How the Citrix Project Lifecycle Can Affect Your Certification

Citrix Education has been busy rolling out is new advanced certifications for support of the release of the new Citrix Access Suite 4. These new Citrix Certified Integration Architect (CCIA) 4 and Citrix Certified Enterprise Administrator (CCEA) 4 certifications represent the most advanced and extensive learning tracks Citrix has created to date, further cementing Citrix's reputation as a highly rigorous and demanding certification track.

The evolution of these certification tracks follows the redesign of a series of Citrix Certified Administrator (CCA) credentials, which were rolled out last year. The CCA was changed from a suite level certification to three distinct tracks, each focusing on one of the products in the Citrix Access Suite, namely Citrix Presentation Server, Citrix Password Manager and Citrix Access Gateway. The CCEA and CCIA credentials will remain suite level certifications, covering the entire family of Citrix Access Suite 4 products.

In order for students to maximize the value of their Citrix credentials, it is important to look at the Citrix product lifecycle and how the certification process fits into that world. The Citrix product lifecycle is divided into five key phrases in order to provide a standardized, consistent structure for success with the implementation of Citrix products.

The CCIA certification is focused on the recommended best practices to follow for the design, analysis and building/testing phases of a Citrix deployment. The newly designed CCIA 4 credential is designed to help students prepare to lead their organization through the integration of the Citrix Access Suite into an existing IT environment.

Upon receiving this important credential, students will have developed the skills and tools they need to assess the risks associated with the existing environment, to determine the next steps needed in order to proceed with the design of the Citrix deployment, and have the ability to design an environment which includes all of the products include in the Citrix Access Suite 4. The new CCIA 4 builds on the reputation of the previous CCIA, while it continues to assess the candidate's full mastery of the skills needed to help lead an organization through the deployment of the new access suite.

The CCEA certification is focused on the building and testing, rollout and support of multiple products included in the Citrix Access Suite. The CCEA 4 is the most extensive certification available for the building and administration of Citrix environments, and the CCEA 4 is a challenging and difficult track. Through taking the training and the exams, students must learn, apply and demonstrate their mastery of advanced skills which are needed to manage the suite of Citrix Access Suite 4 products and to ensure that the environment is configured for optimal performance.

Candidates for the CCEA certification will also be trained in how to maintain the Citrix environment through the use of a comprehensive set of maintenance and troubleshooting techniques. When achieving the CCEA 4 designation, students will have learned the tools necessary to perform the critical tasks needed to build and test the Citrix Access Suite 4 environment. Successful candidates will also have learned how to maintain that environment through their knowledge of the architectural components and communication processes which make up the suite. The ultimate goal of the CCEA 4 certification track is to assist customers and partners in maximizing the reliability, stability and effectiveness of their Citrix environments.

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