Interesting -- and surprising.  Based on the retirements page, they consider 1Z0-071 to be the replacement for it.  I don't really think 071 is a perfect match for 047, but I'll grant that it covers most of the SQL topics that are useful in the real-world.  One of my pet peeves with 1Z0-047 is that many of the topics covered are for tasks that are used so seldom in real life that it makes no sense to learn them for an exam.  By the time you need to use the skill, you'll likely have forgotten the specifics and need to look it up anyway. Just one example... in twenty-plus years of writing SQL on an almost-daily basis, I have never used the ROLLUP or CUBE capabilities.

It's impossible to know why exactly they decided to retire it.  I'm pretty sure that it's one of their more popular credentials. On the down-side, I suspect it is one of the more abused credentials from a brain-dump standpoint. I see a lot of people on this forum and elsewhere who have never written SQL in their life who want to take this test to prove that they are SQL experts. The only plausible way most people with no SQL experience could pass this exam would be to use dumps.  Whatever the reason -- unless the program does a 180 -- the test is going away.

Oh wow...this is a shocker!  It's funny because at the time I took the exam (July, 2014), that exam was THE ONLY ONE available for a certification in SQL.  There was no "SQL Certified Associate" or "SQL Certified Professional", just "SQL Expert" which to me seemed the hardest (and I can attest as the exam was tough but I passed it on the 1st try after studying for months).  I agree that lots of SQL functions I've never used professionally (like your example of the CUBE).  I definitely use once in a while the analytic functions (RANK, DENSE_RANK, LEAD, LAG).

Anyway, seems like Oracle Certification is getting an overhaul:

1. Creating Associate levels for exams
2. Getting rid of the SQL Expert exam
3. Adding another OCP for PL/SQL but for a different database version (11g, and now 12c)
4. No longer offering the hard-copy certificate via mail.

Times are a changin'

Selvistipe wrote:

 

HI

Why Oracle has decided towithdraw the certification 1Z0-047 Oracle Database SQL Expert on July 31, 2017?

 

With which exam will be replaced?

 

thank you in advance,

Luigi

By the way where did you read this?  I don't see it on the site or their blog.

By the way where did you read this? I don't see it on the site or their blog.

It's on the retirements page.  The information is surprising, but true:

Oracle Certification Exam Retirement

Matthew Morris wrote:

 

By the way where did you read this? I don't see it on the site or their blog.

 

It's on the retirements page. The information is surprising, but true:

 

Oracle Certification Exam Retirement

 

Wow....stunning development indeed!  And I see they're retiring the "Oracle Certified Expert, Oracle Database 11g Release 2 SQL Tuning" as well and the equivalent for both is OCA - SQL.  Well I'm glad I took the "Expert" one and there's no need to take the OCA-SQL exam.

>>The information is surprising, but true

Yep !

Hemant K Chitale

I think Oracle may not withdraw the exam SQL EXPERT immediately without providing a replacement of equal value / level, which I think can not be the SQL OCA 1z0-071 (12c? Or applies to all the DB?!? what to say about it ...), since it is Associative level. One could speculate that Oracle wants to consider the setting up of multiple layers of SQL certification, something like OCA, OCP, OCM?

It's Oracle's certification program.  They can do whatever they want. They have it on the list to retire and they show 1Z0-071 as the replacement. That is them specifically announcing what they plan to do.  Their plans might change... but seldom do. A tiering of SQL certs is extremely unlikely.  I can't see any merit, for example in an OCP or OCM in SQL, for example.

That said, Mr. Morris what you advice to those undertaken in the SQL EXPERT 1Z0-047 Exam Study, to continue studying and groped the exam or not (because the value of certification would be diminished by the withdrawal of its examination, for difficult to pass the exam the first attempt, or or for other reasons..)? especially for people like me who has a certified Oracle PL / SQL developer certified Associate

Retiring an exam does not diminish the value of the associated certification.  The credential will still be granted if you pass the exam before the retirement date and you will still be able to show it on your resume, LinkedIn profile, etc.  The SQL Expert certification does not have a database version associated with it and SQL knowledge does not really 'age' as does knowledge about specific database versions, so I don't see Oracle retiring the SQL Expert credential as it has for DBA certs in versions of Oracle prior to 11g.  If you want the SQL Expert certification, then continue to pursue it.  Just don't put off preparing for the exam until it's too late.

Hi,

I am planning to take 047 but knowing the fact that it will be retired in July 2017, would it be better to take the replacement exam (071) instead? or continue with the 047? what would you guys suggest?

Thanks!

Not speaking for Matthew but I would take the Expert one because of the "depth" and it's harder (I like to challenge myself)

But if you follow Matthew's reasoning, lots of things covered in the OCE (SQL Expert) exam [1Z0-047]) are things RARELY used in his professional experience, as well as mine.  Using his example of the ROLLUP or CUBE functions.  I've never had a situation where I needed to use it.

The 1Z0-071 will be relatively easier than the 1Z0-047.

I haven't started the preparation yet.I guess i will go with 071.

Thanks!

Ok, thats a bad news for me, it's my only certification!

Well, I will continue with my certification, and it's really a good one!

But, I will nake a question for @Matthew Morris now. Do I need to take another SQL Exam after the retirement? Do I need to be OCA SQL? I dont want to spent more money on one certification bellow the mine.

If you already HAVE the OCE SQL (like I do) then there is ABSOLUTELY NO NEED to take the OCA SQL.

It's like having your Master's Degree in college in Computer Science, and then going back to college to get your Bachelor's.  What's the point?

Save your money.

Now for others who have not taken any SQL exam for certification,  unless you study NOW and go for the OCE SQL, that will be retired at the end of July, might as well as study for the OCA SQL.