Oracle’s 8i OCP (Oracle Certified Professional) DBA (Database Administrator) certification is for IT professionals who have “proven skills managing a large-scale database or developing robust applications that are deployed enterprise-wide.” The Oracle 8i OCP was introduced in 1999 and will likely stay fairly popular until the arrival of the Oracle 10G certification. Moreover, those candidates who take this certification path can upgrade to the Oracle 9i OCP without having to meet the requirement of taking at least one instructor-led inclass or instructor-led online course for the Oracle 9i OCP path. There is no specific prerequisite for this certification; however, having some hands on experience with both SQL and an Oracle or other competitor database would definitely help.

This certification is well suited to IT personnel, with titles such as database administrator, database analyst, and database developer, who want to continue on with these roles or move into roles such as data warehouse architect, and data-mining expert. The Oracle 8i OCP designation is achieved by passing five exams.

Although Oracle OCP certification paths eventually retire, you may continue to use a retired designation as it denotes the version of Oracle it is associated with. If you hold an Oracle 8 OCP, you may upgrade to the Oracle 8i OCP by passing this exam: 1Z0-020 – Oracle8i New Features for Administrators. Also, you can upgrade your Oracle 8i OCP to the Oracle 9i OCP certification via one exam: 1Z0-030 – Oracle9i New Features for Administrators.