The PRINCE2® project management certification scheme has two main levels, Foundation and Practitioner.
The PRINCE2 Agile® certification scheme which includes the PRINCE2 Agile Foundation and PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner qualifications.
PRINCE2 is the world's most widely used project management methodology. PRINCE2 qualifications are a standard feature of project management job specifications in the UK and have grown in popularity since PRINCE2 was launched in 1996.
PRINCE2 was initially designed to work with waterfall and linear project management. This works extremely well for formalized projects, such as building a house, but not as well when dealing with more agile projects such as software development.
PRINCE2 is a customer-focused project management methodology. It offers a set of principles, themes and processes to enable an organization’s key managers to justify a project. It helps them understand “why should we do it (the project)?” and “are the benefits worth the costs and risks of doing the project?”. It also focuses on how to manage a project effectively to ensure it remains a worthwhile investment in a changing business environment.
PRINCE2 Agile, on the hand, tailors PRINCE2 to work in more agile projects by adding agile components and methodologies. It still uses all of the principles, themes, and processes of PRINCE2, but also allows for agile developments like Scrum, Kanban, Lean and more.
Which certification should I get?
If you are just starting out with PRINCE2 or PRINCE2 Agile, we recommend doing the PRINCE2 Foundation course/certification first.
Once you are certified in PRINCE2 Foundation, you can then take either the PRINCE2 Practitioner or PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner courses/certifications based on your career goals.
If you work in more traditional project management, such as putting on conferences or building a house, then PRINCE2 Practitioner is a better fit for you.
If you work in software development and the agile world, then PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner is a better fit for you.