EMC Unveils Groundbreaking Professional Certification Program; First Career Development Program to Certify Proficiency in Information Storage Management Roles

Business Wire, Feb 12, 2001

Business/Technology Editors

HOPKINTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 12, 2001

Building on its number-one ranking in customer satisfaction among all technology companies worldwide, EMC Corporation today unveiled the EMC Proven Professional Certification Program. The new initiative is the world's first knowledge transfer program that both increases the pool of highly qualified information storage professionals and certifies candidates for commonly accepted information storage management roles, such as information storage architect, builder and operator.

EMC Proven Professional represents a significant extension of the EMC Proven Program, which builds trust and confidence in the scalability, availability and functionality of information storage resources. Just as the EMC Proven E-Infostructure program formally recognizes customers who have built their businesses on EMC's world-leading information infrastructure, EMC Proven Professionals are the individuals who have invested in acquiring and demonstrating the skills needed to design, deploy and leverage the EMC infrastructure for proven business advantage.

By deepening candidates' core competencies in critical elements of the EMC E-Infostructure, the EMC Certification Program enables customers, system integrators, storage service providers and consultants to quickly, easily and profitably gain maximum value from EMC technology and solutions. Candidates earn the EMC certification only after they have demonstrated their ability to implement, maintain and scale an EMC-based information storage infrastructure effectively and productively.

"At a time when the global pool of highly qualified IT managers is not keeping up with demand, well designed, independently validated certification programs can be beneficial to both the individuals trained and their companies," said Carl Greiner, of Meta Group, a research and consulting firm with headquarters in Stamford, Conn. "Such focused programs are necessary as IT professionals are required to rise to the challenge of managing, protecting and sharing the exploding volumes of information being generated and consumed by every organization."

"EMC Proven Professionals benefit from best-practices application of e-learning and knowledge transfer, as well as EMC's own world-class technology expertise developed over decades of experience and thousands of customer engagements," said Joseph F. Walton, Senior Vice President of EMC Global Services. "By demonstrating knowledge and proficiency in critical elements of the EMC E-Infostructure, certificate holders increase their ability to make stronger, more rational recommendations of appropriate information storage solutions, more rapidly and effectively implement the solutions, and enhance their own career development. This initiative is the latest demonstration of EMC's unrelenting commitment to customer satisfaction."

The new Certification Program is administered through a combination of computer-based e-learning and expert-led instruction offered worldwide in geographically dispersed classrooms and testing centers. The basic certification track grounds the candidate in the design, deployment and management of EMC information storage systems, software and network offerings. Certification is conferred following successful completion of the required course curriculum and examinations and denotes a measurable and predictable level of expertise. Associate- and Master-level Certification is available in each information storage role. Candidates also can earn the EMC Proven Professional Instructor classification, qualifying them to train others.

Delivering a Continuum of Global Service

EMC Proven Professional Certification represents a major initiative of EMC's new Global Services Business Unit, a consolidation of EMC's expert Customer Service, Professional Services and Customer Education organizations.

Doug Chandler, Program Manager, Storage and Data Management Services, at International Data Corporation (IDC), said, "Storage services are one of the most rapidly growing areas in the IT industry. Customers are requiring more from their storage providers due to the complexity of delivering high data availability. By surrounding the customer with service, EMC once again is quickly and intelligently responding to market requirements."

"EMC Global Services creates a worldwide services network, providing full life-cycle support to our customers and partners before, during and following the sale," said Walton. "By uniting all our services functions worldwide, we leverage EMC's organizational strengths, expertise and global reach to ensure that our customers realize the full benefit of their EMC investments today and in the future."

Last October, EMC was rated number one in after-sale service and service-level guarantees in an InformationWeek end-user survey. The company consistently is rated number one in customer satisfaction by independent research firms such as GartnerGroup. As quoted recently in Forbes Magazine, Carl Howe, of Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass., commented, "EMC has the highest ratings we've ever seen - in any customer survey, for any company, ever." In addition, EMC's Hopkinton and Westboro, Mass., and Cork, Ireland, customer support centers recently were awarded the prestigious Support Center Practices (SCP) quality certification.