DASSM No Longer A Prerequisite! What Should You Know About This Update?

The new rule of PMI's Disciplined Agile – DASSM is not required for DAC and DAVSC certifications. What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of this new rule?

Let’s put the context in place.?

Disciplined Agile is a novel and refreshing toolkit from PMI. PMI acquired Disciplined Agile in the year 2019 and launched this Disciplined Agile toolkit in 2020 across the globe during the COVID-19 pandemic.?

Disciplined Agile as a toolkit has been in existence since 2012 and has been implemented by a lot of top organizations since then. From its origin, Disciplined Agile has been designed to make you an Agile coach , and it has a well-defined path to make you an Agile Coach.?

This path has remained more or less the same, even after PMI acquired Disciplined Agile. But the nomenclature of the path changed. Now, the recent roadmap to Agile Coach starts with:?

1. Shu (Beginner) - Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) ?
2. Ha (Practitioner) - Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) ?
3. Ri (Master) - Disciplined Agile Coach (DAC) ?

PMI also acquired another company, Net Objectives, in 2019, along with Disciplined Agile. This new company was based on Lean project management principles, and PMI introduced another Certification, “Disciplined Agile Value Stream Consultant ” (DAVSC). This was positioned as the most elite certification from PMI.?

Here’s a detailed video that covers all the essential aspects of the DAVSC certification: Everything You Need to Know About DAVSC Certification | ProThoughts Webinar

Both DAC and DAVSC had a prerequisite till Oct 31, 2023. You needed to be DASSM-certified to take the training of DAC and DAVSC.?

So, what changed?

PMI observed that many did not attempt the master certifications of Disciplined Agile, namely DAC and DAVSC, even after getting DASSM-certified.?

One of the major reasons was the Cost. And maybe the time and the journey to do the master certifications. The cost of doing two certifications was quite heavy on the wallets of many practitioners and professionals. The knowledge of DAC and DAVSC was not disseminated quickly enough, as it should be, in the project management community.??

Thus, PMI felt that the objective of having coaches and value stream consultants was not achieved.?

PMI recently decided to waive off this prerequisite (at least for now) to increase the number of DAC and DAVSC-certified professionals from Nov 1, 2023.?

Learn how Agile Coaches are significantly different from Scrum Masters by reading this blog by our expert Ashish Sadekar: Difference between Scrum Master and Agile Coach

Now, coming to the main part of the blog.

What are the advantages of this new rule of “DASSM certification no longer being a prerequisite for DAC and DAVSC”?

Advantages:?

1. You can earn the DAC or DAVSC status directly without going through a process. So, if you aim for an elite, Disciplined Agile certification and recognition, this is the best way to achieve it.?
2. It is lighter on the wallet. You do not have to spend the cost of 2 certifications to earn your master certification.?
3. You save a substantial amount of time. Nowadays, in a time-crunched world, time is a precious commodity to invest. So, with the prerequisite removed, you have to invest less time to get the coveted master certification.?

Disadvantages:?

1. The process is essential to become a master. Otherwise, the DAC or DAVSC might be just a paper certificate. The idea of certification is the knowledge that can be applied to your projects and organization and improve the Way of Working (WoW). By attaining these elite certifications without the knowledge of DASSM, there might be the possibility of it becoming something that looks good from the outside but with hardly any content inside.?
2. Many undergo these popular Agile certifications , which are catalysts for better career opportunities. It helps you get better jobs and salary packages. But, if you do not have the right skills, you may not achieve this goal for better opportunities. In other words, you may want to be a Disciplined Coach but not understand the Disciplined toolkit as you haven’t gone through the process. You directly jumped to be a Master without going through the proper steps, and you may not contribute effectively to the new organization.

In light of the recent development by PMI to increase the number of Coaches and Value Stream Consultants, we at ProThoughts weighed the advantages and disadvantages and want to give the optimum solution to our customers.?

The optimum solution is to consider the higher certification pricing and balance it with the knowledge needed to become a better DAC or DAVSC-certified professional.?

How Are We Helping You Reach The Optimum Solution?

ProThoughts has prepared e-learning videos on the content of DASM and DASSM and will offer the same as part of the Master DAC and DAVSC certification.?

Since our audience is global and the pricing we offer is relatively lesser than any of the global counterparts (being based out of India), we will slightly increase the pricing to accommodate the DASM and DASSM content. And still, the pricing will be considerably lower than the global counterparts for a single certification.

Moreover, ProThoughts offers a combo offer for doing both Master Certifications of DAC and DAVSC.?

Furthermore, for those avid professionals who still want to go through the process, ProThoughts will be offering a Disciplined Agile Senior Scrum Master (DASSM) certification at a regular frequency. This will help retain the current way of working and help some Agile enthusiasts to take a proper traditional route. We will work out a special pricing for the same.

ProThoughts Disciplined Agile offerings have the best quality content, including superior mock exams, curated content designed and prepared by in-house subject matter experts, and training carried out by Ashish Sadekar.?

Ashish is one of the first in the world to be a Disciplined Agile Instructor for DAC and DAVSC certifications. He is one of the global content creators for Disciplined Agile and one of the thought leaders on this topic.

About ProThoughts

ProThoughts has been a top Premier Partner for Disciplined Agile since 2020. And we have churned out the highest content on Disciplined Agile globally. We have been evangelizing Disciplined Agile globally through various platforms such as Webinars , Bootcamps, Thought Articles, Blogs and Trainings, and many other avenues. ProThoughts is easily one of the top leaders in Disciplined Agile, and we are committed to bringing quality content and delivery to Disciplined Agile.

To learn more about the Disciplined Agile certifications, you can email us at [email protected] , and we will be happy to help.?

You can also add Ashish Sadekar on LinkedIn and have a conversation on Disciplined Agile.

For More Information, Click On The Following Links:

• How Does Disciplined Agile Improve Your Way Of Working (WoW)?
• The Complete Guide To DASSM In India
• How To Become An Agile Coach? - The Complete Roadmap
• Is DASSM Certification Worth It? - All You Need To Know

Join Our Exclusive LinkedIn Community and Interact With Fellow Agilists: Disciplined Agile Certification Prep Group