eric.notheisen (12/23/2013)
Rather than worrying about exams and certifications, I have been going after knowledge and training through Coursera.com. There are several universities providing free online state-of-the-art courses in a variety of subjects that would appeal to technologists of all flavors.
Coursera certainly has some helpful offerings (I've taken a couple courses there myself on statistics and programming), there's not much that really relates to the day-to-day operational side of being a DBA.
You certanly can't beat the price at Coursera, however!
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Just my $0.02 from over here in the cheap seats of the peanut gallery - please adjust for inflation and/or your local currency.