Citrix CCA vs. CCAA Certification

There are currently four certification tracks a person can take for Citrix certification: CCA (Citrix Certified Administrator), CCAA (Citrix Certified Advanced Administrator), CCEE (Citrix Certified Enterprise Engineer) and CCIA (Citrix Certified Integration Architect). Each of the four certifications have a specific purpose and each have a different skill level that a person must have to pass the requirements for certification.

The two Citrix certifications that I'll focus on in this post are the two administrator certifications, CCA and CCAA. I'll write another post in the near future covering the CCEE and CCIA certifications.

Citrix CCA Certification

The Citrix CCA is an entry-level certification. With this certification, the test-taker can validate for themselves and their employers/clients that they have the skills it takes to install, configure, maintain and troubleshoot specific Citrix products; the most popular being XenApp, XenDesktop and XenServer.

CCA certification currently covers 11 Citrix products: XenDesktop 4, XenDesktop 5, XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2003, XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008, XenApp 6, XenServer 5, NetScaler 9, Access Gateway 4 Advanced Edition, Access Gateway 8 Enterprise Edition, Access Gateway 9 Enterprise Edition and Application Firewall 8.

A test taker only needs to pass one exam pertaining the product they are interested in being certified for to be awarded a Citrix CCA certification.

The Citrix CCA certification is a great fit for experienced helpdesk personnel, systems administrators, Citrix consultants and contract employees, support personnel, PC technicians and any other profession along those lines.

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Citrix CCAA Certification

Currently, Citrix CCAA certification only includes Citrix XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008. I haven't verified it yet, but I'm sure more CCAA certification tracks are in the making as this article is being written.

The XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008 CCAA certification builds upon the CCA certification diving in deeper to more complex maintaining and troubleshooting of a XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2008 server farm environment.

To be awarded the Citrix CCAA certification, one must pass one of two Citrix CCA exams: 1Y0-A05 Implementing Citrix XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008 or 1Y0-A23 Citrix XenApp 5 for Windows Server 2003: Administration. (If you passed the 1Y0-259 before it was discontinues, it will work in lieu of the aforementioned exams).

One must also take the CXA-300-1 Advanced Administration for Citrix XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008 training course.

Lastly, one must pass the advanced Citrix exam: 1Y0-A08 Advanced Administration for Citrix XenApp 5.0 for Windows Server 2008.

Citrix CCAA certification is a good fit for the same professionals as mentioned above in the CCA section and for those who want to go beyond just the basics and move into the more accelerated tasks that it takes to truly master the administration, maintenance and troubleshooting of a Citrix XenApp server farm environment.

Citrixxperience Products To Assist

There are several practice exams already for sale and being written at this time to help those who already have a good grasp on Citrix administration but need that extra edge to assure them of passing the Citrix CCA and CCAA certification exams.

Citrixxperience exams consist of questions, answers, explanations and the source of the explanation to fully prepare an aspiring Citrix certified professional to gain certification. See the Products page for a list of current Citrix practice exams. See the Free Exam Prep page for some current study guides and a few archived exams that can still be helpful for today's exams.

Other Citrix Certifications

The CCEE and CCIA are even more advanced than the CCA and CCAA certifications. Those two certifications will be featured in an upcoming blog post.