3Tera today announced  new educational and certification programs to provide customers with expertise in building world-class cloud computing services and solutions. Initially, two certification programs are available, Certified Cloud Operator and Certified Cloud Architect, designed to address the needs of cloud computing professionals.

“Rapid development and deployment of applications are key reasons thousands of users are adopting cloud computing through our service providers and we’ve designed our certification programs with that in mind,” said Bert Armijo, SVP Marketing and Product Management, 3Tera, Inc. “Our certification programs offer instruction and hands-on labs covering the essential elements needed for rapid success in the cloud - basic concepts, advanced technologies, best practices, automation, and business continuity.”

Currently, two cloud computing certification programs are available:

The Certified Cloud Operator program is targeted toward service providers, enterprises operations professionals and systems integrators, responsible for the deployment and operation of cloud services. The program covers the process of installing, configuring and maintaining the computing fabric used for building cloud computing services. Emphasis is placed on hardware requirements, service configuration, hardware failure troubleshooting, provisioning of customers, and configuration of virtual private datacenters.

The Certified Cloud Architect program is offered for system architects, IT operations professionals, application developers and systems engineers responsible for the design, integration, provisioning, deployment and management of distributed applications. Participants learn the architectural concepts of the AppLogic cloud computing platform, step-by-step procedures for deploying, operating and managing applications in the cloud, best practices for security, testing and scaling applications, and how to architect for business continuity.

“In the nine months we’ve partnered with 3Tera, cloud computing has become the fastest growing, and most profitable part of our business,” commented Mark Ortenzi, President, Cari.Net. “To meet this demand, we now have five 3Tera Certified Cloud Computing Operators and Architects well-versed in the deployment and management of customers’ solutions available 24/7 in all of our five datacenters.”

“Enterprises need more than just a single virtual machine for their blog; they need to run multi-tiered, mission-critical applications with geographic fault tolerance,” said Mike Michalik, CEO, Cirrhus9, a cloud systems integrator. “AppLogic is the best cloud computing technology we’ve seen that meets the needs of both the enterprise and start-ups. The certification ensures Cirrhus9 can deliver on any cloud computing requirement our customers may have.”

3Tera’s cloud computing training and certification programs are accessible to IT professionals who are either evaluating or using the AppLogic cloud computing platform. Certification is awarded upon successful completion of the training coursework and online testing. For more details on training schedule and availability, visit http://www.3tera.com/AppLogic/Cloud-Certification.php.