Virtualization has been present in the industry since 1960, but after a few years VMware completely took over this enterprise technology. It’s now being widely used as a standard feature in all kinds of enterprise IT strategy. This technology is used everywhere whether it is desktop or applications or cloud. If you’re thinking about becoming a system or network administrator, virtualization will be the key skill for you to come in handy for your career growth.
Various networking and data center vendors offer virtualization products. VMware vSphere and NSX Data Center; Microsoft Hyper-V, Cisco Network Virtualization, Oracle VM, Citrix Virtual Apps, and Red Hat Virtualization are some popular names. Google has now given the freedom to its customers, they can now run Google, AWS, and Azure cloud stacks on their data centers!
Virtualization skills are demanded in the market because of these virtualization deployment products. In such cases, the best way to build your knowledge and validate your new skills is to obtain some virtualization certifications.
It is not fixed that being skilled is the only way of showcasing your skills. Getting a virtualization certification can be a better option for you. So, if you have chosen to learn virtualization, get to know about some of the virtualization-based certs you should consider.
Virtualization Certifications
Here are some of the leading virtualization certifications that you should consider as your career option. There are some important factors to be considered such as the virtualization platforms being used in the organizations these days, and the important skills and certifications demanded these days.
VMware vSphere 6.7 certified professionals are able to implement, manage, and troubleshoot a vSphere V6.7 infrastructure. The certification will give you knowledge about using the best practices used to provide a powerful, flexible, and secure foundation for improving the performance of the business and help them move to cloud computing. The average annual salary earned by VMware certified professionals is USD 88,000 and the senior-level professionals earn USD 100K.
- MCSA Windows Server 2016 Certification
Microsoft’s Hyper-V virtualization technology is delivered as Windows Server and its latest update is Windows Server 2016. So, if you want Microsoft’s virtualization certification, you will have to achieve MCSA: Windows Server 2016 certificate. If you’re a network or systems administrator with Microsoft applications in focus, then this cert is right for you. The recent surveys have shown a high demand for Hyper-V skills in job roles like system, Windows server, and network administrators, and network engineers. Sometimes jobs require both Windows Server and VMware expertise.
The Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE): Core Infrastructure certification is the expert-level and advanced certification exam of this industry. This exam covers the concepts of data centers like identity management, systems management, virtualization, storage, and networking. The average annual salary offered to MCSA certified professionals is USD 73,000 USD.
- Cisco CCNA Data Center Certification
The CCNA Data Center is an ideal certification for system and network admins beginning their career in this field. The certification provides the knowledge required for managing the physical infrastructure, networking, and storage in the data center. The certification also provides knowledge of technologies like unified computing, network virtualization, and automation and orchestration. With this certification, you can get senior job level certs, starting with the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) Data Center, and lastly the expert-level CCIE Data Center. There is no specific information about the CCNA Data Center certified professionals salary, but on average CCNA certified professionals earn USD 75,000 USD to USD 108,000 annually.
- Citrix Certified Associate (CCA) – Virtualization (CCA – V) Certification
Citrix is a Xen-based economical virtualization solution that is performing well in the wide world of Microsoft, including the Azure cloud. The Citrix Certified Associate (CCA) – Virtualization certification is for the desktop and systems admins working with Citrix’s virtual desktop and application products. The average salary offered to a CCA certified professional is USD 86,000. There is also a huge career progression from the associate-level to professional- and expert-level certifications.
- Oracle VM 3.0 for x86 Certified Implementation Specialist Certification
Oracle VM is also a Xen-based server virtualization product that requires x86 and SPARC boxes for the operation. This certification provides the skills required to build expertise to work with its various channel partners. If you want to become an Oracle VM Certified Implementation Specialist then it is not necessary for you to work for a channel partner. You can still work for a customer organization to gain these designations.
- Red Hat Certified Specialist in Virtualization Certification
One of the best virtualization certifications is the Red Hat Certified Specialist (RHCS) Virtualization certification. This certification is for the system administrators responsible for implementing and managing virtual infrastructures running on Red Hat Linux. The certified Red Hat Certified Engineers (RHCE) receives a good paycheck. The average salary offered is USD 98,000.
Virtualization is a complicated part of IT and it’s not going to get any simple in the coming time as well. Corporations like VMware, Microsoft, and Cisco performing mainly premise-based tasks are combining with the cloud. These organizations use cloud solutions from companies like AWS, Azure, and Google.
Earning virtualization certification will provide you the advantage to work with in-demand technologies. You can also get various career benefits, good paychecks, and many more. If you are ready to start your career in this field then uCertify has the right VMware vSphere 6.7 course to prepare for the VMware Vsphere certification exam. The VMware vSphere training course provides skills required to plan and install VMware ESXi; configure vCenter Server, storage devices, vSphere network, and more. The course has all the learning resources to help you gain expertise in all the areas. Use our course and take your career to the next level.
