Symantec’s SPS (Symantec Product Specialist) certification is for IT professionals who focus “on a single security product and its functionality in an overall security system.” These candidates should have “at least 3-6 months of hands-on experience prior to taking exams.”

The Symantec SPS emerged in the fall of 2001, and has most recently changed in June of 2003 when Symantec introduced vendor neutral certifications into their program. In terms of certification lifetime:

“You need to fulfill recertification requirements periodically to demonstrate up-to-date knowledge of Symantec product and technology. Product certification is granted for specific versions of a product only. All certifications are valid for 24 months and must be renewed prior to expiration to maintain credentials.” More specifically, the SPS will be impacted by the integration of vendor neutral exams in the Symantec certification as follows: “Over the next several months the program will transition to only accept a combination of Symantec Exams with Vendor Neutral Certifications. This will occur when current Symantec Product based exams are retired and current Security Solutions exams are updated.” There are no specific prerequisites for the SPS, although Symantec says: “The base requirements include the knowledge and understanding of TCP/IP principals and proficiency in at least one operating system (UNIX, Windows 2000/NT).”

Job roles of those pursuing this certification typically include: junior IS (Information Security) professionals, junior network security professionals, junior systems security professionals, junior security strategy consultants, systems administrators, and network engineers.

To achieve the SPS, a candidate must hold either the CompTIA Security+ or (ISC)2 SSCP (Systems Security Certified Practitioner) certification, and pass one Symantec Product Specialist exam.

For more information:
http://www.symantec.com/education/certification/exams_symantec.html

CORE EXAMS
(250-010) NetRecon 3.5
(250-011) Antivirus Corporate Edition 7.5/7.6
(250-012) Web Security 2.5
(250-013) Intruder Alert 3.6
(250-014) Enterprise Security Manager 5.5
(250-015) Enterprise Firewall 7.0
(250-016) Firewall Advanced Topics
(250-017) AntiVirus 8.0