Oracle Certifications

Oracle Certifications are among the computer certifications in the highest demand by employers. That's because Oracle Corporation is the leading international supplier of enterprise software solutions for business information management. It's also the second-largest independent software company worldwide. It released its first software product in 1979, and was the first company to develop and deploy Internet-enabled enterprise software across its entire product line.

Consequently, many businesses now use Oracle software products, including most of the Fortune 100 Companies. In turn, computer jobs for which Oracle Certifications are required or a plus are relatively plentiful. For example, a broad search for Oracle at Dice.com, a popular technical job bank, returned over 15,000 jobs.

Oracle software products include a relational database, business applications, and application development and decision-support tools. Oracle Certifications for its software products are divided into the following paths at this writing.

• Oracle Database 10g Administrator
• Oracle Application Server 10g Administrator
• Oracle PL/SQL and Oracle Forms Developer
• Oracle 9i Database Administrator
• Oracle Application Server 9i Web Administrator
• Oracle Forms Developer 6i

Each path currently has up to four proficiency levels, as follows.

• Certified Associate
• Certified Professional
• Special Accreditation
• Certified Master

Certified Master is the primo Oracle Certification, so it follows that it's the hardest to achieve. But Oracle says that "technical experience is helpful and recommended" to achieve any of its certifications. Oracle also offers upgrade paths for IT professionals who already possess Oracle Certifications.

Oracle Certification training is conducted by Oracle University Centers located worldwide, in the classroom, online and through self-study. Oracle Certification exams are administered by Thompson Prometric and in some countries, directly by Oracle University's Testing Centers. Oracle-authorized practice certification exams are available from Transcender and Self Test Software. Both offer free practice-exam demos.

Oracle is headquartered in Redwood Shores, one among the high-tech cities in Northern California's Silicon Valley, with branch offices worldwide. It also offers a variety of learning paths and training options for its software products outside of certification, including customized team training.

Computer Certifications

• A+ Certification
• Certified Ethical Hacker
• Cisco Certifications
• IBM Certifications
• Microsoft Certifications
• Novell Certifications
• Oracle Certifications