Re: 8i OCP Net8 Exam

Hi Faan,

I really do sympathise with folks that are kinda dragged into this whole OCP debacle by people who have obsoletely no understanding of how it's implemented and administered (HR heavies, higher management, recruitment agencies, outsourcing and system integrating organisations, etc.). And of course they push you for very good and noble reasons, generally to ensure that one is competent and qualified to perform the tasks required of the OCP job role. You know, a professional.

What they fail to comprehend however is that the OCP program fails utterly to achieve these goals. It's a question of process and red tape rather than of achieving it's desired purpose and results. Sure many OCPs are extremely competent and professional however you can't be sure. In fact because the exams are so trivial you really can't be sure an OCP has ever opened an Oracle database.

I agree that the OCM model is a far better measurement of what the OCP program was claiming to achieve. Hearing from people such a Pete Sharman who have gone through it, it's certainly a tough examination and one what requires both a reasonable understanding and practical hands-on knowledge.

But unfortunately, there's a but ... Actually, there's a number of buts.

Firstly the cost is prohibitive. It ain't cheap, especially when you add in the cost of the 2 day exam, the cost of the 2 mandatory training courses (why someone capable of passing the exam is forced to attend 2 courses is just plain silly), the cost of travel and accommodation, the cost of not working for this period .... It's runs to many many thousands of dollars which is beyond the reach of many, especially as the cost/benefits are still somewhat dubious. OCM or a round the world holiday with the family, hummmm tough choice.

But unfortunately, Oracle's *main* priority here is to make money, not to have a successful and meaningful certification program (which is fair enough). It might sound as if the two objectives should be mutually beneficial (I've always argued that a successful program would be profitable both directly and more importantly indirectly) but unfortunately with the over emphasis of making huge profits, Oracle ends up failing on both counts. As a result, only a handful have gone through the program, events are cancelled due to insufficient numbers and the whole thing is struggling.

The other problem of course is that Oracle has got itself caught in a corner somewhat. They can't make too big a deal on the improvements of the OCM scheme, they can't really go on about how OCM lifts the bar to the point when you need a reasonable little "jump" to get over, that OCM is a significant improvement over OCP ... Because that would mean admitting that OCP is meaningless as a measurement of professionalism, that the P in OCP has been false advertising and that an OCP can't really be trusted to look after your invaluable information investment and what you *really* need is an OCM. The risk to the credibility of any Oracle certification program would come into doubt for what the heck has Oracle been producing all these years to warrant such a change in direction.

You see the problem.

Ideally, Oracle (or any "vendor" for that matter) shouldn't be running these certification programs, simply because they have conflicting priorities. A program that is successful in that it attracts a lot of people and that it makes a lot of money suggests that it has to be relatively easy (to get the numbers) and expensive (to make the money). Ideally, an organisation that is *focused* on the *quality* and professionalism of IT specialists that result from such a program should be running the show.

Unfortunately, we don't live in an ideal world ... But perhaps by voicing one's concerns and opinions, we might just get a little closer ;)

Cheers

Richard Foote

• Original Message ----- To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com> Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2003 4:49 AM

> Richard,
>
> I agree that the OCP is a laughing matter among experienced DBA's but to
those that are pressurized by their non-technical management, especially HR, to obtain certification for various reasons, there is very little choice than to get it or get out...:-(
>
> I can definitely see that certification programs that model the latest 9i
OCM will be the future for reliable and most importantly, credible certification. The big dilemma with this certification model is limited availability world wide and unacceptable high cost when compared to the traditional certification model...guess time will tell which model will suffice...perhaps a hybrid of the 2 models? Will be interesting to follow the certification trend from other vendors in the enterprise space e.g. Veritas, EMC, etc.
>
> I agree that it is more important to know the correct answer in the real
world where the rubber meets the road, but as Carry M. stated so elegantly in an earlier post that a wise DBA will know several i.e. the answer that the OCP exam expects, the answer your manager expects, the answer your customer expects, the answer that is technically correct, etc...;-)
>
> -f
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:04 AM
> To: Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> To: "Multiple recipients of list ORACLE-L" <ORACLE-L_at_fatcity.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 8:39 AM
>
>
> > Dennis,
> >
> > Do you have good practice exams?
> >
> > I have found that the best preparation for the OCP exams are good
practice
> exams.
> >
> > I have reached the point where I just skim through the material in the
> "whatever book you use" (probably only possible if you have some miles on
> the clock as a DBA) and then drive the in depth study from the practice
> exams. This way you are spending your time more focused and find out what
> exactly the OCP exam will expect from you vs. what some author would like
to
> teach you or even what the correct answer is in reality.
> >
> > Also, many of these questions in the practice exams will appear in the
> actual OCP exam which builds your confidence while writing the actual
exam.
> >
>
> It's comments such as these which are unfortunately all so common that
> really hits home what an laughable, sad and sorry affair the whole OCP
> program really is. I have this vision of people poring over example
> questions, desperately trying to memorise as many questions as possible,
> desperately trying to forget what "is correct is reality" for fear of not
> getting the required 65% multiple questions correct. Occasionally, they'll
> glance at the "Inside OCP" section of the Oracle Magazine and gain
> confidence in getting the jest of the "complex" concepts (and yes, further
> sample questions) it covers in each edition.
>
> And once they've passed and got that precious certificate, they're of
course
> qualified to look after that banks enterprise database because they're
> Oracle approved Oracle Certified *Professionals*. And when the database
runs
> like a dog, they'll open up their notebooks and decide is it:
>
> A) The Buffer Cache Hit Ratio is less than 90%
> B) The Library Cache Hit Ratio is less than 90%
> C) The DD Cache Hit Ratio is less than 90%
> D) The cleaning lady has accidentally pulled out the wrong plug
> E) Something else
>
> Good grief !!
>
> Now I too have spent many years teaching with Oracle Education and I'm
> Oracle 7, 8, 8i and 9i OCP (instructors were "obliged" to get certified)
so
> I know a fair bit about the process. And I've seen students leave my
> classroom with 5 days Oracle experience behind them pass their OCP DBA
Admin
> exam the following Tuesday (guess I was a good teacher :)
>
> Anyone see a problem ?
>
> At the time I kinda justified it as selling them "water" in that it
doesn't
> really harm them, achieves nothing but at least they think it's doing them
> some good. Don't get me wrong, the training they received was excellent,
> it's the OCP bit that is fluff. But really, at the end of the day, having
> such an atrocious so called professional program ends up hurting the
> individual as they've paid a lot of money (for the exams) for very little
> benefit, it hurts organisations in that there's no *guarantee* of hiring
> anything closely resembling an Oracle Professional as the bar is so low it
> drags along the ground and really it ends up hurting Oracle Corp. as well.
>
> The *only* thing it does have going for it is that it motivates some
people
> to getting training and investigating parts of Oracle they may otherwise
not
> have much to do with.
>
> But I've always thought giving away free David Bowie Cds at training
courses
> was a better way to go :)
>
> Richard
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net
> --
> Author: Richard Foote
> INET: richard.foote_at_bigpond.com
>
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> Author: Faan DeSwardt
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-- 
Please see the official ORACLE-L FAQ: http://www.orafaq.net
-- 
Author: Richard Foote
  INET: richard.foote_at_bigpond.com

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