Open Networking Foundation to Launch SDN Certifications

Sometimes a new idea, or even just a fresh perspective on a well established existing idea, takes a fierce and immediate grip on the public imagination. It's not exactly news that Washington and Oregon are in a seismically unstable region, and that a big earthquake could be on the way at any moment. The recent megaquake story in The New Yorker, on the other hand, stirred up quake alarm like few warnings from scientists or government officials have ever done.

In a somewhat similar vein, software-defined networking (SDN), which permits network administrators to manage certain networking functions via software solutions, has been around conceptually since the mid-1990s. Though many agree that SDN is on the verge of a breakthrough, however, widespread adoption is still somewhere in the future.

The Open Networking Foundation (ONF) has been promising SDN certifications for a while, and now the nonprofit IT networking group is finally ready to follow through. Two new credentials will be available in beta next month, and earlier this week the ONF released exam blueprints to help spur interest. Part of the group's stated intention in designing and releasing certifications is to help SDN get widespread traction. The SDN revolution, it would seem, is about to begin.

The two new certs are the ONF-Certified SDN Associate (OCSA) and the ONF-Certified SDN Engineer (OCSE). ONF officials said in a media release that anticipation of the new ONF-Certified SDN Professional Program has been high, and expects the new certs to attract a high level of interest among networking professionals.

"The OCSP Program will provide independent validation of both concept-level skills for new entrants as well as technical-level engineering skills for professionals working in SDN development or deployment environments," said ONF official Rick Bauer. "Additionally, these blueprints now mean that course designers, curriculum developers, trainers and teachers, and training companies can now align their training offerings and curricula to these blueprints.

"Based on the volume of inquiries we have received since announcing the program, we see a vibrant training market being created from the hard work of ONF's Skills Certification Working Group."

After the beta versions of each exam are available next month, the first 100 people to register for each exam will have the chance to earn their certification free of charge. There are no prerequisites to take either exam, so if you're ready to add a professional credential to your resume that highlights your understanding of SDN, then there's a golden opportunity coming shortly.

Additional information about the ONF-Certified SDN Professional Program is available online.