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...Home ... Editorial ... News ..News Story Monday: December 19, 2011


Novell Closing CDE Program


2/25/2004 -- Novell recently announced that it is closing its Certified Directory Engineer (CDE) certification on April 1. Candidates will not be able to take the CDE exams after that date, although any CDE earned before then will remain valid, and CDEs will continue to recieve all benefits associated with the title.

The CDE, which debuted in 2000, is unique in the certification world in that it uses Novell's virtual machine technology to remotely test candidates' hands-on skills within a live application. This same technology will be used in the company's upcoming Certified Linux Engineer (CLE) title, set to debut worldwide in April after premiering at Novell's Brainshare conference in late March.

Ptarmi Kilgore, manager of certification and marketing for Novell Training Services, told CertCities.com today that although Novell's increasing focus on Linux is a factor in the cancellation of the CDE, it's not as simple as the CLE replacing the CDE.

"eDirectory is really integral to our Linux strategy, but it doesn't need a separate certification any longer," she explained. "[eDirectory has]just become more prolific, more of a core underlying technology that sews our technology together. We teach it at every facet, in every course...if you come through the core curriculum [now], you've just become a directory specialist."

Kilgore said that decisionto cancel the program was made last fall in consultation with the program's advisory board. It came up as part of a review of all of Novell's title in light of the SuSE acqusition, as well as plans to transition all of Novell's exams to the virtual testing technology. "It made sense at the time to review all the titles," she said. "We always look to align our resources [with] Novell's strategy."

Kilgore said that the program understands that many CDEs may be unhappy with the decision. "I think anytime you close a program people are disappointed," she said. "We do not want to mitigate that [CDEs] really are directory specialists. We will continue to recognize that."

According the Kilgore, the number of current CDEs is in the "high hundreds."

Kilgore also shared some new information about the planned delivery of the CLE exam. When launched worldwide in April, the title will be available only through Novell and its training partners. However, Kilgore said the program is working with Pearson Vue and Prometric to make the exam available through their testing centers by mid-summer.

More information about the CDE and its closure can be found here. More information on the upcoming CLE title can be found here.  -Becky Nagel



There are 10 CertCities.com user Comments for “Novell Closing CDE Program”
Page 1 of 1
2/26/04: Anonymous says: Is Novell really relevant any more?
2/26/04: Mallory from TX says: It is if you are still using it...and a lot of companies are. It is actually more impressive to carry a Novell and Microsoft Certification on your resume rather than one or the other! It shows versatility and experience!
2/26/04: DeveloperNet Guy says: Relevant? Have you been living under a big rock? Ever heard on an OS called Linux? Ever heard of business class networking services for Linux - well Novell has them both! Give the web site (and the stock chart) another look. www.novell.com
2/27/04: Anonymous says: Novell should just give it up, nobody plays 'Space Invaders' anymore. I feel sorry for companies that try to hang on until the bitter end. Pull the plug while you still have some dignity left Novell. Remember "its better to burn out than fade away".
2/27/04: ajs1976 from iCertify.net says: I disagree. Novell needs to stay around as long as it can, so that Microsoft has as much competition as possible.
2/27/04: Anonymous says: Why should Microsoft have a competition? They will constantly enhance and improve their products anyway and as far as I know, the market now leans much toward Microsoft than Novell, despite complaints against them. And if they should have a competition to lower their products price, I think there's no need for that, I got my copy of Windows Server 2003, XP Pro, SQL Server 2000, etc you name it, for $5 each from the far east, they work just fine. So Novell can just give it up, it shouldn't be a problem, it's their call.
2/29/04: Anonymous says: mo' Novell
3/7/04: Anonymous says: Bye Novell, I won't cry, you made your money a long time ago and now its time to retire. Farewell Novell.
4/28/04: OverTheEdge from Boston says: I think this is yet another mistake by Novell. I'm a Master CNE who almost became a CDE (before losing interest), and I can assure you that the level of DS knowledge required for this cert is not something Novell has integrated into their "core curriculum," unless they have raised the bar significantly - which would seem like a dumb thing to do at a time when you need to move everyone to a new OS. There's something to be said for advanced certs, especially ones with a technology-based core that reaches beyond vendor specifics. It's too bad the CDE didn't catch on, but it might have if they had given it more time. Novell had become increasingly irrelevant until the Ximian and SUSE purchases, but now they have the chance to make some noise again. Instead of dumping on the small core of technologists who have been keeping the Novell flame alive over the past several years, they should have found a way to integrate the CDE cert into their new strategy. They will have a very hard time convincing me they expect every CLE to be an LDAP expert, or be able to interpret a dsrepair dump log. Novell has long been accused of needing a competent marketing strategy - here's one in a nutshell folks: Don't piss off the people who make you successful, or - worse - make them feel like they're wasting their time with you.
10/11/05: hossam from egypt-mnofya-sersellayan says: iam an old thinker in computer matters and i wish you help me..
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