The top virtualization certifications for a tight job market

In these tough economic times, the IT job market remains extremely competitive. With fewer job openings out there, it’s important to try and stand out from the crowd when looking for work or trying to advance within your current company. If you’re thinking about learning a new technology, now is a great time, and with companies trying to do more with less, becoming skilled in virtualization technology is a great bet.

IT professionals with the necessary skills to support a growing virtualization environment are among the most sought-after individuals, with survey after survey naming virtualization as one of the most in-demand technology skills and one of the most explosive technologies when it comes to planned growth.

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As virtualization proliferates throughout the SMB and enterprise markets, virtualization certifications also grow in popularity. “As virtualization continues to become the ‘norm,’ virtualization certifications will continue to increase in value,” said David Davis, vExpert, VCP, and VMware video training author at Train Signal. “More and more hiring managers are looking for those who have virtualization expertise to maintain ever-expanding virtual infrastructures.”

Davis added that virtualization is a popular skill that IT pros can use to show that they aren’t just server admins but infrastructure admins who have a more complete understanding of today’s virtual infrastructure.

As virtualization continues to expand beyond simple server consolidation, employers are requiring a higher level of virtualization expertise across a number of different jobs. Vendor-offered certifications then become more valuable in denoting virtualization specialties such as administrator, systems engineer, and data center architect.

To help get you started, here are some of the latest virtualization certifications you should be aware of that are currently being offered by the three leading virtualization platform vendors: Citrix, Microsoft, and VMware.

VMware VMware started things off with a single virtualization certification, the VMware Certified Professional (VCP). It is the longest-running and by far the most widely recognized certification in the virtualization industry. Because of VMware’s dominant market share, this is typically the first certification that most folks will attempt to achieve. To obtain the certification you not only have to pass an examination, you also need to pay for and sit through a VMware-authorized training course. For some, the added expense of an authorized class may be too much, but the requirement also keeps the VMware certification from becoming watered down into what has become known in the industry as a “paper cert.”

After becoming a VMware Certified Professional on VMware vSphere 4 (VCP4), you are eligible to pursue VMware’s new intermediate-level certification, VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP), which is appropriate for VCP4s who are ready to further enhance their skills with the VMware virtual infrastructure. VCP4 is available in two tracks: Datacenter Administration (DCA) and Datacenter Design (DCD).

Beyond that lives VMware’s top level certification, the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX). Very few people have attained this level of certification (somewhere just north of 50 individuals), and there’s good reason for that. In order to achieve this special designation, a person not only has to pass the VCP and both tracks of the VCAP, they also have to submit a VCDX application that is accepted and then successfully present and defend a VMware vSphere-based virtual infrastructure design and implementation plan.

Davis suggests that most admins should probably stick with the VCP and the VCAP, calling the VCDX “a special cert that takes a special person with special experience — and that’s not just anyone.”

Microsoft Microsoft is certainly no stranger to IT certifications, and the Redmond giant offers two certification tracks that cover both server virtualization and desktop and application virtualization. The first, Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS), is designed for IT professionals with one or more years of experience and a strong background in troubleshooting and deployment. Passing a single MCTS exam will bestow the MCTS credential for that exam’s technology. Current exams include Exam 70-669 (Windows Server 2008 R2, Desktop Virtualization), Exam 70-659 (Windows Server 2008 R2, Server Virtualization), and Exam 70-652 (Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring).

The second, Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP), is Microsoft’s top-level certification. To gain this distinction one must pass at least two of the above MCTS exams and an MCITP exam, Exam 70-693 (Windows Server 2008 R2, Virtualization Administrator). According to Microsoft, before taking this exam candidates should have one to three years of experience using Microsoft virtualization products, including Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, and Remote Desktop Services (RDS) in a Windows Server 2008 R2 infrastructure.

Citrix Citrix takes a slightly different approach to its virtualization education, calling it an end-to-end virtualization certification. The company has developed two certification tracks. The first, the Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer (CCEE) for Virtualization, is focused on the virtualization skills needed to plan, integrate, and execute a robust virtualization infrastructure that scales to meet the most demanding enterprise requirements. Having the CCEE will demonstrate a breadth and depth of knowledge around all of the Citrix virtualization technologies, including XenApp, XenServer, Provisioning Server, and XenDesktop. Because the certification cuts across multiple Citrix technologies, there are a number of different exam choices that can be taken.

The second certification, the Citrix Certified Integration Architect (CCIA) for Virtualization, validates the knowledge and skills required to analyze, design, and implement dynamic virtualization environments, from the data center to the desktop. To become CCIA certified, a person needs to first pass the CCEE examination. A CCIA candidate should have extensive field experience related to architecting Citrix virtualization-based solutions prior to examination. Once ready, they take the A16 Architecting a Citrix Virtualization Solution exam.

“The VCP may be close to what the MCSE once was — one of the most well-known infrastructure certs,” Davis said. But the Citrix and Microsoft virtualization certifications don’t enjoy such high profiles, which is probably in direct relationship to their respective market shares, he added.

Certifications can offer an IT pro a competitive advantage, but as with other IT skills, at the end of the day there is little substitute for hands-on experience.

And don’t forget that when you get certified in virtualization, you’re also gaining one of the key enablement skills needed to build a private cloud for your organization. Beyond virtualization, prepare to add cloud-ready to your expanding resume.

This article, “The top virtualization certifications for a tight job market,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Follow the latest developments in virtualization and cloud computing at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.