ZEDEDA’s Edge Academy is excited to announce the expansion of its certification program with the launch of the ZEDEDA Certified Edge Administration Specialist—a new, practical credential designed to empower technical professionals working hands-on with ZEDEDA’s edge solutions. This new certification fills a crucial gap between the accessible Associate level and the more advanced Professional certification, offering an ideal pathway for administrators, sales engineers, and solution architects to validate their day-to-day operational expertise.
Why a Specialist Certification? And why now?
ZEDEDA has long offered two certifications: the ZEDEDA Certified Edge Computing Associate (ZCEA), which is open to all users and serves as an introduction to edge computing, and the ZEDEDA Certified Edge Orchestration Professional (ZCEP), a more advanced credential that demands significant industry experience and technical depth. However, as the edge ecosystem matures, it became clear there was a need for a middle ground, a certification that demonstrates practical, working knowledge of ZEDEDA’s edge orchestration and management platform without requiring years of specialized experience.
As Senior Training and Content Development Manager Robert Bush explained, “We needed a system for administrators to prove their confidence and competence in performing common, day-to-day tasks within our product. The Specialist certification is that proof point—it’s about knowing where all the buttons and knobs are, what they do, and why you’d use them, but it’s not as advanced as the Professional level.”
Who Should Pursue This Certification?
The Specialist certification is designed for any user who works hands-on with ZEDEDA. This includes:
- System administrators managing ZEDEDA deployments
- Technical evaluators and product administrators
- Sales engineers and solutions architects
- Anyone seeking to demonstrate technical fundamentals in ZEDEDA’s edge environment
This certification is not intended for economic or business buyers like CTOs, but rather for those in the trenches, ensuring edge deployments run smoothly every day.
What Does the Certification Cover?
The ZEDEDA Certified Edge Administration Specialist certification and exam are structured around practical knowledge and real-world tasks. After some basic training and a month of hands-on experience with ZEDEDA, candidates should be well-prepared to succeed. The exam itself has been carefully crafted to reflect the core competencies required for effective edge administration, covering areas such as:
- User agents and command-line tools
- Edge node deployment and lifecycle management
- Networking and connectivity for edge nodes and applications
- Infrastructure management, including datastores and project organization
- Application lifecycle management
- Security concepts like zero-trust architecture
- Remote access and troubleshooting fundamentals
The exam blueprint is organized into seven core domains, each reflecting a key area of ZEDEDA administration:
- ZEDEDA User Agents (10%): Understanding user agents, the zCLI, and ZEDEDA’s API implementation.
- Edge Node Deployment and Management (19%): Installing EVE-OS, onboarding edge nodes, managing the EVE-OS lifecycle, hardware models, and volumes.
- Edge Node and Edge App Connectivity (17%): Managing EVE-OS networking and configuring network instances for edge applications.
- General Infrastructure and Components (15%): Managing datastores, organizing projects, and working with tags.
- Managing Edge Applications (18%): Handling app images, instances, manifests, and pushing data to edge app instances.
- ZEDEDA Security Concepts (11%): Applying zero-trust architecture and managing user authentication and authorization.
- Remote Access and Troubleshooting (11%): Using Edge View/Access, understanding node states and statuses, and generating reports.
This structure ensures that candidates are tested on the full range of day-to-day administrative functions required of a ZEDEDA administrator, providing a comprehensive validation of practical skills. For a deeper dive into each domain and additional exam resources, visit the Edge Academy.
Learning Path and Training Modules
To further support candidates, ZEDEDA is rolling out a series of self-contained learning modules. These modules will be released every few weeks, each corresponding to a different section of the exam. While not designed to cover every exam detail, the courses closely track the exam objectives and are bundled into a structured learning path, making it easy for learners to progress step by step.
How to Get Started
- Complete the ZEDEDA Certified Edge Computing Associate (ZCEA) certification. This foundational certification is a prerequisite for the Specialist exam, ensuring all candidates have foundational knowledge before advancing.
- Access the ZEDEDA Certified Edge Administration Specialist certification learning path, available to partners, customers, and anyone interested in deepening their ZEDEDA expertise.
- Explore additional training modules, all of which are free and accessible, with new content released regularly.
What’s Next?
This new Specialist certification is just the beginning. ZEDEDA is committed to continuously expanding its training and certification offerings, helping technical professionals stay ahead in the rapidly evolving edge computing landscape.
Ready to take your edge skills to the next level? Visit ZEDEDA’s Edge Academy to learn more about the Specialist certification, access the latest training modules, and register for the exam.
