Updates to Atlassian Certifications

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Jimmy Seddon
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October 21, 2020

More to @Taylor Huston's point I took the 300 exam while working in a Jira Cloud instance.  I found the exam was more about your knowledge of Agile and Jira Software Projects agnostic from the platform that you are on Server, DC or Cloud.

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David October 21, 2020

I think one of the reasons why the ACP-400 ServiceDesk won't be offered is because Atlassian seems to plan a different roadmap for ServiceDesk. The new Service Desk has Insight included. So my guess is that the next certification will include many topics regarding asset management.

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David Friedrich
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October 22, 2020

@Julia , @Ben Thoma 

When Atlassian stops selling Server licenses, some of our six Server credentials will become Data Center Certifications, with no action needed from you.

Tell me, could it be any less clear? What's that sentence supposed to mean? As before, we are only talking about two certifications, ACP-100 and ACP-600. Why just those by the way? The rest will be retired in 2024, won't it? Completely incomprehensibly, since DC would require exactly the same from the content of the tests.

If not, please enlighten us about the differences of being a JSD Administrator on a Server or DC instance.

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Julia
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October 22, 2020

@David Friedrich ,, @Daniel , @Jimmy Seddon , @Taylor Huston , @Jeff Tillett , @Kamil Beer , @Phill Fox ,  @Rodney Nissen , @Kiet Ngo , @Brian Jones , @DavidR , @Deekshith Musthyala , @Patricia Francezi , @[deleted] , @Antoine Berry , @Mirek , thank you for all your questions!  We understand that you should have more details about exactly what will happen with each of the Server Certifications you currently hold, which ones will convert to Data Center, and approximately when all these things will happen.  

We've updated this article with a table to explain it.  Thank you for your patience while we prepared this information for you!

A piece we didn't include here is exactly how the Atlassian Certified Master requirements are being expanded to include new Cloud Certifications and the Project Administration in Jira Server (Data Center) Certification.  Stay tuned for an update on our 2020 changes to this designation. In 2021, the Atlassian Certified Master credential will be changed again: we’ll have a new name, and new requirements to ensure you’ll have opportunities to keep or earn this elite status after the Server exams retire.

In 2021 and beyond, we'll be focused on bringing you new Data Center and Cloud credentials.

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Patricia Francezi
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October 22, 2020

@Julia thanks for updating. Now is clear! 

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Rodney Nissen
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October 22, 2020

@Julia I have my ACP-CA exam scheduled for next Friday.  How will these changes impact those who have an exam scheduled but not taken yet?  Would you suggest cancelling that exam and taking another? 

I was excited as the ACP-CA would have been my final exam for my Atlassian Certified Master status, but given these changes I am concerned.

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Julia
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October 22, 2020

Hi @Rodney Nissen , I’ll encourage you to take the exam! You’ll earn a Confluence credential that will be recognized for Data Center until 2 February 2024, as well as getting your ACM designation.  The ACM path we have in place now will not change any time soon. We’ll just be adding a new path beside it, that includes the Cloud certs as additional choices. :) 

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Jeff Tillett
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October 23, 2020

This is much better news. The system admin one makes sense, and given all the negative feedback on the difficulty of Confluence, and the low pass-rates, this makes sense from a business standpoint. 

I do have to say though, considering the low pass-rates, general perceived difficulty of the exam, and the fact that it's pretty much just a feature/UI based cert that still applies to DC completely, this one sucks to see go. I was sooooo proud of passing this on my first try. Glad I won't have to maintain it, but sad it's going away.

Thank you for the good news on the others. That at least gives us hope that Atlassian won't be killing DC come Feb 2024 like they are doing with server now.

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Kamil Beer October 23, 2020

@Julia, thank you for letting us know. That is much better. I am a bit confused about the Confluence cert, though.

It says that my Confluence server cert will be converted to Confluence Data Center cert, but that it will be retired in 2024 either way. Do I understand this correctly? It sounds to me like Confluence won't have a certification after that point (unless Atlassian wants to make a new one) anyway.

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Julia
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October 23, 2020

@Kamil Beer , at this time we just don't know what the credential plan will look like for Confluence going forward.  You should plan for seeing that Certification retired in 2024, but anyone already Certified in Confluence would have an accelerated path for any new Confluence credentials that we build.

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Patricia Francezi
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November 1, 2020

@Julia 

This link https://training.atlassian.com/FAQ/certification made me come back here in this topic. 

There are two ways to earn the Atlassian Certified Master designation.

The path one - the previous does not count JPA. It always be that way. 

From this topic: 

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Training-Certification-articles/CLOSED-Be-the-first-Atlassian-University-s-beta-program-for-new/ba-p/1431716/page/5#M621

I understood that 120 and 620 would count towards master.

But the FAQ says the alternative path mixing cloud with Server certification says

Hold one of the following:

 

Hold one of the following:

So considering my currenct certs, Im still 1 away from ACM because I dont have, nor planned to have CA nor SA from this list:

Hold any two of the following:

But I have JCA, JPA, MJCP AND JSD... (4)

I was planning to take JA or JSW, because JPA didnt count towards ACM - but they are now inside the topic "one of the following", .... 

If JCA and MJCP would count as the Beta Exam said, shouldnt it count with the other 2 certs?

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Taranjeet Singh
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November 1, 2020

@Patricia Francezi Would you mind directing me to the community page where I can read about the latest requirements of certifications to achieve Atlassian Certified Master designation?

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Patricia Francezi
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November 1, 2020
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Deleted user November 1, 2020

@Julia @Patricia Francezi 

It seems like the requirements stated in the FAQ pages are slightly different:

https://www.atlassian.com/university/faq/certification

https://training.atlassian.com/FAQ/certification

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Julia
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November 2, 2020

Hello @[deleted] , @Taranjeet Singh , @Patricia Francezi , you are correct, there is discrepant information on the web and we are not going to be able to correct it immediately. 

This means there are *incorrect* Atlassian Certified Master requirements here: https://www.atlassian.com/university/faq/certification

That list is in error -- it contains a description of requirements that the certification engine cannot accommodate.  

The correct requirements are here: https://training.atlassian.com/FAQ/certification

These will be added on 15th November. Additional paths will be added in 2021 to create more opportunities for people to earn the ACM credential.

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Dirk Ronsmans
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November 5, 2020

Well I guess they will retire and a new one will come up. I'm guessing through a badge system or a bridge exam that only covers the basics + differences.

Imho, you can see that as just keeping an old certificate relevant/up to date.

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Dirk Ronsmans
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November 5, 2020

@Julia ,

Guess then (unless there is a rush for some reason) it might be best to wait untill 2021 to plan a path for ACM (new name to be announced ;-)) 

Just to be sure what direction the certification is heading towards and avoid doing cetifications that might expire/retire soon. 

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Ziana Hanafi November 18, 2020

Hi @Julia ,

AFAIK, ACP-SA is among toughest exam in Atlassian Certification. 

Any ways to consider not retiring ACP-SA but provide badge to bridge with Data Center cert (like ACP-JSD & ACP-JSW)? Data Center is multi-nodes servers anyway, which System Admin will most likely work with.

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Julia
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November 19, 2020

Hi Zaiba, agreed, ACP-SA, Atlassian certified system administrator for Jira Server and Confluence Server, can be really difficult depending on one’s level of experience. One of the toughest prerequisites of this exam is several years of experience as a back end enterprise sys admin. We’ve had this exam out there for a few years and have found that it hasn’t really been all that beneficial for customers. We found that the credentials that help our customers most with their teams, their company ROI from Atlassian solutions, and the individuals’ career advancement are related to Jira administration, Jira project lead/project administration, and ITSM with Jira Service Management. That’s where we’ll be focusing in the near future.  

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Rob Horan
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December 1, 2020

At risk of sounding like I'm jumping on the negativity bandwagon, retiring ACP-500 without a replacement is an absolutely terrible idea, ESPECIALLY with server retiring.  This is the kind of knowledge that is ABSOLUTELY going to be needed in the future, not only to move people from Server to Cloud or DC, but also to maintain DC.  It doesn't hurt to re-evaluate these retirement deadlines...

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Cora Egli_bitvoodoo_
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December 15, 2020

Hi,

I don't have a certification yet. I wanted to do ACP-200 for Confluence early next year. What would you suggest I do instead? I don't see any Confluence Cloud option so far.

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Jimmy Seddon
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December 15, 2020

Hi @Cora Egli_bitvoodoo_,

When you get any certification they are always good for about two years.  While server versions are at end of life and you won't be able to take the exams for the server products after Feb. 2021, the certification would still be a viable option that would be valid before server hits end of life.

The Atlassian University team has also indicated that there will be more things coming in 20201 so the other option is to wait as see if a Cloud version shows up in the near future.

-Jimmy

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Rodney Nissen
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December 15, 2020

@Cora Egli_bitvoodoo_, I have to concur with Jimmy.  I just got my ACP-200, in spite of knowing what I do.  The benefits of certification are real, and over the time-frame we are talking about, still perfectly valid.  If you feel ready for the exam, go ahead and take it.

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Rob Horan
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December 15, 2020

I don't think the value of the ACP-200 cert, or any other server-based cert is in doubt.  The issue is the accelerated deadline - the cut off for the exam should be 2022, at minimum.  The need for these skills is not going away.  Certifications should not be tied to sales of new licenses.

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Jimmy Seddon
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December 15, 2020

I don't disagree with you Rob.  At the same time, we don't know what the Atlassian University team has planned for next year which might make more sense once they have announced the new changes.

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