CIRM and CIPA

Many people have recently asked two important questions about the CIRM and CIPA training and certification programs offered by Identity Management Institute (IMI). For those who are not yet familiar with the CIPA and CIRM terms, they stand for Certified Identity Protection Advisor ™ (CIPA) and Certified Identity Risk Manager ™ (CIRM). These designations are offered by IMI which has been established to redefine identity management and support the interested professionals with identity management training, education, examination and certification.

The two questions that have been asked are 1) what are the differences between CIRM and CIPA? And 2) how are they different from other certifications?

First, IMI established these two certification programs with very specific goals in mind and very distinct characteristics. The CIRM designation is for experienced professionals who work within a corporate function which includes some identity management responsibilities. Such professionals may be employees or consultants providing some type of identity management services to various businesses units such as Human Resources, Access Administration, Information Security and Privacy to name a few. Identity management is a distributed function within organizations and as such, the identity management responsibilities and practices are distributed among many groups. Please download the CIRM program overview and curriculum for additional information.

On the other hand, the CIPA designation is uniquely designed for consumer facing identity protection professionals who advise consumers with identity theft solutions. Such professionals may be independent identity protection advisors serving individual clients or, may be working for companies in a capacity designed to interface with customers and help them with their identity theft related questions and challenges. Such employees may be members of the customer service, call center, fraud monitoring, investigations, and resolution groups. Please download the CIPA program overview and curriculum for additional information.

The CIRM & CIPA programs were developed based on the specific Critical Risk Domains (CRD) defined by IMI. As such, the CIRM and CIPA designations are very unique and not only are they very distinct from each other but also very different from other certifications in the market. The CIPA designation is the first and only consumer facing identity protection certification which does not deal with internal business risks but rather focuses on the external risks posed by customers and relayed controls.

On the other hand, the CIRM designation recognizes the critical identity management responsibilities within the various business functions and helps professionals recognize not only the identity management responsibilities within their own functions, but also how the collective efforts of other groups help the organization manage the identities of their clients, employees and third parties.

For additional information about CIRM and CIPA programs, please visit Identity Management Institute.