The importance of acquiring a professional certification has drastically increased in recent times. Apart from the fact that these certifications afford candidates the upper hand in job search and recruitment processes, they serve as a confirmation, to a large extent, of the individual’s expertise and competence in the chosen field.

Oracle certification is one of the internationally recognized certifications available today. In this post, we will take a look at the certification, what it entails and most importantly, how much it goes for in Nigeria today.

How Much is Oracle Certification in Nigeria?

Like most other internationally recognized professional examinations, Oracle certification comes in levels and the amount it goes for depends on the certification level the candidate is applying for. There are also different types and classes of Oracle examination. They vary in content, the period of study, exam-style, and duration.

As it stands, most Oracle Certification exams go for about USD $245, which equates to about N88,000 – N95,000 depending on the currency exchange rate. Junior associate Oracle examinations, which is primarily aimed at students and more entry-level candidates are significantly less at USD $95, which equates to about N35,000 depending on the currency exchange rate at the period.

Oracle Certified Master exams, which are usually the main examinations and usually qualify candidates for the Oracle certifications are usually day-long and performance-based exams cost considerably more.

It should be noted that the cost estimated below does not include other significant costs like preparation kits and test materials. Oracle offers various materials to help candidates prepare for the examination. This, again, depends on the Oracle program you are enrolling for. The materials usually cost between N30,000 – N80,000 depending on the type and packages it contains.

What You Should Know About the Certification

Oracle certifications are internationally recognized and cover series of areas including applications, cloud, database, operating systems, enterprise management, virtualization and a lot more.

There are 5 main levels of Oracle Certification credentials. These include Oracle Certified Associate (OCA), which is the elementary stage of the certification levels. The Oracle Certified Professional (OCP) is athe next level after the associate level. The Oracle Certified Master (OCM) then follows. The Oracle Certified Expert (OCE) and the Oracle Certified Specialist (OCS) are the highest stages of the certification. These various certification levels are spread across 9 knowledge pillars and are further subcategorized into product groupings. Certifications are also defined by job role on the Oracle Certification website.

Oracle Applications Certifications

The Oracle Applications certification offers over 60 certifications, covering over 20 products or product groups. Some of these applications include Agile, E-Business Suite, Hyperion, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft and other related ERPs. The Application certifications are mainly geared toward persons who have knowledge in implementing specific Oracle ERPs.

Oracle Cloud Certifications

This is one of the latest technologies the world is looking into in recent times. The Cloud certification covers Java Cloud certifications as well as Cloud certifications, which largely includes Oracle Database Cloud. These certifications are mainly for individuals who deploy applications, perform administration or deliver customer solutions in the cloud.

Oracle Database Certifications

Certifications in Oracle’s Database category are chiefly targeted at individuals who are database administrators or generally work with databases. There are divided into three main subcategories, which include Database Application Development, MySQL and Oracle Database. This certification is available for various levels from Associate to Expert and Master.

Oracle Enterprise Management Certifications

The Enterprise Management certification, one of the most appreciated and highly sought after in the oracle database management world today, covers Oracle Application Testing Suite and Oracle Enterprise Manager. The certifications are for experts and professionals who use Oracle’s Application Quality Management tools and manage databases.

The Oracle Enterprise Manager 12c Certified Implementation Specialist exam (IZ0-457), another compulsory examination in this category, covers more administration functions for applications, operating systems, and databases. The certification also covers design, installation, and deployment, enactment and support, reporting and extensibility.

Oracle Foundation Certification

This oracle certification includes the introduction of Oracle IT Architecture Release 3 Certified Architecture Specialist and the Project Lifecycle Management Certified Implementation Specialist. The Architecture accreditation is designed for senior-level IT architects who strategize, design, develop, document and offer solution designs.

The Project Lifecycle Management Implementation Specialist certification chiefly targets project managers looking to develop their skills and team management know-how to manage Oracle implementation projects. Both certifications require candidates to write and pass the examination.

Oracle Industries Certifications

This is one of the biggest oracle certification categories, with about 25 independent certifications projected towards the development of Oracle software for communications, health services, insurance, and other similar industries. The various certifications available in this category are Certified Implementation Specialists for the various Oracle industry components

Oracle Java and Middleware Certifications

This is a common Oracle certification. The various categories of certifications here are spread across subgroups, which include Business Intelligence, Cloud Application, Data Integration, and other similar categories. Like most other Oracle certificates, this certification range from the associate level to expert and master level.

Oracle Systems Certifications

Not the most popular Oracle certification but it holds as high importance as most others in the category. This certification includes certificates around managing Engineering systems like Exdata and Exalytics, Servers like SPARC and storage like Sun Flash and Pillar Axiom. The certification s targeted at individuals who are into selling and implementation any of these oracle solutions.

Oracle Virtualization Certifications

This is another category of the Oracle certification. This category basically involves training around the development and management of Oracle Virtual Machines. This targets individuals that manage and operate Oracle Virtual Machine solutions.