Citrix has announced new certifications to go along with their new product releases as well as the changes to their course lineup. The new certifications are described here: http://www.citrixtraining.com/courses/certifications/index.cfm Some changes were definitely needed as the Citrix product offerings have significantly increased over the past few years.
One of the biggest and most welcomed changes in my opinion is the introduction of distinct tracks within the certifications. In the past if you were someone who focused solely on the Citrix networking products (Access Gateway, NetScaler, WANScaler) then you had to test on things like XenApp and Password Manager in order to achieve the higher level Citrix certifications.
The new tracks appear to be:
Application Virtualization (XenApp, EdgeSight, Password Manager)
Desktop Virtualization (XenDesktop, Provisioning Server)
Server Virtualization (XenServer, Provisiong Server)
Application Networking (Access Gateway, NetScaler, WANScaler)
Obviously there will be some overlapping technologies between tracks with common technology components like XenApp, Access Gateway, and Provisioning Server.
The breakdown into individual technology tracks also paves the way for two new certifications on what Citrix calls their Administrator level certification paths. The Platinum series of certifications will allow candidates to select a core technology like XenApp 5 and add two electives to form a CCA for XenApp 5 Platinum Edition. Beyond that Citrix will also offer a more concentrated certification on core technologies like XenApp 5 by offering a Citrix Certified Advanced Administrator or CCAA certification.
Finally it looks like the CCEA and CCIA are in for some changes as well although they haven’t been fully announced just yet.
If you have taken your fair share of Citrix exams you might want to head over to the Citrix Certification Manager www.citrixcertmanager.com and see where exactly you fall into some of the new certification paths. You might be pleasantly suprised to find out that you are only a test or two away from some new certifications!