Now Introducing: Our First Customer-Facing Micro-Credentials!

[rjawaid]

Now introducing— our first customer-facing micro-credentials! Palo Alto Networks Education Services is excited to add two micro-credentials to our growing credentialing portfolio— the PMRuA (Palo Alto Networks Micro-Credential Remote user Administrator) and the PMRnA (Palo Alto Networks Micro-Credential Remote network Administrator). These new micro-credentials are based on the technical administration of SASE technology and are free to access.

We are responding to a clear need in the market for more credentialing options. Micro-credentials represent the middle ground between assessment-based certificates and certifications, maintaining a smaller size but built with the same integrity as our certification portfolio. Please see the table below for comparisons.

Palo Alto Networks Credentialing Offerings

	ABC	Micro-credential	Certification
Intended for	Study of a topic	Upskilling/reskilling in a focused area	Comprehensive upskilling/reskilling
Scope		1-2 areas of expertise	Broad coverage
Tests	Knowledge	Knowledge & skills	Knowledge & skills
Fully online	✔	✔	✔ In-person testing available
Availability	24-7 globally	24-7 globally	Scheduled testing
Timed test	No	✔	✔
2 year validity	Unlimited	✔	✔
Platform for test	Beacon/Level Up	Beacon/Level Up	Pearson Vue
Price	Free	Free	$100+
Unique digital badge	No	✔	✔

Why Micro-Credentials?

Micro-credentials allow individuals to adapt to the changes in technology quickly and accurately. With their shortened length and specialized topics, micro-credentials are designed to offer efficient learning paths and validate knowledge and skills. Individuals may use chunk learning, topic-based studying as a methodical approach to earn these technical credentials. Get your micro-credentials to showcase your skill sets in these emerging technologies and fast-moving spaces.

Certifications are renowned in the information technology field for helping individuals validate their knowledge, skills, and ability in various technologies. Changes in information technology are rapid and require constant updates in skill sets. While certifications test over a wide array of skills, they are larger in scope. We are excited to present a diverse portfolio of micro-credentials for individuals who are looking to obtain credentials in specific technology topics with less time and just as much confidence.

Recent years have brought along massive transformations across the world, significantly affecting workplaces and employment structures. Now more than ever, there is an exponential increase in the need for cybersecurity as industries transition to remote and online work. Micro-credentials provide a direct path for attaining skills high in demand, helping individuals prove investment through the continuous development of new skills as cybersecurity professions evolve.

The PMRuA (Palo Alto Networks Micro-Credential Remote user Administrator) is a post-sales micro-credential focused on the implementation of SASE mobile users and ADEM. This micro-credential targets a wide audience including employees, partners, and customers. Individuals will get tested on Prisma Access Cloud Management with an emphasis on the new capabilities of Prisma Access 2.0. A certified PMRuA is able to demonstrate their abilities in implementing mobile user use-cases.

The PMRnA (Palo Alto Networks Micro-Credential Remote network Administrator) is a post-sales micro-credential focused on the implementation of SASE remote networks and SD-WAN. This micro-credential also targets a wide audience including employees, partners, and customers. Individuals will get tested on the capabilities of Prisma Access and Prisma SD-WAN. A certified PMRnA is able to demonstrate their abilities in implementing remote network use-cases, including Prisma SD-WAN and Prisma Access integrations.

Palo Alto Networks micro-credential exams have an average of 30 questions and are delivered free through the learning management systems, Beacon and FLEXLearn, 24 hours a day. They can be accessed on a personal computer or mobile device. Once each micro-credential is successfully obtained, individuals earn digital badges that can be showcased on resumes or sites like LinkedIn to demonstrate increased value in the market.

The PMRuA and PMRnA micro-credentials released on April 23. Enroll in Beacon today to get started on your newest credentialing journey. Follow along for more updates, promotions, and information on our latest micro-credentials!