Citrix Certifications Somewhat Rationalized At Last

Ed Tittel — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:10:37 +0000

For years I’ve written about and covered various Citrix certifications, so I’ve spent my fair share of time on the Citrix Web pages and on the phone with Citrix Education trying to nail down what’s available to whom, how much things cost, how long they take to complete, and yada yada yada. Upon my most recent visit to the Citrix Certifications pages, I’m very pleased to report that the company has reorganized and rearranged their look and feel, and has made them somewhat easier to explore (though it still has some way to go in terms of making them equally easy to access and understand).

This screenshot captures the basic layout and tab structure:

Pick your certs by category (Admin, Engineer, Architect) and go on from there

Here’s what you’ll find for each category:

Administrator Series (CCA: notice further tabs for Desktops, Servers, and Networks)
Offerings also make specific mention of XenDesktop 4, XenApp6, XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008, XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2003, EdgeSight 4, Passord Manager 4, XenApp 5, XenServer Enterprise Edition 4 and 5, Provisioning Server 5, XenServer 4 and 5, NetScaler 8 and 9, Access Gateway 4, 8 and 9 Enterprise Edition, WANScaler 4, and finally, Application Firewall 8, with Platinum versions for some platforms mentioned, and even a Citrix Certified Advanced Administrator, or CCAA, for XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008 is included under the Desktop tab. Whew, what a tangle dangles from the CCA moniker!
Engineer Series
Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer (CCEE) for Virtualization (XenApp, XenServer, XenDesktop)
Citrix Certified Enterprise Administrator (CCEA) for Citrix XenApp (Presentation Server 4)
Architect Series
Citrix Certified Integration Architect (CCIA) for Virtualization
Citrix Certified Integration Architect (CCIA) for Citrix XenApp (Presentation Server 4)

The structure and coverage of the CCEE and CCIA credentials are pretty straightforward, and easy to follow and understand. The CCA (and CCAA) are less intelligible, and would really benefit from some kind of narrative overview to help readers understand why there are so many of them, how they’re differentiated, the possible (or missing) value of obtaining multiple CCA credentials, and so on and so forth.

Come on, Citrix! Things are improving but there’s still a ways yet to go. Stand the old Talking Heads song on its head, and “start making sense” of the CCA (and CCAA).

Citrix Adds Advanced Virtualization Certs to Its Lineup

Ed Tittel — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:49:11 +0000

Last October, my good buddy and Citrix maven, Jeff Rohrer, blogged to report that Citrix Education announced some new credentials as part of its looming lineup. In that discussion he introduces the CCIA, or Citrix Certified Integration Architect for Virtualization, a six course/exam sequence that builds on the other cert in this picture, the CCEE, or Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer for Virtualization that requires 5 of the six items required for the CCIA. Thus another way to look at this picture is: CCEE + 1 course/exam = CCIA. The CCEE aims to recognize IT professionals “…who plan and integrate end-to-end virtualization solutions” according to a quote fomr Julieann Scalisi, managing director of worldwide education at Citrix in a recent Certmag story by Deanna Hartley.

The CCIA won’t be avaialable until Q409 at which point the sixth exam required to upgrade the CCEE to a CCIA becomes available. CCIAs will be charged with “…analyzing and designing Citrix solutions at the enterprise level for application and desktop delivery,” says Scalisi in the same story cited above, and its “…target audience…is consultants, architects, and engineers.”

For more information, visit the Citrix Certification page, select XenApp in the Product pull-down under Search for Certifications, and select your credentials of interest from the pull-down for Type in the same search tool (screen shot follows);

The Virtualization Certs Pertain to the XenApp product line

This adds to virtualization certs already available from VMWare and Microsoft. Looks like this hot area is increasing its ambient temperature. Check it out!

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Citrix Certifications Somewhat Rationalized At Last

Citrix Adds Advanced Virtualization Certs to Its Lineup