New Oracle Certification To Be Announced

Oracle is preparing a new entry-level certification for integrators of Oracle's 9i and an updated version to its Internet-application-developer certification. The company is expected to announce the training certifications next week at its OracleWorld conference in San Francisco.

The new certification, Oracle 9i application server Web administrator certified associate, is for integration specialists who will install 9i and for database administrators tasked with managing the application.

"In smaller midsize shops where IT professionals have to wear multiple hats, DBAs will add this certification to their skill set and act as the person maintaining both the back end and middle tier," says Mike Serpe, Oracle's global director for certification.

The associate-level certification will be the first step toward attaining Oracle certified professional and masters certification, which is for intermediate- and senior-level integrators and database administrators.

Oracle is adding an associate-level certification for its Internet-application-developer certificate based on 9i and is updating the professional level of its Internet app developer 6i certification to Oracle 9i during the winter of 2003, Serpe says.

While Oracle partners and integration specialists are sure to bone up on the latest Oracle certifications, demand for the skills-assessment tool from IT professionals will grow at a slower rate, IDC analyst Cushing Anderson says.

"Early on there aren't that many people certified, but there aren't that many implementations either," Anderson says. Users get certified later in the sales cycle, he says, "Once its installed, they need to maintain and run it."