As part of its ongoing strategy to simplify the way Nortel does business with partners and customers, the new Nortel Certification Programme is available throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA); North America and Asia Pacific.
“The enhancements to Nortel’s Certification Programme are key to helping customers and partners efficiently validate the skills they need to successfully deploy Nortel Solutions. By incorporating certification exams as part of classroom training we are saving time and money for IT professionals,” said Scott Schauer, director, Global Certification, Nortel.
Partners will be offered two new sets of exams -- Segment and Delta exams. As the name suggests, the Segment exams “unbundle” the certification exam and delivers it in segments. This provides a step by step or course by course approach making it easier for candidates to progress toward certification and tests the student’s knowledge in more manageable segments.
Segment Exams can be taken at the conclusion of a training class or challenged at a testing centre operated by Prometric, Nortel’s testing provider. A group of Segment exams associated with courses in any given training track will equate to an associated Standard, full-length exam. Passing the appropriate Segment exams will yield the same certification designation as the Standard Certification exam allowing candidates to work toward an exam requirement in a more detailed phased approach if desired.
"Nortel is definitely taking this program in the right direction," said John Lockhart, operations director, Unified Group, a Nortel channel partner. "Keeping my engineers’ certification up-to-date creates excellent career opportunities for them and I feel very comfortable knowing I am investing my company time and money in a program that is pro-actively addressing the evolving needs of the IT community."
Delta exams have been specifically designed to test incremental knowledge and skills for a major new product release. Delta exams will be targeted toward individuals holding a Nortel Professional Certification at the previous product release. These individuals will be able to update their Certification by passing the relevant Delta Exam. Delta exams will be rolled out in conjunction with Delta training courses.
Candidates will now be able to take exams at Prometric testing centers or at the end of each leader-led class, the latter reducing the time away from the office. End of class testing will offer either the Segment Exam associated with the course, where one is available, or the applicable standard full length exam. Either choice of exams will be included in the price of the course.