Oracle Education announced the retirement of several certification tracks on March 13, including the OCA and OCP Database Administration certifications at Level 9i. 9i has been effectively outdated since Oracle released 10g in 2003, so those tracks are set to be pulled. With retirement, none of the exams leading to any of the 9i certificates will be available after July 31, 2013. The specific exams that have been withdrawn are:
- 1Z0-007: Introduction to Oracle9i: SQL
- 1Z0-031: Oracle9i Database: Basics I
- 1Z0-032: Oracle9i Database: Fundamentals II
- 1Z0-033: Oracle9i Database: Performance Tuning
Oracle professionals pursuing the Oracle 9i DBA track are wondering what impact this retirement will have on their certification process. The impact of the advertisement and the actions you need to take depend on where you are currently in the certification process.
- If you have OCP 9i certification – For people who have already passed all the exams and submitted practice papers, the retirement of the 9i track means absolutely nothing. Oracle certificates and exam results do not expire when the exam is completed.
- If you have completed all the tests, but have not taken the training – Oracle will not award OCP certification until you have completed your training and submitted papers. No training vendor is likely to offer 9i classes after the deadline, so you must schedule and obtain the required hands-on training before July 31 if you wish to complete the 9i OCP.
- If you have an OCA 9i – For candidates who have completed the OCA certification, there are two exams (1Z0-032, and 1Z0-033), as well as a practical training course that must be taken to become an Oracle 9i OCP. Both exams must be taken before July 31street. As noted above, training is not likely to be available after that date either. If you want to complete 9i OCP, there is very little time to waste.
- If you haven’t yet started working towards OCP – If you have not yet started preparing for the Oracle DBA certification track, I recommend that you continue with a more recent version of 9i. You will likely run out of time before completing the 9i OCP requirements. The 10G path will be available for a few years and the 11G path will probably be available for the next ten.
For candidates with the Associate 9i certification, promotion to the professional level has value beyond just increased prestige. There is no upgrade path for OCA certifications. However, upgrading OCP certifications to the next edition requires a single exam and no training required. This means if you become an Oracle 9i Database Administrator Certified Professional, one exam (1Z0-040) will upgrade your credentials to include Oracle 10G. The second test (1Z0-050) will upgrade your credentials to 11G. Later this year, Oracle will launch 12C. At that time, a tester will be provided to upgrade to 12C (1Z0-060 assumed). Becoming an Oracle Certified Professional Administrator and keeping your certifications current is a strong indication that you are familiar with the Oracle database and committed to keeping your skills current.