- Defining "Database Certification"
- Surveying the Database Certification Landscape
- Surveying Certifications on the Database Boundary
- Summing Up On Database Certifications
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Surveying Certifications on the Database Boundary
Table 2 documents a plethora of database and related development certifications. It probably stops short of covering the entire boundary, simply because so many IT certifications involve databases to a greater or lesser extent. What follows in Table 2 concentrates on those credentials where the database component is rather greater than lesser.
Table 2: Boundary Database Certifications
|
Organization |
Name |
URL |
|
Brainbench |
Numerous related exams** |
|
|
IBM*
|
IBM Certified Specialist |
|
|
IBM Certified Solutions Expert |
||
|
IBM Certified Advanced Technical Expert |
||
|
Learning Tree |
Oracle8i Application Development Certified Professional |
|
|
Oracle9i Application Development Certified Professional |
||
|
SQL Server Application Development Certified Professional |
||
|
Microsoft |
Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD) |
|
|
Oracle |
Oracle Application Developer |
Internet Application Developer Release 6/6i: http://www.oracle.com/education/certification/ |
|
Oracle9i Application Developer Certified Associate: http://www.oracle.com/education/certification/ |
||
|
ProsoftTraining |
Master CIW Enterprise Developer |
http://www.ciwcertified.com/certifications/ |
|
Sybase |
Sybase Certified Associate |
|
|
Sybase Certified Professional |
||
|
Teradata |
Teradata Certified Application Developer |
|
|
U2test |
Various general and platform-specific developer tests |
*These certifications are listed in Tables 1 and 2 because they encompass both focused DBMS roles and titles (Table 1) and more developer-oriented DBMS roles and titles (Table 2).
**The list in this table is not inclusive. Visit the Web site for more details.
The edges around the boundary certifications are also kind of blurry—and I cheerfully confess that I decided not to include the vast number of Web-related certifications that blend access to databases with Web delivery tools, such as ColdFusion, WebSphere, .NET credentials, Java2EE credentials, and even a forthcoming MySQL Certified PHP Developer credential (announced, but not available until late 2003—see http://www.mysql.com/certification/candguide/sec-program.html for more information)and so on. The focus is on specific developer credentials from platform and product vendors, as well as related offerings from Brainbench, U2test, and Learning Tree. To expand this field further would require a third category and another table, and that takes us too far from the focus of the story—out-and-out database certifications, per se.
Database development jobs are growing increasingly common and popular, as more and more companies seek to find creative ways to use their information assets for internal and external consumption. Again, the ubiquity and popularity of Web browsers on corporate and personal desktops explains why the boundary line between database development and Web development credentials is particularly blurry, simply because the Web is a preferred vehicle for access to databases. The increasing prevalence of application service providers (ASPs) indicates further that database development will become even more important because most such services—and the content they inevitably manage, manipulate, and deliver—reside with a database management system operating in the background.
This tells me that database development jobs—and to a certain extent, the certifications that support them—will be a major growth vector for developers in the foreseeable future. Just remember that a certification is no guarantee of employment by itself. Employers give heavy weight to experience when hiring IT professionals, and this weight is particularly heavy for developer jobs, where a track record of proven implementation, testing, and maintenance experience will easily outweigh database developer certifications in the absence of experience to back up such credentials.