Claim PMP PDU with ITIL v3 Foundation Certification Exam Preparation

The ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification (2011) Exam is highly advisable for Project Management Professional (PMP). Not only can a PMP understand more about the details of how to implement project management concept one have learned in PMP to IT projects but also one can claim PMP PDU with the ITIL® exam preparation efforts.

Further reading: Tips on getting free PMP PDU that are aligned with the new Talent Triangle requirement.

How to Claim PMP PDU with ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Exam?

You simply cannot claim PMP PDU with the ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Exam alone as PDU recognizes the number of hours you have spent on the education programmes not on getting certifications. Therefore when claiming PDU, a PMP needs to demonstrate the efforts spent on learning / studying the ITIL® Foundation materials.

How many PMP PDU can one claim with ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Preparation?

The PMI does not specify the maximum number of PDU one can claim with a particular study programme, including the ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Exam Preparation. How many PDU one can claim depends very much on their mode of studies: self-study or enrolling in a course.

• Enrolling in a Course
  • The total number of PMP PDU is either the total course duration or the hours specified by the education provider.
  • In order to ensure PMI would accept the PDU claim readily, do try to find a course in ITIL® v3 Foundation provided by a PMI Authorized Training Partner (registered education provider). Attending a course by a PMI Authorized Training Partner allows you to claim Category A PDU, otherwise, you can only claim Category B PDU (In this category, PMI would need more in-depth information about the course than the certificate alone in order to assess your PDU claim).
  • e.g. ITIL® Foundation Course by Simplilearn will give you 30 Category A PDU as Simplilearn is a global PMI R.E.P
• Self-study
  • The total number of PMP PDU would generally be the total hours one has spent on the learning/studying the ITIL® v3 Foundation exam contents.
  • However, since this learning activity is done through self study (which is classified as Category C PDU), PMI has imposed a maximum of 30 Category C PDU for every 3-year re-certification cycle.
  • Moreover, PMI may exercise its discretion to adjust down the amount of PDU you can get even though you have spent 30 hours on your studies.
  • You will need to present proofs to PMI on your study efforts. The following image is an extract from the PMP Certification Handbook containing information about Category C PDU, in particular the “Documentation required upon audit request”. The proofs would include your study notes for the ITIL® v3 Foundation exam plus the title of the books you have studied. (I learned this the hard way, see the “Claim PDU in Action” section below.)

  

Claiming PMP PDU with ITIL® Foundation in Action

I passed the PMP Exam on 7 November, 2013. In May 2014, I began my ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Exam preparation. I finally passed the ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Exam on 7 June, 2014 with a score of 95% (38/40).

After obtaining the exam results and certificate from ITIL®, I logged onto PMI.org to claim my PMP PDU. Since I go the self-study route, I can only claim the PDU under Category C: Self-Directed Learning. In the URL field, I filled in the link to my ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam report. (You may be surprised I only claimed 23 PDU for 40 hours of studies, this is because I have claimed 7 Category C PDU previously and the maximum is 30 PDU.)

Supporting Documents Required by PMI

The email below captioned ‘More Information is Needed for Your PDU Claim’ was sent by PMI one day after my PDU claim for ITIL® v3 Foundation. It was only written in general terms that supporting information was needed and referred me to the PMP Handbook only. PMI requested the supporting information to be sent to them through email or fax within 5 days. Otherwise, they might consider the PDU claim to be unsubstantiated and might probably reject it!

Supporting Documents to PMI

Fortunately, I wrote my ITIL® study notes during ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam preparation and have uploaded them to my blog. I immediately collected all the relevant links in an email. I have also included the title of the ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam prep guide – ITIL® Foundation Exam Study Guide by Liz Gallacher and Helen Morris, the link to my ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam report as well as the ITIL® v3 Foundation Certificate.

Successfully Claimed PMP PDU with ITIL® 4 Foundation Exam Preparation

After one working day, I received an email from PMI over the approval of my 23 PMP PDU. Since I only claimed 23 PDU for 40 hours of study, PMI did not adjust lower the PDU earned. Great, I have accumulated over 30 PDU in one year of being a PMP.

Further Information

• Getting free PMP PDU that are aligned with the new Talent Triangle requirement.
• Learn more about PMP Exam process and details, including study notes.
• Learn more about ITIL® 4 Foundation Certification Exam process and details, including study notes.