What's new in SailPoint's Certification and Credentialing Program? Check out this blog to find out!

Announcements Community Updates
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We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new Knowledge Credentials and the launch of TWO new exams coming February 2025! The Identity Security Professional credential and the Identity Security Engineer certification.

What is a Knowledge Credential?

A knowledge credential is a new type of digital badge you can earn, confirming that you have successfully learned and acquired new knowledge or skills by completing a SailPoint Identity University training path AND by passing a multiple-choice exam.

The Knowledge Credential enables you to showcase to your professional network how you are progressing your identity security knowledge and skills. It shows employers that you are a proactive professional keeping up withthe rapid evolution of the identity security industry as well as SailPoint innovations.

What is the difference between a Knowledge Credential and a Professional Certification?

Knowledge Credentials are designed for professionals with little to no experience with identity security. They are perfect for people who are just starting their identity security careers, who want to showcase their professional development and learning progression while giving employers and business leaders greater confidence in their identity security knowledge. A Knowledge Credential confirms that you have successfully learned knowledge or skills acquired through training.

SailPoint Professional Certifications are SailPoint’s most rigorous accreditation exams intended for identity security professionals with at least 1 year of practical SailPoint experience. A Professional Certification validates you have successfully demonstrated applied skills to perform an employable job. It tests practical experience, not training knowledge.

Exam Breakdown:

Exam Category Knowledge Credential Exams Professional Certification Exams
Level of professional experience No experience needed 1-3 years industry experience
Type of exam SailPoint Training-based Job Role-based
Price Identity Security Leader Credential - free to anyone. All others free upon holding an Identity University Subscription $400 USD (4 training units)
Expiration Credentials do not expire 2 years
Exam format Standard Multiple-choice, true/false, matching Discrete Option Multiple Choice (DOMC)
Testing format Open-book, online exam Virtually proctored, online exam
Other Requirements Completion of associated training path No requirements, high recommendation of completion of training path and 1-3 years practical SailPoint experience

What new exams are launching this February?

Launching mid-February, 2025 will be two new exams:

  • Identity Security Professional exam. This exam is a Knowledge Credentia l.
  • Identity Security Engineer exam. This exam is a Professional Certification .
Exam Name Identity Security Professional Identity Security Engineer
Exam Type Knowledge Credential Professional Certification
Exam Cost Free with valid Identity University subscription $400 USD (4 training units)
Total Seat Time Up to 90 minutes Up to 120 minutes
Number of Questions Up to 51 Up to 73
Number of Attempts 2 attempts 2 attempts
Format Online, Not Proctored Online, Proctored
Result Pass/Fail Pass/Fail

Training Based:

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The content on the Identity Security Professional exam will be based off the training path associated with it and taken in Identity University. The training content has been updated, and the exams have been updated to match the training updates.

Role Based:

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The content on the Identity Security Engineer exam is a role based certification. It is expected to have a minimum of 1 year working with SailPoint and in the industry. The exam will be scheduled and taken through Proctor360. The content on the exam has had major updates and more industry-based questions.

SailPoint Exam Duration Policy:

All SailPoint exams will automatically end once the test-taker has answered enough questions correctly or incorrectly, meaning all exam questions may not be presented. Therefore, you might complete your exam in less than the maximum exam time. Please note that you cannot go back and change your answers once you submit a question. You will not be able to flag questions for further review.

Common FAQs

For some common FAQs regarding these changes, check out this page.

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Hi @rleighter,

Thank you for the announcement! It triggers several questions/remarks on my side.

Rebranding of IdentityNow
It mainly sounds like a rebranding of the name IdentityNow to me. IdentityNow is getting renamed to Identity Security Cloud after all, and new videos and documentation already received this update, so makes sense to rename the IdentityNow Professional to Identity Security Professional. Those arrows between the badges also suggest that the current credentials will be replaced by the latter. Perhaps the exams has been slightly updated to include latest changes, but that also occured before. The IdentityNow Engineer exam I took in 2023 had some new content compared to the IdentityNow Engineer exam one I took in 2021. So are these really new exams, or are they just renamed exams?

Updated documentation available?
My IdentityNow Engineer certification expires this month, so for me it makes sense to go for the Identity Security Engineer exam now. For the former, SailPoint had a pdf with instrucions on which domains are included in the exam with links to documentation to read. Has this document been updated as well and if so, where can I find it?

My poor colleague
My colleague has paid for and passed the IdenityNow Engineer exam literally last month, which SailPoint said would be valid for 2 years. Does she now have to keep around with this outdated name for 2 years, which will make it more difficult to attract new clients who are now being told to look for Identity Security Engineers, which is definitely not ideal. Or would she now have to pay again and pass the renamed exam again, just to get the renamed title of Identity Security Engineer, which sounds quite unfair as well. Or will you automatically migrate the current certification from IdentityNow Engineer to Identity Security Engineer, what would sound fair to me. Even if I pass the new exam this month, I don’t consider it unfair that others receive it as a rename. After all, before it was also the case that the exam got updated every now and then to reflect new changes, and in those cases people who passed the exam just before that also kept the certification. I think the latter is the right thing to do for SailPoint. A rename of a product should not cause these unfair disadvantages. But in the case SailPoint does not want to automatically rename the badges of those who currently have the old badge name (keeping the expiration date), I think it would be fair to waive the costs of the exam for those and give them a fair chance of obtaining the renamed title.

Professional Credential
What happens to those who have the IdentityNow Professional Credentials. It was said that these have no expiration. Will the rename of the credentials be used as a loophole to get them get the renamed title as well?

Automatic Professional Credential upon completing Engineer exam
I passed the IdentityNow Engineer exam before the IdentityNow Professional exam existed, and now it makes sense to go for the Identity Security Engineer exam as well. But since these expire and nowadays the suggestion to people is to first get the Identity Security Professional one and take the more advanced and extended Identity Security Engineer one. Since I passed the 201 before the 101 was introduced, if I now pass the Identity Security Engineer one, can I get the Identity Security Professional one by proxy as well, without having to pass that exam as well? After all by passing the difficult exam, I already showcase my knowledge, and the Identity Security Professional one will not expire, making it easier to get clients if I can show both. Or show the Identity Security Professional one if the Engineer one expires and I did not have the time yet to retake the exam again.

Confusing terminology
I had to laugh when I read this in your announcement:

  • Identity Security Professional exam. This exam is a Knowledge Credential.
  • Identity Security Engineer exam. This exam is a Professional Certification.

So Professional is Knowledge and Engineer is Professional. I definitely think better terms can be used here, because according to this, the Identity Security PROFESSIONAL exam is not a PROFESSIONAL certification.

Professional Identity Security or Identity Security Professional?
I think the logo of the Identity Security Professional credential is confusing. Identity Security Professional makes sense, but here it says Professional Identity Security, which doesn’t make sense.

Kind regards,
Angelo

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Hello Rachel,

I have a question. I would like to know which certifications will be required for the Admiral Partner.

Best regards,
Thiago Caires

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Hi Rachael,

Thank you for the update. I have a few questions, though.

  1. I am wondering- when will the study guide for the new Identity Security Cloud Engineer exam, be available? And when will the new exam be available to register for?

  2. I have passed the exam for the IdentityNow Professional- is that a knowledge credential as well? Because when I took this exam, I was virtually proctored, and for knowledge credentials it says that it is an open book exam. (In your post)

  3. Can IdentityNow Professional not be listed under certifications on my professional credentials? And since it does not expire, will there be an option to get it renamed to Identity Security Cloud professional, since IdentityNow exams are retiring?

Thank you!
Parul Patel

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I’m also curious about what happens to those of us who have recently acquired the IdentityNow Professional certification - this was expensive and more challenging than this post makes it sound like the new Professional exam will be.

IMO, it would be a disservice to those of us who worked hard to earn that certification to see it rebranded as a “knowledge credential,” and I do not think that the existing badges should be changed. The Earning Criteria for the SailPoint Certified IdentityNow Professional badge states:

Recipients earn this credential by passing a proctored exam that measures their mastery of Architecture, Identity Data Management, Certifications, Policies, Access Model, Access Requests, Password Management, Search, Global Configurations and Advanced Configurations.

This is clearly a different level of knowledge than “standard multiple choice open-book online exam,” so I’m hopeful that the existing badges are not changed.

It would be a welcome gesture of goodwill to offer discounted exams for folks who have earned either of the previous variety of certification within the past 6-12 months, as well as for Ambassadors and Expert Ambassadors, who have contributed time and effort to helping make the Developer Community such an important resource!

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Hi @angelo_mekenkamp thank you for your questions and feedback, please see below answers.

  1. Rebranding of IdentityNow

It is a very exciting time with training path and certification/credential content and updates. Some updates will be more in-depth than others, but all are relevant.

The Identity Security Professional exam follows the Identity Security Engineer training path. The exam will continue to be updated as the training content is updated within a 3–6 month timeframe. The biggest change is the test format and incorporating Identity Security Cloud content. The Identity Security Engineer exam has been updated heavily. Only some of the IdentityNow related questions have been pulled over but have been replaced by Identity Security Cloud. Our team developed 50+ new exam questions for this exam which also includes SailPoint agnostic questions.

We have given the digital badges a brand refresh!

Additionally, we are always looking for experts to help with exam writing, beta testing and feedback, if you are interested submit your information

  1. Updated documentation available?

Please check out our reference guide for exam prep guides associated with new exams.

  1. My poor colleague

The exams are different and contain a lot of updates and new content as identity security is ever changing. Her exam with IdentityNow Engineer will remain valid until that 2-year expiration date. To be clear, this is not only a rename of the product, but we have also been continuously developing new content and exam questions to ensure all our exams are up to date and consistent with SaaS changes. One thing that could also help is to subscribe to the Identity University blog to stay up to date on updates.

  1. Professional Credential

Current IdentityNow Professional Credentials will remain valid. They will not expire; however, it is encouraged to obtain the new Identity Security Professional Credential by completing the new training added to the path.

  1. Automatic Professional Credential upon completing Engineer exam

The IdentityNow Professional exam is not a required pre-requisite of the IdentityNow Engineer, nor is it for the Identity Security Professional credential and the Identity Security Engineer certification. The difference is the Identity Security Professional is training based where the Engineer is role based. While it’s encouraged to have both, the Engineer means you have at least 1 year of experience with implementing and working in the related field where the Professional means you completed the full training path and understand the concepts from the courses. The Identity Security Professional credential acts as a “final exam” to the training courses in the path.

  1. Confusing terminology

Thanks for the feedback, our goal is to emphasize that the Identity Security Professional is a credential vs a certification. The main difference between these is the training vs role based, the exam format, duration of exams, and industry experience. For another example, please reference the Identity Security Leader credential

  1. Professional Identity Security or Identity Security Professional?

We appreciate the feedback. To clarify, it is the Identity Security Professional Credential.

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Hello @Ppatel thank you for your questions, please see below for answers.

  1. We have provided Exam Prep Guides. These guides include all information needed including the exam blueprint (formerly considered study guides).

  2. No, the IdentityNow Professional exam is still considered a certification and does not expire. The new exam is a credential and has the new format mentioned.

  3. We will not be able to replace existing certifications with the new Identity Security Professional credential. They still are different exams, and the format of the exams are different. The IdentityNow Professional certification will still remain valid as it does not expire.

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Hi @sup3rmark thank you for your questions and feedback, please see answers below.

The IdentityNow Professional exam is still considered a certification and does not expire. The new exam is a credential and has the new format mentioned. Our goal is to emphasize that the Identity Security Professional is a credential vs a certification. The main difference between these is the training vs role based, the exam format, duration of exams, and industry experience. For another example, please reference the Identity Security Leader credential. To learn more about these changes, please check out our webinar, Grow your Identity Security career with SailPoint Knowledge Credentials

We will not be able to replace existing certifications with the new Identity Security Professional credential. They still are different exams, and the format of the exams are different. The IdentityNow Professional certification will still remain valid as it does not expire.

Additionally, we are always looking for experts to help with exam writing, beta testing and feedback, if you are interested submit your information.

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Hi @tcaires thank you for your question. We are evaluating and our Delivery Admiral team will be sure to communicate any updates as necessary.

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@rleighter thank you! How do I register to take the Identity Security Professional exam?** I do not see the option, actually for either of the 2 new exams, including for the Engineer exam. When will the option to register be available, and what is the date they launch?

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Hi @Ppatel check out our Identity University FAQs page with some helpful resources. Additionally, you can also subscribe to the Identity University blog as we will make all announcement there as well.

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I have enrolled and finish the IdentityNow Introduction - ELEARNING but can’t proceed with next lesson

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Hi @Santhakumar go head and email [email protected] with this request. Thank you!