Simplified Oracle 10g DBA OCP To Require Only Two Exams
Controversial bit of news from Oracle on the forthcoming 10g OCP DBA certification path. Certcities reports that Oracle are reducing the exam requirement for the 10g OCP DBA to just two exams, from the current four required for the 9i DBA OCP.
"6/21/2004 -- This weekend Oracle unveiled its 10g track of database certifications, featuring a significant reduction in the number of exams required to earn the track's credentials.
With 10g, the entry-level Oracle Certified Database Associate (OCA) title will require passing only one exam: Oracle Database 10g: Administration (#1Z1-042). The earlier 9i version of this title required two exams.
To earn the mid-level Oracle Certified Professional Database Administrator (OCP DBA) 10g credential, candidates must first become an OCA then pass one more exam, Oracle Database 10g: Administration II (#1Z1-043), for a total of two exams. Those pursuing the current 9i version of this credential are required to pass four exams.
According to Oracle, a beta version of the Administration I exam will launch in late July, with the beta for Administration II coming in September.
John Hall, senior vice president of Oracle University, said in a printed statement that the program reduced the requirements for its 10g credentials due in part to the nature of the product it covers. "The automation and efficiency of Oracle Database 10g, coupled with Oracle University's training expertise, enables our customers to be trained and certified in less time than ever before," he explained. "By leveraging the innovative and automated features of Oracle Database 10g, Oracle University has significantly reduced the cost and time to train and certify.""
Existing 9i DBA OCPs can as before upgrade to 10g DBA OCP by taking the one upgrade exam, but anyone embarking on the 9i DBA OCP may well want to consider delaying until later in the year and taking the 10g DBA OCP instead.
I guess the question is - given that the 10g DBA OCP presumably skips a lot of the technical content in the 9i DBA OCP, due to the automation and efficiency within the 10g database, how well will a 10g OCP DBA be able to cope when dealing with a 9i or 8i database where this automation isn't present? I can see where Oracle are coming from in looking to make it easier to qualify to be a 10g database administrator, but there's a danger that if you only take the 10g OCP path, 10g will be the *only* database you can administer, when in fact many environments are only just starting to consider migrating to 9i and 10g. Interesting one.