Softline Academy: SLMetrix IT Certification Platform

2024: Launch of the SLMetrix platform

On April 19, 2024, Softline Academy announced the launch of its own professional IT certification platform, SLMetrix, in partnership with Russian vendors. The platform, whose tasks will include the provision of certification services for corporate customers and individuals, will become an important tool for confirming competencies, knowledge and skills in the field of Russian information technologies.

Softline Academy acts as a provider for vendors, employers and specialists, offering the resources of a single platform for organizing all logistics related to certification. Methodological resources and many years of experience in working with international platform solutions allow Softline Academy to develop tests of any complexity for vendors. A single space with exams on the products of leading domestic IT manufacturers will give specialists the opportunity to receive vendor certificates and official recognition of their qualifications and experience in working with technologies and products.

The practice of assessing qualifications through independent testing, after which a specialist receives a certificate confirming the level of his knowledge and competencies, has long proven itself on the market. The professional IT certification platform developed by Softline Academy expands opportunities for the development of specialists in the Russian IT industry, increasing standards for assessing competencies. This opens up new prospects for the development of the IT education market in Russia, said Igor Morozov, head of the educational ecosystem "Softline Academy."

The IT certification platform "SLMetrix" will allow specialists to officially confirm their professional skills and competencies, and employers to objectively assess the level of training of applicants and plan personnel resources. This approach will provide a comprehensive and objective assessment of knowledge, will contribute to the growth of qualifications and increase the level of professionalism in the IT field, will help companies better plan personnel resources for import substitution tasks.

For April 2024, exams of several large companies have already been presented on the platform window, including the developer of the Astra Group system and infrastructure software. The vendor has long been developing a certification program for its products and solutions.

There is a close connection between the professional competencies of IT specialists and the choice in favor of domestic solutions, the demand for such software products on the market. Certification plays an important role in the educational process. It allows you to set high standards of training, confirm the competencies of specialists, increase the number of well-trained professionals in the IT industry, as well as popularize domestic software products, noted Alexandra Aleshkova, Director of the Education Department of Astra Group.

The SLMetrix platform is another big step towards the formation in Russia of its own effective IT certification system. In the fall of 2023, we became part of the expert group on the creation of a national certification system to replace the departed foreign one. In this regard, our tasks include, among other things, ensuring a fruitful dialogue between all interested participants in the IT industry. We have seen an increase in the number of tools, approaches and methodologies in IT certification. Market players begin to independently create demanded elements of the industry, better understand the priorities of both specialists and employers. At the same time, you should be aware that it will take a few more years before the configuration of the assessment of IT specialists recognized by everyone is finally formed on the market. A single system cannot be strictly regulated and lowered from above, it is a living self-adjusting mechanism that needs time and active participants, told Natalia Tsarevskaya-Dyakina, head of the EdTech cluster of the Skolkovo Foundation.

The departure of foreign professional certification providers led to a number of problems: for example, the impossibility of renewing certificates and confirming competencies for specialists, as well as the absence of a unified measure of assessment of IT employees for organizations. It is necessary to create and maintain Russian methodologies and certifications, including to ensure technological sovereignty. The Softline Academy certification platform allows you to implement an important part of the expert training and testing cycle. added Ilya Pankratov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of itSMF, Project Manager of RITM (Russian IT Methodology).

In 2023, Softline Academy joined the Council for the Development of Professional Certification of IT Specialists at the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises (APKIT). The presented platform "SLMetrix" was the company's practical contribution to the development of the domestic IT certification system.