20 IT management certifications for IT leaders

Exam fee: $979

Expiration: 4 years

GIAC Security Leadership (GSLC)

The GIAC Security leadership (GSLC) certification is aimed at security leaders who want to demonstrate they have a handle on governance and understand how to protect, detect, and respond to security threats. The exam covers how to build a security program that will meet business needs, as well as how to manage security operations and teams, and security projects for the lifecycle of the program. It can validate your knowledge in areas such as cryptography concepts for managers, incident response and business continuity, managing cloud and application security, implementing encryption and privacy measures, assessing and organization’s security awareness, and more.

Exam fee: $979

Expiration: 4 years

Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)

The ITIL framework from Axelos is a cornerstone in IT service, and if your organization subscribes to the methodology, a certification will help prove your ITIL 4 expertise. It’s a great certification for IT managers because it focuses heavily on implementing effective management strategies to improve team efficiency and to improve organizational processes. You can be certified up to the expert level, which demonstrates high competency in ITIL 4 best practices. Like the COBIT 5 certification, you’ll have to find a third-party vendor that offers an accredited program or exam. Prices will vary depending on the company or training provider you choose.

Exam fee: Varies, depending on vendor

Expiration: 3 years

For a deeper look at the ITIL cert, see “ITIL certification: Mastering IT services management.” 

Information Technology Management and Leadership Professional (ITMLP)

The Information Technology Management and Leadership Professional (ITMLP) certification offered by the IT Management and Leadership Institute was designed to validate your skills and abilities as an IT manager. The certification includes a three-day boot camp that covers topics such as technical leadership, managing hybrid and virtual IT teams, creating innovative IT solutions, IT funding and cost management, vendor management, and client services. At the boot camp, you’ll also learn more about IT trends including digital transformation, virtual and augmented reality, big data, ML, DevOps, cybersecurity, and more. It’s best suited for CIOs, IT executives, current or future IT managers, project managers, and business analysts.

Exam fee: $1,995

Expiration: Does not expire

PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)

IT managers and leaders who rely on the agile framework will benefit from a PMI-ACP certification. This certification demonstrates your ability to work on or lead an agile team. It covers Scrum, Kanban, Lean, extreme programming (XP), and test-driven development (TDD). To qualify for the exam, you’ll need a secondary degree, 21 contact hours of training in agile practices, and eight months of agile project experience within the past five years. You’ll also need at least 12 months of general project experience within the past five years, but if you already have a PMP or PgMP certification, that will also satisfy this requirement.

Exam fee: $435 for members, $495 for non-members

Expiration: Three years

For additional agile-related certs, see our roundup of agile certs to take your career to the next level.

Project Management Professional (PMP)

If you already have a strong background in project management, you might want to consider PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. The PMP exam requires extensive experience and a background in project management, which makes it more difficult to obtain. You’ll need a four-year degree, 36 months of experience leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education or a CAPM certification. You can also qualify for the exam with a high-school diploma or associate’s degree, 60 months experience leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education or a CAPM certification.

Exam fee: $425 for PMI members, $595 for non-members

Expiration: Three years

Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) certification

The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) certification series offered by Scaled Agile is designed to “validate your skills and open new doors for career advancement,” with a focus on business agility, scaling agile, and leading agile teams. For IT leaders tasked with overseeing agile IT teams, this is a certification series that can help validate your skills in several different areas. Courses are offered on topics including Implementing SAFe principles and practices, leading SAFe teams, navigating conflict, and fostering collaboration, in addition to courses on agile product management, agile software engineering, SAFe DevOps, and many more. You can choose the courses that best align with your career goals, and get certified in those specialized areas to demonstrate your expertise.  

Exam fee: Varies by course

Expiration: Varies by certification

Six Sigma

There are five levels of certification within the Six Sigma methodology, starting with green belt, and from there, you can move up the hierarchy to the top level: Executive Leadership. It’s a mentorship and training program that emphasizes IT project management and leadership. Each level mentors a lower level of Six Sigma trainees, emphasizing effective leadership through change and staying agile through organizational transformation. Certifications are offered through your organization or through third-party vendors, so pricing will vary depending on the available options.

Exam fee: Varies by vendor

Expiration: Does not expire

TOGAF 9

TOGAF 9 is a standard developed by The Open Group for enterprise architecture management. TOGAF 9 certification is designed to certify your knowledge in a “common body of core knowledge about the methodology and framework.” The framework is specifically focused on enterprise architecture and aligning IT goals with business goals. As an IT management framework, it’ll help demonstrate your capabilities with cross-departmental communication by defining business and IT goals, and eliminating process errors across the organization. Like the ITIL and COBIT 5 certifications, you’ll need to find a third-party vendor to take the exam. There are also two different exams to pass – the TOGAF 9 part one and part two, or you can opt for the combined exam that allows you to take both exams at once.

Exam fee: $360 per individual exams, or $550 for the TOGAF 9 Combined Part 1 and 2 exam

Expiration: Does not expire