More than 200 professionals from 80 companies participated in the MEF-SDCP beta test phase
MEF19 – Los Angeles, 19 November, 2019 – MEF is pleased to announce the SD-WAN Certified Professional (MEF-SDCP) program, the newest in a series of professional certifications that validate workforce skills necessary for successful digital transformation. The SD-WAN professional certification is the industry’s only exam verifying knowledge, skills, and abilities in the domains of SD-WAN based on the MEF SD-WAN Service Attributes and Services (MEF 70) standard as well as other fundamentals of SD-WAN solutions. This exam is designed for technically-oriented SD-WAN professionals ranging from pre-sales to network/service engineering and operational personnel in the service provider, technology vendor, and enterprise communities.
A record number of more than 200 professionals employed by 80 companies worldwide participated in the MEF-SDCP beta test phase that recently ended. Successful beta participants will receive their certification credentials in December.
“Today’s SD-WAN market shares similarities to the early days of the $85+ billion Carrier Ethernet market before standardization and services, technology, and professional certification took hold,” said Kevin Vachon, Chief Operating Officer, MEF. “Having skilled professionals who are well-versed in the emerging common language for SD-WAN will be key to enabling ecosystem stakeholders to capitalize on market opportunities.”
Recent research findings from Heavy Reading indicate that 94% of surveyed service provider professionals worldwide believe their employer will offer an SD-WAN service by the end of 2021 if they do not already. Seventy-three percent believe that SD-WAN professional certification will be “critical” or “important” for accelerating SD-WAN service sales. Heavy Reading’s SD-WAN Services Strategies survey included responses from 125 service provider professionals representing companies based in every major geographic region.
MEF-SDCP Exam & Training
The MEF-SDCP exam is scheduled to be generally available by mid-December 2019. Individuals interested in taking the exam should click here to register and learn more information.
To ensure key core competencies, the MEF-SDCP test covers:
Assessing, planning and designing: scenarios of size and scale, implementations, applications, strategy, and business requirements.
Implementation: MEF 70 related to business requirements, application flow, policy, underlay services, characteristics, and migration strategy.
Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO): service impacting issues, diagnostics, performance metrics, and troubleshooting.
Components and Features: fundamentals and characteristics of SD-WAN solutions, service components, and service attributes.
Three MEF accredited training partners are now offering training programs for the MEF SD-WAN professional certification: Perpetual Solutions, SD-WAN Academy, and Tech 2000. Others are expected to follow.
Related SD-WAN Announcements
MEF issued press releases on two related SD-WAN topics today:
“Carrier Managed SD-WAN is one of the fastest growing markets for service providers, MSPs, and enterprises – projected to reach $4.5B in the U.S. alone by 2023 based on our latest research,” said Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services, Vertical Systems Group. “MEF’s standards development and professional certification program will go a long way toward ensuring that the service providers, vendors, and enterprises can best monetize the benefits of SD-WAN to move their businesses forward.”
About MEF
An industry association of 200+ member companies, MEF has introduced the MEF 3.0 transformational global services framework for defining, delivering, and certifying assured services orchestrated across a global ecosystem of automated networks. MEF 3.0 services are designed to provide an on-demand, cloud-centric experience with user- and application-directed control over network resources and service capabilities. MEF 3.0 services are delivered over automated, virtualized, and interconnected networks powered by LSO, SDN, and NFV. MEF produces service specifications, LSO frameworks, open LSO APIs, software-driven reference implementations, and certification programs. MEF 3.0 work will enable automated delivery of standardized Carrier Ethernet, Optical Transport, IP, SD-WAN, Security-as-a-Service, and other Layer 4-7 services across multiple provider networks. For more information: https://www.MEF.net and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @MEF_Forum.
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Media Contacts:
Ashley Schulte
Witz Communications for MEF
MEF@witzcommunications.com