Valid LPIC-I candidates are now eligible for Novell CLA at no cost.

seuss_ssues

LPI and NOVELL partnership / Certification / Home - LPI -

I just received an email which indicated that since I had a valid LPIC-I that I was eligible to receive the Novell Certified Linux Administrator Certification at not cost or other requirements (no testing).

While I guess it is good to have another certification to put on a resume it really bothers me that no further testing was required.

This line especially caught my attention:
"Your Certified Linux Administrator is recognized worldwide and validates your skills as a Linux Administrator for SUSE Linux Enterprise."

......I have not touched SUSE Linux since before it had any association with Novell.

Anyone else think this is a good or bad policy?

twodogs62

I think this is a smart move for Novell.
This will make some LPI candidates consider looking at Novell's certifications offers such as CLP, and CLE. And NCA and NCE. The CLP, CLE and NCE are practicums and not just multiple choice exams. You will have to know subject and have skills to pass these exams.
The goal of certifications is to get a trained force who can support their products.
This is a win for Novell and a win for Novell customers.
That was the initial goal of certifications before the issue of brain **** and paper certs has nearly destroyed the certification credibility of most vendors.
If you obtain CLP and CLE, you really know linux and have proven skills.
And add on to that LPI-2 and LPI-3, etc......

seuss_ssues

twodogs62 wrote: »

I think this is a smart move for Novell.
This will make some LPI candidates consider looking at Novell's certifications offers such as CLP, and CLE. And NCA and NCE. The CLP, CLE and NCE are practicums and not just multiple choice exams. You will have to know subject and have skills to pass these exams.
The goal of certifications is to get a trained force who can support their products.
This is a win for Novell and a win for Novell customers.
That was the initial goal of certifications before the issue of brain **** and paper certs has nearly destroyed the certification credibility of most vendors.
If you obtain CLP and CLE, you really know linux and have proven skills.
And add on to that LPI-2 and LPI-3, etc......

I almost agree 100% with you. I am however unsure of the "This is a win for Novell and a win for Novell customers" line. The only reason that I say that is for the simple fact that my new Novell certification is the closest thing to a "paper cert" that I have.

I am now certified from a legitimate company on a legitimate product used by many companies around the world. The downside to all of this is that I really doubt that I am the only person who received this certification that knows virtually nothing about SUSE Linux. I do know linux, I am comfortable with it and I am sure using SUSE wouldnt take too much googling to get used to. On the other hand I could potentially get a job under the impression that I do know the ins and outs of SUSE (i dont even remember which package management system they use, last time i ran it they were independent of Novell) and that could potentially hurt its value.

Either way I am all for helping to unify linux certifications anyway possible.

MentholMoose

If they are granting the NCLA to people with LPIC-1, then probably the requirements are similar, with not that much SUSE-specific stuff. SUSE uses rpm and is similar to RHEL and variants.

varelg

the additional cert at no additional cost or exam is certainly a good thing. it just came down around my birthday, lol... if only i could squeeze xtra time to prepare for 102 and sit it.
is it a good thing for lpic and novell? it looks like a win-win, lpic gets promoted on the HR's list of hot certs, novell associates itself w somebody that copes w braindumps well... interesting, is it possible to the other way around, pass ncla and get lpic-1 as well w nothing additional?

Met44

I'd have rather seen the LPIC-1 be accepted as an option to meet the prerequisite for the professional level Novell Linux certs -- so you could either take the CLA or the LPIC-1 -- if they thought these were that close of a match. I think the "pass one get one free" feel is kind of silly. I agree that connecting the two certs will probably make people consider the Novell line a little closer.

twodogs62

LPI IMO exceeds CLA skills. Both are multiple-choice exams and I bet LPI exams are harder than CLA.

CLP and CLE are not in the same class of LPI since they are practicum exams.

disi

I got another email on friday:

Novell Technical Training congratulates you on completing the requirements for

Data Center Technical Specialist

Your certificate of completion is attached in PDF form. We encourage you to print it out for display.

seuss_ssues

So you received the following as well?

Brain Blurb – Technology blurbs from us to you :: Certification Novell :: Novell Certified Data Center Technical Specialist

Have you found out anything more about it?

disi

It has the same dates as the CLA, if I check "Certification Progress" on my account at Novell. So I guess this is included or maybe, because of LPIC-2?

//edit: OK, this certification is needed to become Novell Partner in the future. CLA is a requirement for DCTS, so it gets automatically distributed if you are holding the CLA and are already a Novell Partner.