2/7/2002 -- Despite shutting down the Mississippi-based development offices of the Sair-GNU Linux certification program in November and losing many of the program's employees in the process, Thomson Learning told CertCities.com that the program will continue, although perhaps not to the degree that the program's founders envisioned.

On November 1, Thomson sent a letter to its training partners regarding the consolidation, which moved operations of the Sair-GNU Linux program under its Illinois-based NETg division and development to Limerick, Ireland.

In the letter, which was provided to CertCities.com by Thomson, the company repeatedly assured training partners that it would continue to maintain and market the program. However, the wording of the letter leaves future development of the program in doubt.

Sair-GNU Linux certification was originally designed to offer three levels: LCA, LCE and Master LCE. At the time of the consolidation, the second level of the program, the LCE, was still under development, offering only three of nine exams planned.

In the letter, the only additional development Thomson committed to was the completion of a fourth LCE exam. "We will complete development of the Mail exam and publish and maintain all certifications," the company said.

The Mail exam has since been released -- allowing candidates to complete the LCE certification, but not with all the elective options originally announced.

As for the possibility of the other five LCE exams, as well as the Master LCE program, the letter said only: "As with any business, the market and our customer response to our current product offerings will determine any future development."

Alex Brnilovich, president and CEO of Thomson Learning's Corporate and Professional Development Group, addressed the reasons for the consolidation in the letter: "The best opportunity Sair Linux has to succeed is through integration with more diverse operations and capabilities in Thomson Learning's larger training, testing and certification businesses...This makes the most sense for our customers and it makes the most sense for the business."

No mention of the consolidation has been made on the program's official Web site, www.LinuxCertification.com. "We wanted the transition to be transparent to the end customer as much as possible so there wouldn't be any undue concerns about the Sair certification," a spokesperson for Thomson Learning told us. "For that reason, we didn't broadly publicize the change. Instead, we went directly to the people that our Sair business worked with and called, e-mailed them information about the transition of services."

One training provider told us that he did not receive the November letter, and that the first official notification he received came in the form of a e-mail received from Thomson two days ago.

He also said that after talking with the head of the new development staff in Ireland, he has doubts that the program has sufficient resources to continue at the same level.

Thomson disputes this. "Limerick is a major facility with excellent tech staff, which is why it was moved there," the spokesperson told us. "There is a commitment to maintenance [and] development as stated in [the letter]....The commitment is there on Thomson's part to continue."

One source close to the program told us that despite some hiccups with the transition, they do believe Thomson is sincere in its pledge to keep the program going: "It will continue...It's a big company, [but] everyone wants the best for the program."

Sair is one of four leading Linux certifications for IT professionals. Others include CompTIA's entry-level Linux+, Red Hat's hands-on RHCE, and the Linux Professional Institute, which also offers a multi-tiered program.

CertCities.com will bring you more on this story as events warrant. -B.N