mblog

As it seems Apple has changed it's certification program shortly after releasing OS X Lion. The Mac OS X Snow Leopard certification track once looked like that:

Apple Certified Associate - Mac Integration Basics 10.6 (9L0-406)
Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.6 Exam (9L0-403)
Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.6 (9L0-403 and 9L0-510)
Apple Certified Specialist - Directory Services 10.6 (9L0-624)
Apple Certified Specialist - Deployment 10.6 (9L0-623)
Apple Certified Specialist - Security and Mobility 10.6 (9L0-625)
Apple Certified System Administrator 10.6 (ACSA)

Now with OS X Lion it seems that everything above ACTC level will no longer be available as their Website states that "The following Lion certifications are now available or will be this fall:

Apple Certified Associate: Mac Integration 10.7 (now available)
Apple Certified Support Professional 10.7
Apple Certified Technical Coordinator 10.7"

So there will be no Specialist and ACSA certification anymore. If you check amazon the results support it: there are two course books planned by Peachpit Press and will probably be available by 31st of October:

- Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Lion Support Essentials: Supporting and Troubleshooting OS X Lion Update (8th of October): Peachpit published an ebook version of OS X Lion Support Essentials.
- Apple Pro Training Series: OS X Lion Server Essentials: Using and Supporting OS X Lion Server

So what's the point in that? I think many people simply weren't taking the ACS or ACSA courses/exams and stuck at ACTC level. With cutting those upper level certifications, Apple considered that and now clearly pursues shifting to a more customer related company. Like it or not, that fits well into the picture as they already discontinued their 19" server platform Xserve (transition guide PDF) in January.