RHCA: What does it mean to be an RHCA? (Part One)

Red Hat Certification has worked to make sure that IT professionals are certified to show they are proficient in their chosen field and to ensure employers hire the best candidates to solve problems and complete IT projects effectively and efficiently.

This article is the first part of a two part series around Red Hat Certified Architects
Part One: RHCA: What does it mean to be a RHCA?
Part Two: RHCA: RHCA + Renewals 

What is an RHCA?

A Red Hat® Certified Architect (RHCA) is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE®) or Red Hat Certified JBoss Developer (RHCJD) who attained Red Hat's highest level of certification by passing and keeping current five additional hands-on exams on Red Hat technologies.

IT professionals are able to select what they wish to focus on or choose from a suggested concentration on either DevOps, Cloud, Datacenter, Enterprise applications development, and Application platform.

What are RHCA Levels?

Once upon a time, there were just 5 specific exams one could take beyond RHCE in order to earn RHCA. Over the years, we have added new exams and certifications to our catalog. RHCAs were among those earning these new certifications but earning them provided no incremental benefit or recognition to their RHCA status.

Two years ago, we changed the policy so that IT professionals no longer had to take five specific exams. Additionally, we decided to recognize the RHCAs that went above and beyond the five-exam requirement, and we introduced RHCA levels.

RHCA Levels show that an IT professional that has passed more than five exams within the RHCA path, which certifies/proves that this individuals has an even broader understanding of the Red Hat product portfolio. For example, an IT professional that has passed seven exams would be a RHCA Level III.

An accomplishment that recognizes the the most elite IT professionals, becoming an RCHA is the highest level of certification Red Hat offers.

What it takes to be an RHCA

As we discussed in part one of this series, a Red Hat® Certified Architect (RHCA) is a Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE®) or Red Hat Certified JBoss Developer (RHCJD) who attained Red Hat's highest level of certification by passing and keeping current five additional hands-on exams on Red Hat technologies.

What that means

RHCE and RHCJD have significantly different job roles and skills sets, which means that the certifications that an IT professional can apply towards earning a RHCA is dependent on if you are RHCE or RHCJD. Though, there are a handful of certifications/exams that can be earned by both.

In some cases, especially for the DevOps concentration, certifications may be applied for either a RHCA or RHCJD.

Eligible certifications for RHCE and RHCJD to apply towards RHCA*

*List updated on August 1, 2016.

Visit the RHCA page for more details.

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