MEF SDN/NFV is the latest in a set of professional level certifications in a stack of vendor-neutral certifications for today's modern, software-centric network skills. The MEF Professional Certification Framework introduces networking professionals to this ecosystem with MEF Network Foundations, validates operator-level skills with Carrier Ethernet Certified Professional, advances competency in SDN/NFV Certified Professional, and will soon add cutting-edge validation of network automation and network security. These are precisely the skills that hiring managers and network managers are seeking for empowering today's software-driven advanced networks.

MEF SDN/NFV Certified Professional validates the knowledge, skills, and abilities to plan, deploy, and operate a complete range of solutions in both SDN & NFV. The examination blueprint available here and reflects a comprehensive skill set in these technical areas.

This certification exam presupposes foundational knowledge in computer networking practices, which can be validated by the introductory, concept-level MEF Networking Foundations (MEF-NF) certification exam. MEF SDN/NFV is a professional-level (operator, engineer) certification examination for technical professionals and reflects a professional, practitioner-level mastery of the content domains.

Who is this certification for?

Operator and systems professionals in the following areas:

• IT and Network professionals
• Customer Service & Technical Support
• Product and Solution Marketing 
• Customer and Solution Specialists
• Business line and product Development
• Technical and/or Solutions Sales

Why should I take this exam?

This exam is unique in the industry and as such will be a sought-out credential for leading organizations who empower network transformation. Reflecting the global adoption of SDN and NFV solutions, there is finally an independent 3rd-party validation of these skills available for hiring managers and networking practitioners. In order to create this certification, experts around the world have gathered for thousands of hours to identify the key skills required to thrive in these technical domains. They have produced a new authorized standard for technical competence in SDN and NFV.

Training and certification in MEF-SDN/NFV will provide you and your organization with the following benefits:

• Highly valued among industry institutions and organizations
• Successful completion, awarded achievement, expertise by association
• Gain industry recognition as one of the first with this certification
• Proof of your knowledge and skills, ensuring trust 
• Unique qualifications with new intellectual property
• Credibility & significance among peers
• Identify you as uniquely qualified
• Focuses and defines your value to the market
• Re-vitalization your role or position
• Engages you into existing/new segments of the workforce
• Provides a new resource to the industry
• A significant milestone towards the Network Expert & Network Master achievement-level credentials

How to get started?

• If you already have foundation knowledge of SDN/NFV the exam blueprint is a primary reference and is updated when a formal update to the exam takes place approximately twice per year.  In that blueprint are key areas of study including reference materials.
• If you are not familiar with these technologies, the MEF Network Foundations (MEF-NF) training and exam is the place to start in addition to the SDN/NFV blueprint.  Training providers are listed in the Education and Training resources on this site.

What is covered in this exam?

• Operator-level understanding of SDN and NFV, sufficient to demonstrate mastery of the design, installation/deployment and management of complex SDN and NFV networks.
• The breadth of SDN and NFV skills necessary to address all the facets of advanced networking, vendor-neutral information that an IT technical professional needs to know (networking, virtualization in many forms), as well as the knowledge to plan, install, and operate advanced SDN and NFV networks) across a wide variety of network architectures.
• Domains include Planning, Building, and Operating SDN and NFV networks, with knowledge of architecture, testing, solution design, security, as well as metrics and management of a deployed SDN/NFV solution.

What are the minimum qualifications for this exam?

The MEF SDN/NFV minimally-qualified candidate (MQC) has the knowledge of foundational networking technology (as validated by the CompTIA Network+ certification, the MEF Network Foundations (MEF-NF) certification, or their equivalent), and has likely managed networks for 3-4 years. The MQC also possesses vendor-neutral skills in software-centric networking technologies. The MQC will typically have experience in one or more of the areas of network operations, network design, network architecture, product management, or sales engineering.

The MQC should have the knowledge and capabilities to:

• Create conceptual-level designs for SDN and/or NFV solutions (independent of technology).
• Explain how SDN and NFV complement and reinforce each other
• Explain the concept of a service chain
• Determine required controller functionality
• Explain the interfaces and functionality of SDN and NFV components
• Identify the various components in a SDN/NFV system
• Select products for networking services based on the business requirements using SDN/NFV
• Explain the three levels of SDN defined in the MEF Network Foundations exam
• Explain the various SDN frameworks
• Anticipate potential issues in SDN/NFV and determine how to prevent them

And in real life situations should be expected to:

• Implement an SDN/NFV solution
• Implement a service chain
• Troubleshoot SDN/NFV technologies when they break or are misconfigured
• Choose and install a SDN controller
• Select an SDN and NFV ecosystem based on the functional requirements of the services each will carry
• Integrate a new network element/network function into a SDN/NFV domain
• Capacity planning/dimensioning/scale in and scale out of network functions and SDN controllers

Additional help?

• We provide email and 24x7 chat for general support, questions, concerns about registrations etc.
• We are developing helpful aids to assist in accelerating the refreshing of your knowledge required for the SDN/NFV exam.  Some of this will be in the form of guidelines and graphics.
• Check out our FAQ page which provides answers to frequently asked questions
• We encourage collaboration among your peers and will be providing a solution for this shortly.

Highlights

For information including the number of questions, the exam length and other details

Click here to register

Registration

Registration can be placed now and you have a year to take the exam

Click here to register