Crystal Enterprise Certification

[kutoose]

Can any tell me about the Crystal Enterprise certification process by Crystal Decisions ?

Is there a test to be passed to be admitted for the certification course ?

< I have posted this message in 'Crystal Decisions certification and testing'. But I think this Forum is more active >

kutoose@yahoo.com

 

[FVTrainer]

Are you asking how one becomes certified in Crystal Enterprise (as in being able to call yourself a certified trainer)? If so, the answer is this: Crystal Decisions does not certify individuals. The only certification that is available to the general public (or would-be entrepenuers, for that matter) is the ACE program, which is an online certification in Crystal Reports, not Enterprise. And it is not equivalent to being a Certified Crystal Reports Consultant or a Certified Crystal Reports Trainer. Both of those certifications require more work. The only way a person receives certification these days is by being affiliated with a Crystal Partner organization.
Anyway, if you are like me and want to be able to get certified on your own (as you can on Microsoft products) and then market yourself that way, you are out of luck.

On the other hand, if you are just asking about how one signs up for classes on Crystal Enterprise, visit the Crystal Decisions website for info on classes near you.

Ken Hamady's website has a write-up on this issue and I would agree with him that the certification process doesn't mean you are better than someone who is not certified; I respect his position, because it is experience that matters, not a piece of paper. However, I'm a little biased toward Certified folks, because they have a very good pipeline to support and other assistance from the folks at Crystal Decisions.

 

[synapsevampire]

I inquired about my Corp becoming a Crystal Partner and they responded about a month later.

Perhaps after BO takes over the joint we'll see some improvements in Management over there, they've gotten slow and complacent.

-k

 

[kutoose]

Thanks FVTrainer and synapsevampire ,

I was interested about CE certification through partner - mainly the topics they cover for training.

Is there a guarantee that if you get training you get certified ? See this link below...

http://www.crystaldecisions.com/services/training/guarantee.asp

I totally agree to Ken Hamady's view on Certification.

Thanks !

kutoose@yahoo.com

 

[MJRBIM]

Crystal Partners offer the standard &quot;Crystal Enterprise 9.0 Administrator&quot; 3-day course that is listed on the Crystal Decisions website.

The topics covered are detailed on the PDF at-

http://www.crystaldecisions.com/services/downloads/ce9_ica.pdf

It's a Basic functional overview, but doesn't really teach the &quot;hows&quot; and &quot;whys&quot; of Application Intergration, Web Intergration, Stress Testing, Load Balancing, Clustered Servers - most of the REAL WORLD tasks that clients look for.

At the end of the course you get a Certificate that you have completed the &quot;Crystal Enterprise 9.0 Administrator&quot; course, but it does not grant you any form of designation (e.g. - MSCE, ACE, etc.) that Crystal will allow you to use to compete with their own Consultants.

I've never determined if Crystal has followed this Strategy just to protect their Consulting Services, or if it's because they don't have the Human Resources available to develop serious, REAL WORLD training materials and courses for a certification program.

ACE is a start, but it would be sweet if it were available as a classroom course too - along with a similar program for Enterprise.