Oracle Certification DemystifiedOn the surface acquiring Oracle certification seems quite complicated but once you strip away all the different options it is relatively straightforward (conceptually anyway - acquiring the necessary knowledge and skills to pass the exams is another matter). Let's see if we can clear up some of the confusion. Oracle Certification PathwaysEssentially there are 4 different routes to gain Oracle certification, each based on a different role. Each route has a different set of requirements with (perhaps surprisingly) no overlap except between the Oracle 9i certification programs for developers and dbas both of which require knowledge of sql. Therefore the certification path you take will depend on your current role and/or your aspirations. The current (as of May 2008) pathways and the roles on which they're based are:
The Oracle dba certification path has 3 levels for Oracle 9i and above (Oracle 8i certification had just one level - Oracle Certified Professional):
and the qualifications must be gained in the order of OCA, OCP, OCM. The middleware and Linux certifciation paths have just the associate and professional levels and the applications path has just the professional level. Ancillary to the OCA and OCP levels is an option called the Oracle Certified Expert (OCE) program which is a new type of specialization certification program. The idea of this is to recognise competency in specific technologies or subjects not currently covered in the Oracle Certified Professional paths. The technologies covered by this include the applications suites recently acquired by Oracle (Peoplesoft, Siebel and Hyperion applications and Hyperion middleware); and SQL, Oracle 10g RAC (Real Application Clusters) and Oracle 10g on Linux (see the Oracle Expert Program section on the Oracle website for the exact details). For these subjects the Oracle Certified Expert level is the only certification option available which makes things simpler, however for the Oracle 10g certified expert paths, having Oracle 10g certification is an optional precursor. The Route To Oracle DBA Certification (overview)The purpose of the Oracle certification program is to ensure graduates of this program have a solid grounding in both the theory and the practice and the higher the level of certification the greater the emphasis on practical skills. The first level of certification Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) requires the passing of 1 (for Oracle 10g) or 2 (for Oracle 9i and Oracle 11g) exams on SQL and basic database administration. For the next level, Oracle Certified Professional OCP, as well as being an Oracle Certified Associate, you are required to pass 1 or more further exams plus take one of the approved instructor-led training courses either with Oracle (some of the courses can be taken on-line) or with an training company approved by Oracle (self study or learning from a mate doesn't count!).Once you've qualified as an Oracle Certified Professional, the next stage in the Oracle dba certification path is to become an Oracle Certified Master. To qualify for this you need to take at least 2 advanced instructor-led training courses from Oracle or with an training company approved by Oracle (again no self study or learning from a mate) and then pass a 2-day practical exam on subjects such as
Each scenario in the practical builds on the previous one, which means if you are unable to recover from one failure scenario you may not be able to complete one of the subsequent scenarios. You're not allowed to take in your own notes, "phone a friend" or collaborate with other students - you're on your own! But they do provide you with a complete set of the Oracle documentation (non-searchable however) to enable you to check syntax. The pass mark for this is around 70% and if you fail you have to do the whole lot over again. Obviously this makes it very tough to pass but if you do pass you are allowed to use the OCM logo on your business cards and you can put your profile on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) website. That's the route if you're starting from scratch. However if you already have certification then to upgrade to a later version you only have to take one exam (on the new features of the release you're upgrading to). If you're certification is on Oracle 7 or 8 you first have to upgrade to Oracle 9i before you can upgrade to Oracle 10g or 11g. This also applies to the middleware and application certification paths. See Oracle certification exam for more details of the exams required. Benefits of Oracle CertficationOne area we haven't addressed yet is the fundamental question of whether or not Oracle certification is worth the trouble and the expense (especially if you're paying for it yourself). According to Oracle the benefits of gaining certification are increased proficiency, confidence and capability in doing the job. Additionally in a survey of over 1,000 OCPs:
The one thing Oracle don't say though is which certification path(s) had been followed by the survey respondents so it is not possible to tell if one certification route is better than another (in terms of effort and reward). It is also interesting to note that in the middleware path, it is not possible to get certification on Oracle Forms 10g which has been available for a few years whereas in the database path it is already possible to become certified on Oracle 11g. This implies that there are few benefits of Oracle certification for pure Oracle developers (i.e. excluding Oracle Applications/E-Business Suite/Oracle Application Server). The Linux path is relatively new and builds on top of the certification available from the likes of Red Hat and Novell so this is probably a good path to take for Linux system administrators. In conclusion then it would seem that the Oracle Certified DBA track is definitely worth following whilst the Oracle Certified Developer track is probably not. Without any other statistics and with the poor record of employers providing training courses and being willing to pay more for trained staff the other certification paths may struggle. If you're employed (as opposed to freelance), one way to find out if certification is worthwhile is to ask your boss to pay for the training and exams - if he/she agrees, then the only consideration is how much of your own time it will take. For freelancers it's a harder question - one way to gauge would be to speak to previous clients and ask them if they would pay more for someone with Oracle certification and if so how much! SummaryThe easiest and cheapest route to Oracle certification is to upgrade from certification on an earlier version. If you don't qualify for that route then be prepared for potentially a lot of studying and practising and to spend a fair amount of money (yours or your employers') on the process (depending on your knowledge and skills and your current level of experience), especially if you're aiming to become an Oracle Certified Master. Even if your employer is paying the course and exam fees, there is still the time required for studying and preparing for the exams. Fortunately there are many resources available to help you including books, training courses (on-line, self-paced or instructor-led), self-test software and practice questions. For more details see our certification resources , Oracle certification training (coming soon) and certification exam sections on this site. You can also find good introductory material on sql , pl/sql and Oracle on our site. For the exact requirements for certification at each level refer to the certification section on Oracle's web site For Oracle consultancy or customised Oracle training in New Zealand ask us how we can help. Return from Oracle certification to home page
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