As one of Magento's proud solutions partners, we like to make a fuss about our developers' Magento certifications... But for some people, qualifications aren't the be all and end all and experience counts for just as much (both of which we have).
So, we thought we'd take some time to explain what all the fuss is about, and why it's valuable to our clients now and in the future.
Magento ticks all the boxes as far as what an eCommerce platform should provide. It is easily upgradable, scalable, extendible, customisable and has new features and bug fixes added regularly.
As it is a relatively new, innovative platform, it offers many clear improvements over its predecessors, with one of its main benefits being that its open-source.
This has enabled Magento to build up a large community of merchants and developers who provide additional features, fixes and support.
The community continuously comes up with ideas to help provide a faster, more secure and functional eCommerce store.
In fact, Magento is quickly becoming a synonym for eCommerce!
So, Magento provides three different certification options: Developer, Developer Plus & Frontend.
Developer & Developer Plus were the original exams and test knowledge of the overall architecture of Magento, and then cover more advanced areas of Magento and Enterprise's specific features.
The Frontend exam was introduced last year, and is designed towards frontend developers who's job it is to setup and implement designs into a Magento store.
Essentially, certified developers have the official stamp of approval which means they have proven the competency required to handle Magento professionally. It gives them an understanding of how it works, rather than just how to work it.
The knowledge required to fully master the use of Magento requires years of experience, so obtaining a certification to handle such a complex system is great.
Certified developers also have a nice, shiny certificate which non-certified developers don't.
In simple terms, it allows clients to feel at ease, because the developers know what they're doing, but also earns developers the respect and credibility of their peers, and pride for themselves.
Certifications give developers the knowledge of Magento's great functionality, but importantly, shows them the limitations and how to work with and around them to provide great solutions which may not always be apparent.
You might also like to know that Folk 's development team is currently lead by the UK's first and only triple certified developers.In total we have 2 Frontend, 2 Developer and 2 Developer Plus certifications, but by the end of July we hope to have 6 Developer and 8 Frontend certifications in the house!
We hope this clears things up - we certainly feel that they're a worthwhile investment.