Citrix has finally announced the requirements to obtain their latest engineer and architect level certifications.  They have renamed the engineer level certification from the Citrix Certified Enterprise Administrator to the Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer.  The architect program retains the same name of Citrix Certified Integration Architect.

One good bit of news is that current CCEA and CCIA holders will be able to take fewer tests in order to upgrade their certifications.  To my knowledge this is the first time that Citrix has offered an upgrade path for their higher level certifications.  Current CCEA’s will only have to take one exam!  Current CCIA’s will have to take two exams but note that one of these two will also earn the CCEE!

Also of note is that Citrix has announced two tracks the more traditional track is now known as the Virtualization path while the newer networking products will be grouped into the Application Networking path.  Only the requirements for the Virtualization path have been released but look for the Application Networking path details to come out later in the year.

New CCEE candidates will have to take a minimum of five exams that encompass the XenApp, XenDesktop, and XenServer product lines.  Gone are the Access Gateway and Password Manager exams that were requirements for the previous version of the CCEA.  Not gone, however, is the practical simulation exam that will be the stumbling block for those wishing to breeze through the program.

Rumor has it that the simulation exam will contain somewhere around 20-30 simulation items and another 10-20 multiple choice questions.  Rumors are also circulating that the content will be based on three major technologies but will be much more balanced with a bulk of the exam focusing on XenApp.