(Apologies in advance for the long post)
Upon seeing the news of Jamf Pro 11 and the new versions of JAMF 200, 300, 370, and 400 classes and certifications, I have a bunch of thoughts and questions.
For further context, I currently have Jamf Pro 10 versions of my Jamf 100, 200, and 300, also a flavor of 170 that still has the resulting certification named as "Jamf Certified Endpoint Security Associate" and (with my certification stored in SkillJar and not Credly).
First off, while I appreciate that validity periods make sense for a product that (even throughout version 10, alone) was and is constantly evolving, spending $2500 every three years on keeping certifications current seems like a hard sell in this economy. I can't even fathom $4500 for the training pass every three years (whereas it was a no-brainer the last time I did it). Does anyone know if there will be (more affordable) renewal courses or exams that one can take shortly prior to the end of the validity period?
I can stomach $2500 every three years to keep my would-be *new* Jamf 300 current. Barely. But expending extra money to also keep, for example, my Jamf 200 current or to do a training pass to have multiple badges to keep current seems out of the question when I have to repeat the same expenditure just three years later.
Speaking of which, I've seen conflicting documentation: Some areas of the Jamf Training site says that a prior Jamf Certified Admin certification will suffice as a pre-requisite for enrolling into the *new* Jamf 300 courses, while others only list a current or previous Jamf Certified Tech as acceptible prerequisites. My plan is to, under this new system, just spend time and money keeping my Jamf Certified Admin certification current and not spending the additional time and money on keeping my Jamf 200/Certified Tech certification also current. For now, I meet the pre-requisites no matter how you slice it. Going forward, will I also need a current (or recent) Jamf Certified Tech certification to keep my Jamf Certified Admin current?
Lastly, I took and passed my Jamf 300 with a 95% in January of 2018. I did my Jamf 200 two weeks prior to that and had my CCT for Casper Suite 9, six months before that. I took a job in 2021 that later entailed single-handedly managing a lame duck Jamf Pro instance and migrating users off of it (the company that bought us really liked FileWave). Prior to said job, those three courses were the entirety of my Jamf Pro/Casper experience. I'm an extremely fast learner and Apple themed MDM is my jam. My scripts aren't the prettiest, but they work (and I can doctor other people's scripts with no real issue). I know my way around Jamf Pro 10 fairly well. I'm definitely not at a 400 level and never really was.
Given all that, how screwed would I be trying to take the *new* Jamf 300 today? What resources would any of you recommend I study, peruse, and/or familiarize myself with in advance of dropping the $2500, requesting the time off, and taking the class?
Thank you in advance for any and all help here! Much love to this wonderful community!