Symantec Certified Technical Specialist (SCTS)

taktsoi

has anyone considered taking symantec certification exam? Symantec Certified Technical Specialist program. What do you guys think about it?

Ricka182

I never heard of it. It's probably good for those who would work with Symantec products on a daily basis, otherwise, I wouldn't bother....

blargoe

Ignore that one unless you company asks you to get it and they're paying for the training and exams.

Slowhand

I've come across quite a few people with Symantec certification. Of course, all of these people have a long, long "alphabet" behind their names, not the least of which is usually CISSP, C|EH, MCSE: Security, Security+, CCSP (or even CCIE: Security), and usually a Bachelor's or Masters degree in computer science or engineering. The point is, it's not something that stands alone, but would be useful to someone either working directly with the Symantec technologies, or someone who specializes in security and is branching out from "general" certs like C|EH and CISSP.

rcoop

I have no idea the relevance in the industry, but I think most corporate IT shops use corporate-wide, centrally controlled Anti-virus (and becoming more popular client-side Firewall and Anti-Spam technology) and from the ones I've been at, SCS (Symantec Client Security) or Symantec AntiVirus (Norton AntiVirus' corporate big brother) seem to be fairly prevalent.

As you can see from my signature line, I am currently pursuing this, as I have installed SCS at a number of companies now with a friend and feel I have enough experience to probably get through it pretty quickly. That remains to be seen though. I do not need this certification for my current job, so I'm really doing it to see if I'm missing any of the official Symantec way of installing and configuring the software packages. Plus I have referred associates to it, and thought it would be better if I had a better (and more official) stance on the product and the audience it is targeted for.

How I'm preparing for it.

I purchased the official (SCTS) Symantec Certified Technical Specialist: Small Business Security Study Guide (by Nik Alston, Mike Chapple, and Kirk Hausman) from Symantec Press (ISBN:0-321-34994-6), and have reviewed the exam objectives.

My goal is to achieve certification by the end of the year (I know, what an aggressive goal...NOT). I take my time with certification, and normally study for two (and sometimes three at a time). My job (at normally between 50-60 hour work weeks, more if I'm travelling), plus the wife and kids keep putting my study habits to the test.

The SCTS:Small Business Security Exam: (at least according to the book)
Costs $100 and is valid for 2 years.
Consists of 75 questions (with 90 minutes to complete, although 15 minutes is added for other non-U.S. countries)
Is available at Prometric locations throughout the world. (Sorry, I don't believe VUE proctors this exam).

Exam focus is on three areas:
Symantec AntiVirus : 50.7%
Symantec Client Security : 32%
Norton AntiSpam : 17.3%

As soon as I sit for the exam, I will be more than happy to post a review.

Take Care,
RCoop

RussS

I'm a symantec specialist ..... I use RNAV and install something else