5/19/2004 -- Oracle Corp. recently announced that its Oracle Certified Professional, Database Administrator (OCP DBA) 8i title will no longer be available after Dec. 31.

The retirement is not unexpected – the company plans to debut its 10g OCP DBA track within the next few weeks.

At the end of the year, the following four 8i DBA exams will be retired:

• 1Z0-023 Oracle8i: Architecture and Administration
• 1Z0-024 Oracle8i: Performance and Tuning
• 1Z0-025 Oracle8i: Backup and Recovery
• 1Z0-026 Oracle8i: Network Administration

The 8i introduction exams as well as the upgrade exams will remain available, Oracle said.

8i is the only Oracle OCP DBA track currently available that does not require candidates to take an Oracle training course to earn the title. Oracle debuted the requirement with the 9i track and is expected to include it as part of the upcoming 10g track.

Although the 8i DBA exams will no longer be achievable after the end of the year, those who earn it before that time will remain certified and continue to receive all benefits, the company said.

More information on this announcement can be found here. -Becky Nagel