Sina Walleit
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Last updated on May 10, 2024
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Need a Citrix Certification? Try Parallels RAS Instead!

For over three decades, Citrix has provided various virtualization and cloud computing solutions that span three branches: workspace, networking, and analytics.

To meet client requirements and bridge the skills gap, the company provides various Citrix certifications with defined paths. This post delves deeper into uncovering what it entails to become Citrix certified, as well as a possible alternative.

What Does It Mean to Be Citrix Certified?

Citrix certifications ascertain that an IT professional has acquired the necessary skills to deploy and manage relevant Citrix solutions in a complex cloud-based and networking environment. The certifications cover five main areas: desktop virtualization, enterprise mobility management (EMM), enterprise file synchronization and sharing (EFSS), networking, and cloud.

IT professionals can decide on which certification to pursue based on many factors, including their interests and long-term career aspirations. With the right exams, IT professionals can further their careers within the organization and receive incentives to prove their technical capabilities.

There are three levels of Citrix certification paths: Citrix Certified Associate (CCA), Citrix Certified Professional (CCP), and Citrix Certified Expert (CCE). Both CCP and CCE exams cost $300, while CCA and other exams cost $200.

Pearson VUE administers all the certification exams for Citrix. While IT professionals must take most of these tests at their local Pearson VUE testing centers, some certification exams can be taken at the candidate’s office or home. In either case, an authorized proctor oversees the online exam.

Besides the credentials that require candidates to pass certification tests, Citrix provides digital badges that IT professionals can include in their resumes, demonstrating familiarity with various virtualization and networking solutions. However, unlike the certifications, IT professionals are required to complete only the relevant Citrix e-learning courses and assessments to earn digital badges.

Citrix Workspace Certifications

Citrix Workspace certifications validate the candidate’s ability to deploy and manage Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops in virtual environments. Some of these certifications include:

Citrix Certified Associate-Virtualization (CCA-V)

The CCA-V certification is meant for early-career IT professionals that want to learn how to deploy and manage Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops—either on-premises or in the cloud. This program validates the candidate’s understanding of the following topics:

A candidate must pass the Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 Administration (1Y0-204) exam to get certified.

Citrix Certified Professional-Virtualization (CCP-V)

Citrix designed CCP-V for mid-career IT professionals that work in a Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop environment. Some of the topics that the candidate must master for CCP-V include:

You must pass Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.15 Advanced Administration (1Y0-311) exam to earn this certification. You must have earned CCA-V certification before you attempt this exam.

Citrix Certified Expert-Virtualization (CCE-V)

Citrix designed this certification for IT professionals with hands-on experience assessing and designing Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops solutions. Some topics that you must cover to get certified include:

You need to earn CCP-V certification and pass the Citrix XenApp and XenDesktop 7.15 Assessment, Design and Advanced Configurations (1Y0-402) exam to earn CCE-V certification.

Virtual Apps and Desktops Service on Citrix Cloud (CC-VAD-CC)

Citrix designed this program for IT professionals who use the Citrix Cloud platform regularly and those that plan to migrate to the Citrix Cloud platform. Some of the skills that CC-VAD-CC validates include:

To earn the CC-VAD-CC certification, you must pass the Certification Assessment (1Y0-130) exam.

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops Service Integration with Microsoft Azure (CC-VAD-MA)

The CC-VAD-MA is meant for IT professionals that use Virtual Apps and Desktops Service regularly or plan to use the platform in their organizations. It covers the following topics:

You must pass the 1Y0-150 exam to earn CC-VAD-MA certification.

Citrix ShareFile Certified (CC-SHAREFILE)

Citrix has conceived CC-SHAREFILE certification for IT professionals that use Citrix ShareFile regularly. It validates the following topics:

Earning the CC-SHAREFILE certification requires that you pass the 1Y0-100 exam.

Citrix Endpoint Management Certified (CC-CEM)

Citrix has designed CC-CEM for IT professionals that use Citrix Endpoint Management regularly to facilitate mobile device management (MDM), mobile application management (MAM), and security productivity. Some topics that the certification covers include:

Earning the CC-CEM certification requires you to pass the 1Y0-170 exam.

Citrix XenServer Certified (CC-XENSERVER)

Citrix conceived the CC-XENSERVER certification for IT professionals that deploy, manage, and secure an enterprise XenServer (now renamed Citrix Hypervisor) implementation. Some topics covered under this certification include:

To get certified for CC-XENSERVER, you must pass the 1Y0-120 exam.

Citrix Networking Certifications

These certifications validate a candidate’s competence in using Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) capabilities such as network performance and optimization, security, and orchestration. There are four certifications under this category:

Citrix Certified Associate-Networking (CCA-N)

Citrix designed CCA-N—now renamed Citrix Certified Associate-App Delivery and Security (CCA-AppDS)—for early-career networking professionals such as system engineers, network administrators, and cloud administrators. CCA-AppDS has two tracks that focus on two primary networking solutions from Citrix: Citrix ADC 12 and Citrix NetScaler 12.

CCA-AppDS: ADC 12

This certification validates a candidate’s proficiency in implementing and managing Citrix ADC for load balancing, traffic management, content switching, and secure sockets layer (SSL) offloading. Some topics that you’re likely to cover in this certification include:

You have to pass the 1Y0-240 exam to get certified under this program.

CCA-AppDS: Citrix NetScaler 12

Citrix designed this program for IT professionals that deploy and configure Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway 12 environments regularly. Some topics covered under this certification include:

To get certified, you have to pass the Citrix NetScaler 12 Essentials and Unified Gateway (1Y0-230) exam.

Citrix Certified Professional-Networking (CCP-N)

CCP-N—now renamed Citrix Certified Professional-App Delivery and Security (CCP- AppDS)—validates a candidate’s proficiency in deploying and managing Citrix Web App Firewall in Citrix ADC 12 environments. Some topics covered under this program include:

You have to pass the 1Y0-340 exam and earn CCA-N certification to get certified.

Citrix Certified Expert-Networking (CCE-N)

Citrix conceived CCE-N—now retitled Citrix Certified Expert-App Delivery and Security (CCE-AppDS)—for senior IT professionals that often assess and design complex architectures for Citrix networking environments. The certification validates a candidate’s understanding of various topics such as:

You have to pass the 1Y0-440 exam to get certified under this program. Before you attempt this certification, you must have earned CCP-N certification.

Citrix Certified (CC) Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SDWAN)

The CC-SDWAN certification validates the candidate’s proficiency in deploying and configuring Citrix SD-WAN (previously called NetScaler SD-WAN). The program validates a candidate’s understanding of various topics such as:

You need to pass the 1Y0-140 exam to earn this certification.

Citrix Partner Services Certifications

These certifications focus on skills that channel partners require to manage and execute consultation projects pertaining to Citrix solutions. There are two certification programs under this category:

Citrix-Certified Services Delivery Professional. This program validates the candidate’s soft skills and technical knowledge required to execute Citrix projects successfully. The topics covered under the certification program include:

You must have earned CCP-V or CCP-N certifications and passed the 1Y0-500 exam to earn this certification.

How to Register and Apply for a Citrix Exam

You should start the Citrix certification process by accessing and reading the Citrix Preparation Guide for the exam you’re interested in taking. It comprises all the essential materials you need to know to get started, including sample questions, preparatory courses, and required resources.

Once you’ve understood the process, you can register for the exams—offered exclusively through Pearson VUE—in three ways:

It is worth noting that all the Citrix certifications have a three-year validity period. When this time lapses, Citrix expects you to retake the certification exam.

Parallels RAS: A Simple Solution with a Single Certification

A typical Citrix virtualization infrastructure consists of several components, including Citrix ADC, Citrix StoreFront, Workspace App, Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA), and Citrix License Server, among others.

You need to get certified in each of these solutions to deploy and manage the virtualization infrastructure. With Parallels® Remote Application Server (RAS), you don’t need certifications for every virtualization component. You require only one certification, either RAS Technical Professional (RAS-TP) or RAS Technical Professional Advanced (RAS-TPA), to start deploying and managing the virtualization environment.

Parallels RAS provides you with a free training webinar to help you learn quickly how to deploy and manage virtualization environments. As a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution, Parallels RAS has a simplified architecture.

IT administrators can deploy and manage all virtualization components easily from a single console, allowing them to:

Download a free, 30-day Parallels RAS trial today to learn more about its simplified certification procedure!

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