SNIA Education Adds New SNW Tracks and New Credential Program

SNIA Education Adds New SNW Tracks and New Credential Program 55 vendor-neutral tutorials to be delivered at SNW Spring 2010 New vendor-neutral tutorial tracks for Cloud, Emerging Technologies, and Executives available at SNW Spring 2010 New Storage Techn

"

San Francisco (March 30, 2010) - The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) today announced it has expanded its educational offerings with new Storage Networking World (SNW) Spring 2010 learning and credential opportunities encompassed in the SNIA Tutorial program and the Storage Technology Elective Program (STEP).

During SNW Spring 2010 in Orlando, Florida, the SNIA will feature 55 vendor -neutral tutorials organized into a rich selection of 11 thematic tracks: Data Protection and Management, File Systems and File Management, Green Storage, Networking, Professional Development, Security, Storage and Storage Management, Solid State Storage and Virtualization/Applications. The new tracks are for Cloud Storage and Emerging Technologies as well as a new Executive track devoted to a senior-level management audience. The Executive track provides business and enterprise perspectives on data center technologies, with an emphasis on storage and data management.

NEW STORAGE TECHNOLOGY ELECTIVE PROGRAM:
The SNIA has also created a new program called the Storage Technology Elective Program (STEP) which includes self-study materials and access to on-line exams whereby a passing score earns a SNIA Qualification credential. The STEP program is designed for both IT generalists as well as storage specialists that have earned SNIA Certified credentials.

The self-study materials serve as a resource for IT professionals who have not yet pursued the vendor-neutral SNIA Certifications. For professionals who hold SNIA Certified Professional credentials, the STEP provides an exam that validates one's knowledge and skill in specialized areas of technology.

The current STEP offering has three technology areas and corresponding credentials:
SNIA Qualified Data Protection Associate - the self-study materials cover the basic knowledge of data protection, backup, and recovery as well as the strategies for the solutions within a storage environment.
SNIA Qualified Storage Virtualization Associate - the self-study materials cover the basic concepts of virtualization, benefits, implementation strategies, and the administration and management tasks associated with virtualization.
SNIA Qualified Storage Sales Professional - the self-study materials are designed for the sales professional on the topics of storage concepts, iSCSI, Fibre Channel, virtualization, data management, and backup and recovery methods.

During SNW Spring 2010, the SNIA will be offering self-study materials to prepare for the credential exams for $29.95 USD.
For more information on the SNIA STEP or to take the first exams online now, please visit https://ibt.prometric.com/SNIA.

About the SNIA
The Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) is a not-for-profit global organization, made up of some 400 member companies spanning virtually the entire storage industry. SNIA's mission is to lead the storage industry worldwide in developing and promoting standards, technologies, and educational services to empower organizations in the management of information. To this end, the SNIA is uniquely committed to delivering standards, education, and services that will propel open storage networking solutions into the broader market. For additional information, visit the SNIA web site at www.snia.org.

"