Certification Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Certified Business Process Professional (CBPP®)?
- BPM Certification means that an individual has:
- Achieved appropriate professional experience and/or education;
- Passed a rigorous examination of 140 questions;
- Agreed to abide by a professional code of conduct;
- Committed to maintaining an active credential through meeting continuing professional development requirements.
Why Get Certified?
The CBPP® is an international standard that tests your multidisciplinary knowledge and breadth of experience as a BPM Practitioner. To read more about ABPMP and the BPM profession, click here.
What is the Application Process?
- Review qualifications and experience requirements (See below)
- Decide to pursue the application process
- Candidate applies
- ABPMP Committee will review the application, considering the candidate experience and qualifications
- Notify the candidate of application outcome (can take up to 10 business days)
- Yes – send link to register and pay for the exam on Webassessor
- No – send denial letter
- Download the Handbook
- Review options for a chapter event or hosted testing site
What is the Exam Process?
- Chapter Hosted:
- Trained Chapter officer is the proctor for the exam
- Exam is offered at CBT classroom location or university setting with PCs
- Chapter proctor downloads the applicant roster and manages the exam online
- Candidate registers online at website
- Candidate receives confirmation number
- Confirmation number is used on event day to launch the exam (paired with password entered by the Chapter proctor)
- Candidate agrees to Code of Ethics as part of the logon/ launch process
- Exam takes 3 hours to complete
- For those passing:
- Candidate receives online feedback
- Pass / Fail by topic and overall
- Formal Certificate is issued at Chapter events
- Hosted By Website Vendor
- Option is available at many locations without a local chapter
- Candidate registers online at website
- Candidate receives confirmation number
- Confirmation number is used on event day to launch the exam (paired with password entered by the Host proctor)
- Candidate agrees to Code of Ethics as part of the logon/ launch process
- Exam takes 3 hours to complete
- Candidate receives online feedback on passing the exam
- Certificate is mailed to successful candidate
Should I Study?
- Yes, you should at a minimum study the BPM CBOK®, however, the exam is not based on the content in the BPM CBOK® as much as it is based on the knowledge areas of the BPM CBOK®. The exam also tests your experience as a BPM Practitioner as much as your knowledge of BPM. The exam is quite rigorous and it is recommended that in addition to studying the BPM CBOK®, that you also take refresher training and participate in a Chapter study group if applicable.
Will there be vendors who provide training for the CBPP® Exam?
- No, there will be no vendors who will provide training to individuals for the sole purpose of taking and passing the exam. We understand the PMI does have vendors who will provide exam preparation courses to help individuals pass their exam, however, ABPMP will not be doing this primarily because our exam is weighted heavily on experience and not memorization of the BPM CBOK®.
- Opportunities to participate in study groups is available through ABPMP local Chapters where applicable, and ABPMP will experiment with online collaboration using Go-To-Webinar. Please visit our Linkedin page here for more information.
How Much Does The Exam Cost?
- There is a non-refundable application fee of $75
- Pricing for the exam incents ABPMP International membership:
- Members: $400
- Non-Members: $550
Is the CBPP® Accredited?
- ABPMP International is following the procedural guidelines to meet the accreditation standard.
When Will The CBPP® Exam Be Available In Other Languages?
What are the Experience Qualification Requirements for the CBPP® ?
Experience Qualification Requirements
- 4 Years
- Process management, Process improvement, or Process transformation experience
- Documented experience and qualifications
- References
Education Requirements
- Undergraduate degree – no additional credit
- Graduate degree, 6 months credit
Other Professional Certifications, e.g., PMP, CPIM
Recertification
- Recertification required every 3 years
- 60 hours of continuing professional education activities required
- Or retake exam
- Some example activities
- Courses, Training, Seminars
- Professional association events
- Writing, Presenting, Teaching
Are there sample questions available?
Not yet, we are developing a Study Guide and are looking into providing a few sample questions in that guide.
How does the CBPP differ from OCEB (OMG Certified Expert in BPM) certification from the OMG?
OMG – Organizationally
First, OMG is a not-for-profit computer industry consortium; the majority of the membership is IT vendor related companies. That sets a certain focus and tone for their approach to BPM whereby all of OMG’s products are heavily influenced by the vendor rather than the practitioner community. An equivalent analogy would be trying to set medical standards of practice through a consortium of drug and equipment manufacturers rather than the practicing medical community of doctors.
OMG BPM Certification
Second, the purpose of the OMG standards is to create interoperability between software and hardware products, not to validate practitioner competencies. The OMG certifications are very highly oriented to BPM as packaged software and one-off projects rather than a management discipline and enterprise-wide approach. Therefore, examinations based on OMG standards do nothing to improve the quality or ensure the competency of the BPM practice.
Third, the OMG certification was developed by BPM vendors and not BPM Practitioners, and by default most of the content is very IT centric in nature – even the Business related track – so the only difference between their Technical and Business tracks is slight and from some perspectives is just a matter of how deep in the IT stack it takes you.
Fourth, the OCEB validates knowledge of the OMG “standards” around BPM, several of which have not been accepted by the practitioner community – BPMM is an excellent example.
Lastly, the OCEB is not vetted (accredited) by any accreditation or official standards body such as the ISO/ANSI 17024 or ACE, etc.
ABPMP International – Organizationally
The Association of Business Process Management Professionals International is a non-profit, vendor independent professional organization dedicated to the advancement of business process management concepts and its practices.
ABPMP International is practitioner-oriented and practitioner-led. Do you want to commit to a Certification program run by and for a vendor consortium or one by and for the practitioner community? There in lies a major difference from OMG.
ABPMP International Certification
ABPMP International first developed the BPM Common Body of Knowledge BPM CBOK®) to clearly identify all the knowledge areas that are required for developing the skills and competencies required for practicing BPM as a management discipline with an enterprise-wide approach. We then developed the CBPP® exam utilizing the BPM CBOK® knowledge areas as a foundation, but more importantly, we place an even higher importance on experience as a major factor and incorporated into the exam content.
Second, we had a team of top BPM practitioners, each with more than 10 years experience in BPM, develop the exam. We intentionally want people to have experience before taking the exam, rather than studying or memorizing content and answering questions on that content. Our exam is not structured to test for one’s ability to memorize content, but rather on one’s experience as a BPM practitioner. The focus on IT is as an enabler of the management discipline and enterprise wide approach and nothing more.
Lastly, we adhered to official standards body such as the ISO/ANSI 17024 and we are planning on seeking accreditation for our CBPP® exam.
Do you plan on having a junior level of certification for people who have less than 4 years of work experience?
ABPMP International developed the exam with experience as a major factor that was incorporated into the exam. We intentionally want people to have experience before taking the exam, rather than studying or memorizing content and answering questions on that content. Our exam is not structured to test for one’s ability to memorize content, but rather on one’s experience as a BPM practitioner. That is also an important differentiator for our certification.
ABPMP Future Plans for Additional Levels of Certification:
- Associate level – 2011
- Pursue the Senior Level in 2012
Is there a practice test?
We are planning to include sample test questions in our Study Guide, which should be available by the beginning of 2011.
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