The PRINCE2 2009 release has kept up with the times and PM improvements and once again is... brilliant!! Areas such as the principles, focusing on benefits (business case), governance, quality, process, roles and responsibilities are practically and cohesively presented. Also the consistent format and approach of the OGC methods (
Managing Successful Programmes (Office of Government Commerce),
Portfolio, Programme and Project Offices: P3O (P30),
Management of Risk: Guidance for Practitioners (Office of Government Commerce)and now PRINCE2 2009 and
Mop Management of Portfolios) is helpful and well integrated. PRINCE2 nicely integrates the six variables involved in any project, and therefore six aspects of project performance to be managed: Costs, Timescales, Scope, Quality, Risk and most importantly Benefits... Most frameworks only really deal with the first three (the traditional triple constraint)... PRINCE2 incorporates all of these sensibly.
For any project manager PRINCE2 is immediately practical and useful and will improve the success of any project. The challenge, however, with less senior project managers is they are uncomfortable with any governance or assurance on their projects or deliverables which PRINCE2 incorporates. They also immediately presume PRINCE2 is an administrative, process heavy, bureaucratic framework... which is a common misconception as it is designed to be tailorable and throughout recommends "common sense"...
For project managers who have been brought up by PMI and PMBOK and who want to write the exams, I strongly recommend taking the course. There are noticeable "philosophical" differences that are best worked through and understood in a classroom environment to truely understand PRINCE2. That said, PMBOK and PRINCE2 are completely complementary and strongly benefit each other, as each improves on the ommissions / weak areas of the other. Keep in mind there is a strong relationship between the course and the PRINCE2 manual. The manual is designed to help practitioners through the exams, though obviously it is also an invaluable reference manual as well. Also, for practitioners that have passed the course and exam, I would also recommend either the online or PDF version as it is nice to have the information, graphics and templates available in electronic format.