These credentials offer the best way to prove your expertise in developing and maintaining complex databases as well as information solutions. These skills enhance your ability to find well-paid job opportunities and promotions. That’s why it is important to pursue one of these leading certifications to ensure you are on track in your career goals. So, let’s finally dive into it!

Why Should Your Earn a SQL Certification?

The SQL credentials are key for those individuals who want to work in job domains that include database analysis, administration, and development. Here are the benefits you enjoy when you are a certified database professional:

– It validates your skills and knowledge.
– With a SQL certificate, the employers will view you as a dedicated specialist who is ready to do anything to gain skills that enhance their performance at work.
– It will make you more employable compared to those candidates who don’t have any SQL certification.
– You get an opportunity to earn well in your job position as per a salary report on PayScale where the average annual paycheck for these professionals is $70k.

Let’s find out which top SQL certifications you can get today and which are well suited to your database career.

1. MTA: Database Fundamentals
This entry-level program includes one certificate in the database field. The prerequisite exam (98-364) is for those students who want to make an entry into this sector. These candidates require proving their understanding and skills in databases that include relational ones. Microsoft SQL Server is one of such databases. The skills and experience evaluated in this MTA credential include core concepts in a database, creation of database objects, data manipulation, data storage, and database administration.

2. MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
This is an associate-level credential that is designed for the professionals who want to verify their skills. It validates their ability to use Transact-SQL in querying data. This certificate also confirms the applicants’ database development skills. You can pursue it as long as you have the basic IT expertise. Apart from these foundational skills, you must pass two related exams before you can eventually earn your certificate.

3. MCSA: SQL Database Administration
This is also an associate-level certification that is meant for those individuals who are involved in tasks, such as installing, maintaining, configuring, as well as provisioning. They are the certified database administrators and infrastructure specialists who have already passed two required exams. This means they have proven their capabilities in administering the SQL database architecture as well as SQL database provisioning. Before taking the prerequisite tests, the students must be in possession of basic IT skills.

4. MCSA: SQL Server 2012/2014
This top SQL certification validates that the candidates can effectively play their role as database analysts or developers. This implies they have the skills necessary to query and administer Microsoft SQL Server. They can also successfully use SQL Server 2012/2014 to implement a data warehouse. The initial requirements for this certificate include the basic IT skills. The students should also pass three exams. Once you earn your credential, you can also pursue the advance one such as MCSE: Data Management and Analytics. This will boost your database-related career even further.

5. MCSA: SQL 2016 BI Development
If you feel that business development is for you, then this associate-level certificate is the right one to obtain. By going for it, you demonstrate your readiness to gain skills, such as extracting, transforming, and loading data. It also enables you to develop the analytical skill set needed to provide BI solutions. The foundational expertise will be the best way to start off. Once you have these skills, you can prepare and pass two required exams and become a BI developer.

6. MCSE: Data Management and Analytics
This expert-level SQL credential is for those applicants who have SQL administration advanced skills. They have proved their capability to perform tasks, such as SQL administration, building data solutions for an enterprise, and leverage business intelligence data both in Cloud and on-premises environments. Before taking the prerequisite exam, the professionals who want to earn this certification must possess any of the associate-level certificates connected to SQL technology.

7. Oracle Database 12c Administrator Certified Associate
Most Oracle database management systems (DBMS) certifications require the specialists to attend training courses as part of the prerequisites. The credentials are also available at different levels that include Associate, Professional, Master, and Expert. Oracle 12c is currently available at the first three levels. Thus, Oracle Certified Associate (OCA) is designed to validate one’s fundamental database concepts as well as skills that DBAs require daily as they perform their management and maintenance tasks. It requires the examinees to pass two tests, including the SQL one.

Conclusion

Any of these top 7 SQL certifications will give you the kind of boost you need in your career. Obtaining at least one of them demonstrates your readiness to provide database-related solutions, such as administration, analysis, and development. These are among the leading roles in the IT world at present. So, do not hesitate and take charge of your career today by giving all that it deserves!

This certification tests your skills and demonstrates that a successful credential holder can position the HP Vertica Big Data Platform appropriately in response to customer needs. It validates your understanding of business drivers and customer pain points, knowledge of analyst reports and case studies, as well as the ability to articulate the business value of HP Big Data solutions. This HP certification also teaches flexible sales approach and the ability to overcome objections.

This certification primarily targets sales representatives seeking opportunities in the Big Data market. To achieve this certification, candidates need to take and pass HP2-N63 exam.

Exam objectives are as follows:

Explain HP Vertica Big Data Platform value proposition and product messaging in the Big Data market

• Describe the different types of data stored by Big Data solutions.
• Describe Vertica Big Data Platform value proposition and key differentiators.

Demonstrate awareness of Vertica Big Data Platform competitors in the Big Data market

• Differentiate Vertica Big Data Platform from legacy data warehousing and analytics technologies.
• Differentiate Vertica Big Data Platform from other Big Data solutions.
• Describe Vertica Big Data Platform positioning with respect to Hadoop.

Understand Vertica Big Data Platform buyers and decision makers

• Explain how to position Vertica Big Data Platform with different decision makers in an opportunity.

HP Vertica Big Data Platform Use Cases

• Identify typical business applications that are appropriate candidates for Vertica Big Data Platform implementation.

Big Data Market Glossary

• Describe relevant terminology and concepts used in the Big Data market.

Still unclear on what the term Big Data actually means?

Big data is a broad term for data sets so large or complex that traditional data processing applications are inadequate. Challenges include analysis, capture, data curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization, and information privacy. The term often refers simply to the use of predictive analytics or other certain advanced methods to extract value from data, and seldom to a particular size of data set. Accuracy in big data may lead to more confident decision making. And better decisions can mean greater operational efficiency, cost reduction and reduced risk. Vertica Big Data Platform is HP’s big data solution, popular with businesses and enterprises worldwide.

Besides being another tech buzzword we keep hearing, what is big data really about? And will this concept be around long enough for you to build a career?

What is Big Data

According to SAS definition, the term big data describes the exponential growth and availability of data, both structured and unstructured. And big data may be as important to business – and society – as the Internet has become – because larger volumes of data may lead to more accurate analyses.

Basically, big data is a comprehensive term for any collection of data sets that are too large and complex to be processed with traditional data processing applications. The concept of big data, as well as the need for in-depth analysis, detailed capture, curation, search, sharing, storage, transfer, visualization of larger data sets has recently become increasingly popular due to the need for additional information, such as correlations and business trends that can only be seen in the larger data sets. Analyzing larger amounts of data is beneficial to a number of fields and industries. As a result, big data technologies allow businesses and governments to spot business trends, prevent diseases, decrease crime rate and etc.

Big data is difficult to work with using most relational database management systems and desktop statistics and visualization packages, requiring instead massively parallel software running on tens, hundreds, or even thousands of servers” – this software is referred to as big data solutions that encompass data management and analytics. Big data has boosted the demand for information management specialists specializing in data management and analytics.

As more and more companies offer advanced off-the-shelf solutions for big data, it is natural that a number of big data certifications becomes available, too. Like with other tech certification programs, big data certification focus on various aspects, some of them are vendor- specific, while the others aren’t. Here you can see some of the most prominent big data certifications if you consider pursuing a credential in this field.

At the moment, Hewlett Packard seems to have become one of big data top influencers, with HP solutions leading the market. The most prominent big data solutions include HP Records Manager Administrator and HP Data Protector. The company has recently launched two related certifications:

• Learn more about the HP ASE – Records Manager Administrator v8 certification (Expert level certification)
• Learn more about the HP ATP – Data Protector v9 certification (Professional level certification)

HP ATP – Data Protector v9

This professional level credential validates the candidates’ capabilities of configuring and managing HP Data Protector software. It assesses in-depth understanding of backup and recovery concepts as implemented by the HP Data Protector software. It also verifies in-depth knowledge of the functionality of the software as well as its application to typical storage implementations.

Is this certification right for me?

HP ATP – Data Protector v9 credential is right for you if you want to…

• … help organizations make the decision on how and where to protect data, whether it is on-premise, in the cloud, or with a hybrid strategy
• … bring to the IT storage team the ability to refine recovery point and time objectives based on the importance of the information being protected
• … jump-start your career as a storage administrator with a leading vendor certification
• … complement and enhance your recognized storage administration skills and role with vendor-specific subject matter expertise

HP ATP – Data Protector v9 is a good match for candidates who are storage and systems administrators with a thorough understanding of backup and recovery concepts, who are already using or looking into adopting HP Data Protector software to help organizations more effectively address the challenges of protecting their information.

HP ASE – Records Manager Administrator v8

HP ASE – Records Manager Administrator v8 is an expert level credential that validates the candidates’ skills to configure and maintain an HP Records Manager dataset. Moreover, HP ASE – Records Manager Administrator v8 certification holders have a working knowledge of all core functions, including security, Retention Schedules, Classifications, Thesaurus, Locations, and Record Types. They are also confident using other features, such as Alerts, Document Queues, User Labels, Dropzones, and Reporting.

HP ASE – Records Manager Administrator v8 certification targets Records Managers and any staff responsible for the initial configuration and/or ongoing maintenance of HP Records Manager. It validates the holders’ understanding of HP Records Manager’s document management and record management features, as well as thorough understanding of how to use and configure security, Retention Schedules, Classifications, Thesaurus, Locations, and Record Types. The credential shows that its holders have no trouble creating and maintaining other HP Records Manager objects, the knowledge of configuring user-based tools/features (Alerts, Document Queues, Reporting, and Workflow), as well as understanding of the principles of physical records management.

Summing up

Big data is likely to become among the biggest technology trends for the coming years, so pursing a reputable certification in this field looks like a great career path.