Linux Professional Institute Certification Exams Top 100,000 Worldwide (Frankfurt, Germany - November 16, 2005): The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), (http://www.lpi.org), the world's premier Linux certification organization announced that their exam totals have topped the 100,000 mark and continue to demonstrate strong global growth. Notable IT companies such as IBM, Novell, SGI, NEC and others joined together in congratulating LPI on this achievement.
“Just over a year ago we reached the 50,000 mark after only four years as an organization. We have since doubled that number," said Jim Lacey, Chairman of the LPI Board of Directors. "This demonstrates the growing significance and need for a certified body of Linux professionals to support the integration of a Linux platform within an enterprise environment. Furthermore it demonstrates that LPI has unequivocally increased its industry reputation as the global leader in providing standardized, vendor-independent Linux certification," added Mr. Lacey. Mr. Lacey noted that the organization announced in February that it had delivered 75,000 exams worldwide--reaching two milestones in a single year. Industry representatives were quick to offer notes of congratulations recognizing LPI's contribution to the advancement of Linux education and professionalism. "We congratulate the Linux Professional Institute on having delivered 100,000 Linux certification exams world wide," said Bob Bishop, Chairman and CEO of SGI. "This represents a significant achievement in the advancement of Linux professionalism and education and at SGI we recognize the importance of supporting an international standard in Linux skills and knowledge. As long time sponsors and supporters of LPI, we are pleased to have been part of this successful effort." "Linux training and certification are critical to developing skilled Linux systems administrators and building a strong and vibrant Linux ecosystem," said Jeff Smith, Vice President, Linux and Open Source Middleware, IBM. "LPI performs a key role through its vendor-neutral training approach, and the success of LPI is shown by it reaching the milestone of 100,000 exams. IBM sponsors and supports LPI and Linux education in a variety of ways, such as offering a set of LPI tutorials on developerWorks to help developers learn Linux fundamentals and prepare for their LPI certification." "The Linux Professional Institute has achieved a notable milestone in the advancement of Linux skills and knowledge. The successful delivery of 100,000 Linux certification exams globally points to the growing importance and relevance of Linux in the corporate enterprise, government and small and medium-sized businesses," said Dan Veitkus, Vice President of Training for Novell, Inc. "As a platinum sponsor and supporter of LPI, we are grateful for the many contributions LPI has made to customers worldwide with the delivery of their notable certification programs." "This notable achievement of the Linux Professional Institute points to the importance of a professional vendor-neutral certification for Linux," said Ms. Chieko Takahashi, Senior Manager of the Linux Promotion Center, Computers Software Operation Unit, NEC. "Business enterprise around the globe must be able to rely on a certification standard that truly measures Linux skills and knowledge but which is not tied to one choice of Linux distribution," added Ms.Takahashi. "We at NEC, as long time supporters and sponsors of LPI, are proud to have been part of advancing this international, open and professional standard." "Thomson Prometric would like to extend its heartfelt congratulations to Linux Professional Institute on reaching such a worthy milestone," said Alex Gray, Executive Director of IT Client Services, Thomson Prometric. "It has been our pleasure to work with LPI, supporting their highly respected program through our worldwide network of testing centers and we are certain this achievement will be followed by additional LPI milestones in the coming years." LPI offers a standardized, multi-national and highly respected program to certify levels of professional expertise in Linux. Exams are created using industry recognized psychometrics and accredited test development processes to ensure high quality exams with direct relevance to the skills being tested. LPI's certification program is delivered worldwide in seven different languages with the support of employers, vendors and trainers. Level One and Level Two certifications (LPIC-1 and LPIC-2) reflect the successful completion of two exams at each level. LPI made the announcement at LinuxWorld in Frankfurt, Germany and was hosted by officials from their affiliate LPI-German. "We are proud to say that our numbers are climbing, at a time when other, vendor-specific, certification exam numbers seem to be dropping,” said Reiner Brandt, President of LPI-German. “We believe this to be indicative of the recognition, world-wide, that we are indeed the leaders in vendor-independent and vendor-neutral certifications that are available to Linux professionals,” added Brandt. Mr. Brandt also noted that a significant market for LPI certification was in Europe, particularly in Germany, which had the highest amount of LPI certified professionals world wide after Japan. LPI started in 1999 as a grassroots organization aimed at removing obstacles to Open Source adoption and increasing the skill level of the Linux community. LPI has since delivered exams in almost every country and has gained the support of vendors, trainers, employers and governments. In addition, LPI supports affiliate networks on five continents, worldwide, including Brazil, Bulgaria, United States, Japan, Canada, Germany, Australia, China, France, the United Kingdom and South Africa. -- 30 -- The Linux Professional Institute (LPI) develops professional certification for the Linux operating system, independent of software vendors or training providers. Established as an international non-profit organization in 1999 by the Linux community, LPI develops accessible, internationally-recognized certification programs which have earned the respect of vendors, employers and administrators. LPI's activities involve hundreds of volunteers and professionals throughout the world in many different capacities, and the group encourages active public involvement through mailing lists and its website at www.lpi.org. LPI's multi-level program of exams is administered globally through Pearson VUE and Prometric testing centers. LPI's major financial sponsors are Platinum Sponsors IBM, Linux Journal, Linux Magazine, Maxspeed, Novell, SGI, and TurboLinux as well as Gold Sponsors, Hewlett-Packard and IDG. Media contact: Scott Lamberton Director of Community Relations Linux Professional Institute Email: scottl_at_lpi.org Web: http://www.lpi.org Telephone: +1-416-666-1574 _______________________________________________ affiliates mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.lpi.org/mailman/listinfo/affiliates -- Scott Lamberton Director of Community Relations Linux Professional Institute Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.lpi.org Telephone: +1-416-666-1574 _______________________________________________ oceo-staff mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.lpi.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/oceo-staff -- Scott Lamberton Director of Community Relations Linux Professional Institute Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.lpi.org Telephone: +1-416-666-1574 _______________________________________________ lpi-bloggers mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.lpi.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/lpi-bloggers -- Scott Lamberton Director of Community Relations Linux Professional Institute Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.lpi.org Telephone: +1-416-666-1574 _______________________________________________ lpi-announce mailing list [email protected] http://list.lpi.org/mailman/listinfo/lpi-announce
