OpenStack works great – but only if you know what you’re doing. To ensure companies can get hold of people with the right stuff, it’s lifting the lid off of a new certification program.

Called the Certified OpenStack Administrator (COA) exam, it’s supposed to validate the skills cloud admins need to setup and manage OpenStack installations. It matters that IT people have those skills, because OpenStack Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) clouds are notoriously difficult deploy and maintain.

The certificate was first announced during last year’s OpenStack Summit in Tokyo, before launching at the OpenStack Summit 2016 yesterday. It’s a performance-based exam that can be delivered anywhere in the world via OpenStack’s training marketplace, and is the OpenStack Foundation’s first official certification.

“Cloud computing has challenged companies to re-skill engineers and redefine culture and processes,” said Jonathan Bryce, executive director of the OpenStack Foundation.

Those who’re interested to learning OpenStack will be well rewarded. Earlier this year, IT careers site Dice ranked OpenStack professionals among the top ten best paying IT skills, with an average salary of $138,579.

In order to pass the exam, a Certified OpenStack Administrator is expected to have at least six months of experience in using OpenStack, and possess the skills necessary to ensure day-to-day management and operations of an OpenStack cloud. The course is packed with dozens of training exercises and companies that provide students with the skills and capabilities they need to do so.

The OpenStack Foundation’s exam was designed with input from several leading OpenStack vendors, many of which offer their own certifications.

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