11/28/2001 -- The Industry Standard--Australia is reporting that Oracle will announce new master- and associate-level DBA certifications at its OpenWorld conference next week.

According to the story, published Nov. 15, the master-level title will be called "Oracle Certified Master," and appears to be similar to the company's previously offered Master certificate, which required education as well as exams.

Senior Vice President of Oracle University John Hall told reporters Tom Sullivan and Ed Scannell that the new "Oracle Certified Associate" title will be for entry-level DBAs with some previous experience with competing vendor's certification programs. The article doesn't mention how this new title might affect the status of Oracle's current entry-level certification, Database Operator (DBO).

The Oracle Certified Master and Oracle Certified Associate titles will reportedly be available world-wide.

A search of Oracle's Web site revealed no further details about the upcoming titles, and our requests to Oracle for confirmation and more information were not returned. CertCities.com will bring you more on this story as it develops. -B.N.

Update (12/03/01): Oracle published details about these new certifications over the weekend. Click here to view the official announcement.