Cross-Platform Vendor.
Novell's CDE certification is new and stands for Certified Directory Engineer. It is a move to put Novell back into the certification spotlight. They identified an unfilled niche. The growing importance of directory technologies and directory related solutions. So they created a top level certification to prepare top ranking pros for that area.
Candidates for CDE must already hold a top industry certification such as CNE, MCSE, Lotus, Cisco etc. They will learn how to manage directory technologies and implement directory solutions in all available technologies.
Novell is also implementing an unusual testing method designed to prevent any possibility of CDEs being called a "paper" certification for people who can pass tests but not solve real world problems. It calls this testing method Novell Practicum. It will set up hands on situations that the CDE must solve, hands on.
Novell is also going to require that CDEs maintain their skills by regular recertification.
If you are already an experienced networker with a high level certification such as CNE or MCSE, and you understand how knowing how to work with directory technologies to manage networks, you should go for this.
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Standard disclaimer: Whether or not any certification is "worth it" is an individual decision. You alone must decide what your career goals and needs are. Look at certifications from a cost/benefit or Return On Investment (ROI) basis. If they help you get a better paying job or make more money at your current job, they are obviously "worth it." The problem is, there is no real way of measuring how much you can expect your income to go up as a result of any given certification. It also depends on non-related job search skills such as how well you network. |
First of all, to understand the importance of directories, you just have to think of your own PC. What you call "folders," those of us who began personal computing pre-Windows 95 call "directories." They basically organize the files in our computers.
When you run programs, they must often call upon the information in various files. For instance, if you want to work on a letter you are writing, you tell your word processor program to "open" the letter.txt file.
If your word processor had to look throughout your computer just to find letter.txt just to open it, it would take a lot longer. If every program had to search through your entire harddrive for every file it used, computers would run unbearably slowly, if they ran at all. It many cases it would be just like looking for a needle in a haystack.
OK, now apply that to networks. When PCs are networked in a business, people can share files. Everything is separated and sorted by directories just as in PCs. This does not have to be too complicated for a small business LAN, but remember that these days any smart business is a vast network of LANs itself, often interconnected as cross-country -- or cross-global -- WANs, plus an Intranet, plus extranets with its customers, is part of extranets with its suppliers, and of course with the Internet.
Managing all this efficiently requires expert handling of the directory structure.
The structure of the CDE is a little complicated, because it depends on where you are coming from. You must already have a high level networking certification, but depending on what the certification is, you will already know more or less about Directory Server Technologies, and Novell different courses for you to fill in the gaps for everybody. There is a chart on its web page showing this.
Then, you must take and pass Directory Server Technologies Course 995 and Advanced NDS Tools and Diagnostics Course 991. You must pass the standard exams for these courses, and then pass the Novell Practicum for Course 991.
Novell is offering classes to CDE candidates and strongly urges all prospects to take the classes, although they are not requiring it. They are not making the course material available for self-study, so there is no way to learn it all outside of class unless you already know it from your own experience. They obviously doubt that many professionals already know all the material.
The in-depth hands-on nature of the material and the practicum type of testing does make this decision appear reasonable. Unless you already are a Novell inside, how could you know all that stuff already?
These are the current Novell CDE certifications for computer careers.