Oracle Corp. has quietly slipped out of jCert, a skills testing and certification-focused consortium of Java vendors whose mission statement is “Certified once, recognized everywhere” and whose aim is to reduce exam redundancy.
As a result of its defection, Oracle certifications such as Solution Developer from Oracle; tests such as Test 1Z0-501, Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform; and exam score reports will only be accepted by other jCert member companies until June 30. According to jCerts site, candidates seeking credit for Oracle certifications such as the Oracle Certified Professional must apply to jCert member companies by June 30. Remaining jCert members include BEA Systems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc.
An Oracle spokeswoman said in a statement that the departure was precipitated by customers who said they wanted to learn Java in an exclusive Oracle context, as opposed to jCerts multivendor approach. She also cited concern over the difficulties of maintaining certification quality and marketplace value in a third-party model. jCert did not respond to requests for comment by press time.