PMI

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has its headquarters in Pennsylvania in the USA, and is the leading global professional society for project management. It was founded in 1969 in the USA by five initial members. PMI regards itself as an association of experts, i.e. only individuals can become members. The financing is done via membership fees and other contributions by members. In 1996, PMI began expanding outside of the USA. Today, it has more than 550,000 members, which are organized in more than 300 chapters worldwide. Average annual membership growth was at 14% in the last years.

PMI membership (as of 30.09.2018):
- worldwide: 550.000
- Germany: 8.300
PMI, the PMI Logo, PMP and PMBOK® Guide are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.
PMI Certification
There are more than 860,000 project managers worldwide certified as Project Management Professionals (PMP)®. In Germany, it is almost 15,000 individuals. To apply for the PMP certification test, interested applicants need to provide proof of specific education, they need to have had certain experiences, and they need to agree to a professional code of ethics. As a last step to successful PMP certification, they need to go through a testing procedure (usually a computer-based multiple-choice test) that covers the existing knowledge of the Project Management Body of Knowledge. "The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide)", issued by PMI, is a central part of the topics relevant for the certification test. Currently, the 6th edition is available and complementary for PMI members via PDF download (login required). The PMP Handbook from PMI includes all information for a successful test application and certification.


The PMP credential certifies individuals with PM experience. It is accepted worldwide, represents professionalism and raises the market value of a certified project manager. Many companies have realized this and support their project managers on their way to certification. The PMI certification program is aligned to the quality standard as found in ISO 9001.
The current PMP® Credential Handbook can be downloaded as a PDF.
There are several other certifications - apart from the best known, the PMP® - that can be obtained via PMI:
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®
- Program Management Professional (PgMP)®
- Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)®
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)®
- PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)SM
- PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)®
- PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)®
- OPM3® Professional Certification
For further information, please visit the German Chapters website (certification) or pmi.org at Certification.
Last updated: 30.11.2018
PMI Educational Foundation
The PMI Educational Foundation focuses on presenting the project management profession to children and teenagers and to provide them with basic project management skills.
Another goal is to support NGOs and crisis intervention teams with project management services.
PMI DACH chapters
Four PMI chapters in Germany ...
The four German PMI chapters continuously increase their cooperation and have already set up a common landingpage as primary access point for people interested in project management: www.pmi-german-chapters.de
Please click the regional areas in the map for more information.

... and one PMI chapter in Switzerland, as well as in Austria
PMI Chapter Switzerland
PMI Chapter Austria
PMI European Chapters Collaboration ECC
The European Chapters Collaboration - European Passport Initiative and Corporate Ambassador Program
Numerous european PMI chapters have formed a cooperation to create common advantages for their members.
As a first project the Euopean Passport Initiative (link) provides discounted acces to events of the program partners to members.
In 2018, the Corporate Ambassador Program (link) has been launched to support the co-operation between PMI and international corporations.
Other projects are in the planning process.
ECC website