Dell EMC Certification Program: Double Benefits

Dell remains the world's leading computing enterprise offering a wide range of certifications for the IT professionals and different training options for its end users. It is well known for its training and certificates for the storage engineers, administrators, architects, and developers. Its focus is mainly on software and hardware. In 2016, Dell merged with EMC, and over the years, both companies have built a formidable enterprise. Through the Dell EMC certification program, many specialists have become the leaders in various areas of their careers.

Dell EMC Certification Program

Since the merger, Dell has been offering products and services covering seven brands of technologies, including Dell, Dell EMC, RSA, Pivotal, Virtustream, VMware, and Secureworks. In the same way, the certification programs have been merged into a unified program known as the Dell EMC Proven Professional Certification portfolio. There are numerous certificates under this unified program and they are divided based on the technology track, which includes Cloud, Converged Infrastructure, Data Protection, Data Science, Networking, Security, Servers, and Storage. Each category has a list of options covering different levels. The tracks that you can opt for include the following certifications:

1. Cloud Track

This option offers three levels of certifications, which include Cloud Associate, Cloud Specialist, and Cloud Expert.

• Cloud Associate

  This level comes with two certifications, namely DCA: Cloud Infrastructure & Services v3 (DCA-CIS) and DCA: Information Storage & Management v4 (DCA-ISM). It focuses on an open, elastic, and robust architecture that highlights the considerations, challenges, and benefits of design choices with an emphasis on the importance of appropriate prerequisites gathering during the design process. To earn DCS-CIS, the candidates must pass a single exam, which is DEA-2TT3. The DCA-ISM certificate requires that you take the DEA-1TT4 test.

• Cloud Specialist

  This level has one option (DCS-CA: Cloud Architect, Cloud Infrastructure) that comes with a single exam. However, the students must first obtain the associate-level certificate before proceeding to the Specialist level. After earning the prerequisite certification, the potential candidates can proceed to pass the specialist-level test, which is DES-2T13.

• Cloud Expert

  This is the apex in the Cloud certification track. To get it, the learners must first earn the certificates of the previous levels. After completing these two stages, they can proceed to the E20-920 exam that qualifies them for the attainment of the DCE-CA: Cloud Architect, Cloud Services v2 certification.

2. Converged Infrastructure Track

This certification track has two levels: Associate and Specialist. Let’s look at these two paths briefly:

• Converged Infrastructure Associate

  The DCA: Converged Infrastructure and Hybrid Cloud v2 certification is designed to validate the fundamental knowledge of the associated technology. To get the certificate, you need to pass the DEA-64T1 exam.

• Converged Infrastructure Specialist

  This certificate focuses on specific roles, baseline skills, and knowledge in a given technology. There are three management tracks under the Specialist path, and these include the following:

  • DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, VxBlock;
  • DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, PowerFlex Rack;
  • DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, VxRail Appliance.

3. Data Protection Track

This track includes two certification levels (Associate and Specialist) that focus on a given technology.

• Data Protection Associate

  This path has two specialization areas, which include DCA: Data Protection and Management v1 and DCA: Information Storage and Management v4. Each certificate requires that the individuals pass a single exam to get the one they need.

• Data Protection Specialist

  As for this certification pathway, it has five different specializations. Each of them requires a single exam to be taken. The five options that the applicants can pursue under this track are the following:

  • DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerProtect Data Manager;
  • DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, Avamar;
  • DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, Data Domain;
  • DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, Networker;
  • DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, RecoverPoint.

4. Data Science Track

This track also has two levels to offer: Data Science Associate and Data Science Specialist. The associate-level option includes DCA: Data Scientist, Data Science, & Big Data Analytics v2 with one prerequisite exam. The specialist-level certification path has two options: DCS-DS: Data Scientist, Advanced Analytics and DCS-DS: Data Scientist, Data Engineering. Each certificate also requires one test.

5. Networking Track

The individuals can also pursue two certification levels under this track: Associate and Specialist. The first path has a single certificate, which is DCA: Networking v1, while the second track comes with two options. They are DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, Campus Networking and DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, Data Center Networking. Each certification requires that you pass one qualifying exam.

6. Security Track

The Associate level has five specialization areas. Each of them requires a single exam that you should pass to obtain the following certifications:

• DCA: Converged Infrastructure and Hybrid Cloud v2;
• DCA: Cloud Infrastructure and Services v3;
• DCA: Data Protection and Management v1;
• DCA: Information Storage and Management v4;
• DCA: Networking v1;
• DCA: PowerEdge v1.

The Specialist level includes only one option, which is DCS: Infrastructure Security. This certification is also associated with one prerequisite exam.

7. Servers Track

There are only two levels as well. The Associate level of the Servers certification track has a single specialization, which is DCA: PowerEdge v2. You should pass one exam to get it. The Specialist level has four different certificates. The candidates pursuing any of these certifications must ace one test per each. It is also important to know that the Associate level is a prerequisite for the specialist-level options under the unified Dell EMC certification program. The certificates offered under the Specialist level are as follows:

• DCS-SA: System Administrator, OpenManage Enterprise;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerEdge;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerEdge MX Modular;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerEdge M1000e, FX, VRTX.

8. Storage Track

This certification track has three levels: Associate, Specialist, and Expert. The associate-level path has one certificate, DCA: Information Storage and Management v4, which requires a single exam. The next level has eight specialization areas, and each option comes with one test for taking that requires the associate-level certification as the main prerequisite. The certificates available under the Specialist level include the following:

• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, Dell EMC Unity Solutions;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerStore Solutions;
• DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, ECS;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerScale;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, PowerMax and VMAX Family Solutions;
• DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, VPLEX;
• DCS-SA: Systems Administrator, XtremIO Solutions;
• DCS-IE: Implementation Engineer, SC Series Solutions.

The Expert level has three different paths that include the Planning and Design, Deployment, and Management tracks. Each of them has two certification specializations. This means that the Dell EMC program has a total of six certificates under the Storage track.

9. Enterprise Architect Track

This is an expert-level track that can offer one certification, which is known as Certified Enterprise Architect. This option requires that the candidates pass the associated exam and fulfill the prerequisites.

Career Opportunities

The Dell EMC certification program is regularly revised and updated to ensure that the professionals have the skills and knowledge required to deliver on the job. This means that the certified specialists can explore a wide range of career options, ranging from Data Scientists to Storage Engineers, Administrators, Architects, Developers, and more. Some of the job roles these individuals can take up include an Account Executive, a Deployment Manager, an IT Manager, a System Administrator, a Consultant, and many more. As for their average annual salary, they can earn from $33,446 to $107,786.

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