CSM vs. CSPO

Reviewed by Michael Vizdos

The Certified Scrum Master® (CSM®) and Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®) are two entry-level certifications from Scrum Alliance. They focus on two different accountabilities on a scrum team but feature skills and knowledge that can be applied to any job role.

If you're wondering which one is right for you, it depends on your career goals and what skills you're most interested in building. While the scrum master certification course focuses on coaching, guiding, and the basics of the scrum framework, the product owner certification course delves into agile product management, stakeholder management, and the product owner's relationship to the rest of the scrum team.

Both certification courses teach you highly applicable, in-demand professional skills that you can leverage in any role, whether or not you want to work in a dedicated scrum team position. 

What is a CSM vs. a CSPO?

If you're unsure of which certification to take, the first thing is to understand what a scrum master and a product owner each do on a scrum team and what skills each one needs.

The CSM path

A scrum master is so-called because they strive toward "mastering" the principles, practices, and underlying agile values of the scrum framework. Scrum masters ensure that the team understands how to apply the framework to become more agile and coach the organization in new ways of working. The scrum master is accountable for the scrum team's effectiveness by empowering them to become self-sufficient and helping the team manage obstacles that might get in the way of the team accomplishing its goals.

Whether you want to become a scrum master or build the skills of a scrum master and apply them to your role, this course is a good option for:

• Empowering people without telling them how to work
• Developing communication, leadership, teamwork, listening, and other soft skills
• Facilitating the resolution of conflicts between colleagues
• Helping a team realize their full potential
• Helping the team understand agile principles and practices
• Developing your own expertise in the scrum framework
• Understanding the agile principles that support scrum and other frameworks

The CSM certification is a great course to learn the foundations of the scrum framework. The course will teach you how to apply the framework at your organization, giving you a good understanding of each concept within, including team accountabilities, events, and artifacts, as well as how to guide the team and organization to apply scrum from the scrum master's perspective.

The CSPO path

Whereas the scrum master often focuses on the people and team aspects of agile, the product owner tends to focus on the product itself and ensuring that its value is being maximized. 

The CSPO certification takes you through in-demand agile skills, whether you want to pursue a job as a dedicated product owner or leverage the skills you learn in the course to improve your ability to deliver in your current role. You'll open the door to these skills in the course:

• Working with stakeholders to define product goals, priorities, and timelines
• Making sure the team building the product understands the product goal and the outcomes that need to be reached
• Managing the lifecycle of a product
• Negotiating and making tradeoffs with leadership, stakeholders, and other departments who may have requests of your team
• Understanding the customer and the marketplace
• Maintaining a laser focus on your customers and providing the best product or service for them

The CSPO certification covers the framework basics but takes a deeper dive into the responsibilities of a product owner, such as handling multiple stakeholders' requests, creating a product goal, and working with customers and market conditions to create the right product features.

CSM vs. CSPO: Which One is Better?

These Scrum Alliance certifications are both great options for increasing your marketability and appeal to employers. One is not better than the other, but you may be more inclined to pursue the skill sets of one over the other based on your passions and career goals.

If you enjoy working with people and coaching a team, the CSM might be more up your alley. However, if you prefer focusing on valuable products that meet customers' and stakeholders' ever-changing needs, the CSPO certification is a good path for you to pursue.

While both certifications have tremendous credibility in the marketplace and can contribute to increasing your salary, the best path for you really depends on your interests and career goals. If you'd like to be a scrum master, agile coach, or agile transformation lead at a company, the CSM is the better certification. If product management, product marketing, or working as a product owner on a scrum team interests you, the CSPO is a great opportunity.

Many people in the industry pursue dual certifications, which is really helpful if you want to have a well-rounded perspective of scrum and to open up more career possibilities.

While both the CSM and CSPO are entry-level certifications, both of them have tracks to advancement, with an advanced certification as the next step, and if you really want to master your craft, you can obtain a Certified Scrum Professional certification—the top level of the learning track.

Choosing a Scrum Alliance certification

While both the CSM and CSPO are leading industry certifications, one focuses on scrum master skills and helping empower teams, whereas the other focuses on product ownership skills and maximizing the value of a product. They're both great options and getting dual certification is a route many agile professionals pursue. Think about your passions, interests, and career goals to discover which one is right for you.

Take a deeper dive and find the right path for you by exploring all of our agile certifications.

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