VMware (VMW) has put its heft behind the cloud certifications offered by the Cloud Credential Council (CCC) to help expand the geographic reach of the training and more effectively address the skills gap now associated with cloud computing.

The CCC released its certification course portfolio in the Americas earlier this year and now has expanded the initiative to include Australia and New Zealand, officials said. The organization’s current cloud certifications include Cloud Essentials and Virtualization Essentials with a portfolio that spans domains such as Solutions Architect, Developer, Administrator, Security/Governance and Service Manager.

The virtualization kingpin became a formal member of the CCC this past April as perhaps the most prominent non-academia member of the organization. But the CCC didn’t get just a big name in VMware, it got a specific certification and training technology track to complement its existing vendor-neutral track. The CCC positions itself as independent and vendor-neutral with members spanning public sector organizations, academic institutions, cloud providers, cloud consumers, cloud brokers, professional associations and international certification bodies worldwide. It works with members and cloud experts to frame required cloud competencies and develop associated courses and exams, with the ultimate goal of closing the skills gap through world-class cloud training and certification.

While not a watchdog group, the CCC wants to make certain that cloud computing’s benefits, such as cost efficiency and new business models, are not obscured by a lack of sufficient skills-building from training and certification. Prior to joining the 55-member CCC—whose mission is to boost cloud adoption through standards training and certification—VMware contributed to the CCC’s training course content, providing a technology-specific track to complement the organization’s vendor-neutral track.

“With the CCC-VMware linkage, we are helping businesses transform with cloud successfully by addressing the cloud skills gap in the market,” said Eva Bishop, VMware global education sales and delivery vice president. “There is a need for both technology-neutral and technology-specific skills, and the CCC offering complements the VMware offering exceptionally well,” she said.

Bishop added that the combination of the CCC’s and VMware’s courses and certifications “fully prepares candidates to meet the requirements of the cloud age.”

The certification benefits extend to VMware as well, Bishop said. “We believe that the certification courses provide an excellent foundation for VMware courses and preparation for achievement of VMware Certifications,” she said. 

The CCC plans to expand its portfolio to include Big Data and the Cloud, among other areas. In addition, the CCC intends to develop general cloud adoption guidance for organizations along with industry-specific and country-specific cloud adoption guidance.

“Companies are recognizing the potential of cloud computing to transform their business and they are in search of talent with the necessary skills to help them maximize their investment,” said Marcel Heilijgers, CCC executive director.