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IBM on Thursday rolled out two new certification exams designed to get DBAs certified on DB2 Universal Database 8 faster and, for a limited time, at half the usual price.
The new exams include the DB2 8 upgrade exam, which enables database administrators to quickly update their certifications with one, simplified test of only 30 questions. The exam tests capabilities including database server management and backup and recovery.
The Advanced Database Administrator for DB2 Version 8 exam is for experienced DBAs. It tests administration topics such as federated data management, high availability, and performance and scalability tactics, including clustering and query optimization. The exam also tests on DB2s advanced multidimensional clustering feature.
Roger Sanders, a database performance Engineer at Network Appliance Inc., in Research Triangle Park, N.C., and the author of several books on DB2, as well as the author of an upcoming, four-book series of DB2 study guides, said that the move to ease certification upgrade time and costs is a welcome one.
“It allows me as a Version 7 DBA to focus my studying just on whats new,” he said. “In the past, if I wanted to upgrade from Version 6 to Version 7, Id have to take the entire Version 7 DBA exam. …. That may test on areas Im not so familiar on. So I have to go refresh my memory on all that stuff, in addition to learning whats new.”
With the new, shortened exam, DBAs can avoid having to go back and “dig around and worry” about being tested on aspects of DBA duties which arent part of their average work days, Sanders said. The new exams are administered at Thompson Prometric and VUE Testing Centers, located in major cities worldwide. VUE is the computer-based testing service of NCS Pearson.
The upgrade exam will be offered at half price—$60—until mid-year, when IBM will review the price, company officials said. The advanced certification exam will cost $120. New DBAs must pass an entry-level and intermediate exam before taking the advanced exam.
IBM is also launching an enhanced data management certification program that delivers role-based certification paths to prepare students for jobs including DBA developer and DBA designer.
The Developer certification path provides programming skills to manage large-scale databases, including application and solution development. The Designer certification path provides a skill set in developing business intelligence and content management applications.
IBM provides DBAs with a free online test readiness kit, including self-study downloads, Web-based tutorials and assessment tests. IBM has also simplified certification training for experienced or competitively trained DBAs with an updated FastPath e-learning course that enables DBAs to learn the latest features of DB2 in less than 8 hours.
All DB2 8 exams are available immediately for Linux, Unix and Windows platforms. For more information, click here.
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