2/12/2003 -- Last week Hewlett Packard officially unveiled its new worldwide certification program.
The HP Certified Professional program is an amalgamation of the pre-merger HP and Compaq professional certification programs. The announcement includes the long-awaited release of the requirements for the new titles, which consists of four main areas: Integration, Operating Systems, Pre-Sales and Sales. Within these, there are 10 main titles and more than 50 tracks, creating apx. 56 certifications in all.
HP is also in the process of updating its exams. Many exams are retiring in March, but will count toward the new certifications through at least April. Many betas are also being offered.
According to HP, the company is currently in the process of notifying those certified in the pre-merger program what further requirements, if any, they will need to transition into the new program. Candidates are not required to update: Any titles earned previously remain valid up until their previously-announced expiration. A FAQ for previously certified candidates can be found here.
To give an idea of what the requirements for the new program look like, we've broken down the new Integration track below using the U.S. requirements (these can vary by region). This certification area contains the former Compaq ASE and Master ASE certifications, combined with several titles from the pre-merger HP program. As you can see from below, titles appear to retain the approximate qualifications as the previous titles, depending on what program they come from (for example, AIS titles that were previously pre-merger HP require less exams on average than those from pre-merger Compaq). The program also retained many of the pre-reqs requiring certifications from other vendors, as well as HP's practical hands-on exams for high-level HP Unix titles (now in the Operating Systems area).
| TRACK NAME |
FORMER CERT (if app.) |
PRE-REQS |
EXAM REQUIREMENTS |
|
Integration (APS, API, ASE, Master ASE)
|
| INTEGRATION LEVEL I: Accredited Platform Specialist (APS) |
| APS AlphaServer Systems |
n/a |
Must be HP Services employee |
2 Core (#HP0-513 and #HP0-570). |
| APS Desktop and Workstations |
n/a |
CompTIA A+ or Server+ |
1 Core (#HP0-516) |
| APS Mobile Computing |
APS portables |
CompTIA A+ |
1 Core (#HP0-515) |
| APS ProLiant Servers |
n/a |
CompTIA Server+ |
1 Core (#HP0-500) |
| INTEGRATION LEVEL II: Accredited Integration Specialist (AIS) |
| AIS Alpha Server + Linux |
n/a |
LPI Level I, Sair LCA or Red Hat Course RH 133 |
2 Core (#HP0-715 and #HP0-802) and 1 Elective(choose from #HP0-628, #HP0-604 or the retired exam #010-320) |
| AIS AlphaServer + OpenVMS |
n/a |
CSA OpenVMS plus one of these exams from other vendors |
1 Core (#HP0-715) plus 1 Elective (choose from #HP0-617 or the retired #HP0-629 or the retired #HP0-333 or the not-yet-released #HP0-604) |
| AIS AlphaServer + Tru64 UNIX v5 |
n/a |
CSA Tru64 UNIX |
1 Core (#HP0-715) plus 1 Elective (choose from #HP0-628 or the retired #HP0-320 or the not-yet-released #HP0-604) |
| AIS Non-Stop Systems |
n/a |
none |
3 Core (#HP0-663, #HP0-661, #HP0-660) and 1 Elective Core (choose between #HP0-664 and #HP0-662) |
| AIS OpenView Data and Storage |
CC - Storage Management |
none |
1 Elective (choose between #HP0-718 and #HP0-720) |
| AIS OpenView Network Services |
CC - Network Management |
none |
1 Elective (choose between #HP0-745, #HP0-746, #HP0-717, #HP0-743) |
| AIS OpenView Service Management |
CC - IT Service Management |
none |
1 Core (#HP0-753) |
| AIS OpenView Systems and Servers |
CTP - Network Connectivity Professional |
none |
1 Core (choose between #HP0-719, or the in-beta #HP1-754 or #1H0-755, or the retiring #HP0-706 or #HP0-708) |
| AIS ProCurve Networking |
CTP - Network Connectivity Professional |
none |
1 Core (#HP0-638) |
| AIS ProLiant + Linux |
n/a |
LPI Level I, Sair LCA or Red Hat Course RH 133 |
3 Core (#HP0-697, #HP0-032, #HP0-695) |
| AIS ProLiant + NetWare |
n/a |
One Novell Exam from list, plus Network+ or equivalent or other Novell exam. |
3 Core (#HP0-697, #HP0-723, #HP0-695) |
| AIS ProLiant + Windows |
n/a |
Microsoft exam #70-215, plus # 70-216 or Network+ or equivalent |
3 Core (#HP0-697, #HP0-724, #HP0-695) |
| AIS StorageWorks + Windows&NetWare |
n/a |
1 Novell and 1 Microsoft exam from list. |
2 Core (#HP0-629 or the retired #010-329, plus the not-yet-released #HP0-185), and 1 Elective (#HP0-720 or not-yet-released #HP0-608) |
| AIS StorageWorks + UNIX |
n/a |
CSA HP-UX or CSA Tru64 Unix or 1 vendor exam from list. |
2 Core (#HP0-628 or the retired #010-320, plus the not-yet-released #HP0-185) and 1 Elective (#HP0-720 or the not-yet-released #HP0-608) |
| INTEGRATION LEVEL III: Accredited Systems Engineer (ASE) |
| ASE AlphaServer + Linux |
n/a |
AIS - AlphaServer + Linux plus either Red Hat RHCE or Sair-GNU LCE with Apache, Samba and Mail Systems exams |
none |
| ASE AlphaServer + OpenVMS |
n/a |
AIS AlphaServer + OpenVMS and CSE OpenVMS |
none |
| ASE AlphaServer + Tru64 UNIX |
n/a |
AIS AlphaServer + Tru64 UNIX and CSE - Tru64 Unix |
none |
| ASE NonStop Systems |
n/a |
AIS Nonstop Systems |
1 Core (#HP0-760), 1 Core Elective (choose from #HP0-761, #HP0-785, #HP0-784 or the in-beta #HP1-786) and 2 Electives (choose from #HP0-763, #HP0-762, #HP0-765, #HP0-781) |
| ASE OpenView Network Services |
CIE -- Network Management |
AIS - OpenView Network Services |
1 Core, (#HP0-743) 1 Core Elective (choose from #HP0-745, #HP0-746, #HP0-717) and 1 Elective (choose from #HP0-719, #HP0-718, #HP0-720 or #HP0-753, or in-beta #HP1-754 or #HP1-755, or retired #HP0-706 or #HP0-707) |
| ASE OpenView Systems and Servers - NT Emphasis |
CIE - App. and System Management (NT emphasis) |
AIS OpenView Systems and Services |
1 Core (#HP0-719) and 3 Electives (choose from #HP0-717, #HP0-718, #HP0-720, #HP0-743, #HP0-746, #HP0-745 or #HP0-753, or in-beta #HP1-754 or #HP1-755, or retired #HP0-706 or #HP0-707) |
| ASE OpenView Systems and Servers - UNIX Emphasis |
CIE - App. and System Management (Unix emphasis) |
AIS OpenView Systems and Services |
2 Core (beta exams #HP1-754 and #HP1-755, or retiring #HP0-706 and #HP0-708) and 3 Electives (choose from #HP0-717, #HP0-718, #HP0-719, #HP0-720, #HP0-743, #HP0-746, #HP0-745 or #HP0-753) |
| ASE ProCurve Networking |
n/a |
AIS - ProCurve Networking |
1 Core (beta exam #HP1-603, or retiring #HP0-575) |
| ASE ProLiant + Linux |
n/a |
Red Hat RHCE or Sair-GNU LCE with Apache, Samba and Mail Systems exams |
3 Core (#HP0-697, #HP0-032, #HP0-695) |
| ASE ProLiant + NetWare |
n/a |
Novell NetWare CNE (5 or 6) |
3 Core (#HP0-697, #HP0-723, #HP0-695) |
| ASE ProLiant + StorageWorks |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows, Linux, Networking or UnixWare |
1 Core (choose between #HP0-629, #HP0-628, or the retired #010-329 or #010-320) |
| ASE - ProLiant + UnixWare |
n/a |
Requirements for this certification not yet known. Mentioned as pre-req. for other certifications, but no other details have been released. |
| ASE ProLiant + Windows |
n/a |
Microsoft MCSE (NT 4.0 or 2000) |
3 Core (#HP0-697, #HP0-724, #HP0-695) |
| ASE StorageWorks |
n/a |
AIS - StorageWorks + Windows & NetWare or AIS - StorageWorks + UNIX |
4 Core (#HP0-604, #HP0-830 or retiring #HP0-330, #HP0-831 or older version, and #HP0-718) and 1 Elective (#HP0-196 or older version, #HP0-220, #HP0-751 or retiring #HP0-741) |
| INTEGRATION LEVEL IV: Master Accredited Systems Engineer (Master ASE) |
| Master ASE Enterprise Management |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows, Linux, Networking or UnixWare plus one other pre-req from list |
1 Core (#HP0-079) |
| Master ASE High Availability and Clustering |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows, Linux, Networking or UnixWare |
1 Core (#HP0-830 or retiring #HP0-330), 1 Core Elective (choose from #HP0-874, #HP0-876) 1 Elective (choose from #HP0-629, #HP0-628, #HP0-627) |
| Master ASE Internet+Intranet |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows |
3 Core (#HP0-420 and not-yet-released #HP0-610 and #HP0-843) |
| Master ASE Messaging and Collaboration on Exchange |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows, plus Microsoft exam 70-224 or 70-081 |
1 Core (#HP0-820) |
| Master ASE Oracle on Tru64 UNIX |
n/a |
ASE AlphaServer + Tru64 UNIX and one to two Oracle exam(s) from list. |
1 Core (#HP0-616) |
| Master ASE Oracle on Windows |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows plus one to two Oracle exam(s) from list. |
1 Core (#HP0-054) |
| Master ASE SAN Architect |
n/a |
Any ASE title. |
5 Core (#HP0-604, #HP0-830, #HP0-831 or previous versions, #HP0-718, and beta #HP1-847) plus one elective from list. |
| Master ASE SQL Server |
n/a |
ASE ProLiant Windows plus Microsoft MCDBA certification. |
1 Core (#HP0-609) |
Detailed information on the above exams can be found on the requirements page for the individual titles. Each costs $100 U.S. and are available at Prometric testing centers worldwide.
Benefits for the new program have yet to be detailed on HP's Web site.
For more details, go to http://www.hp.com/go/certification. 
-B.N.
