Oracle to DBAs: your certification is about to become worthless paper Oracle has decided that holders of its database certifications must re-certify. Big Red's explanation for the new policy says “Our new policy requires you as an Oracle Database certification holder to demonstrate your knowledge with the most recent trends, techniques and best practices in Oracle Database technology”. The …
I fail to see why an Oracle 9i certification should expire (and no, I don't hold one: I'm too busy doing the job to take exams that "prove" I could if I wanted to).
If I have an Oracle 9i installation, that knowledge is just as good as the day it earned the paper wallhanging, no?
I urge all Oracle certificationified professionals to simply add the words "Certificate Expired, Brain Still Working" to the end of their old certifications when they list them on a resumé and forget about it.
Besides, every manager I know is complaining that a certification from Oracle tells them nothing about the skill-sets of the people holding them out for their approval.
So would you be happy to take your nice new car for a service to a garage where the mechanics had only been trained on engines over 10 years old?
The reality is that both best practice and functionality have changed substantially in the last 10 years and someone trained in any 10 year old technology would almost certainly be giving the wrong advice in many cases.
Most technical professions require continuous training and re-certification, IT should be no different.
The reality is that both best practice and functionality have changed substantially in the last 10 years and someone trained in any 10 year old technology would almost certainly be giving the wrong advice in many cases.
These are not general certificates but ones for specific versions of specific software. As such you can't put them in the same basket as things like the Cisco certs that study a particular area as opposed to specific products, yet alone versions. In the former case yes, you can legitimately argue that knowledge has to evolve in order for expertise in that area to remain current. In the latter case the way the cert is tied to a specific product and release fundamentally makes it a fixed rather than moving target.
Put another way, what new developments have there been recently in Oracle 7, 8 or 9 that are significant enough to invalidate previous qualifications in them? What's happening with version 11 isn't relevant, it isn't what those certs measure.
When the capability of the people affect my bottom line it matters. We have had many scenarios where our DBAs (v 7-9) were providing poor advice to application developers, architecture, storage etc. We invested in updated training and our operational costs were reduced significantly. We now focus on training in all software areas and it has really paid off.
Now it would be nice if the training and certification costs were lower.
'So would you be happy to take your nice new car for a service to a garage where the mechanics had only been trained on engines over 10 years old?"
Define "qualified". If you are comparing apples to apples my answer is:
Perhaps, perhaps not but I would certainly have no qualms about taking my twelve year old car to the mechanic certified to work on that year's model.
I don't put as much stock in a piece of paper as you seem to, and everyone has a dealer/new car horror story that would seem to counter the "new certification = damnfinething" line of thinking.
The reality is that the mechanics haven't changed much and the changes can be understood by anyone with the ability to read and retain what they've read.
The reality is that anything that requires the levels of oomph an Oracle certification *should* deliver are the sorts of things that Oracle Corp want you engaging their support personnel for and the sorts of things for which if you wing it Oracle will start the hand-washing process and the making of regretful noises when you *do* call.
Save your money and train your personnel on-site. Retain your workforce and craft their training to your needs. Sometimes you need a full toolbox and a plasma physicist. Most times a couple of spanners, a decent manual and a Gunson's Sparktune will get you through - if you know how to use them.
When was the last time an Oracle certified professional saved you a call to support when the chips were down, and did that save you money in the long run?
It is about time. For those of you who are good DBAs and have kept on learning the new Technology that is great. As an employer who hires DBAs and contractors I have found that DBAs that have been stuck in the past working with older versions of database are not able to keep up with my operational needs.
Now a certification does not mean I am getting a good DBA, but at least I can be sure they have invested some time in learning the versions I am running. Eventually we always figure out who is good but I think it is a good idea for all Technical resources to keep up with the latest trends and software versions. Especially with 12c and multi tenant Database I want to ensure my people are up to speed.
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