Important Mainline Certification and Delivery Accreditation delta exam changes

[Janel Woodard]

We have always been committed to providing valuable credentials for our learners as they look to expand their skills on the ServiceNow platform.  Throughout the years, we have seen tremendous growth in our certification program and the number of people who have joined this powerful community. We attribute it all to exceptional individuals like you, who have helped to shape the ServiceNow certification program and who have sparked our inspiration for RiseUp with ServiceNow.  

Your feedback has always been immensely valuable to us! As more of you obtain multiple credentials, and as ServiceNow’s release cycles become increasingly varied, the effort and outcome of bi-annual certification maintenance no longer meets the need of re-engaging the community. 

We heard you! You may have noticed that we did not release a delta exam with Utah.  Don’t worry, that wasn’t a mistake. It means that you will be asked once during the major release in the second half of the year to keep your credential current. You will start to notice new types of maintenance assessments, but it is our job to make sure they are useful in gauging your release readiness and to cover relevant topics from that year’s releases.  

Where to from here? 

Vancouver will be the first required delta exam in the new annual cycle. 

	Utah Release	Vancouver Release
Mainline Certification	No delta exam	Yes delta exam
Delivery Accreditation	No delta exam	Yes delta exam
Sales Accreditation	Yes delta exam	Yes delta exam
Pre-Sales Accreditation	Yes delta exam	Yes delta exam

While we are switching to annual delta exams, we are not changing the mainline certification exams. These will continue to be updated with every ServiceNow product release so that every test taker is being assessed by the hands-on guided experience of the current release. Also, there will be no change to the Certification Maintenance Program.  

We know you know how important it is to stay current on these releases, so please be sure to check in with the release notes, documentation, and community posts. And, of course, we hope to see you at Knowledge 2023 where Utah will be covered in detail amidst all the great content and activities.  

P.S - We hope we answered all your burning questions but, if we didn’t, please visit our FAQ for more information.

[Allen Andreas]

Hi,

It'd be nice to hear more information related to your statement: "As more of you obtain multiple credentials, and as ServiceNow’s release cycles become increasingly varied, the effort and outcome of bi-annual certification maintenance no longer meets the need of re-engaging the community."

And how switching to once a year deltas somehow addresses that?

It doesn't really make sense from my perspective to do this switch other than:

1. React to feedback from those who complain about having to take deltas
2. Compensate for the quality control issues related to the delta exams that have increasing occurred each delta cycle
3. Boost metrics related to RiseUp and similar initiatives

While others may celebrate this change, for someone like myself who was an advocate for deltas, this seems like a step backwards, rather than forwards in terms of certifications and expectations.

[amurana4]

@Janel Woodard , 

1.  What is Delivery Accreditation?  Where can I find out the course and exam?  Do I have to be an SN partner?  My firm is an SN partner.  

2.  What does "Performance-based testing" mean in this context?  

• Performance-based testing - as we move towards performance-based testing, we will strive to increase the value and incentive for you to keep your mainline certification current so you can demonstrate your worth in the marketplace.

Thank you for the answers.  Akira

[Justin Miller1]

Hi Allen,

We love your passion for ServiceNow and appreciate the opportunity to expound on our statement:

“As more of you obtain multiple credentials, and as ServiceNow’s release cycles become increasingly varied, the effort and outcome of bi-annual certification maintenance no longer meets the need of re-engaging the community."

As you may know, our RiseUp initiative is gearing up to prepare 250K to be job ready by 2024. This means ServiceNow needs to prepare new and existing users, not just for knowledge about our products, but to demonstrate real-world skills through offering hands-on learning, immediate feedback, and real-world applicability so employers can hire them with confidence knowing they can hit the ground running.

As we roll out our new framework throughout 2023-2024, you are going to see more examples of this shift to more meaningful assessments while retiring processes that do not move us toward our goal. Annual deltas are an example of increasing quality while cutting out inefficiency. While we understand any change can be hard, our promise is to learners like yourself. Trust, we are considering all possibilities as we provide a valuable experience for all.  

[Justin Miller1]

Hello Akira,

1.  What is Delivery Accreditation?  Where can I find out the course and exam?  Do I have to be an SN partner?  My firm is an SN partner.  

A delivery accreditation is a credential for content that does not meet the standards for a certification. Many delivery accreditations center around New Product Introduction so that we can have a credential while further training, documentation, etc is built out. You do not have to be a partner to take a delivery accreditation. You can find more information in our Credentialing Program Guide found here: https://www.servicenow.com/services/training-and-certification/journey/#/lessons/Q4jCpV3Ca_wdUMhPwfb...

2.  What does "Performance-based testing" mean in this context?  

• Performance-based testing - as we move towards performance-based testing, we will strive to increase the value and incentive for you to keep your mainline certification current so you can demonstrate your worth in the marketplace.

This is a shift from simply testing knowledge to also testing skills and abilities. We are looking into broader use of assessment simulators and analyzing critical thinking skills with case studies. 

[lisa slavin]

@Justin Miller1 

Can you please help by validating when deltas need to be taken in these three examples?

• I achieved my mainline CSA on Tokoyo. When (i.e., which release) do I take my first Delta exam to stay current? 
• I achieved my mainline CSA on Utah. When (i.e., which release) do I take my first Delta exam to stay current? 
• I achieved my mainline CSA on Vancouver. When (i.e., which release) do I take my first Delta exam to stay current? 

Instructors communicate this information to students and want to ensure its explained correctly. 

Thanks 

[lkirby]

@lisa slavin 

[pikisaaXDS]

I received a email like this about csa certification? is there any update for this? ALready i failed in csa certfication last year2022 ? 

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

HI @pikisaaXDS 

This is great news. You are pass CSA now. As per email , there was some issue and now after recent check that has been corrected and you are Pass.

YOU are CSA Certified now.

[Allen Andreas]

Hi @pikisaaXDS 

What sort of update are you looking for?

If you received that email from a real ServiceNow source, then after 24 hours, you can login to your Now Learning account that has your Webassessor account associated with it and see if you have your Certified System Administrator certification by navigating to your profile and then "My Certifications". If you don't see it, you may need to submit a case via Now Learning and the "Help" menu at the top of the page.