VMware, Inc. announced new educational services and certification programs designed to help IT professionals build world-class virtual environments. The programs are designed for varied positions, including systems administrators, design architects, operators and managers who are interested in enhancing their knowledge and skills of VMware Infrastructure for datacenter and desktop environments. New education offerings include the VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) and Live Online and Flex Online courses.

The VMware Education Program accelerates instruction and research in the rapidly expanding area of virtualized infrastructure by providing IT professionals with the knowledge necessary to deploy the virtualization technologies most widely used in commercial production environments. Educational courses for VMware products are available in over 60 countries, at over 300 training locations and in over 35 languages, through VMware and VMware Authorized Training Centers (VATC).

New to the education offerings are Live Online and Flex Online courses, available for the "VMware Infrastructure 3: Install and Configure" course, one of three courses that serve as a requirement to become a VMware Certified Professional. In the increasingly costly travel climate, Live Online and Flex Online provides students with a variety of options to help them decide how, when and where to attend their courses.

"Authorized VMware training is the fastest growing part of our portfolio and we're seeing huge demand from our customers for all the courses we offer. Virtualization is having a massive impact on the IT market, so being able to offer Authorized Training and Certification is hugely important for us," said Leigh Lovering, director, QA-IQ, a leading UK VATC. "We expect the number of students we train in 2008 to be over a 500% increase on 2007, and the first six months is already showing that we are well on the way to achieving that target."

For those looking to further their skills around VMware Infrastructure, two certifications are available: VMware Certified Professional (VCP) and the new VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX). The VMware Certified Professional is designed for partners, end-users, resellers, and consultants looking to demonstrate their expertise in virtual infrastructure and increase their potential for career advancement. The VMware Certified Design Expert (VCDX) is an advanced certification for architects and consultants who are responsible for planning and designing VMware enterprise deployments.

"Global interest in VMware certification has exceeded even our most ambitious estimates," said Randy Trask, vice president of market development at testing services company Pearson VUE. "Among all IT certification programs, no one is growing more quickly than VMware." Overall, more than 25,000 IT professionals hold one or more VCP certifications and over 18,000 VCPs to date have received the VMware Infrastructure 3 certification.

"The VMware Certified Professional credential enables us to demonstrate the technical skills of our Virtualization Consultants in the most effective way as it is clearly more valuable than simpler paper-based Certifications," said Craig Cook, director of client services, Long View Systems. "The authorized training courses coupled with the proctored exam and hands-on experience ensure the VCP credential provides the necessary validation to give our customers confidence in our VMware consultants. We now have more than 50 VCPs on staff at Long View Systems."

Through instructor-led onsite training, online courses, workshops and VMware Authorized Training Centers, IT professionals can easily learn the skills needed to implement VMware technology. VMware's education courses are so well-designed that 97% of students would recommend the classes to a colleague, according to recent end-of-class surveys.

"The huge business and technical benefits that customers are achieving with VMware virtualization are driving enormous demand for more qualified professionals who can implement and support virtualized environments," said Jason Martin, vice president of professional services, VMware. "These courses and certifications are designed to enhance the pool of experts who can help customers achieve the full benefits of implementing VMware."