Who's Who in Certification
Emmett Dulaney
Table 1 pt 1
Table 1 pt 2
Table 1 pt 3
Table 1 pt 4
There are a number of ways you can go about preparing for a certification exam.
Undisputedly, the best way is to actually have years of hands-on experience
with every topic -- and objective -- on the exam that you are preparing to take.
Since that isn't always possible (even in the workplace, you rarely are confronted
with every issue that the test writers conjure up), there are a number of other
ways to learn the topics.
If you are good at self-study, you can research topics on the Internet (for
free), purchase books/study guides/training manuals (slightly more expensive),
or buy software-based learning aides like practice tests, simulations, and the
like. If you are not good at self-study, you can consider short classes, boot
camps, or vendor-sponsored/approved training. As a universal rule, the longer
the course, or the more tailored it is to a niche topic, generally the more
expensive it is.
In an attempt to ascertain which vendors are offering what study materials,
Sys Admin created a questionnaire and sent it to as many different businesses
as possible. The answers and responses to those questionnaires have been compiled
into the table that follows. It must also be noted that organizations behind
many of the certifications (CompTIA, LPI, etc.) are not included in the list
because they do not offer training materials, per se, but focus only on authenticating
skills.
While every attempt was made to contact as many different vendors as possible,
the list may not be complete simply because some vendors did not respond or
because their names were inadvertently overlooked in the mailing.
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