1/25/2006 -- Yesterday, Hitachi Data Systems and the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) jointly announced that Hitachi has launched an end-user and partner certification program built on the vendor-neutral credentials developed by the SNIA.

According to the announcement, it is the first time a vendor has used the SNIA's storage certification titles to build its custom program.

"Hitachi Data Systems has taken a leadership role in the storage industry by using the SNIA certification model as the foundation for its certification programs,” Wayne M. Adams, chair of the SNIA, said in a released statement. "The collaboration between Hitachi Data Systems and the SNIA supports our mission of ensuring storage networks become complete and trusted solutions through educational outreach."

The SNIA also announced that it will accept the Hitachi certifications as credit toward its own certifications to help "streamline" the process for candidates.

For more on the Hitachi certifications, go here. For more on SNIA's certification program, go here. -Becky Nagel