Most IT support engineers and sysadmins agree that Microsoft PowerShell is a powerful tool. It is quickly becoming the most popular tool for automating and time-savings in managing their infrastructures. Others would also point out the tremendously helpful PowerShell community.
The conversation eventually leads to the question: “Should PowerShell become certified?” While certification is a great way to show that you are skilled, it can also be time-consuming in other areas. Let’s take a look at how this might actually work.
Why isn’t there a PowerShell certification?
The answer is simple but complex. One might even say, “It’s complicated.” This statement is quick and simple, but there’s a story behind it. PowerShell.org, still the largest community for all things PowerShell released a beta examination program in 2013. It was a similar assignment, with candidates having a few days to return the completed assignment. The program didn’t gain much traction and the organization announced its retirement only a few years after it began. This seems to have been the most solid attempt by any recognized entity to start a PowerShell certification programme.
PowerShell and other standard programming languages are not apples to apples. PowerShell technically is not a language as most people would consider it. Microsoft Docs describes PowerShell as a cross-platform task-automation solution that includes a command-line shell and a scripting language. It also has a configuration management framework. PowerShell can be used as a language for scripting automation tasks and other functions.
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Start training. Most IT engineers and support staff will eventually use it as a language. However, it is important to understand the distinction when it comes time to certification. Python, for example, has a few entities that can test and certify your knowledge. Pearson VUE has partnered with the OpenEDG Python Institute to offer exams for three levels of Python certification.
Another argument could be made that there is no need for a single certification due to the increasing demand for PowerShell skills for other certifications. You’ll have a lot of PowerShell cmdlets if you’ve taken the recently retired MCSA Windows Server 2016 exam.
In the newer exam objectives, you will also find many PowerShell objectives. The skills measured document for Microsoft Azure Administrator (AZ-104) says, “In addition to this role, this role should also have experience using PowerShell and Azure CLI, Azure portal and Azure Resource Manager templates.” These cmdlets may contain a lot of PowerShell cmdlets, but they don’t really give a comprehensive measure of your PowerShell knowledge. This shows that there is still a strong case for adding-on certifications for PowerShell.
Imagine a PowerShell-Certified World
Most people would agree that Microsoft would be the granting authority of PowerShell. Let’s face the facts, they created it and maintain it so they would naturally be the most influential authority to issue such a certificate. You would think that it would be easy to build a PowerShell certification track, given their extensive certification system. Microsoft already has a solid certification track for its various products. They just released a new version.