A Look at the e-Biz+ Certification

Have you considered moving your skills and career path toward e-commerce? Does your company desire to build an e-commerce solution and they are looking to you as the constructor of the solution? Undeniably, e-commerce, and e-Business more specifically, is a growing and vibrant part of business. Many feel that the future of business lies in e-commerce and e-Business. More and more airlines rely on customers to book reservations online, e-Bay is one of the largest venues for buying or selling almost anything, and think of all the items one can buy on amazon.com! Certainly, doing business online is becoming more and more of a factor each day.

What skills does one need to be part of building e-commerce solutions? Many skills are needed from different areas of IT. Programmers are needed to develop everything from databases and business logic components to credit card structures and shopping carts. System administrators manage the systems and network infrastructures that allow the e-commerce sites to exist. Also, Web designers work to make the look, feel, and user interactivity of an e-commerce site perfect for business.

CompTIA, the makers of the popular A+, Network+, and Security+ exams, has created an entry-level, vendor-neutral certification named e-Biz+ that examines one's ability to work in an e-Business environment. Let's take a closer look at this certification to see what it can offer someone interested in working within an e-Business infrastructure.

The e-Biz+ Certification

The e-Biz+ program offers foundational training and certification to both business professionals and IT professionals. This certification is a bit unique because both technical and non-technical people in the e-Business profession are able to attain this credential. Both sets of potential candidates must have 12 months of core e-Business experience, though, to participate in this certification process. The e-Biz+ exam tests the candidates' knowledge and abilities with key concepts, e-Business fundamentals, and essential technologies used in an effective e-Business solution. The exam is comprised of 70 identification and situational multiple-choice questions, 90 minutes are allotted to complete this exam, and a passing score of 67% correct must be obtained.

What's on the e-Biz+ Exam?

Let's take a look at what the exam contains. The exam has four subject area domains. The following table highlights the subject areas the e-Biz+ exam contains and the percentage each domain makes up of the total exam:

The following sections will brief you on typical items each domain contains. Always be sure to stay current with examination objectives by checking the exam vendor's Web site. Exam objectives can and do change without much notice. Be sure to periodically check the e-Biz+ objectives list at www.comptia.com to ensure that expectations don't change while you pursue this certification.

Domain 1.0—e-Business Concepts and Fundamentals

This section examines your knowledge of fundamental e-Business concepts and terms. It also examines your knowledge of business models, business concepts, legal issues in e-Business, and e-Business payment structures, among other items.

Domain 2.0—Business Initiatives for e-Business

This section assesses your knowledge of risks, opportunities, and advantages of implementing an e-Business infrastructure in a business. You also will be assessed in key deployment and support issues with implementing an e-Business system. Lastly, you will be asked to describe technology issues you and the customer must grapple with as you plan an e-Business.

Domain 3.0—e-Business Strategy and Planning

In this domain your knowledge of technologies, security, and disaster recovery will be tested. Issues related to marketing your e-Business and customer support are also examined, among other items. This section is heavily dependent on planning the appropriate technologies, business flows, marketing, and customer service mechanisms.

Domain 4.0—e-Business Infrastructure

This domain dives further into technological hardware, data communications, and security implementations. This domain is certainly more technical than the previous domains. Non-IT e-Biz+ candidates will have to spend considerable time learning about the hardware, protocols, and designs needed to build and maintain the knowledge management and business transactions needed in an effective e-Business.

e-Biz+ Facts

The following items are important facts to know as you prepare to take your e-Biz+ exam:

• The e-Biz+ exam is offered through both Vue and Prometric testing services. Vue can be reached at www.vue.com and Prometric can be reached at www.2test.com.
• The exam code for the e-Biz+ exam you need to give to Vue or Prometric is EK0-001.
• The cost of the exam is dependent on the quantity you wish to purchase and your standing with CompTIA. The following table from www.comptia.com highlights the pricing matrix:

Quantity	Corporate Member Pricing	Non-Member Pricing
1-50	$175	$225
51-250	$150	$225
251+	$125	$225

• If you passed this exam when the Gartner group offered it, you are still considered certified.

Conclusions

e-Business is certainly an ever-growing and changing area. With the recent downturn in the IT economy, many e-Business plans were altered or scrapped altogether. However, as the overall economy is picking up, e-Businesses may pick up as well. Many consumers find the ease of purchase and payment, delivery, and selection of well-designed e-Businesses to be appealing. If you have a desire to start an e-Business or if you would simply like to have some training and credentials in building e-Businesses, the e-Biz+ certification is a solid foundation to begin with. This exam will force you to know solid fundamentals in business concepts, technological concepts, and marketing concepts. Having this foundation is certainly a top-notch way to begin designing, building, implementing, and supporting world-class e-Businesses!