VMware Training: Buyer Beware!
I've noticed a few commercial courses available for VMware training that are not provided by VMware Educations Services authorized providers. While training via a third-party without the official course material might have some benefits, such as bringing in real-world experience or very specialized content, most people go the VMware training route as a means to certification.
VMware is one of the few organizations that require a certification from one of their own course content programs delivered by an approved provider. This course is one of the basic courses on vSphere administration, which is the gateway to the VMware Certified Professional.
If VMware certification is the goal, then one should seek out the course material through the VMware Education Services Web site. Each prospective course-taker should register for a profile, and click on the Find a Class link. There, providers can be displayed by partner, location or course content.
The material offered by the other parties is generally topic-similar in nature to the course track of the VMware-sanctioned material, but not entirely. I've also noticed a few virtualization certifications show up from these programs, including the Certified Virtualization Expert (CVE) and ESXLab Certified Virtualization Specialist (ECVS).
One benefit, generally speaking, of independent certification content is that it may be favored by regulatory or government situations. That point was raised by virtualization and security expert Edward Haletky in this VMware Communities discussion when the CVE was first floated for discussion in the forums.
Based on the maturity level of virtualization certification for VMware technologies, my recommendation is to stick with the VMware material. Do you disagree? Share your comments here.
Posted by Rick Vanover on 12/09/2010 at 12:48 PM