IDC cites impact of Proven certification. How does it impact you?

Interesting Steve - so you found foundational information on architecting security impacted you - and I found foundational information on architecting management systems.

Who else can to share how the information learned from studying for the Proven exams has personally impacted them?

So far we've heard how the Proven certification has helped with management platforms, security, virtualization. We've even had a hiring manager's point of view. What other ways is the Proven Professional certification helping you close the storage skills gap?

Come on, don't be shy! Share with the community - you never know how your experience can help someone else!

Hi,

I was new to IT industry, but after recently being associated with it and than going for proven certification has helped a lot.

Being proven professional has helped me understand the depth of technology. It helped me communicate effectively with my customers and team.

It has helped sharpen my skills and are a added advantage on technology front. Being proven also make me recognize in the IT industry.

As this era is more about specializing in specific area, proven is a distinctive solution.

Thanks

Varun

Keep the thoughts coming everyone, this is great!

Its nice to see another manager chiming in. And isn't it great to see that someone who writes training is very interested in his audience - and he uses the Proven certification as a guide to where his audience should be.

Its also great seeing someone brand new to the storage industry chiming in. I know there are plenty of people like that here in the community, can you tell us how gaining your Proven Professional certification has impacted your career as a new information and storage professional?

When I started reading the proven professional I was two years experienced in Symmetrix tech support. But I was not fully explored to other Storage technology or to SAN. The Proven professional helped me to know much about SAN and how to manage the storage subsystems. After going through my associate level training my knowledge in SAN developed very much. Thats helping me even now.

I've definitely found that it doesn't matter how experienced you are with your areas of specialty, there is still value in the education provided (and tested for) at the "foundation" level of the Proven Certification track. Unlike the older Foundations cert the new ISM cert is a much more rounded certification. I see value in this for those new to storage as well as those who have been around this technology for years. In preparing to write the ISM exam last year I wasn't challenged by the areas covering SAN, NAS, CAS, Management, reporting, or even backup/recovery/archiving (although that isn't my area of expertise). What I gained was a better understanding of security and virtualization and how it all tied back to the things I do know very well. My role within my organization has been evolving over time to a point where every bit of "big picture" knowledge that can help me tie things together effectively is invaluable to me. I think even for the specialists and lower level "operations type" administrators, a better understanding of the big picture and how things interact can help them make better decisions on a day to day basis.

I'm not directly responsible for hiring anyone, but I can tell you I would certainly consider someone with the ISM Proven cert well ahead of someone without if given the chance. It may not be the deciding factor in the end, but from my own personal experience I would certainly give it a lot of weight during the early stages of the selection process. It might just be the difference between getting to the interview or getting screened.

Great comments and insights everyone, please keep them coming!

I really enjoy the comments about how preparing for the Proven certifications help you see "the big picture" in an environment. I have found this to be very true as well. Can't wait to hear from more of you!

Thanks Denis!

For all of you guys who have commented in this thread - did you see the new Proven Professional Advocacy program (<-- that link is in the Proven Professionals ONLY community, so you need to be signed into ECN).

If you are not an EMC Proven Professional - we've just announced the EMC Proven Professional Starter Kit. It has everything you need to get started down the path towards being an EMCISA.

If you need someone to help you get started -- let me know!