IBM DB2 Certificate.

[Anuj Dhawan]

DB2 certification, from IBM, has a strong following and has been well-established for many years. Susan Dykman, the Certification Program Manager for IBM Information Management, has crafted a certification portfolio that allows DB2 professionals to customize their certification paths based on job role, specialty area and level of skills advancement.

The program begins with an entry-level certification, the IBM Certified Database Associate. After establishing a base knowledge of the fundamentals, the DB2 9 certification portfolio provides a choice of certification paths: On the database administrator (DBA) path, there is a choice between specializing in DB2 9 for Linux, Unix and Windows (LUW), or a specialization in DB2 9 for z/OS. An application developer path also offers a variety of options.

DB2 9 Associate. Database professionals who have never taken a DB2 9 certification will want to start with the DB2 9 Fundamentals. This certification requires knowledge about areas such as planning, security, database objects, DB2 tables, DB2 data with SQL and data concurrency. The IBM Certified Database Associate for DB2 9 Fundamentals certification is awarded upon successful completion of the single exam (730).
DB2 Administrator. The next level of skill advancement is database administrator (DBA), and there are a variety of DBA certification opportunities.
DB2 9 Administrator for LUW. The IBM Certified Database Administrator for DB2 9 for Linux, Unix and Windows certification is recommended for DBAs who have significant experience with DB2 9. The exam for this certification (731) covers areas such as DB2 server management, data placement, database access, DB2 utilities, analyzing DB2 activity, high availability and security.
Upgrade Exams. DB2 certification offers a fast path for DBAs who already hold certifications for DB2 UDB V8 by passing exams 700 and 701. These DBAs can benefit by taking a short upgrade Exam (736) and bypassing exams 730 and 731 to achieve the IBM Certified Database Administrator for DB2 9 for Linux, Unix and Windows certification. The upgrade exam has 38 questions covering areas such as server management, data placement, XML concepts, analyzing DB2 activity, high availability and security.
DB2 9 Administrator for z/OS. Successfully completing the exam DB2 9 DBA for z/OS (732) earns the credential of IBM Certified Database Administrator - DB2 9 for z/OS. This certification is designed to validate z/OS skills, including database design and implementation; operation and recovery; security; auditing; performance; and installation, migration and upgrade.

DB2 9 Advanced DBA for LUW. The IBM Certified Advanced Database Administrator for DB2 9 for LUW requires three exams: DB2 9 Family Fundamentals (730); DB2 9 DBA for Linux UNIX and Windows (731)l DB2 9 Advanced Database Administrator for Linux UNIX and Windows (734). The advanced DBA is the lead for the DB2 products on one or more of the following platforms: Linux, Unix (including AIX, HP-UX and Sun Solaris) and Windows. This individual has extensive experience as a DBA and extensive knowledge of DB2 9.
DB2 9 Application Developer. There also are different options on the application developer career path. IBM Certified Application Developer – DB2 9 is an intermediate- or advanced-level application developer specializing in creating applications that run on any of the DB2 platforms: Linux, Unix (including AIX, HP-UX and Sun Solaris) and Windows, z/OS, s/390 and iSeries. This application developer should be skilled in the areas of data manipulation, XML manipulation, advanced programming, database objects and programming methods and others.
The IBM Certified Solutions Developer - DB2 9.5 SQL Procedure Developer is new to the DB2 9 portfolio. The certification requires exam 735 and is designed to measure the important knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to design, build, test and deploy SQL Procedures, triggers and functions. The certification exam covers areas such as SQL procedural language, DB2 SQL procedures, functions, triggers, advanced SQL features and more.