Certification Watch Volume 10 #16

Certification news regarding a new industry certification council, Microsoft instructor certification, aquisition of Prometric testing network, new exams from SAS and IBM Lotus, Mercury Interactive certification, and retired CCNA exams.

Published November 15, 2007
By Anne Martinez

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Information Technology Certification Council Formed

On November 14th, it was announced that Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Novell and Sun, CompTIA, and LPI (Linux Professional Institute), along with testing network providers Prometric and VUE and the Kaplan education company have joined forces to create the Information Technology Certification Council (ITCC). The ITCC has the goal of driving the value of certification by addressing topics such as exam security; perceptions versus realities of IT certification value and return on investment, and training to testing ratios. This will be accomplished through industry wide marketing initiatives and other projects. GoCertify will keep you posted on this new council as news develops.

Microsoft Office 2007 Instructor Certification Available

Certiport, which administers the Microsoft Office certification program, recently announced the availability of the Microsoft Certified Application Specialist Instructor program. To earn this certification, instructors must earn the latest certifications for the Office 2007 products plus meet an instructional experience requirement, which includes having a teaching degree, training degree or certified experience providing Microsoft Office or other software training. There is also a $95 application fee. The complete outline of requirements and qualifying experience details can be found on the Certiport website.

Prometric Acquisition Completed

Prometric, one of the two major world wide computer certification testing networks, recently announced that its acquisition as a wholly owned subsidiary of Educational Testing Service is complete. The plan to spin off its Prometric testing division was announced by The Thompson Corporation about a year ago. Prometric operations will continue uninterrupted.

New Certification from SAS

SAS has launched a new Predictive Modeling Certification exam covering SAS Enterprise Miner 5.2. This is for computer professionals who prepare data, build predictive models, assess models, score new data sets, and implement models using SAS Enterprise Miner 5.2, This is a one exam certification, and according to testing details, you will utilize the product during the exam to answer the questions. Test objectives are available online.

Remainder of Lotus Notes Domino 8 Exams Rolled Out

IBM has released the final Notes Domino 8 (ND8) core exams for the Lotus ND8 Certified Application Developer and Lotus ND8 System Administrator credentials, each of which is comprised of 3 core exams. The only Lotus ND8 system administration elective exam, Configuring Domino Web Servers, is also now available.

Mercury Interactive Certifications Now Under HP

Mercury Interactive Corp. is now fully integrated into HP Software, and the former Mercury credentials are now mapped to new HP Certified Professional credentials. Individuals who hold current Mercury certifications are automatically grandfathered into these new credentials. You can see how they are mapped to each other in this HP PDF document.

Old CCNA Exams Retired

Cisco has retired the CCNA INTRO 2.1 and ICND 2.3 exams and courses. The new CCENT and CCNA exams (ICND1, ICND2, and CCNA composite exam) are available at all VUE testing centers.

That's all for this edition of Certification Watch. Please keep your certification news and tips coming to news@gocertify.com.

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