What is the Pass Percentage of Cloud Computing Certifications?

You might know a few Citrix and other virtualization or cloud computing professionals who always pass a certification exam on the first attempt. Many of the same seem to pass the exams without studying much or studying at all. You might be one of them.

But, of course, we are not all that fortunate. For many of us it takes more than one attempt and it can take many months of training and studying before we pass a Citrix or other IT exam.

Most IT vendor certification exams require a passing score of 75% or less. For Citrix exams, it usually ranges from the lower 60s to 70%. With those low percentages, it seems that it should be relatively easy to pass, but what do the surveys say?

A recent survey performed by Certification Magazine revealed the following:

The highest number of times the surveyed IT professionals failed while attempting to pass a single cloud computing certification exam:

Zero failures: 66.7 percent
1 failure: 17.5 percent
2 failures: 11.1 percent
3 failures: 3.2 percent
4 failures: [No responses]
5 failures: 1.6 percent
6 or more failures: [No responses]

The longest length of time it ever took the surveyed IT professionals to earn a cloud computing certification:

0 to 3 months: 47.6 percent
4 to 7 months: 27 percent
8 to 11 months: 9.5 percent
1 year: 11.1 percent
13 to 16 months: 3.2 percent
17 to 20 months: 1.6 percent

What do the numbers say?

It seems that most IT professionals pass cloud computing certifications on the first try. Also, close to half of IT professionals only study for a cloud computing exam for 3 months or less.

Does this mean the certification exams are too easy? IT vendors don't think so. They prefer that a high percentage of test-takers pass their exams on the first attempt. It keeps seasoned IT professionals coming back for more and a fresh collection of newbies attempting their exams for the first time.

It also appears that we are fortunate to live in an age of so many resources available to assist us in preparing for certification exams. With the internet, there is a wealth of information to help us prepare, including free study guides, practice exams (or at least demos of practice exams), and training courses (or at least free introductory courses.)

In closing, if a test taker has a decent grasp of the product for which they are preparing to get certified, a reasonable amount of study preparation is advised, but don't get too worked up about the results of the exam. Also, remember that IT vendors, including Citrix, are actually hoping that you will pass their exams the on the first attempt.

Comments are closed.