10.06.2023 - IT Hour Transcript | Introducing JumpCloud University’s Advanced Certification

[urvashi]

Key Takeaways

• Mark McConnell introduced JumpCloud's new advanced certification for those seeking deeper expertise in complex implementations and troubleshooting.

The certification consists of 14 core courses and 13 advanced courses, with a 12 to 15-hour completion time; while all educational content is free, the core certification costs $99, and the advanced is $199.

• JumpCloud is considering an expiration strategy for certifications, with those certified before 2023 advised to retake the assessment for product updates.
• The community provided feedback on the proposed one-year expiration, emphasizing the need for significant product changes to justify such a short renewal period.
• Future plans include partnering with accreditation companies like Credly and introducing new certifications in 2024.
• Check out the new advanced certificate course for admins today.

Introduction

Mark McConnell from JumpCloud's Education team introduced a new advanced certification course for IT professionals. This course, comprising 14 core and 13 advanced modules, equips individuals with skills for complex JumpCloud platform tasks. While the educational content is free, the core and advanced certification assessments are priced at $99 and $199, respectively.

The community raised concerns about the proposed one-year expiration for the certification, emphasizing the need for significant product updates to justify a short renewal. Mark acknowledged the feedback, revealing ongoing discussions about renewal strategies and potential partnerships with accreditation firms like Credly. New certifications are also planned for 2024.

You can find the full video recording here:The IT Hour | JCU Advanced Cert & I Make Work Happen guest 10.6.23

Speakers

Mark McConnell, Senior Instructional Designer, JumpCloud

Becky Scott, Head of Community, JumpCloud

Transcript

Mark McConnell’s Introduction and Background

Mark McConnell:

Well, guys, thank you so much, Becky, for inviting us. My name is Mark McConnell. I'm a member of the JumpCloud Customer Education team. I'm actually a content course curriculum designer. I've been with JumpCloud for two and a half years now, and we are so excited that we have finally launched the advanced certification. 

Benefits of Advanced Certification

It launched last Wednesday, and we'll get into some of the ramifications of how the new certification strategy is actually going to work. 

So you might be asking yourself, why should I get advanced certified, right? So here are a few reasons you might want to do that to handle more complex implementations, deployments requiring growth, advanced troubleshooting skills, skillset, and a greater depth of knowledge within the JumpCloud platform. If you need to implement MDM for Apple devices, including iOS and iPad, this is an excellent curriculum to run through. There are some great courses in the curriculum.

We'll talk about those and how you can best leverage SSO, LDAP, and RADIUS instances within the JumpCloud platform. Learn how to create and apply custom policies for Windows and MAC devices. Leverage the JumpCloud APIs and the PowerShell module by following some of our excellent in-house technical experts who will lead you through real-world examples and best practices to simplify some of the daily IT tasks you have to perform. 

We'll also be able to utilize tools within the JumpCloud platform to manage devices better, providing complete telemetry across your fleet of Mac, Windows, and Linux devices using System Insights, Event Logging, Compliance, and auditing features using Directory Insights.

Certification Structure and Duration

So how does that actually play into the certification and the learning path? What we've designed is for our direct customers we have the core certification, as you know, that's currently in JumpCloud. There are 14 courses in that learning path. The advanced certification now has 13 courses. How long does it take you? It's probably 12 to 15 hours to complete those learning paths. 

With our new strategy, we'll be charging, we'll talk about that again in a few minutes, and we'll be launching the Advanced Certification. It's TBD at the moment, but we're probably aiming for, sorry, the Expert Certification probably some time in late 2024. For our partners, wee have both the Certified Sales Professional course learning path and certification, as well as the Core for partners. The Core for partners and the sales professional certifications that are at no cost. They're free. 

And I also want to stress that all of our educational content is at no cost. We're only charging for the assessment itself with this new strategy. The Core for partners actually includes some partner-specific questions. There are 14 courses, just as you see in the Core for direct as well.

Certification Renewal and Expiry

So with our new strategy for certifications, what we plan to do is expire them. We're still talking about and discussing internally what that renewal process will look like. But as you can see on the digital badges, there'll be a year assigned to when you actually pass that certification. So what will the renewal fees be, we're still talking about what that might look like. 

But with our new certification, with Advanced Certification, we are now charging for Core as well, for direct customers. Again, for partners, it'll be free. The Expert Certification is still to be determined.  Again, I want to stress that all the learning paths and all the content within JCU remain free. It's just for the assessment that you're paying for. 

What will our renewal strategy look like? We're still talking about that internally and looking at market conditions as well. Whether it's a one or two-year expiration, we're still discussing that, but please stay tuned for more information about that.

What’s Next?

So what's next? As I mentioned, the Core and Advanced Certification is now accessible through Jump University by going to university.jumpcloud.com. 

Our renewal certification course strategy is obviously going to be TBD, and we're researching the possibility of including an accreditation company like Credly with our certifications, so folks can easily access the certifications through Credly and share them through social networking platforms. 

In 2024, we're looking at an Implementation and Troubleshooting Certification for our partners and our Expert certifications as I mentioned. We are actually going to start some focus groups early next year to determine that strategy and the content around that. 

So I'm going to pause there, and see if there are any questions at any point. You can reach out to the university@jumpcloud.com, or you can email me directly, at mark.mcconnell@jumpcloud.com.

Q&A Session with Becky Scott

Becky Scott:

Yeah, there were a few questions that came up, Mark. So Steven was saying, I see two options, $199 and $99. What's the difference in price?

Mark McConnell:

Yes. So the Core Certification is $99 and the Advanced Certification is $199.

Becky Scott:

Alright, and another one was, is the certification updated to keep it current, for instance, to cover new features such as JumpCloud Go? If so, how would that affect anyone who has already completed it?

Mark McConnell:

Excellent question. So along with our strategy, we are looking to, we do currently actually update our assessments and our courses right, and we'll do so for the Advanced Certification. But one of the advantages of having a renewal process is we can have a renewal course. So it'll bring you up to date on what has actually changed in the product. 

So if we're looking at a one-year renewal process, we'll have content over the past year that has changed within the product. So we bring you up to speed. There'll potentially be a short assessment to get recertified. But yes, we absolutely do look at all of our new releases, whether they're minor or major, and update our courses, our content, and our assessments. Yes.

Becky Scott:

So if these expire in a year, is there going to be any difference in cost from the first certification of $99 versus a renewal?

Mark McConnell:

So we're still looking at that strategy, Becky. So our thought is there may be a small nominal fee just to get recertified. So a renewal course, but that is still to be determined

Becky Scott:

And that on the certification exam page, you might want to mention what that includes as well.

Mark McConnell:

It does, yeah. The certification page should actually have the Core and Advanced Certifications with the respective fees for each.

Becky Scott:

Okay. We might have to take a quick look at that. I think more than one person has seen that. A little confusing. 

One more question from, hey Isaac, our winner is on here. If you pass the Core Certification before the expiration date comes out, then does that expire? So what's going to happen to the people that have already taken their certification pre-expiration date?

Mark McConnell:

So we're only looking at folks that passed it this year, in 2023. So our recommendation is for any folks that passed it prior to 2023 that they should retake the assessment just to get up to speed with what has actually changed in the product.

Becky Scott:

So it doesn't really expire, but there's probably some new knowledge, and then they should get up to speed on it.

Mark McConnell:

And I think we'll have some clearer guidance around the expiration and renewal within the next couple of months. So we can definitely share that out. Maybe we can come back to the IT Hour and provide you guys with an update.

Becky Scott:

Nathan wants to just be legacy. 

Mark McConnell:

Yes, yes. I can see why, Nathan. But you can see that so much changes within the product. We roll out new features, new functionality, and UI changes. It's kind of advantageous to you as well to keep up on top of your skillset. 

Becky Scott:

Well, I think our Core badge will probably be Legacy in the Community. I don't think that one would change, but we'd have to figure out how to do that differently going forward.

Mark McConnell:

I see Keith's message there that expiring after a year is a bit quick. And yes, this is great feedback, and we do want to hear from you guys. So please send us feedback on our university@jumpcloud.com email. This is excellent feedback. I will definitely share this with the team as well.

Becky Scott:

Yeah, I mean, I think the only one that I can think of that I've had that maybe expired after a year was maybe SAFe Agile. I think that expired after a year, maybe two max. But that's really good feedback. So please keep it coming. Yes, like the university@jumpcloud.com email; please send more feedback. I know Mark will be taking this back to the team, definitely. But after the fact, if you think of more, please do that. 

Jonathan is saying, if you make it one year, then the features need to be different enough to justify that. So you're right. If it's enough new releases, I guess if we had some major features or additional product changes, I could see where that might be helpful. So I'll pop Steven's message up there because he said 300 new major features and I’ll renew every year. Duly noted, Steven.

Mark McConnell:

Yes.

Becky Scott:

Thank you for that.

Mark McConnell:

Absolutely. Yeah.

Becky Scott:

There you go. Keith is saying ISC2 is three years, but you need continuing education to renew it for another. So reassign coursework to everyone. Well, the good thing is that the coursework is free. It's only the certification that you have to pay for, but there does need to be enough change to justify that is what we're hearing from everyone. 

Mark McConnell:

Agree. Yes.

Becky Scott:

That's good feedback, all.

Mark McConnell:

Good. Excellent feedback. Yes, thank you.

Becky Scott:

Alright, well, keep it coming if you have more feedback. Steven says thank you for the coursework being free. So thanks for adding that, Steven.