Which is better? ITIL, PMP or Prince2?

snowssw 2010-07-26

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There was an interesting, albeit a bit "simple" question posted on IT Toolbox today. Mohan asked:

Which certification or knowledge area is better for managing successfully projects , ITIL, PMP or Prince2

I responded as follows:

Interesting question. I think the answer is either "None of them" or "It depends".

"None of them": A certification in project management does not guarantee that the certificate holder can properly manage a project. I have seen some fabulous project managers who don't hold a certification and I have see a number of really bad PMPs. On a high level, successfully managing a project depends quite a lot on the project managers personal skills, experience, the PM team and the managerial support. The certification has little to do with it.

"It depends": ITIL, PMBOK and Prince2 are all project management frameworks. They give you a general "plan of attack" so that you can properly manage it. Each of them is "best" applied in a specific area: ITIL for IT services, PMBOK is favored in the US and Prince2 in the UK/Commonwealth. Therefore, it really depends more on the company and type of project you are leading. But again, neither of these frameworks will guarantee a successful project. All of them are equally useful to manage a project. And all of them will equally fail if the people on the project don't manage it properly. You cannot blame the framework/methodology. You can only blame the people.

I've gone a bit out on a limb here because my experience with ITIL & Prince2 is minimal. So here is my question to you specialists out there: Do you agree with what I said?

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Tom said:

	I have studied ITIL and I'm studying for CAPM. There is a really big difference between them. ITIL is 90% operation (ITIL V2 Foundation reference) instead CAPM is project management. I believe that ITIL is something that a person working in IT as project manager shoud have, so you can easily understand how operations works in IT services.
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July 19, 2008 | url
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Sateesh Deshpande said:

Certifications and its benefits really depends on the person who use it and how he use it. I've studied PMP and currently studying Prince2 (though ITIL is new to me yet!) I found these two certification cater its own need and requirements such as PMP for US based companies and Prince2 more specifically for UK or other European countries.

So choice is strictly left to us what we want to achieve or look for.

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July 20, 2008
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João Pereira said:

Hello Cornellius,

I have to disagree with you regarding your statement:

"It depends : ITIL, PMBOK and Prince2 are all project management frameworks"

ITIL isn't a project management framework, at least I don't consider it like that. I agree with the definition from wikipedia (http://en./wiki/ITIL)

The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is a set of concepts and techniques for managing information technology (IT) infrastructure, development, and operations.

Regarding PRINCE2, again, I cannot agree with you about it's being a framework. I think that PRINCE2 is too prescriptive to be a framework, and thus I think PRINCE2 is a methodology to manage projects. Of course it is built on top of some framework. Quoting wikipedia again (http://en./wiki/PRINCE2)

Projects in Controlled Environments (PRINCE) is a project management method. It covers the management, control and organisation of a project. “PRINCE2” is a registered trademark of the U.K.'s Office of Government Commerce (OGC).

PMBoK is more like a standard framework, because it give us the essential building blocks to create a project management methodology and put it to work. Again quoting wikipedia again (http://en./wiki/PMBoK)

The Project Management Institute (PMI) published the first A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) as a white paper in 1987 in an attempt to document and standardize generally accepted project management information and practices[1].

So, I think there is some differences here, don't you think?

Regards,

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August 01, 2008 | url
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Anita J-T said:

	I completely agree with Joao Pereira.
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April 27, 2009
Votes: +1

Sandeep Thakur said:

	Let me add here the googled research analysis on PMPvsPrince2. Prince2 is most preferable methodoly compare to others and is successfull in almost countries. On the otherside PMP,ITIL also similar standards... can compete with Prince2. But Prince2 is Prince2. I believe from most of the users....
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October 16, 2009
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Ashish said:

PMP and PRINCE2? which method certification is good?

PMP is popular in the US whilst PRINCE2 is popular in UK and many parts of Europe. Both are good practices and having both qualifications can definately help. PMP offers detailed knowledge on the techniques that can be used for doing project management activities like Determining what contract to use / Earned value technique for reporting on scope, time and cost. PRINCE2 leaves it to the user but provides guidelines on what needs to be done rather than how.

PRINCE2 talks about the pre-projec start-up and post project benefit measurements which is not included in PMBOK. Similarly the detailed descriptions and roles and responsibilities of the project manager and the project management team is available in PRINCE2.

I think have both PMP and PRINCE2 qualifications is recommended to have a one-up in career development. Check more details on www.

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October 25, 2009 | url
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Teitei said:

	I have an Computer Science degree. I have completed my Master Diploma in Project Management. Now preparing for my CAPM certification. Recently, i've been thinking of enroling for ITIL v3. Can somebody please tell me if it's necessary.
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November 08, 2009
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EK said:

Dear all,

ITIL v2 or v2 is NOT a project management framework or have any "management" notion at all. It is merely a set of "best practises"!

PMP and PRINCE2 are "competing" project management techniques or frameworks. PMP is realised through the consideration of PMBOK while PRINCE2 is an independent set of proven processes designed to support delivery of all "products".

Personally, for project management, I would consider PRINCE2 any time as this is a success-driven methodology while the other(s) are primarily geared to plan mitigations against "potential failures".

When dealing with products that are IT bias and technology specific, I would compliment PRINCE2 with relevant components of ITIL v3 where applicable.

Hope the above helps.

Good hunting...

EK

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December 30, 2009 | url
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DEENDAYAL B said:

	Exactly, you cannot compare ITIL with PRINCE2/PMP. ITIL is totally focussed on the IT services related operations within the organisation and there is no Project management elements to it. However, I would like to put PRINCE2 and PMP under one category. As people said, PMP is favorite in the US where are as PRINCE2 in the UK.
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January 22, 2010
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Abu Hashim said:

	Dear all i'm a new project manager in software company , we manag softwares based on microsoft technologyes i need an advice to tell me wich certificate i have to start with ? thanks all
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March 04, 2010
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Cornelius Fichtner, PMP said:

Abu,

It's difficult to say based on the little information that I know about you. It depends first of all on where you live: Contact your local project management professional organizations and ask other project managers about what they think the best certificate would be for you. Second it depends on your industry/company: Ask other PMs in your company what they think. Ask your boss. They will probably have the experience and know what your company and industry standards for PMs are.

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March 04, 2010
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mit said:

	do any of the certifications have validity? If so what are they?
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April 24, 2010
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Cornelius Fichtner, PMP said:

	MIT, Yes, each of these certificates has it's own validity. It really depends on your personal career and needs to determine which one you want to pursue. I will go ahead and create an episode on The PM Podcast (www.) to do an overview of these. Cornelius
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April 25, 2010
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Shiju Cherian said:

Hello Cornelius,

I am novice in the field of Project Management, but am interested to make a career in it. Kindly advice me about the entry level certificaions avaiable for novices like me. As far as i have researched CAPM and Prince2 foundation best suits my "no experience" eligibility. But I am confused which is better CAPM or Prince2 Foundation.

Kindly advice and help me choose a better career path.

Thanks,
Shiju

P.S. I am currently based in INDIA, having an work experience of 3 years on the profile of Senior Analyst -IT.

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April 29, 2010
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Cornelius Fichtner, PMP said:

	Shiju, That is a difficult question. In order to answer it you need to know your own environment: Does your company use Prince2 or the PMI framework? Which ones do your customers use? Which ones are your future employers most likely going to be using? There really isn't a good answer to this one because it is so personal and must be tailored to your own expectations and desired career path.
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May 02, 2010
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sriram said:

	ITIL is for Service Management and PMP/PRINCE2 is for Project management, bot the different.ITIL is specific to IT Industries where PMP can be used in Non-It sectors also.
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