The Past, Present, and Future of PMI® & its Certifications
PMI® is a global non-profit global organization focused on driving progress in the project management spectrum. It is a leading organization that not only facilitates certifications in the project management spectrum but also conducts researches to capture industry needs, educates professionals working in the project management spectrum, establishes industry standards and published journals to help professionals get acquainted with the leading developments in the domain.
The Footprint
Over the years, PMI® has created a huge footprint in the project management spectrum and caters to over 2.9 million professionals. PMI® has over 500,000 members across 208 countries and territories with 300 chapters and 10000 volunteers. An impressive achievement indeed!
The Inception
The seed of PMI® was sown when project management started getting credibility as a discipline in the 1960s in aerospace, construction and defense industries. It is then that the need for standards for project management was realized. As PMI® mentions on its website,” It began as a dinner in early 1969”, referring to the initial meeting between Jim Snyder and Gordon Davis at the Three Threes restaurant.
The first formal meeting of PMI® was conducted at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Georgia on 9th October 1969. Soon the article of incorporations was filled in Pennsylvania and was signed by James Snyder, Eric Jenett, Gordon Davis, E.A “Need” Engman & Susan C identifying them as founders of PMI®
The Growth
PMI® outlined its objectives in 1975 that read:
“foster recognition of the need for professionalism in project management; provide a forum for the free exchange of project management problems, solutions and applications; coordinate industrial and academic research efforts; develop common terminology and techniques to improve communications; provide interface between users and suppliers of hardware and software systems, and to provide guidelines for instruction and career development in the field of project management.”
At the same time, PMI® created the Professional Liaison Committee that worked with Technology, Research Policy & Education committee with the assistance of the American National Standard Committee and Europe’s International Project Management Association. By 1980, PMI® was able to standardize the general knowledge base and by 1996, it produced the first Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK®).
In the 1990s, with Virgil R. Carter, PMI® had started to have a significant impression on the project management spectrum with over 90,000 members across 120 countries.
The Certifications
The first and one of the most prominent certifications offered by PMI®: “PMP®” or “Project Management Professional” certification was launched in 1984. PMP® received accreditation from the ISO in the year 1984 and since then it has been the gold standard in the Project management spectrum.
Over the years, PMI® had launched multiple other certifications like CAPM®, an entry-level certification, PMI®-ACP, a certification that detailed on the Agile Project management frameworks. Other prominent credentials offered by PMI® are:
Credentials offered by PMI® generally have a very strict pre-requisites. This assures that the professional has the basic knowledge and experience of working in the said domain. PMI® has not only maintained the resources it makes available for these domains but also the standard of these certification examinations making PMI® credentials synonymous with being proficient in the spectrum.
Latest Advancements
Digital Avatar
Recently, PMI® has taken up a new avatar and has introduced its new logo.