Best New Cloud Computing Certification Training Courses

Cloud Computing has the potential to be a disruptive force by affecting the deployment and use of technology. The cloud could be the next evolution in the history of computing, following in the footsteps of mainframes, minicomputers, PCs, servers, smart phones, and so on, and radically changing the way enterprises manage IT. Yes, plenty of questions are still left to be answered regarding security within the cloud and how customers and cloud service providers (CSPs) will manage issues and expectations, but it would be a severe understatement to say simply that cloud computing has generated interest in the marketplace.

The hype regarding cloud computing is unavoidable. It has caught the imagination of consumers, businesses, financial analysts, and of course, the CSPs themselves. Search for “cloud computing” on the Internet and you will uncover thousands of articles defining it, praising it, ridiculing it, and selling it.

In the next five years, IDC expects spending on IT cloud services to
grow almost three-fold, reaching USD 42 billion by 2012 and accounting
for 9 percent of revenues in five key market segments. Spending on
cloud computing will accelerate throughout the forecast period,
capturing 25 percent of IT spending growth in 2012 and nearly a third
of growth the following year. This will automatically generate a demand
for skilled cloud computing professionals and the training industry is
responding to this demand.

Since there are different cloud models and standards the components of the course wil greatly depend on the cloud computing provider you choose. Some carefully selected cloud computing courses are listed below. They offer specialization on different aspects of cloud computing.

Certified Advanced Professional Program- Cloud Computing Certification

Aimed at Developing and Advancing Virtualization Expertise to Enable the IT Infrastructure of the Future –the global leader in virtualization solutions from the desktop through the datacenter to the cloud, has announced a new certification program, VMware Certified Advanced Professional (VCAP), to allow IT professionals to deepen their knowledge and expertise of VMware virtualization solutions. This advanced level of certification will enable organizations to transform IT environments through virtualization to help them better realize the greater value from flexible, agile IT-as-a-Service and cloud computing models.

This new VCAP certification from vmware is a perfect addition two of the existing certification levels:

• VMware Certified Professionals (VCP) – Over 50,000 induviduals worldwide are qualified

• VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) – An elite certification with approximately 50 qualified around the world.

The VCAP certification aims to sharpen the skills of the proven VCP holders in handling the new cloud computing environment. The latest addition has come at a critical time as many companies already are in need of advanced skills to transform their rapidly growing datacenters to be more energy and cost efficient and eventually maximize productivity.

Two VCAP Cloud Certification Specialization To Choose From

The VCAP program offer two channels for specialization for virtualization partners, end users and consultants.

VMware Certified Advanced Professional Datacenter Administration (VCAP-DCA)

This specialization is directed towards System Administrators, Technical  Support Engineers and Senior Consultants who are talented in working with complex virtualized cloud computing environments and can deal efficiently with the VMware vSphere technologies. The VCAP-DCA exam opened on July 12, 2010.

VMware Certified Advanced Professional Datacenter Design (VCAP-DCD)

This track is especially crafted for the IT Architects and Consulting Architects who can show case their skills in IT designing and implementing VMware solutions in a multi-site, large enterprise environment. Successful candidates  would get a clear grasp about the core concept of VMware components and their relation to storage, networking and especially data center design technology. The exams for VCAP-DCD opened in August 2010.

VMware has 25,000 partners and 170,000 customers worldwide. With the new greater demand for virtualization and cloud computing (the field they had specialized so far) had given them a huge raise in the international companies ranking. They also have excellent R&D department which have have given birth to several new technologies such as VMware ESX servers. With someone that industry-recognized VMware cloud computing certification further validates that IT professionals demonstrates that they possess the skills they need to successfully build, manage, deploy and service your VMware infrastructure.

Red Hat has launched a new certification for virtualization called the Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA).The training will benefit experienced Linux, Microsoft-certified and Cisco-certified system administrators, enabling them to manage large numbers of servers or virtual machines by using Red Hat Enterprise offerings.The certification is designed to equip IT professionals with the knowledge and expertise to deploy and manage virtual systems for cloud computing infrastructure.

The Industry's first examination of cloud security knowledge was launched by the company 'Cloud Security Alliance' . The launch of CSA’s CCSK program is an important step in improving security professionals’ understanding of cloud security challenges and best practices and will lead to improved trust of and increased use of cloud services.The Cloud Security Alliance’s User Certification is a big step forward in ensuring that IT professionals considering deploying applications into the cloud understand security issues

In India, Aptech launched its Cloud Computing course here in early December
and the course is being offered at three levels: Level 100, Level 200
and Level 300. It plans to introduce this course in Vietnam and other
global training centers from January 2010.
 
Level 100 is the appreciation course (basic level) that offers an
understanding of what is cloud computing. Level 300, the advanced
level, touches upon cloud programming concepts such as C#, Python and
Java. Aptech said it would offer placement assistance for the advanced
level.

“Cloud computing is now a critical aspect of IT, so we are targeting
both the skilling market as well as the re-skilling market, and the
later is fairly large, both within and outside India,” says Ninad
Karpe, MD and CEO, Aptech Limited

The University of Washington ran an upper-division course on Distributed Computing with MapReduce in Spring 2007. In the link you'll find the materials that were used for the class: five lectures in powerpoint format, as well as four lab exercises designed which were completed by students over the duration of the course, using a cluster running Hadoop.These cousese are academically related with cloud computing.

MSDN Events is hosting some local deep dives into Windows Azure and cloud computing. If you happen to be in one of the cities below, you can register for the free courses at http://www.msdnevents.com. The course will cover data storage, SQL Azure, and deployment of apps on Windows Azure. City list after the jump.

Researchers at the Reliable Adaptive Distributed Systems Laboratory (RAD Lab) at UC Berkeley have released a 23-page white paper, Above the Clouds [PDF], that provides an in-depth analysis of the emerging cloud computing model. The paper is one of the first academic treatises on the subject to offer a critical profile of the cloud computing landscape today.

3Tera's cloud computing training and certifications programs are accessible to IT professionals who are either evaluating or using the AppLogic cloud computing platform. Certifications are awarded upon successful completion of the training coursework and online testing. For more details on training schedule and availability, visit their site.

Cloud Jobs, the #1 Online Source for jobs in Top Cloud Computing Companies, Software as a Service (SaaS), and Virtualization. They are no ordinary job site. We specialize in matching applicants and recruiters, by focusing our service for one of today's most IN DEMAND careers.

Whether you are looking for a change of scenery or searching for a new career, Cloud Jobs provides you the opportunity to find employers looking for your specific talents, in a multibillion dollar market that is growing every day.