Citrix Certified Integration Architect

2010 has been a blast on certification side. I was clearly late and I decided to get everything done by the end of the year. Now it’s done, couple of weeks ago I passed the exam 1Y0-A16 to become a Citrix Certified Integration Architect.

First what is it ? CCIA ?

The Citrix Certified Integration Architect for Virtualization certification focuses on best practices for analysis and design of Citrix virtualization technologies. By testing a range of skills used to design strategic approaches to virtualization, the CCIA certifies the knowledge required for successful deployments, while providing recognition and credibility to IT professionals.  In addition to the required exams, a minimum level of real-world experience is recommended for candidates who choose to pursue this certification.  As the most advanced Citrix designation, CCIA expertise helps organizations lower implementation costs, increase implementation success rates and reduce implementation time.

I remember, few years ago, I was watching CCIA guys with admiration, thinking those guy had very strong skills about virtualization. Now I’m in, it took a while because I wasn’t ready before, I mean, understanding Citrix products is one step, but be certain about every component is another, being able to understand the virtualization market is definitely the biggest step I had to take and this one, no one teach it.

I’ve been involve as well this year in the Citrix exam’s building process, and it was very important to me because I want these certifications to continue to mean something. I hope I will be able to continue to bring some help to Citrix and continue to be a Subject Matter Expert on the certification they want to renew.

(I)My company is currently looking for Citrix engineers and administrators here in France, I’ve interviewed 15 persons last week and only one really knows the basics (just for XenApp) this is very very hard to find the right people with good knowledge… This is another reason why I want to continue to help with certification exam building process, I want to help to make sure these certifications really mean something.

Sources : Citrix Education CCIA