I found this interesting. News has emerged from both Josh at SolidSmack and Mike Puckett (now Certification Specialist at SolidWorks) that the company has made its certification effectively free for the remainder of this year – if you’re on active subscription. This includes exams in core SolidWorks (at Associate and Professional level), Sheet Metal Design and Simulation.
According to Mike, if you’re interested, you need to log “Into the customer portal, then going to the Certification Page under Community. From there you will see the offer listed on the right hand side of the page. Customers wishing to take the exams must redeem their code no later than December 31st, 2009, and all the exams must be completed by July 31st, 2010.”
Josh points out that “One thing some point out is that the CSWP exam is only to test your 3D CAD skills in SolidWorks. It doesn’t do anything to prove your design and engineering skills. That may be the biggest misconception about what a certificate like this proves. Your biggest asset is going to be your industry experience, your knowledge of design practices and your engineering abilities. The CSWP will add enormously to that.”
This is interesting in the general scheme of things considering the current economic climate. With threat of Financial Armageddon looming over the horizon, every software developer and user alike is going to be bracing themselves for impact, battening down the hatches and various other post-apocalyptic metaphors.
Fact is cash is going to tight, very tight indeed. Vendors will be looking to ensure that their customers are going to continue to stump up for their annual maintenance, which will be more critical than ever, as new sales to fresh seats slow in the next year or two.
By providing user certification for free, SolidWorks has found a way to both incentivize its users into taking those exams (which in itself, is a nice way to validate your systems credibility) and to hopefully continue with their subscription plans. Smart Move.
