Today, the Agile journalistic blog AgileScout.com posted a discovery that testimonials for the PMI-ACP exam prep service, AgileExams.com, may be engaging in some false advertising.
Controversy 1: Several of the testimonials come from people NOT listed as PMI-ACP certificants. PMI offers a public registry on its website, which allows employers to verify whether someone has the PMI certification they claim to have. Curiously, several of the customers quoted on AgileExams.com are NOT listed as certification holders. For example, the site quotes Jonathan Daly saying “…your site made the real exam a breeze”, but Daly is not listed in the PMI-ACP registry. Granted, PMI offers certificants the option of NOT being listed in the registry, for privacy reasons. But granting permission to be quoted, and then not granting PMI to list you in the registry seems odd.
Controversy 2: The advertised customer success rate is a bit naive. The post also reveals that AgileExams.com asserts that of their customers who actually took the the PMI-ACP exam, a full 97% passed. Unfortunately, PMI provides no way to tabulate failing candidates. Instead, AgileExams.com offered an open call for its customer to self-report whether they passed or failed. Not surprisingly, only 3% of his survey respondents admitted to failing the exam. As a trainer myself, I have received 0% of my own customers saying they failed the exam. Yet, I’m not naive enough to assume that nobody failed. I can only know for sure that nobody is willing to admit to their trainer that they failed.
Controversy 3: The site offers little in the way of Agile reputation . The site owner, [name omitted], is a relative unknown in the agile space, and some skeptics want some information as to who is involved in the product’s creation, and how it was put together. However, other people have commented directly on the blog post that they care less about this, and more data about the product’s effectiveness.
Summary: In the end, what looks like a juicy controversy may just be some circumstantial misunderstandings. Here’s how AgileExams.com can clear all this up:
- Update the website with testimonials from candidates who are listed in the PMI-ACP registry.
- Update the website to focus on the LinkedIn testimonials: http://www.agileexams.com/linkedin-group-testimonials/
- The site owner can post an open letter on his website explaining who worked on the product (including the associated AgileBOK.org), whether they bring any agile expertise to bear, and the methodology they use for building the site.
In my opinion, some simple website edits can quell this controversy, and also build the product’s reputation at the same time.
What about you? What do you think of the website’s product, and the claims it makes about the product?
Good morning, Jesse. Nice post!
Good suggestions for resolution.
+ Self-reported *pass* rates could be tallied, avoiding false-positive implications. For example, “##% of our customers have reported passing…”
Agree, product has potential value to agile community.
1 edit: s/AgileBOK.com/AgileBOK.org/g
Cheers!
–KCR
Thanks for the comment, Ken…and highlighting the typo.
Good post, Jesse.
As you say, I agree that the product is valuable and covers a vast range of topics from which a PMI-ACP aspirant can get questions. I really like their quick 25 question test which you can take even when you dont have the time for a full 3 hour test. On the flip side, I have noticed that some of the questions are not very relevant from the ACP certification perspective.
Regarding the claims, I feel that the claims have to be backed up with some concrete data. Not sure if AgileExams has a way to collate this data and publish to all who wishes to check, but putting up a mere statistic would clearly qualify as an advertising fad.
I agree, Sampath. When I first took the AgileExams practice test, it helped me clarify which topics were critical and which were optional. Many of my own trainees (such as you) took both my practice exam and the one from AgileExams, as a way to round out their preparations. Anytime you can be comprehensive with your work, it is a good thing. Regarding the testimonials, let’s see how they respond.
Jesse,
A well reasoned post. It does turn out one of the quoted was a PMI-ACP, but he’s got a four word name and the PMI certification search engine is pretty dumb (If you type Bancroft, you find me, if you type Connors, you don’t).
What I absolutely agree with is your call for transparency. I used Agileexames, I found it useful and my experience at the time was excellent. That they provide little information about their company and how it works was almost a barrier to me to even sign up in the first place. This was late September and there wasn’t anything out there. I ended up taking the $50 gamble, but I admit I was wary going in.
Agile is about transparency.
Like I’ve said before, I hope a good product is not ruined by a closed approach to communication. Even if it turns out that it is just one person and all he did was read all the books and create questions from that, it’s a hell of a lot more than I’ve done.
Joel, you hit the nail on the head: it would indeed be tragic if AgileExams lets this controversy go unanswered. As I mentioned below, as well as on AgileScout’s post, I believe AgileExams made a substantive contribution to the community. Sometimes you have to be private, but then sometimes you have to stand up for your work in a public fashion. It’s good that you’re verifying your own testimonial, and another person has written me personally on the same. So, it appears there is some evidence for a big fat misunderstanding. Still, it would be good for the site owner to come out and verify the same.
If anything, it brings transparency to a tool in the agile world where transparency is so highly regarded.
Sometimes the brightest people in the room forget that some principles should rise above agile principles. Such as respecting individuals and respecting an individual’s right to personal privacy. Whether or not you agree.
Transparency in agile is about the agile process. It does not require private citizens to become public figures.
This fanatic approach to agile has led to a witch hunt and the propagation of false information. Let’s strive to be Agile by delivering value to the customer and HELPING each other to develop quality products.
- Not my real name.
“John”, I agree that everyone has a right to privacy, and I do try my best to respect every individual that I come across. I just posted a follow-up (http://jessefewell.com/2012/01/20/agileexams-com-controversy-resolved-sort-of/) that reveals the issue was resolved positively, which I’m glad to see. However, I do believe the issue of internet product integrity was important enough to explore, and I explain in the post that privacy is not a universal given.
Given the controversy around this topic has engendered and my past recommendation of Agileexams, Hogarth and have responded to this in our blog.
http://thegorillaisnamedhogarth.blogspot.com/2012/01/transparent-gorilla-if-you-can-see.html
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