The Linux Professional Institute (LPI), an industry-wide group
developing a professional certification program for Linux, is
pleased to announce the creation of its corporate sponsorship
program and a number of early sponsors. LPI also welcomes the
addition of several new members to its Advisory Council, including
IBM, ExecuTrain and CompUSA.
June 7, 1999, Raleigh, NC– The Linux Professional Institute
(LPI), an industry-wide group developing a professional
certification program for Linux, is pleased to announce the
creation of its corporate sponsorship program and a number of early
sponsors. LPI also welcomes the addition of several new members to
its Advisory Council, including IBM, ExecuTrain and CompUSA.
Two sponsorship plans, for corporations and individuals, have
been introduced to allow anyone to assist the LPI in its goal of
creating a high-quality, vendor-neutral program. LPI aims to
deliver its first certification exams in July 1999.
“While we have heavily depended on the volunteer community in
the spirit of other Linux projects, putting together a respected
certification program requires a substantial investment,” said
Chuck Mead, LPI Director of Corporate Relations. “The financial
support of the Linux community is crucial to our program’s
timeliness and credibility.”
The LPI corporate sponsorship program allows for donations from
$1,000 to more than $50,000. Individual sponsorships allow for
donations from $100 to $1,000.
To date, the following sponsorship commitments have been
received:
Corporate Platinum ($50,000 or more):
Caldera
LinuxCare
SuSE
Corporate Silver ($10,000 or more)
Starnix
Corporate Bronze ($5,000 or more)
Digital Creations
Individual Platinum ($1,000 or more)
Jon ‘maddog’ Hall
Mark Bolzern
Individual Bronze ($100 or more)
Richard Ames
The above Sponsors, as well as any other companies who pledge
financial support for LPI before June 30, 1999, will be designated
“Charter” sponsors. A full description of sponsor benefits and
other features of the program, can be found at
http://www.lpi.org/sponsorship.html on the LPI website.
“We believed from the beginning that an independent Linux
certification would be paramount to the success of Linux for
business,” said Ransom Love, President and CEO of Caldera Systems,
Inc. “Independent certification not only enables Caldera Systems to
provide better education through Authorized Training Centers
worldwide–it sets a standard that the business world can depend
on. We are proud to be co-sponsors of LPI and part of their
Advisory Council. We welcome all newcomers.”
“Red Hat is committed to providing its customers the best
training and certification programs in the industry, and making
these available on a wide scale”, said Red Hat Software’s Director
of Technical Programs, Donnie Barnes, “We welcome the creation of
credible, vendor-neutral certification standards for Linux and are
pleased to be involved in the Advisory Council.”
“Our plan is to promote LPI certificates as much as possible,”
said Tilman Müller-Gerbes, SuSE Vice President Professional
Services. “Therefore, it is of prime importance to us to have them
available in as many countries as possible, right from the
start.”
“As more and more companies use Linux it is very important for
human resources and management to be able to confidently assess the
qualifications of the people they interview.”, said Mark Bolzern,
CEO LinuxMall, “The Linux Professional Institute, through it’s
certification program will provide a solution so management can
evaluate and hire expertise with confidence. The open way in which
the courseware and certification tests are being created guarantees
that the material will be comprehensive, relavant, and vendor
independent.”
In addition to the corporate sponsorship program, the LPI has
significantly increased the size and breadth of its Advisory
Council. This Council, which is designed to represent the diversity
of the support behind Linux certification, now includes new members
IBM, CompUSA, ExecuTrain, Global Knowledge, Lotus, and SGI.
“As a global leader in certification training, Wave Technologies
responds to our customers needs by bringing certification training
programs to the market,” said Ken Kousky, president and chief
executive officer of Wave. “As Linux becomes more mainstream in the
corporate community, we are consistently hearing from our customers
a need for Linux certification. Wave is eager to support any viable
measurement of professional competencies in Linux and is taking an
active role regarding certification.”
“As an industry leader, ExecuTrain knows that standards and core
knowledge are keys to success,” said Phil Carlson, vice president
of strategic alliances at ExecuTrain Corp. “We look forward to
working with Linux Professional Institute (LPI) and the other key
players to build a certification program based on this new and
important technology.”
“Vendor-neutral industry certification such as LPI’s exam-based
Linux Certification program can provide a vehicle for our customers
to prove their competence to their clients, employers and
colleagues,” said RJ Bornhofen, Linux Curriculum Manager for Global
Knowledge. “We are pleased to be involved in the LPI advisory
council program, and will continue to strive to provide students
with the highest quality preparation to complete their training and
certification successfully.”
“The new members of the Advisory Council help make this group a
great asset to us,” said LPI Chief Executive Officer Evan
Leibovitch. “This is not only a group of companies willing to say
they support us, they’ve proven that support by helping us with
some very important decisions.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
LPI Contacts:
Chuck Mead, Director of Corporate Relations
(919) 462-9426
chuck@lpi.org
Evan Leibovitch, CEO
(905) 452-0926
evan@lpi.org
Caldera Systems Contact:
Nancy Pomeroy
Media Relations
(801) 765-4999 ext. 304
nancy@calderasystems.com
Red Hat Software Contact:
Donnie Barnes
Director of Technical Programs
Red Hat Software (919) 547-0012
djb@redhat.com
SuSE Contact:
Tilman Müller-Gerbes
+49-0911-74053-0
tmg@suse.de
LinuxMall Contact:
Mark Bolzern, CEO LinuxMall
Phone: 303-693-3321
Fax: 303-699-2793
http://www.LinuxMall.com
mark@LinuxMall.com
Wave Technologies Contact:
Mimi Ricketts, Wave
314-692-1983
mrickett@wavetech.com
ExecuTrain Contact:
ExecuTrain Corporation
4800 North Point Parkway
Alpharetta, GA 30022
770-667-7700
1-800-90-TRAIN
Global Knowledge Contact:
R.J. Bornhofen
Linux Curriculum Manager
Global Knowledge – The Education Integration Company
(919) 460-3261
rj.bornhofen@globalknowledge.com
http://www.globalknowledge.com
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