Join Sal Vella and Matt Huras from the Toronto Lab to learn how to leverage the latest DB2 for LUW features such as DB2 pureScale and Storage Optimization. Sal and Matt will be broadcast in high definition directly to select IBM Technical Exploration Centers across North America. Cost: FREE 12:30pm – 1:00pm Welcome
1:00pm – 2:00pm Break Free with DB2,
2:00pm – 3:00pm DB2 pureScale
3:00pm – 3:30pm Refreshment Break
3:30pm – 4:30pm DB2 Storage Optimization
Where you can attend: Palisades, NY; McLean, VA; Atlanta, GA; Waltham, MA; Toronto, ON; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; San Francisco, CA; Costa Mesa, CA This event is the first that I've heard of that is using the IBM Technology Exploration Centers which are high-quality facilities across North America that allow our customers to explore IBM software technology and collaborate with our subject matter experts. ABOUT THIS EVENT:
Attend this seminar to learn how to leverage the latest DB2 for LUW features such as DB2 pureScale and Storage Optimization. DB2 pureScale provides unlimited capacity, continuous availability and application transparency. It delivers levels of database scalabililty and availability previously unmatched on distributed systems. The DB2 Storage Optimization Feature gives you the ability to transparently compress data on disk in order to decrease disk space and storage infrastructure requirements.
WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
This event has 3 hours of content, and has been organized to be of interest to database administrators, data architects, and anyone who has an interest in running OLTP systems without having to worry about changing their application code when adding system capacity. Interested in Active-Active? Come and learn more.
EVENT SPEAKERS:
Sal Vella is the Vice President, Development, Distributed Data Servers and Data Warehousing based in the IBM Canada Laboratory in Toronto, Canada. In this role, he is responsible for the world-wide development of DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows and for solidDB.
Matt Huras, Distinguished Engineer, is the lead architect of the DB2 pureScale feature. Matt has had extensive experience with DB2 for LUW storage engine, including indexing, data management, buffering, memory management, threading and scheduling, utilities and high availability.
Thanks to event organizer Lily Ryzebol for this information. susan
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I've already given you many reasons why I'm a huge fan of Rebecca Bond's, but did I tell you about her brillance at coming up with cool analogies or her incredible sense of humour? Read Rebecca's latest article IBM DB2 9.7, DBADM and my Rubik's Cube published in the Feb 19, 2010 edition of Database Journal explains the changes to DBADM autthority in DB2 9.7 and twist by twist, helps you understand the changes and how to benefit from them. Wonderful article, Rebecca! If this article is leaving you wanting more Rebecca, you're in luck! Her website has just gone live, so you can easily find out more about Rebecca and what she's up to... but best of all, you can read her blog entries. Enjoy! susan
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I've had a few people ask me about assessment exams lately, so I thought this would make a good blog entry. My most viewed blog entry to date is With this checklist, you can track your progress on following the steps required to earn a certification. One of those steps is called Assess. Studying can take a lot of time and energy, and certification exams are usually $200!...so how can you make the most of your time and money? Two Answers: 1) Take an assessment exam for $10 (USD) to find out if you are prepared and if not, where to focus your studying. - Assessment tests are delivered by the Prometric Web-based test delivery tool.
- Tests cost $10 USD per attempt. VISA, Master Card and American Express credit cards are accepted, and entered directly into the Prometric system.
- Assessment exams are similar to the certification exam in that it is in the same format (multiple choice), done on the same testing software, and score reports that break down your score by section.
- There is an assessment exam that corresponds to each certification exam.
- Website: Assessment Exams
2) Use one of the published Certification Study Guides. All five of these certification prep guides were written by members of the exam development team. That is, they created the questions for the certification exam that you are about to take! Also, each chapter of the book corresponds directly to a section on the exam. So, if you take the assessment exam and find out that you are week on a single topic, you simply need to read the chapter that corresponds to the topic where you need improvement. Lastly, the authors created a set of sample questions for the book that provides you with the correct answer to the question as well as an explanation as to why the correct answer is correct and the incorrect ones are not. For reference and guidance beyond the exam, I suggest the following: DB2 9 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows: DBA Guide, Reference, and Exam Prep (6th Edition)by George Baklarz and Paul Zikopoulos All six of these books... and many more, can be read and searched electronically. Safari Online and Books 24x7 are two popular electronic book engines where these books are available. Why would you want to read a book electronically? You might not want to read an entire book electronically, but if you are browsing books to find out which one you should buy in print, searching and reading parts of the book electronically makes sense and may help you make the best choice on your purchase. Also, if you are mostly prepared for the exam, but just want to do a bit of review before taking the exam, you might consider doing the review electronically. At the very least, I'd suggest reading the summary for each chapter, answering the sample questions that are found in the book, and reading the description for the answers. This can be done quite easily electronically. Safari Books Online is a great electronic book engine and right now, you can receive a free 15-day trial. With Safari Books Online, you can search for a particular keyword, read the entire book cover to cover, or simply ensure that this is the book you need before you buy the printed version. Hurry! This offer has been held over until the end of 2009. Books 24x7 is another great electronic book engine. IBMers world-wide can access books via this engine, free of charge. You can reach the site through many internal home pages. Many other companies and schools also have subscriptions to Books 24x7. Check with your company to see if you have a free subscription. Be prepared for your exam... and good luck! Susan
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Join the webcast TODAY: 11 EST. Replay will be available. Register now. |
This news is from The World of DB2 for z/OSDon't Miss our webcast today - 11 EST - 4 PM GMT. Even if you can not attend today you can register now and listen to the replay at your leisure !
Are you looking to reduce costs like many other organizations? DB2 9 for z/OS includes major enhancements to help you reduce workload, improve employee productivity so you can increase efficiency and directly impact the bottom line.
Listen to how Land Registry, a UK Government organization
successfully upgraded to DB2 9 and is reaping the business benefits.
This presentation will take you through the journey from start to
finish, highlighting the risk-mitigating activities that were
undertaken during the project lifecycle that contributed to a virtually
impact free migration. The topics explored are:
The business drivers and perceived benefits for upgrading;
Planning, preparation Testing and other pre-requisite activities;
The upgrade itself problems / lessons learned;
Benefits realisation and early experience of the new functions.
Speaker: Maria McCoy, Database Administrator on DB2 for z/OS, UK Government
Register Now
From
Surekha |
Visit The World of DB2 for z/OS at: http://db2forzos.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network |
Susan
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I'm sorry that I missed the fact that there IS a fee for the Crammer courses. Please see the CORRECT information below. I'm sorry for any confusion I may have caused. Thanks to Bryan for pointing out my mistake in this matter. IDUG Pre-Conference Educational Seminars
IDUG's pre-conference educational seminars provide in-depth DB2 education that both enhances your professional development and offers the information you need to better achieve significant business results. Pre-conference educational seminars are available to both conference and non-conference attendees, so don’t miss out on this great opportunity of fantastic one-day education.
Register today for one of the nine educational seminars before it’s too late. Registration is based on a first-come, first-served basis. | Conference Attendee Seminar Fee: | $425 | | Non-Conference Attendee Seminar Fee: | $475 |
The 2010 Pre-Conference Educational Seminars are: - Z01: DB2 9 for z/OS Cert Exam, Susan Lawson
- Z02: Save CPU Costs by Tuning your SQL, Bonnie Baker
- Z03: SQL: What To Use When You Can and Cannot Touch It, Sheryl Larsen
- Z04: DB2 9.7 for Linux, UNIX and Windows DBA Certification Exam Preparation (Exam 541), Roger Sanders (EMC)
- Z05: Deep dive into DB2 LUW Problem Determination and Troubleshooting, Pavel Sustr (IBM)
- Z06: DB2 for LUW Performance Analysis and Tuning Workshop, Scott Hayes (DBI)
- Z07: DB2 9 for z/OS In-depth, Phil Grainger (Independent Consultant)
Susan
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Paul Zikopoulos - DB2 Evangelist and Award Winning Speaker is the guest on the DB2Night Show, Friday, Feb 19 at 11 EST Paul's Topic: DB2 Compression Updates
http://bit.ly/aBdw81 susan PS... thanks to Kate for blogging about this! Good luck Paul!
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IDUG's annual North American conference is taking place in Tampa Florida this year. May 10 - 14, 2010. Have you been able to get funding to attend the conference yet? If not, maybe this information will help you. The educational opportunities available at the conference will help make you smarter! And if you're smarter about your job, you'll be more effective, make fewer mistakes and be a real asset to your employer! Right? Take a look at the conference schedule that is now available online. With this tool, it is now easier for you to build your conference curriculum by allowing you to search by program or project to find sessions specific to your area of expertise. Here is a sample of the sessions you’ll find this May in Tampa: D06 (DB2 for LUW): " DB2 Security – Ammo From the Trenches", Rebecca Bond, Author of " Understanding DB2 9 Security" B10 (DB2 for z/OS): " Package Versioning for High Availability", John Maenpaa, Health Care Service Corporation C08 (DB2 for LUW): " Successfully Managing the DB2 LUW Workload Manager", Scott Hayes, Gold Consultant, DBI Software C09 (DB2 for LUW): " DB2 pureScale: Why It's So Much Better than Oracle RAC", Paul Zikopoulos, IBM Corporation S03 (Cross-platform): " The Vision of Integrated Data Management - Past, Present and Future of Tooling", Curt Cotner, IBM Fellow, IBM Corporation New this year at IDUG, you will also find a full-offering of hands-on labs. Available all four days of the conference, the labs include individual work-stations that allow you to explore new DB2 features and try out products without the hassle of obtaining and setting up software. This year’s hands-on labs include: DB2 Lab 1: DB2 for LUW - All About DB2 9.7 DB2 Lab 2: DB2 for z/OS - Getting Started with DB2 for z/OS pureXML DB2 Lab 3: DB2 for LUW - DB2 9.7 Performance Metrics and Monitoring DB2 Lab 4: DB2 for z/OS - Develop High-Performance Java Applications on z/OS Using IBM pureQuery DB2 Lab 5: DB2 for LUW - Workload Management DB2 Certification Exams: Do you have your current certifications yet? The exams are available free of charge to attendees of the conference (3 exams per attendee). This is a HUGE savings of $200 PER EXAM! Make sure you are ready to pass the exam by taking a crammer course on May 10 for last-minute preparation for the exam. These full day seminars require an additional fee. Z04: DB2 for Linux, UNIX and Windows - DBA Certification (541) Preparation CourseRoger Sanders Date: May 10, 2010 09:00 AM – 04:30 PM
AbstractThis training is designed to introduce the student to the concepts a test candidate must know in order to take and pass the DB2 9.7 DBA for Linux, UNIX and Windows certification exam (Exam 541). The material for this course is aligned with the 541 exam objectives.
Objective 1: Provide the student with an overview of the DB2 Certification Exam testing program.
Objective 2: Introduce the student to basic DB2 9.7 Database Administration fundamentals.
Objective 3: Provide the student with information on new features and functionality that were introduced with DB2 9.7.
Objective 4: Provide the student with the information needed to correctly answer questions they are likely to see on the DB2 9.7 for Linux, UNIX and Windows Database Administration Certification Exam (Exam 541).
Objective 5: Provide the student with an overview of the certification testing software. OR Z01: DB2 9 for z/OS DBA Certification Crammer CourseSusan Lawson Date: May 10, 2010 09:00 AM – 04:30 PM Abstract This is a high-level certification preparation course intended to help you take DB2 9 Family Fundamentals exam (730) and DB2 9 for z/OS Database Administration exam (732). Passing of these exams will result in certification as an IBM Certified Solutions Expert - DB2 V9 z/OS Database Administration. Participants are expected to have fundamental knowledge of relational principles in addition to applied working knowledge of DB2 z/OS V8 and basic knowledge of V9 features. This will be a lecture-only class with no labs.
This session offers an intense, overall review of those areas that will be on the certification exams (both the 730 – DB2 9 Family Fundamentals and the 732 – DB2 9 for z/OS), providing a comprehensive review for those planning on taking the certification exams to become an IBM Certified Solutions Expert - DB2 9 for z/OS Database Administration.
Objective 1: Present information to help students pass the 730 and 732 exams to become a DB2 9 for z/OS Certified DBA.
Objective 2: Relevant Database Administration Topics
Objective 3: Relevant Application Programming Topics
Objective 4: Relevant System Administration Topics
Objective 5: Relevant SQL Topics
Register now to qualify for discounts on your conference fees: Early Bird Discount: Register on or before March 26, 2010 and save $150 on your full-conference registration. IDUG Mentor Program: Need to get thrifty with your training dollars this year? Through this incomparable loyalty reward program, IDUG members who have attended five or more IDUG conferences in the past ten years have the opportunity to bring a first-time attendee from the same company for an unprecedented 80% discount! Visit IDUG.org/na to learn more about IDUG 2010 North America. Do you need more help justifying your attendance at this confernece? See IDUG.org/na for further tips. Susan
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Thanks to everyone who joined me on Friday while I presented on the DB2Night Show: The Wild Wonderful World of DB2 Information Resources. If you missed the show, you can catch it in reruns.I have now posted my slides.... and have added back the one that I discovered was missing during the show. You can find the slides on developerWorks as a public file.I've also posted them on ChannelDB2.com.You may need to join these sites if you are not yet a member. If you do join, remember to make me your friend! I can never have TOO many friends! Susan
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Join me (as Scott's special guest) on Feb 12 at 11 am EST on The DB2Night Show Episode #12- " The Wild Wonderful World of DB2 Resources" What will I talk about? Books, websites, podcasts, training options, tutorials, certification, white papers, social networking and more!
My webinar will be recorded if you can't make it to my session. Also remember that Paul Zikopoulos is Scott's guest next Friday, Feb 19. Susan
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I was planning to blog about IBM's Academic Initiatives today, but while doing research I keep being reminded about how important it is to have excellent writing skills. Written skills are becoming more and more important for IT professionals to possess, especially as tech workers communicate with others throughout the organization on projects and proposals. But as the old saying goes, show, don’t tell, the hiring manager about your abilities. Demonstrate with your resume and cover letter that you know how to get your ideas across on paper — or on the computer screen — through clear and concise writing and by carefully checking for any typos or grammatical errors before submitting your application materials. Yesterday I attended a web seminar called " Unwritten Rules: What You Don't Know Can Hurt Your Career" and found that communication is very important in career advancement. Communication in this presentation was largely focused on discussing your expectations with management regarding your career advancement options and expectations, but communication to gain visibility was also a key point. Tell people what you have accomplished and get noticed by writing well. Then of course Jeff Jonas making the following plea on facebook: "Note to universe: emails over 200 words are very hard to find time to read. Do summarize!" A few weeks ago I was invited to be a guest lecturer to a Masters of Computer Science class at York University about how the can improve their writing skills. This is my second time delivering this presentation that was created by Roger Sanders who is also writing a book about the same topic. The presention is entitled "The Art of Technical Writing" and the book will be published this year by MC Press. I don't see a link on the web for this book yet, but will be sure to tell you about it when it is released. I won't tell you everything that I passed onto the students, but here are a few general guidelines: 1) Go as deep into your TOC or outline as you can... before you begin writing. This will ensure that you have a plan and can help prevent writer's block. 2) Keep your audience in mind when creating the outline and as you write. I guess I should have said "define your audience" first as this is a key step. Don't fall into the trap that what you are writing will appeal to EVERYONE! It won't... and shouldn't. 3) Don't try to impress with a large vocabulary or difficult sentences. Even sophisticated readers like to read concise, well-written sentences rather than complicated words and sentences where they may have to read them twice to get the proper meaning. 4) Vary the size of your sentences. Some long, some short. If you do all the same, it may be boring to read. 5) Avoid the passive voice... stay active. This can be hard to do. 6) Review your own work. Read what you wrote... out loud to yourself, out loud to others, have the computer read it to you... whatever it takes. If you hear the words spoken you can easily spot the parts that are difficult and need revision. 7) I like Roger's recommendation to reveiw your manuscript several times, each time with a specific purpose. For example, read through looking for where you used the passive voice and fix those. Then review again for grammar. Then to make sure lists and headings are parallel. Then to ensure that diagrams and tables are properly labelled. And on and on. It is easier to be consistent if you look for specific problems each time through your manuscript. 8) Be sure that you need to include a diagram or table before including it. I tend to skip diagrams and tables unless it makes it much easier to understand the concepts that are being discussed. I've heard other people admit to skipping them as well. Don't include diagrams and tables as filler. 9) Have someone else (or several other people) review the manuscript for you. When you get feedback... do not take it personally. Your reviewer is NOT critisizing you as a person... but is giving you feedback to improve what you wrote. You don't have to make all the changes that are recommended to you, but do take the feedback seriously. If you don't get feedback at all.. don't assume what you wrote is perfect. It never is! All authors have been shocked to find simple errors in their books even after they were reviewed endlessly by experts. 10) Learn from your mistakes and actively look for ways to improve your writing skill. Writing is a skill and can be learned by paying attention and learning from your mistakes and from others. I strongly encourage you to read Roger's book when it publishes as it will help you in ways that you can't yet imagine. While I'm on the topic of writing, I should point out that my job is Publishing Program Manager for IBM Information Management. I'm happy to say that I am continuously meeting people who have a desire to write a book. I can help you with that goal if it is one of yours. The first thing you'd want to look at if you are interested in writing a book is this site that gives help on writing a proposal for your book: Proposal Guidelines. Writing is an important skill for you to have, regardless of your career, so I hope I've helped on some small way to encourage you to continually improve this skill. Susan
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If you're reading this blog entry, then you're probably knee deep into the social networking that is available. Personally I'm very much into social networking and can't remember what I did before these tools were available. In this entry I give details on the sites that I am aware of ... and use on a regular basis. I know my list is not complete... so if there is something that you think I should be aware of, please let me know!! Blogs There are so many blogs these days with more being added all the time.... so how can you find the best blogs to read? I suggest that you use aggregator sites where you summaries of many blog entries so you can choose which appeal to you the most. For the IM world the best place to go is PlanetDB2.com. My blog is there as well as blogs from Kate Dawson, Leon Katsnelson, Chris Eaton, Craig Mullins, Grant Hutchison, and many many more! Of course once you begin reading some of these blogs, you can become a fan and can get the entries sent to you directly through RSS feeds. For a broader range of topics, I suggest looking at the developerWorks blogs. My blog is hosted by developerWorks, so you can find it there as well, but you will find many interesting entries on a wide range of topics. Facebook The difficult thing about Facebook is whether to use it for personal or business reasons. There seems to be quite a few lines being crossed which may cause discomfort for some people. For most of us who write blogs and have Facebook accounts, we automatically pull our entries into our Facebook profile. There are many product fan pages that you can join as well including many from IBM. Some groups you can join are: LinkedIN I've always had a LinkedIN account for business reasons but only recently have I started to use the groups that are available. I've been very impressed with the amount of interaction taking place in these groups. My only regret is that I don't have enough time to read all the articles that I'm interested in! One of the pros about LinkedIN is that you could separate personal from business by keeping Facebook for personal uses and LinkedIN for business purposes. There are at least two levels available when joining LinkedIN. I have the basic membership and find it incredibly useful. Here are some groups that I like: developerWorks This is such a rich site, it is hard to figure out where to start! You can make connections with other devWorks users and create a profile for your personal accomplishments. There are many groups and communities that you can join. I mentioned the wide variety of blogs that are available. The richness of devWorks lies in the content that you can access. Tutorials, Skills Kits, ekits, articles, videos, checklists, downloads, and much more. developerWorks covers a huge variety of topics that covers every software brand and technology that IBM cares about. To find something specific, use the amazing search engine in developerWorks to find what you need. Join developerWorks and then check out these groups: I call this site a hybrid of many of the sites listed above. It calls in the blog entries from PlanetDB2.com; you can have a network of friends like Facebook; there are groups that you can join to discuss topics with other interested parties like LinkedIN; you'll find a collection of presentations, videos, and links like developerWorks. One thing that is unique about this site is the amount of representation from academic environments. You can find groups for specific countries as well as specific universities. Here are a few of the groups that I follow: Twitter This is the one piece of social networking that I do not use. I understand how powerful it can be, but just don't think that I have the time to get involved with tweeting at this time. Here are a few that I've heard of: Books on Social Networking Like all popular topics, you can find a book to read that can teach you how to go deeper in any or all of these topics. Here are a couple of recent titles from IBM Press that you may find interesting: Web 2.0 and Social Networking for the Enterprise: Guidelines and Examples for Implementation and Management Within Your Organizationby Joey Bernal This book provides hands-on, start-to-finish guidance for business and IT decision-makers who want to drive value from Web 2.0 and social networking technologies. IBM expert Joey Bernal systematically identifies business functions and innovations these technologies can enhance and presents best-practice patterns for using them in both internal- and external-facing applications. Save 35% and Free Shipping with the Following Coupon Code: IBM4898 (coupon codes are case sensitive)The Social FactorHarness the Power of Social Networking to Promote Innovation and Drive Growth A treasure trove of strategic and tactical insights for the business leader Provides relevant experience from a host of powerful case studies and compelling business scenarios Secrets for avoiding costly mistakes that can cripple a social networking initiative
Purchase this title enter coupon code MARKETING during checkout to receive your discount.
Susan
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One thing about IBM is that there is NO shortage of options for you to choose to increase your skills and learn about IBM products and technologies! You can find options that are free and easily accessible to custom designed courses to suit the specific learning needs of your employees. Why are there so many options? Learning is one of the most important things you will do in your lifetime and is something that you do from the day you are born until you die. We don't all learn the same way though, so having a choice of options is very important so that you can find the learning method that is best for you. Here are articles and white papers that I've read that emphasize the importance of continued learning: Whitepaper The Value of Training shows that by cutting skills development and training budgets in the hopes of improving gross margins will cause higher attrition, higher support costs, and the risk of falling behind in technological advances. Whitepaper DBA Certification: Is It Worth It? by Howard Fosdick compares the costs to the benefits of earning a DBA certification. This white paper is a few years old, but the message is still valid. Article " Is certification valuable, or not? We have the definitive answer" by Linda Musthaleris says that companies need high-functioning teams that are able to transform and grow the business like never before. These teams consist of highly skilled professionals who have current and relevant knowledge. Certifications are designed to encourage people to keep learning and then to validate their skills. Here is a list of the learning options that are available for the Information Management products and technologies. e-books - Many choices are available ... many are free, but you can also read books on electronic reading devices such as Kindle. See my blog entry " The Year of the e-Book". IBM Redbooks - The PDF versions can be downloaded for free and books are available for a very wide range of topics. See the IBM Redbooks web page and my blog entry with a few IBM Redbook recommendations. White papers - A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that often addresses problems and how to solve them. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions. For a list of whitepapers, google search "db2 whitepapers". Instructor-Led Training (ITL) classes are traditional classroom courses where students are in the same room as the instructor who guides the students through classroom material and hands-on lab exercises. Students are able to interact with fellow students and the instructor and are provided with printed course material. Instructor-Led Online (ILO) classes are equivalent to ILT classes in terms of classroom material, labs, instructor and fellow students, only you won't need to leave your home or office as you will connect to the classroom via your computer. See my blog entry about ILO classes. Self-Paced Virtual Classes (SPVC) are for students who don't need the instructor or don't want to be tied to a class schedule. These classes are typically lower priced than ILO or ILT classes meaning that you save on travel and tuition costs. Content, labs and instructors are the same as ILO and ILT classes, but it is recorded so the class can be taken at your pace, where and when you want it. See my blog entry about SPVC. Web-Based Training (WBT) are standalone courses on the web that provide 6-8 hours of instruction. These are typically voice over power-point format. Custom Classes are available for companies that want training to take place on their premises with course material that is taken from multiple existing courses and changed to suit specific needs. Just a reminder that I will cover this information and more in my upcoming webcast - Feb 12 at 11 am EST on The DB2Night Show Episode #12- " The Wild Wonderful World of DB2 Resources" Susan
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One thing I neglected to mention in my blog posting yesterday about the value of Certification is the Take it Again program that is active again this year. Earning IBM Professional Certification is a smart career move. But many of us are nervous when taking the certification exam. Our “ Take it Again” promo can help build your confidence. If you don’t pass an exam on your first attempt, you can retake it for no additional cost. Take It Again is a voucher program, offered worldwide, by IBM Professional Certification. With Take It Again you may purchase specially priced vouchers so that in the event you do not pass an exam on your first attempt, you may quickly and easily retake the same exam for no additional costs. - Obtain your Take It Again voucher from the Prometric Take It Again Web Site.
- Using the voucher number, schedule and pay for your initial exam.
(Note: To be eligible for the free retake, you must provide the TIA voucher number when scheduling this original testing appointment.)
- Take the exam.
- If you do not pass the exam you may register to take the same exam again using the same voucher.
(Note: After taking the original exam, please wait a minimum of one day before attempting to register for the retake. This will allow time for the original test results to be entered into the system.)
- There is no additional charge for retaking the exam.
For further information and all the fine print... see "Take it Again" voucher promo. For all the information you will need to get certified... see my blog entry: Certification: 101Susan By the way, I've been invited to be guest on Episode #12 of The DB2Night Show coming up this 12 February 2010 at 10am CST. Our theme for this show is "The Wild Wonderful World of DB2 Information Resources". Claim your free seat in our virtual studio audience by registering at http://www.DB2NightShow.com. I hope you can join Scott Hayes and I!
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The conclusion of an intensive IDC study and in Linda Musthaler's article " Is certification valuable, or not? We have the definitive answer" is YES certifications are important! Companies need high-functioning teams that are able to transform and grow the business like never before. These teams consist of highly skilled professionals who have current and relevant knowledge. Certifications are designed to encourage people to keep learning and then to validate their skills. Although the report doesn't specifically mention database or DB2 certifications, I would say that the same holds true. I've personally seen the performance of a team improving as a result of the entire team earning DB2 certifications. The DB2 program grew 29% in the past year and is expected to grow this year as well. Are you on board? To help you navigate through this certification program, I've created the following entries: 1) Certification 101 that links to articles about the benefits, where to start, how to prepare, and what to do once you've passed. 2) Certification Checklist where you learn to use a checklist within developerWorks that leads you through the entire certification process. Don't be left behind! Jump onto the Certification bandwagon so you can begin seeing the improvements in your skills and the skills of your teams. Susan PS. Don't forget that earning a certification benefits you personally as well. It can differentiate you from others, but will also give you the confidence that you do have the skills that you need to do your job!!
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Everyone is talking about e-books and even more e-reading devices have been announced and are waiting for your books to be loaded! Where does IBM stand in all of this? Personally I think that IBM has been at the leading edge of having e-books available about our products and technologies. Even if you don't read them, surely you've heard of IBM Redbooks. For more than 40 years, IBM has been creating "how to" books to help you build your skills on our products and technolgies. There are half a million IBM Redbooks downloaded every year! IBM Redbooks are available to you for FREE in PDF format. Read these books on your computer, laptop or any device that will accept PDF documents. Beyond the IBM Redbooks, you can find product documentation for DB2 products in PDF format as well as integrated within the product through online help. Again, as these are PDF files, read them on any device that allows PDFs. IBM Press has published a wide variety of books that can be purchased in the traditional book format, Kindle format, PDF format, or through online book engines such as Safari Books Online and Books 24x7. If you are an employee with IBM, you automatically have access to all the books available on Books 24x7. If you are a student at a University, you may also have access to Books 24x7. Check with your administrator. A series of books " For the community by the community" are available from developerWorks. These books are available for you to download for free, in PDF format. Titles in this series are being added all the time... and good news for who want translated editions. The books are being translated by members of the community as well, so you may find a translation that is suitable for you. If you are looking for books specifically for DB2 pureXML, check out the list of free ebooks that are available for you to download in PDF format. If you're not sure yet if you want to read books online or via a device, give it a try to see what you think. You can download chapters from various Web 2.0 and Social Media books to see if you like it or not. Many of the publishers who I work with are presenting e-book strategies to me for future publications. The idea is that the books will be available immediatly in an online format of some kind, but the books are only printed when they are requested / purchased by a reader. This means that the book can be more easily updated when necessary and the publisher will not have a warehouse full of printed books. This makes sense, doesn't it? Do readers want online books exclusively? I don't think so, yet. Perhaps there will always be a need for a printed book... and if you could see my desk, you'd know immediately that I am a big fan of printed books! I got a Kindle for Christmas, so I've started to see the benefits of reading on such a device. And really, Kindle is just the beginning. Everywhere you look there are different devices being made available: Sony, Nook, iPad, apps on iPhones and Blackberries, etc. I can't keep up with all the new devices, but I found this website that lists many that I've never even heard of! So, take a look if you are interested. All of this combined tells me IBM is very into this ebook trend AND that 2010 is the Year of the e-Book... at least in terms of supply... so we'll have to wait to see if you the readers buy into the ebook technologies. If you want to add to this discussion, take a look at this group that I've created on ChannelDB2.com: Electronic Books. Susan
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