe learning levels are welcome to learn and grow from this Agile training course.

Organize your team for success with a POPM certification. Take the SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager course.

SAFe DevOps Practioner (SDP Certification)

To compete in a disruptive global market, every organization needs to deliver valuable technology solutions at the speed of business. This requires a shared DevOps mindset among all the people needed to define, build, test, deploy, and release software-driven systems — not just the engineers operating a CI/CD pipeline. That’s why we’ve created this interactive course to help people across technical, non-technical, and leadership roles work together to optimize their value stream from end to end.

Curriculum

Attendees of this Agile training course can engage with information regarding:

  • Introducing DevOps
  • Mapping your Continuous Delivery Pipeline
  • Gaining alignment with Continuous Exploration
  • Building quality with Continuous Integration
  • Reducing time-to-market with Continuous Deployment
  • Delivering Business Value with Release on Demand
  • Taking action

Who This Course Will Benefit

This fascinating course is intended for:

  • All members of an Agile Release Train
  • Development Managers, Engineering Managers
  • Configuration Managers, Release Managers
  • Development Leads, Developers, UI/UX Developers
  • Infrastructure Architects, System Architects
  • Product Managers, Product Owners
  • System Administrators, DBAs, InfoSec
  • QA Managers, Testers
  • Release Train Engineers, Scrum Masters

Prerequisites

No prior knowledge or Agile experience is necessary to register for this course.

Learn to develop agile workflows. Sign up for a SAFe DevOps Practitioner course.

SAFe Agile Software Engineering (ASE Certification)

The introduction of Lean-Agile and DevOps principles and practices into software engineering has sparked new skills and approaches that help organizations deliver higher-quality, software-centric solutions faster and more predictably. This workshop-oriented Agile developmental training course explores foundational principles and practices and how continuous flow of valuable deliverables and built-in quality are enabled by XP technical practices, Behavioral-Driven Development (BDD), and Test-Driven Development (TDD).

Curriculum

Attendees of this course will learn:

  • Introduction to Agile Software Engineering
  • Connecting Principles and Practices to Built-In Quality
  • Accelerating Flow
  • Applying Intentional Architecture
  • Thinking Test-First
  • Discovering Story Details
  • Creating a Shared Understanding with Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)
  • Communicating with Models
  • Building Systems with Code Quality
  • Building Systems with Design Quality
  • Implementing with Quality

Who This Course Will Benefit

Technical members of the Agile team such as the following will greatly benefit:

  • Developers
  • Testers
  • Product Owners
  • Scrum Masters
  • Managers

Prerequisites

All are welcome to attend the course, regardless of experience.

However, meeting the following prerequisites will make the training more productive:

  • Understanding of SAFe for Teams
  • Background in engineering, development, managing development, or quality assurance

Sign up today to start learning more about how software engineering plays a role in the Agile environment!

agile development certification training

SAFe for Architects (ARCH Certification)

Enable continuous value flow by aligning technical strategy with business goals, communicating that strategy to development teams, and applying Agile architecture practices.

During this course, attendees will explore the roles, responsibilities, and mindset of Agile Architects, and appreciate how to align architecture with business value and drive continuous flow to large systems of systems while supporting SAFe program execution.

Curriculum

You can expect to learn the following topics in this course:

  • Exemplifying Lean-Agile architecture
  • Architecting for DevOps and Release on Demand
  • Aligning architecture with business value
  • Developing Solution Vision, Solution Intent, and Roadmaps
  • Preparing architecture for Program Increment (PI) Planning
  • Coordinating architecture throughout PI Planning
  • Supporting Continuous Delivery during PI execution
  • Supporting new Strategic Themes and Value Streams
  • Leading as an architect during a Lean-Agile transformation

Who This Course Will Benefit

The following individuals are recommended to attend this course:

  • System, Solution, and Enterprise architects
  • Architects in supporting technical disciplines
  • Experienced software developers
  • Technical managers making architectural decisions
  • Product leaders collaborating with architects

Prerequisites

Attendees of this Agile training course are required to have attended at least one SAFe certification course prior to this event.

Support your team’s continued innovation and progress with an ARCH certification. Sign up for SAFe for Architects today.

SAFe Lean Portfolio Management (LPM Certification)

Lean Portfolio Management (LPM) is an interactive Agile training certification course that teaches the practical tools and techniques necessary to implement Strategy and Investment Funding, Agile Portfolio Operations, and Lean Governance. Participants learn to capture the current and future state of their portfolio with the Portfolio Canvas tool and establish portfolio flow with the Portfolio Kanban and prioritize epics for maximum economic benefit.

Curriculum

After attending this Agile development training course, you will be able to:

  • Describe Lean Portfolio Management (LPM)
  • Connect the portfolio to enterprise strategy
  • Establish the Portfolio Vision
  • Implement Lean Budgeting and Guardrails
  • Establish flow with the Portfolio Kanban
  • Support operational excellence with an Agile Program Management Office (PMO) and Communities of Practice (CoPs)
  • Coordinate Value Streams
  • Measure LPM performance
  • Build a plan for LPM implementation

Who This Course Will Benefit

This course is designed for leaders and influencers who are responsible for the Lean Portfolio Management function. Attendees may include:

  • Executives and leaders (CIOs, CEOs, CFOs, CTOs, and VPs)
  • Portfolio managers
  • Enterprise architects
  • Product managers and solution managers
  • Business owners
  • Program office personnel
  • SPCs and enterprise Agile coaches
  • Human resources
  • Epic owners
  • RTEs

Prerequisites

All are welcome to attend the course regardless of experience. However, the following recommendations will make the training a bit more productive:

  • Familiarity with Agile concepts and principles
  • Attended a Leading SAFe® or SAFe® PO/PM course
  • Experience working in a SAFe environment

Reserve your spot in the next training session and expand your knowledge on lean portfolio management today!

agile development training courses

SAFe Agile Product Management (APM Certification)

Discover and apply the mindset, skills, and tools you need to create successful products and solutions that are desirable, viable, feasible, and sustainable.

The Agile Product Management course harnesses the power of Design Thinking to develop innovative solutions with proven SAFe capabilities to execute those visions. Learn the right mindset, skills, and tools to create successful, speedy products — from inception to retirement — using Agile techniques.

Curriculum

Prepare for an agile environment with the following topics:

  • Analyzing your role as a Product Manager in the Lean Enterprise
  • Continuously Exploring Markets and Users
  • Driving Strategy with Market Segmentation
  • Using Empathy to Drive Design
  • Defining Product Strategy and Vision
  • Creating Roadmaps to Build Solutions
  • Delivering Value
  • Managing Value Stream Economics
  • Creating Innovation in the Value Stream

Who This Course Will Benefit

Individuals in the following roles should consider this course:

  • Product Management teams
  • Product marketing managers, project managers, Product Owners
  • VP of Product Management, Business Owners, Business Analysts
  • User experience and customer experience professionals
  • Product leaders collaborating with Product Management, architects, subject matter experts, and business line managers

Prerequisites

All are welcome to attend this course! However, it may be helpful to be familiar with Agile principles and practices and have attended at least one SAFe course prior to this course. A background in product or solution management is highly recommended.

Learn to develop agile, innovative solutions in this Agile Product Management course — become APM certified today.

SAFe for Government (SGP Certification)

Transitioning to Lean-Agile practices for building technology-based capabilities is especially challenging in the government context. But issues of legacy governance, contracting, and organizational barriers can be overcome with the right information and strategies. During this course, attendees will learn the principles and practices of the Scaled Agile Framework® (SAFe®), how to execute and release value through Agile Release Trains, and what it means to lead a Lean-Agile transformation of a program inside a government agency.

Curriculum

In this course, you’ll explore:

  • Thrive in the digital age with business agility
  • Become a Lean-Agile leader
  • Establish Team and Technical Agility
  • Build solutions with Agile Product Delivery
  • Explore Lean Portfolio Management
  • Lead the change
  • Become a Certified SAFe® Agilist

Who This Course Will Benefit

This course is designed for government leaders and influencers who can guide the decision to adopt SAFe within their agency or program. Examples include:

  • Executives, directors, branch chiefs
  • Managers of development, engineering, QA, architecture, operations, support
  • Program and project managers
  • Program/Project Management Office (PMO)

Prerequisites

There is no previous experience or prerequisites needed to attend this Agile training certification program.

Overcome organizational barriers and earn your SGP certification with this SAFe for Government course. Sign up today.

agile training certification

Implementing SAFe (SPC Certification)

Learn how to lead a Lean-Agile transformation using the practices and principles of SAFe and the seven core competencies of the Lean Enterprise that enable business agility.

In this course, you’ll practice how to coach programs, launch Agile Release Trains (ARTs), create a DevOps culture to build a Continuous Delivery Pipeline, and empower a Lean Portfolio. By becoming a change agent and a Certified SAFe® 5 Program Consultant (SPC), you’ll gain the knowledge and skills to implement a Lean-Agile SAFe transformation — and guide the enterprise toward success in disruptive, fast-moving markets.

Curriculum

Over the course of a few days, you’ll explore topics such as:

  • Thriving in the digital age with business agility
  • Becoming a Lean-Agile leader
  • Establishing Team and Technical Agility
  • Building solutions with Agile Product Delivery
  • Exploring Lean Portfolio Management
  • Leading the change
  • Reaching the tipping point
  • Designing the implementation
  • Launching an Agile Release Train
  • Coaching ART Execution
  • Extending to the portfolio
  • Accelerating to business agility
  • Becoming an SPC

Who This Course Will Benefit

This course is intended for those who will be directly involved in and leading a SAFe implementation, including:

  • Leaders and change agents driving the change in your organization
  • Members of a Lean-Agile Center of Excellence or Agile Transformation Office
  • Scrum Masters, Release Train Engineers, and coaches who will be facilitating events and activities
  • Consultants and trainers who will be teaching Agile trainings
  • Project and Program Management Office (PMO) members who what to understand how to implement SAFe in your organization
  • Portfolio Managers responsible for implementing strategic planning and budgeting as part of an enterprise Lean-Agile change initiative

Prerequisites

All individuals in a Lean-Agile transformation are welcome to attend the course, regardless of experience. However, the following prerequisites are highly recommended for those who intend to take the SPC certification exam and practice as a SAFe Program Consultant:

  • More than 5 years of experience in software development, testing, business analysis, product, or project management
  • More than 3 years of experience in Agile

We also find that people who have taken Leading SAFe and completed the SAFe Agilist certification before Implementing SAFe have a better learning experience and perform better in the SPC certification exam.

Start your Agile transformation today — sign up for the Implementing SAFe training course.

Create an Agile Environment with LurnAgile

It’s never too late to start incorporating an Agile environment into your workplace. Let LurnAgile show you the way with our engaging and fun-filled Agile training courses. Be sure to check out any upcoming events so you can be equipped with all the knowledge you need to bring Agile to your work. We promise you won’t regret spending a few days with our professional team of Agile experts!

Beginner’s Guide to Learning Agile Project Management

Beginner’s Guide to Learning Agile Project Management

by | Jul 7, 2021 | Articles

Maybe you’ve heard the whispers in the hall about the famous agile project management structure. You might have even heard the word thrown around during your morning meetings. If you’ve noticed small changes in your workday aimed at making the workplace just a little more adaptable, you’ve probably encountered the basics of agile project management.

So, what exactly is this agile project management you hear so much about, and how do you learn it? Read on to discover the answers to these questions and more.

What is Agile Project Management?

If the combination of work flexibility and high-quality results sounds enticing to you, your workplace may want to consider learning agile project management. The agile methodology basics are meant to introduce your workplace to a world of adaptability and smoother processes to create content or products that wow your clients.

The agile approach includes breaking down the work process into multiple steps intended to reach bi-weekly team goals. The agile project management style fosters a higher level of collaboration between team members and reduces the number of mistakes made during the creation process.

In short, agile project management is a collaborative and iterative approach to creating and delivering value to stakeholders that relies on flexibility and adaptability to drive results.

Dive into the unique backstory of agile and why so many companies are favoring this methodology over traditional project management styles.

A Look Into Agile History

Let’s take a step back to the 1990s. Companies are beginning to notice a major lag in the development process, falling behind with the advancing technology of the time. The current creation process being widely used lacks a certain flexibility and autonomy that feels necessary to adapt to the changing times. Instead of a proactive approach to the design and development of software, companies are in a responsive state in an attempt to keep up.

The lag in the development process has major repercussions for companies. Customers are not happy with the results. The lack of flexibility and autonomy delay time to market — problems go months, if not years, unsolved, giving rise to new problems.

Fast forward to 2001. After years of re-evaluating the work process to create a more adaptable environment that still produced reliable results, the Manifesto for Agile Software Development was born. The agile project management structure arose in the workforce and took on the form we know now. We’ll take a closer look at the Manifesto in the next section.

Today, companies across industries have adopted the agile project management style. With this versatile system in place, companies can create consistently high-quality and dependable products that meet and even exceed industry expectations. By establishing a system that revolves around the four main core values, companies can streamline processes and improve team-wide collaboration.

The Agile Manifesto

The Manifesto for Agile Software Development is evergreen — so much so that a range of industries are able to adapt their workplace to fit this methodology. So what exactly are these values and principles we should be working toward as we shift to an agile mindset?

According to the Manifesto, the four core values are:

  • Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
  • Working software over comprehensive documentation.
  • Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
  • Responding to change over following a plan.

 

In the Manifesto, the creators highlight the idea that the bolded left side text above takes precedence over the right side text. Though both sides of each phrase are of high value, the agile project management style focuses greatly on the relationships between people emphasized by the bolded left side. When first implementing an agile project management style, keeping these four core values in mind will help in establishing the agile basics.

12 Principles of the Agile Manifesto

In addition to the four core values, there are 12 principles that make up the basics of agile project management. These 12 principles were established in the original Manifesto and find their way into the agile workforce daily. The agile principles are as follows:

  1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
  2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage.
  3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
  4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout projects.
  5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
  6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
  7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
  8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
  9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
  10. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential.
  11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
  12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

 

While these values and principles can feel a bit overwhelming, many of them will come naturally as you focus on the agile project management basics in your workplace.

Who Can Use Agile?

Though the agile methodology got its start in the software business, its principles and core values can be applied across a variety of industries. Companies in fields from marketing and finance to radio stations like National Public Radio (NPR) have tackled the challenge of shifting to an agile mindset in the workplace to produce high-quality results. These industries and more have seen a change in the way their teams handle day-to-day problems using this more flexible and team-oriented method. The entire agile process, including its project management methodology, provides the wiggle room to accommodate the needs and necessary processes of your organization.

The Benefits of an Agile Environment

Though there are a plethora of benefits to learning the agile methodology, we’ve highlighted a few key ones you can take back to your team when discussing the agile project management style.

Improved Client Satisfaction

Happy clients = happy work life! In the agile methodology, customer collaboration takes on such a high priority that it has made its way right into the four core values. Working closely with your customers improves the level of communication and sets clearer expectations for your team. With a well-established funnel of collaboration, your team can produce quality deliverables and problem solve to increase customer satisfaction.

Increased Employee Morale

By learning agile project management, you’ll likely see employee morale boost. Having the flexibility to take on new projects in a collaborative format gives employees the freedom to work on deliverables that match their skills. This allows them to share ideas and opinions openly and problem solve together within their agile teams. Employees understand their value to the team and are more likely to collaborate freely with other team members efficiently and creatively.

More Flexibility = High Productivity

On top of working with projects that draw employee interest, the increased flexibility typically leads to a higher rate of productivity. Priorities can adjust as needed in this adaptable environment and feedback is available to improve processes and deliverables. Furthermore, learning and implementing agile project management offers a sense of predictability as it decreases the amount of work that an employee is facing by breaking deliverables into smaller time periods.

Start Your Journey with LurnAgile

Now that you’re equipped with the agile project management basics, it’s time to become agile! The first step after you’ve built your dream team of employees is to get certified. Luckily, LurnAgile offers various certification courses to prepare you and your team for this new method of work. We pride ourselves in our experienced team of agile coaches with 10 years or more of experience in the environment. With LurnAgile, your team will have the opportunity to receive fun-filled, interactive training to prepare you for the transition into an agile atmosphere. Contact us today to learn more about our programs and how you can bring the agile mindset to your workplace.

 

SAFe Scrum Master

by | Dec 18, 2020 | SAFe Courses

Scrum Master Training and Certification

​If you’re ready to take on a leadership role in an agile work environment, the Scrum Master training course may be just the right place to start.

Build your skills as a high-performing team member of an Agile Release Train (ART) — and prepare to support the facilitation of team and program events — when you become a SAFe® 5 Scrum Master (SSM).

In this certified Scrum Master training course, you’ll gain an understanding of the role of Scrum Master in a SAFe enterprise. Unlike traditional Scrum Master training that focuses on the fundamentals of team-level Scrum, the SAFe Scrum Master course explores the role of the Scrum Master in the context of the entire enterprise. It prepares you to successfully plan and execute the Program Increment (PI), the primary enabler of alignment throughout all levels of a SAFe organization.

What Will You Learn?

The complex role of Scrum Master encompasses duties such as cultivating a communicative environment, implementing agile values and principles, and encouraging team-wide productivity.

With so many vital tasks, it’s no surprise that you’ll need a comprehensive course to teach you all you’ll need to know. Luckily, LurnAgile is prepared to teach you a variety of skills, such as:

  • Describing Scrum in a SAFe enterprise
  • Facilitating Scrum events
  • Facilitating effective Iteration execution
  • Supporting effective Program Increment execution
  • Supporting relentless improvement
  • Coaching agile teams for maximum business results
  • Supporting DevOps implementation

To learn all these beneficial skills and become the ultimate Scrum Master, you’ll need to learn about quite a few topics. In our SSM certification course, we’ll cover subjects like:

  • Introducing Scrum in SAFe
  • Characterizing the role of the Scrum Master
  • Experiencing Program Increment planning
  • Facilitating Iteration execution
  • Finishing the Program Increment
  • Coaching the agile team

Now that you know what you’ll be learning, you may be wondering about who exactly should be taking this course. Is your Scrum Master the only one who should know these skills? Are there other team members that will benefit from the Scrum Master training course? Read on to find out!

Who Should Take the Course?

The Scrum Master training course is typically intended for individuals who are new to the role of Scrum Master or who want to better understand the role and how it fits in a SAFe enterprise. Attendees typically include but are not limited to:

  • New or existing Scrum Masters
  • Team Leads
  • Release Train Engineers

Though these are the typical attendees, we encourage anyone interested in learning more about the agile environment to attend!

Are There Any Prerequisites?

While it never hurts to have a bit of experience with the agile methodology before taking this certified Scrum Master training course, it’s not a requirement. Anyone interested in learning more about being a Scrum Master is welcome to attend!

However, if you are planning on taking the SAFe® Scrum Master (SSM) certification exam (which we hope you are!), it may be beneficial to have the following prerequisites:

  • Familiarity with agile concepts and principles
  • Awareness of Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming (XP)
  • Working knowledge of software and hardware development processes

Prepare for your next course with our guide to agile project management.

The Benefits of Being Scrum Master Certified

Adding another certification to your resume can never hurt. In fact, becoming Scrum Master certified offers plenty of benefits. We’ve outlined just a few of these benefits below.

Effective Team Leadership

Scrum Masters have the crucial responsibility of leading their team with the guidance of agile principles and values. Effective team leadership increases trust between team members, improves productivity, and leads to an all-around higher quality of work.

Advanced Professional Community

When a Scrum Master is able to foster an environment of collaboration, the entire professional community can thrive. Productivity and morale in the workplace increase, leading to higher quality products and services for clients. Having a knowledgeable Scrum Master to encourage teamwork and manage workload expectations can benefit the entire organization.

Improved Personal Skills

As a Scrum Master, you aren’t just dedicating your time to your team. You’re dedicating time to improving your own personal skills as well. LurnAgile’s Scrum Master training course is focused on promoting skills that can strengthen your workplace while providing you the skills to advance your personal career.

Earn Your Certification With LurnAgile

It’s time to choose one of LurnAgile’s available courses and become certified! Keep an eye out for upcoming events and select a time slot that works best for you. Once registered, you’ll have access to all the tools and resources you’ll need to successfully complete the course. Our experienced team of coaching professionals will walk you through each day and have you prepared and ready to pass your certification exam.

Class registration includes:

  • Printed workbook
  • Preparation and eligibility to take the certification exam
  • One-year membership to the SAFe Community Platform
  • Certificate of completion

Note that attendees must attend all days of the course to qualify for the exam.

The final step to becoming Scrum Master certified is to take the exam. Keep in mind after you’ve passed the exam that certifications expire one year from the date of certification. You can renew your certification for $295/year.

Our team at LurnAgile can’t wait to teach you everything we know. Sign up for a SSM, SASM, or RTE training course today — see you soon!

Is Scrum Always the Answer?

Is Scrum Always the Answer?

by | Nov 4, 2020 | Articles

Since the inception of the Agile manifesto, Agile principles have revolutionized how companies manage their team, paving the way for a modern style of project management.  Teams no longer rely on tedious and time-consuming waterfall models and can deliver projects in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

As agile project management became popular, organizations adopted several agile methods, of which Scrum is the most used. While Scrum is useful for delivering projects incrementally, it isn’t ideal for all situations.

In this article, we will discuss some of the issues with scrum in varying situations and how they can be addressed with other alternatives.

What Is Scrum?

Scrum is a part of the agile methodology that aims to deliver business value in the least amount of time possible. Scrum achieves this by rapidly creating usable chunks of the product and making changes according to user feedback.

Since Agile was originally designed for software development, most agile methodologies are tailored for this field, and Scrum is no exception. Development teams create parts of software that customers can directly use and give their feedback on. This helps your team skip tons of straining documentation and move forward with the project faster.

Typically, a scrum team has three roles; the product owner, the scrum master, and the development team. On top of managing the team directly, the scrum master is responsible for being a bridge between the development team and the product owner.

The product owner here represents the interests of all stakeholders, where the development team is similar to other project teams. However, development teams in Scrum are more independent and self-organized, and they must share responsibilities with the Scrum Master.

People in all three roles have daily scrum meetings. In these meetings, they outline what they must achieve and set daily goals. Besides that, they all have to participate in meeting related to sprint review, sprint planning, and sprint retrospective based on the phase of the project going on.

Scrum is ideal for managing highly complex and unpredictable projects where requirements are more likely to change. Scrum gives you the space to deal with unexpected changes in project requirements and deliver features urgently needed.

Scrum emphasizes the importance of accountability, continuous and iterative progress, and teamwork, leading the product towards specific goals. You can learn more about the Scrum Methodology by reading the official Scrum Guide in detail.

Why Doesn’t Scrum Always Work?

In the Scrum methodology, everyone is dedicated to delivering value as rapidly as possible. Therefore, developments must strive to complete value-driven components deliverables in less than a month. In most cases, teams are required to deliver these deliverables inside two weeks.

While the management pushes teams to work on tight deadlines, they also expect the team to develop production-quality deliverables and have working software as they submit an increment. This is why teams must write code, design code structures, and test it. Moreover, they must also create presentations and demos to stakeholders, that too in a short period.

Because of this, many people consider Scrum’s approach to be too unrealistic or rigid. While Scrum is extremely useful to counter unpredictability in projects, for teams with no prior experience, it is also one-dimensional and difficult to implement.

Project managers must eventually grow out of the basic scrum framework and adopt lessons from other agile methodologies. Scrum only gives you and your team a reliable structure to begin with, but you must be adaptable to be successful in the long-run.

It doesn’t make sense to force-fit Scrum to every project you come across. Instead, you should analyze the requirements of every project separately and experiment with other methodologies, as well. Similar to the Design Patterns in the 1990s, Scrum can be used on its own or in combination with another methodology.

As you may have multiple teams in a project, you can use Scrum as a pattern for one team in the beginning. Once you have established a structure for the project, you can monitor the progress on the project and shift to a more suitable agile technique if Scrum isn’t working for your team. Incorporating other tools/patterns can help you develop a more robust and effective approach to management.

Exploring Other Options

You can use other methodologies in combination with Scrum too.

Effective Agile Practices

The high-paced Scrum methodology gives you little time to test products effectively, making software quality dubious. To ensure software quality, you can leverage agile techniques such as Unit Testing, Acceptance Test Driven Development (or BDD), Pair Programming, Continuous Integration, and Test Driven Development. These techniques prevent your code from degrading over time, so they are ideal for software projects.

Kanban

Kanban is a project methodology that leverages a linear approach to project delivery. It teaches teams to focus on continuous delivery but relieves them from the excess burden. That said, many managers criticize this technique for lacking a defined structure like scrum.

For this reason, many experts suggest using Scrum and Kanban in conjunction with each other. Managers can first adapt Scrum and develop a more optimized workflow.

Once your team is in tune with Scrum’s structure, you can leverage Kanban’s continuous delivery towards the end of the project. Alternatively, you can also use Scrum to develop your project in your desired way and later use Kanban or other agile methodologies for review. Doing so can help you ensure the quality of your final product.

Several companies choose new ways to manage their teams. They use different combinations for different teams. SysAdmin teams are put under Kanban workflows to relieve them from rigid time-boxed sprints, while teams responsible for developing urgent features can leverage Scrum. 

Conclusion

In agile project management, no one size fits all. Every situation has unique requirements and you may have to switch your approach from time to time. Regardless, one thing is clear that agile project managers must display exceptional leadership and strategic planning.

Being well-versed in Agile Methodologies prepares you to tackle difficult situations effectively and deal with challenges with greater skill.

At LurnAgile, we are determined to teach you the tenets of the Agile Methodology and help you master Agile Project Management. With our training, you will learn how to augment Agile to your brand of management and nail challenging projects with ease.

To learn more about what we have to offer, consider visiting our website, or contact us directly for a consultation

DevSecOps Foundation

DevSecOps Foundation

by | Oct 15, 2020 | DevOps Institute

Course Schedule

To find out of a course is Guaranteed to Run or the type of schedule (weekday, weekend, Evenings), click on the "Schedule" dropdown and filter

If viewing this with a mobile device, click on the Name of the Course to view more details on each course.

[product_table columns="cf:start_date,name,price, att:instructors,add-to-cart,quick-view" date_columns="cf:start_date" sort_by="cf:start_date" sort_order="asc" date_format="F j, Y" filters="categories,tags,att:instructors" category="devsecops-foundation+usa" links="none"]

If viewing this with a mobile device, click on the Name of the Course to view more details on each course.

Course Description

Learn the purpose, benefits, concepts, and vocabulary of DevSecOps including DevOps security strategies and business benefits.

 

OVERVIEW

As companies deploy code faster and more often than ever, new vulnerabilities are also accelerating. When the boss says, “Do more with less”, DevOps practices adds business and security value as an integral, strategic component.  Delivering development, security, and operations at the speed of business should be an essential component for any modern enterprise.

Course topics covered include how DevSecOps provides business value, enhancing your business opportunities, and improving corporate value.  The core DevSecOps principles taught can support an organizational transformation, increase productivity, reduce risk, and optimize resource usage.

This course explains how DevOps security practices differ from other approaches then delivers the education needed to apply changes to your organization. Participants learn the purpose, benefits, concepts, vocabulary and applications of DevSecOps.  Most importantly, students learn how DevSecOps roles fit with a DevOps culture and organization. At the course’s end, participants will understand “security as code” to make security and compliance value consumable as a service.

No course would be complete without practical application and this course teaches the steps to integrate security programs from the developers and operators through the business C-level.  Every stakeholder plays a part and the learning material highlights how professionals can use these tools as the primary means of protecting the organization and customer through multiple case studies, video presentations, discussion options, and exercise material to maximize learning value.  These  real-life scenarios create tangible takeaways participants can leverage upon their return to the home office.

This course positions learners to pass the DevSecOps Foundation exam.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

The learning objectives include a practical understanding of:

  • The purpose, benefits, concepts, and vocabulary of DevSecOps
  • How DevOps security practices differ from other security approaches
  • Business-driven security strategies and Best Practices
  • Understanding and applying data and security sciences
  • Integrating corporate stakeholders into DevSecOps Practices
  • Enhancing communication between Dev, Sec, and Ops teams
  • How DevSecOps roles fit with a DevOps culture and organization

    AUDIENCE
    The target audience for the DevSecOps Foundation course are professionals including:

  • Anyone involved or interested in learning about DevSecOps strategies and automation
  • Anyone involved in Continuous Delivery toolchain architectures
  • Compliance Team
  • Business managers
  • Delivery Staff
  • DevOps Engineers
  • IT Managers
  • IT Security Professionals, Practitioners, and Managers
  • Maintenance and support staff
  • Managed Service Providers
  • Project & Product Managers
  • Quality Assurance Teams
  • Release Managers
  • Scrum Masters
  • Site Reliability Engineers
  • Software Engineers
  • Testers


LEARNER MATERIALS

  • Digital Learner Manual (excellent post-class reference)
  • Participation in exercises designed to apply concepts
  • Sample documents, templates, tools and techniques
  • Access to additional sources of information and communities

PREREQUISITES

Participants should have baseline knowledge and understanding of common DevOps definitions and principles.

 CERTIFICATION EXAM

Successfully passing (65%) the 60-minute examination, consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions, leads to the candidate’s designation as DevSecOps Foundation (DSOF) certified. The certification is governed and maintained by DevOps Institute.   

COURSE OUTLINE

  • Realizing DevSecOps Outcomes
    • Origins of DevOps​
    • Evolution of DevSecOps​
    • CALMS​
    • The Three Ways
  • Defining the Cyberthreat Landscape​
    • What is the Cyber Threat Landscape?​
    • What is the threat?​
    • What do we protect from?​
    • What do we protect, and why?​
    • How do I talk to security?​
  • ​Building a Responsive DevSecOps Model
    • Demonstrate Model
    • Technical, business and human outcomes​
    • What’s being measured? ​
    • Gating and thresholding​
  • Integrating DevSecOps Stakeholders
    • The DevSecOps State of Mind​
    • The DevSecOps Stakeholders​
    • What’s at stake for who?​
    • Participating in the DevSecOps model​
  • ​Establishing DevSecOps Best Practices
    • Start where you are​
    • Integrating people, process and technology and governance​
    • DevSecOps operating model​
    • Communication practices and boundaries​
    • Focusing on outcomes ​
  • Best Practices to get Started
    • The Three Ways​
    • Identifying target state​s
    • Value stream-centric thinking​
  • ​DevOps Pipelines and Continuous Compliance
    • The goal of a DevOps pipeline​
    • Why continuous compliance is important​
    • Archetypes and reference architectures​
    • Coordinating DevOps Pipeline construction​
    • DevSecOps tool categories, types and examples​
  • Learning Using Outcomes
    • Security Training Options​
    • Training as Policy​
    • Experiential Learning​
    • Cross-Skilling​
    • The DevSecOps Collective Body of Knowledge​
    • Preparing for the DevSecOps Foundation certification exam