This week at VMware’s Partner Exchange conference in Orlando, Florida, VMware announced three new certifications aimed at desktop virtualization. They range from the entry level VMware Certified Associate 4 – Desktop, to a new VMware Certified Professional – Desktop aimed specifically at desktops (the VCP has been around for many years but only focused on the company’s infrastructure technology). Finally, they’ve announced a VMware Certified Advanced Professional – Desktop certification as a new high level certificate. It wouldn’t be a surprise to eventually see a VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) certification aimed specifically at desktop virtualization architects in the future.
I am by no means an analyst, but to me this shows VMware’s taking desktop virtualization seriously by differentiating it from its core products and making a dedicated certification track. Citrix has done this for a while with their Citrix Certified Administrator certifications for XenDesktop as they recognized the importance of differentiating that technology from their other offerings. VMware’s three level desktop certification track shows VMware recognizes they need to build the skill set and acknowledge those that have developed an expertise in delivering their VDI solution.
I also think this brings up an important point about desktop virtualization that I’ve seen as a larger trend in the industry. That is, the folks that know how to do server virtualization are not automatically the same folks who should be doing desktop virtualization. Just because someone has a VCP certification doesn’t mean they know how to deploy VMware View (or XenDesktop for that matter). Desktop virtualization requires a different skillset and creating certifications specifically for this technology shows VMware acknowledges this as well.
I think VMware has made the right move here in creating a seperate certification track for those that focus on desktop virtualization. It should help both acknowledge those that are experts in desktop virtualization as well as improve the overall design, implementation, and delivery of their desktop virtualization products.