what certifications are for life?

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hi i just wanted to get a list of all certifications that will last for ever and which ones you have to renew every X amount of years
i believe CCNA is a 3 year certification requiring you to renew it with relevant exams

 

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I believe this is correct definetly the first two are.

compTIA exams A+,Network +, Security+ if you pass them before december 31st 2010 otherwise they require a 3 year recertification.
MCDST
MCTS
MCITP (not sure on this one).
MCSA
MCSE (I think if you specialize ie in security or whatever then you have to recertify in that part though).

 

ALL certifications? There are a blue million out there...

Here's the most popular ones:
Old Microsoft certs (MCP, MCDST, MCSA, MCSE) are for life.
New Microsoft certs (MCTS, MCITP) expire when support expires.
Cisco certs require recertification.
CompTIA certs are for life with the exception of A+, Network+, and Security+, which will require recert for those who certify in 2011 and beyond.

 

That would be quite a list as there are more certifications out there than we even mention on this forum.
Many of them have different lifespans such as a fixed period (as you mention, the CCNA) or linked to a product lifespan, such as the current MS certs.

Also, as we saw recently with A+, this can be changed at the drop of a hat.

Why do you need to know? If you work in server admin and want to get the MCSA to further your career prospects, will it really put you off if you knew that it had to be renewed every 3 years (which it doesn't, before someone points that out). Or would you decide to go for a CIW instead, because it lasts forever - or at least, as long as CIW itself does?

Having certs that need to be renewed isn't a bad thing and shouldn't put anyone off. It shows that you are hands on and up to date, not some dumper who for lucky 10 years ago.

Someone may want to come up with such a list, but I'd be interested to know what value the information was to anybody first...

 

well yes i mean the main ones such as cisco, comptia, microsoft...
also the with the MCDST do you specialise in a certain OS (xp, vista, 7)?

 

Or that you are a dumper that bothers to dump regularly...

Keeping certs current is a MUCH easier task for dumpers, it takes them a 30 minute dump read and a 30 minute exam.

A non dumper will likely spend at least 1 month studying the material even for a re-sit or upgrade, they will likely spend 2 hours in the exam room, if they fail they will have to repeat this process.

Therefore recert in my view does nothing to improve the situation, it does however generate more income for test centres and cert vendors...

The Sun certs used to be for life, it appears this may change, same used to be true for Oracle too. All CompTia used to be for life, Microsoft used to be for life, even some Cisco certs did not originally require recert.

As the cert programs have become more popular they have felt that they have a good product and that they can further expand their market by introducing re-cert, in many cases people have felt this reneged on a set agreement and the decisions have been reversed or altered, in many cases new sets of certifications were produced as a workaround for the vendor.

I'd certainly consider the lifetime of your qualifications when you decide to embark on one, there may well be better value certifications / qualifications around.

Having to 'maintain' certifications is likely to become an unwelcome chore for most...

 

what certifications are for life?

The only one for sure is the one from the nuthouse, the rest are arbitrary.

That said, the ones mentioned above are currently lifelong certs but can change at the whim of the company providing the certs.

 

Supposedly, most of them are doing it to gain/maintain ISO compliance. However, that may simply be an excuse, with the real reason being the money-making aspect that you allege.

Well, there is no way to "maintain" a Microsoft certification, because there's no recertification for Microsoft certifications. Each of their new certifications will expire without any possibility of recertification. As far as staying current goes... if a tech doesn't stay current, then they become as obsolete as the technologies they can support. Passing an exam isn't that much of a hardship. And... nobody says you HAVE to certify.

Cisco renews your certifications upon passing a higher-level exam. For instance, all of my Cisco certifications renew every time I pass a single 642-level Cisco exam. So it's not like you have to go back and take exams all over again (unless you let the certifications lapse). Again, if you're making even a half-hearted attempt to stay current, taking one exam (whether old or new) every three years isn't that burdensome.

I feel a poll question brewing in my head... :hhhmmm