Who's Who in Certification

Emmett Dulaney

Figure 1: Training and Certification Information, pt. 1 , pt. 2 , pt. 3 , 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.