Overview

CommVault's certification program validates expertise and advanced knowledge in CommVault Administration, Implementation, Disaster Recovery and Support. The certification assessment and recognition is included with the relevant training course at no extra charge.

Certification is a valuable investment for both a company and the IT professional. Certified personnel can increase a company's productivity, reduce operating costs, and increase potential for personal career advancement.

Key Points

  • Certification is integrated with and managed through CommVault's Online Registration system.
  • Cost of certification registration is included in the associated training course.
  • Practice assessments are given in class at the end of each module.
  • Students may take the online certification exam(s) any time after completing the course.
  • Previous training course students (as validated by the registrar) can also request an opportunity to take the online assessment exam at no charge.
  • For those that feel they do not require training, an online assessment opportunity for each certification level may be purchased separately from the training course.

How to Register for an Exam
There are two easy ways to register for and take an online CommVault certification exam. Choose the scenario below that best fits your situation. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us at certified@commvault.com.

CommVault Certified for System Administration, Engineering, Support, or Disaster Recovery Steps to Take

Attend class and take free online exam opportunity.

  1. Register for any worldwide CommVault System Administration, Engineering & Support or Disaster Recovery Specialist at: services.commvault.com/training. Each class includes a free online exam opportunity. Combo classes of Administration, Engineering & Support or Disaster Recovery Specialist include a free online exam for each certification. Note that the Administration certification is a pre-requisite for Engineering, Support or Specialist certification.

  2. On the start date and time of the class a link to the online exam(s) will automatically appear in your online profile. You may start the exam(s) at anytime. We highly recommend that you complete the respective class before attempting to take an exam. Each exam must be completed in a single session and only one free opportunity per exam is provided.

Purchase online exam opportunity

  1. Online exams are offered in our Online Course Catalogs worldwide at: services.commvault.com/training. Click on the catalog link for your area of the world. Then look up the listing for CommVault Certified System Administrator, CommVault Certified Engineer, CommVault Certified Support or CommVault Certified Specialist – Disaster Recovery.

  2. Once you register and complete the payment process for an exam, a link to the online exam will appear in your online profile. Detailed instructions are included in the confirmation email that is sent to you when your payment is validated.

Note: If you are paying by Purchase Order or Prepaid Training, your registration is initially placed in an “In Progress” status. Your exam link will not become available until payment is received and your registration changed to “Confirmed” status. Confirmation should normally be received within two business day, but may take longer. Please contact your local registrar if you have not received confirmation within five business days.
 

Certification Levels

CommVault Certified for Administration

To become CommVault Certified for Administration you must have attended a CommVault System Administration course and successfully passed the associated assessment exam. The exam assesses the candidate's level of comprehension for:

  • Basic user and system administration tasks for secure data management
  • Configuration and management of storage policies, data retention, and protection options for protecting data
  • Configuration and role of agents, data sets, and subclients in defining protected data requirements
  • Understanding data movement and storage options with various types of libraries and media
  • Scheduling, executing, and managing jobs for protecting and recovering data
  • Management of media both inside and outside of libraries
  • Options for restoration and recovery of data, systems, and applications
  • Monitoring, reporting, and alerting on system events

CommVault Certified for Engineering

To become CommVault Certified for Engineering you must have attended both a CommVault System Administration course and a CommVault Engineering course, and successfully passed the associated assessment exams. The Engineering exam assesses the candidate's level of comprehension for:

  • Planning and designing a data management solution
  • Installation requirements and best practices for software components and libraries
  • Effective and proper use of available tools for identifying and resolving problems and performance
  • Identification of performance issues and options to improve performance
  • Understanding of common problems and solutions, and the methodology for identifying and resolving problems that may occur

CommVault Certified for Support

To become CommVault Certified for Support you must have attended both a CommVault System Administration course and a CommVault Support course, and successfully passed the associated assessment exams. The Support exam assesses the candidate's level of comprehension for:

  • Installation requirements and best practices for software components and libraries
  • Effective and proper use of available tools for identifying and resolving problems and performance
  • Identification of performance issues and options to improve performance
  • Understanding of component services, communications, and processes used in execution of tasks
  • Understanding of common problems and solutions, and the methodology for identifying and resolving problems that may occur

CommVault Certified Specialist

The CommVault Specialist certifications enable professionals to target specific CommVault products and/or technologies and distinguish themselves by demonstrating in-depth knowledge and expertise in their specialized area.

Specialist – Disaster Recovery
CommVault Certified Specialists in Disaster Recovery have demonstrated a well-rounded knowledge of all CommVault technologies and products. The Disaster Recovery Specialist designation is truly "all-encompassing" and those holding this certification will have a breadth and depth of information that spans multiple CommVault products and functional areas. Using their understanding of CommVault's Common Technology Engine (CTE), they can follow best practice guidelines to restore the data protection and restore functionality of any CommCell component in the event of service, system, or data center disruptions. Disaster Recovery Specialists are usually certified CommVault Engineers or Support persons who strive to update their knowledge and experience as new conditions and threats to production data emerge.

Specialist – Storage
CommVault Certified Specialists in Storage will have demonstrated advanced understanding of storage design and media management concepts. This certification focuses on designing storage solutions from the ground up including: Media Agent placement, data path design, deduplication configuration, media capacity planning, and protecting virtual environments. Emphasis is placed on logical environment configurations for storage policy design best practices, library configurations, and VaultTracker administration. CommVault Storage Specialists are usually certified CommVault Engineers or Support persons who strive to expand their knowledge and expertise in storage design to meet Business and IT SLA's in modern enterprise environments.

(Additional Certified Specialist Levels Coming Soon!)

 

Assessment Exams

Practice assessments are available at the end of each module during the conduct of the course. Certification exam(s) are available online to the individual student upon completion of the course. A 75% comprehension level is required to successfully pass the assessment exam(s). Details on how the online assessment exams are accessed will be provided by the instructor during the course.

All students who fully participate in an instructor-led course receive a "Certificate of Completion." Students successfully completing the assessment exam receive an additional "Certificate of Excellence" and their certification achievement is recorded as part of their student registration profile.













 

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What CommVault Certifications are available?

    CommVault certifies IT professionals in the four common roles related to CommVault software products. These roles are:

    • CommVault Certified for Administration has verified skills in operating and managing a CommVault data management environment. This is the core skill set required for all certifications.
    • CommVault Certified for Engineering has additional verified skills in planning for and implementing the software components and supporting hardware environment required by CommVault.
    • CommVault Certified for Support has additional verified skills in understanding internal processes and troubleshooting a CommVault data management environment.
    • CommVault Certified Specialist has verified skills to a higher level in the specified subject area.

  2. How do I become CommVault Certified?

    Certification is included in CommVault's instructor-led training courses. Each Certifiable skill set has a training course built around it. Course participants are provided the opportunity to assess their knowledge and skills at the end of each relevant module. There is no requirement for students to participate in any assessment. Participants who have successfully verified their skills to the minimum level required will be awarded the appropriate level of Certification.

  3. Can I take the online Certification assessments without attending a course?

    Yes, you may purchase an online assessment opportunity separately.

  4. How long is the Certification valid?

    For end users, Certification is valid for the life of the latest product version available at the time of assessment. For Channel partners, Certification is valid for the period specified in the channel agreement. Channel re-certification can be conducted online.

  5. Is my certification from the previous certification program still valid?

    Yes, certifications from our previous certification program are still valid and recognized until the product version you are certified on reaches end of life.

  6. Is Certification related to a specific version of the product suite?

    Starting on November 1st 2010 certification exams will be based on the Simpana 9 product suite. Though skill sets being assessed are generally task oriented, not product oriented, new features and configurations will be covered in the version 9 certification. It is always recommended to update your skills to the latest version of the Simpana product suite. This can be done by retaking the instructor led training courses, taking online training, or through experience using the latest software version.

  7. Why does Engineering, Support, and Specialist Certification require Administration Certification?

    You really can't plan for, or support a software product if you don't know how to operate it. Administration skills are considered the core essentials to understanding the features and functionality of the product suite. Engineering, Support, and Specialist skills are a level up from Administration and build on this core understanding.

  8. When taking a CommVault certification exam, can I use additional resources to help me?

    Yes. Our industry is an open book test. It's not always about knowing the answer but it is also about knowing where to find the answer. You can use any resources at your disposal to research questions. We feel that this method reinforces the key aspects of our product and results in better trained CommVault administrators, support personnel, and engineers.

  9. What resources are available?

    The definitive source for all technical CommVault information is our online documentation at documentation.commvault.com. Using online documentation during the test not only helps with the exam, but at the same time makes you better at navigating our documentation site. Additional resources include the training documentation and the CommVault Technical Reference Library (CTRL) which is a paid subscription service. There are also several books available on Amazon.com authored by members of the Training group. These include the 'Common Technology Engine' Desktop Reference, and 'CommVault Storage Policies' book. The latest book version relevant to the current software release version 9 should be available early 2011.

  10. How difficult are the assessment questions?

    Try out the sample questions (links below). These questions are indicative of the questions on the assessment exams. If you find these questions difficult, then you will most likely find the exam questions difficult as well.