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VMware Certifications Set to Expire Next March
The company is offering a discount for those who want to take a recertification test in December.
If you're a VMware Certified Professional (VCP), you only have a few more months to recertify and keep your status current. If it lapses, there could be repercussions for you -- and your company.
That warning came via a blog entry by the VMware Partner Network Team. The blog pointed out that the recertification policy changed last spring, and those who fail to recertify risk losing Program Status for their companies.
Premier Partners, the blog notes, are required to have at least four current VCPs in developed countries, and two in developing countries, to keep its status. Enterprise Partners need half those numbers: two current VCPs for developed countries and one for developing countries.
The deadline for recertification, which isn't made clear in the blog posting, is March 10, 2015. That's according to the main VMware certification site.
Three ways of recertifying are listed: Upgrading a current certification; earning a new certification in a different solution track; or going for a VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP) or VMware Certified Implementation Expert (VCIX) certification, instead of remaining at the VCP level.
To encourage those recertification efforts, VMware is offering 25 percent off of any VCP exam taken by the end of this year; those who can't do that can recertify at the company's Partner Exchange 2015 conference, being held next Feb. 3-5 in San Francisco.
Until last year's changes, VMware was unusual among IT companies in not requiring its certification holders to re-up their credentials. In explaining its certification about-face, VMware said that "If your skills are not current, your certification loses value. The technical and business communities expect that VMware certified professionals are current on the latest technologies and capable of implementing VMware products with the highest level of skill."
It now requires recertification every two years, so all VCP certifications earned prior to March 10, 2013 are subject to the deadline. Certifications earned after that date have two years from the date of their certification to recertify.
Missing the recertification deadline means that the VCP certification will be revoked, eliminating access to the VCP portal. In addition, using the certification logo or representing oneself as VMware certified will be disallowed. VMware said in its recertification FAQ that there is no grace period after a certification is revoked.
About the Author
Keith Ward is the editor in chief of Virtualization & Cloud Review. Follow him on Twitter @VirtReviewKeith.