How did you became an IBM Solution Developer ?

[Larry Lecomte]

General questions for those IBM certified Solution Developer:
How and why did you become certified ? Is it much work ? What are the fees for the 3 exams ? Is the work interesting ? Just wondering...
Thx for your advice

[Theodore Casser]

Since no one's answered you yet... Not that I'm a Solution Developer, but, I do have some answers to some of your questions.
* IBM exams seem to generally be $150 each.
* How? A lot of practice and studying. I found WebSphere Administration to be easy, compared to the developer exam for the same version. Both really could not be accomplished without at least some practice with the product, and quite a bit of reading of the IBM Redbooks.
* Why IBM's programs? At the time, I was working for a company that was an IBM Business Partner and we were getting ready to move from JRun to WebSphere, so it seemed like a good idea at the time. I work for a company that uses iPlanet now, so it doesn't really help.. but some transfers and some doesn't.
My major problem with IBM is the lack of versioning of their certs - your certification with them is only good until the next version of the software comes out. But other than that, it's a solid company that you know is going to be around for a while.
Hope that helps!

[James Hobson]

I was a Solution Developer (until they expired exam 282).
It is all interestiung, and well worth doing (with the possible exception of the VisualAge/WSAD requirement, which is pretty lame as far as I am concerned).
To be honest the exams are too easy, pass marks of around 60% mean that you dont need a really robust understanding to pass.
I did it, mainly because of the jCert initiative.

[Luciano Queiroz]

- Do you receice a certificate when you become a Solution Developer or Enterprise Developer? Are the exams numbers specified in this certificate? How does it look like?
- When IBM releases a new version of its products, can you do a new exam and update your certification?
Thanks!

[Paulo Salgado]

IBM will send you 2 certificates actually: one for the exam on the IDE product you chose (VAJava or WSAD) and another one if you have completed the whole path for the Solution Developer (SCPJ2 + UML + IDE). The Solution Developer certificate mentions the product you are specialist, so if they don't change the rules, when a new IDE product is released and you pass the exam, you get 2 new certicates (Specialist and Solution Developer) on that new IDE.
Paulo