I Notes

Hello again. Now this time a tip not only for admins, but also for the developers and for managers too. And it is on saving money while having fun. You know, Lotus have designed a series of electronic exams, that, if take and passed, qualifies you to call yourself something like "IBM Advanced Certified Administrator for Lotus Domino v6.5" (I still using like anyone else the more pointed PCLP). Anyway, taking exams is fun, and while preparing for the exams you certainly will discover something new for yourself that is worth knowing.

The catch is, that a Lotus Certification became more and more expensive over the years, while Lotus was busy to introduce new exams and certification paths, that very few were actually interested in. In (western)Europe you have to pay 140€ for every single exam - which sums up to a nice little fortune you have to pay (or your manger have to pay), just as printing it in very little letters on your business card (otherwise there would be not much space left for you contact details)

Now, here is the trick - get certified while on vacations.

The exam fees are country specific and are somehow connected to the overall economic wealth of the country using a highly secret formula.(I Imagine it is something like {("Number of Notes Installations" * "Professionals Already Certified") / "Gross Brutto Product" ) +"The Yearly Mean Temperature"} )

I give you an example - an Exam fee is 140 EUR (equal. 180 USD) in Germany (and in such rich countries like Angola), 88 GBP (167 USD) in UK, 125 USD in the US, 80 USD in Mexico, Poland, Slovenia and many others, and 59 USD in Russia

Takin an exam just take some hour or so (i never needed anything longer then 40 minutes), so it is easy possible to take all 4 exams that are needed for an PCLP (sorry, could not resist) on a single day. So when you plan your next vacation, you might check the exam fees on-line at Prometrics site and plan some hours to visit a test center and get certified while saving loads of bucks. Or you could even take a cheep flight and be back on the same evening - you can get a return flight from Germany to Moscow starting from 200 USD (at www.engelsreisen.de - its my Parents business) and take 4 exams, and still saving over 250 USD. Or you drive.

But remember, the key to success is in preparation.