Unable to Renew CCSM Elite Certification

[ilkerd]

Hello,

Although its expiration date had not come, my CCSM Elite certificate had already expired. But no problem, I am constantly taking exams anyway.

To renew my certificate, I passed the CCSE exam and also passed two specialization exams again.

Even if I didn't have the CCSM Elite certificate initially, I completed all the exams to obtain it again.

My certificate has not been issued for months. I sent many emails to certification@checkpoint.com, no one responded.

I opened a ticket about certificates in the Support Center. The support engineers know nothing about this, and my manager's escalation request was rejected, and the ticket was directly closed. (SR#6-0004412758)

I contacted the CheckPoint Turkey local office. We have been trying to solve this problem for months.

I have no hope left.

I am writing from here with the hope of reaching an authority one last time and kindly request your support.

Thank you.

[the_rock]

Im POSITIVE @Jason_Tugwell will be able to help.

[Chris_Atkinson]

Why would the certification be expired before the date, each certification has it's own anniversary/expiry.

Were all the exams done in the correct order to step back first to CCSM and then CCSM Elite?
https://www.checkpoint.com/downloads/training/check-point-certification-faq.pdf 

@Jason_Tugwell 

[the_rock]

You definitely emailed the right contact, though customer told me once they also got a response from atc@checkpoint.com, but I believe thats for finding Accredited test centre...I THINK.

edit:

ATC - Authorized Training Center

[Jason_Tugwell]

Hello @ilkerd 

I was contacted by both Account Services and the SE team and advised them.

I do not see any requests to certification@checkpoint.com.

Regardless, here is my understanding.

The CCSM and CCSM Elite have been expired for over a year.

As noted in sk163417 this would require recertifying back at CCSE + 2 Specialists to reach CCSM again. Two additional Specialists would get you back to CCSM Elite.

Currently, you have passed CCSE + one Specialist. (The Quantum Hyperscale – Technical Specialist does not qualify)

If I have this information incorrect or need to look further into this, please email me at jtugwell@checkpoint.com

Best Regards,

Jason

[ilkerd]

Hi Jason,

You can check with your system administrator if you are unable to see any requests to the certification@checkpoint.com address. Every message we have sent is recorded. Additionally, I would like to express my discomfort regarding the behavior in the service request. I hope you will also address this issue.

Please forgive me, but as far as I can see, mainly (including you), no one understands anything about this certification renewal process.

Please click on this page: https://support.checkpoint.com/results/sk/sk163417

This is an official page related to your certification processes. According to what I see on this page, please examine the following image carefully:

CCSME Renewal Steps:

If I have a CCSM certificate and it has expired, retaking the CCSE exam is sufficient to renew it.

When you review my account, you will see that I took and passed the CCSE exam. In this case, my first question to you is: where is my renewed CCSM certificate?

I've been asking this for days, and no one can find out why it hasn't been renewed. My friends in the CheckPoint Turkey team have been trying to help with this issue for days.

My second question: After renewing my certificate with CCSE, is a specialization certificate sufficient to regain CCSM Elite status? I have earned two of them. In this case, shouldn't my CCSM Elite certificate be renewed again?

According to your official page, my passing the Harmony Endpoint exam should be sufficient to upgrade the CCSM certificate to the CCSM Elite level.

and

CCSME Renewal Steps:

In this case, either your sk page is wrong, or the entire certification team is making a big mistake.

I'm waiting for your answer.

Thank you.

[Wolfgang · Accepted solution]

@ilkerd  I understand your discomfort. But I‘m really sure @Jason_Tugwell knows Check Points certification path very well.

If your CCSM Elite is expired you have to do all certifications from scratch. This is mentioned and here. After CCSE two infinity specialists are needed for CCSM and another two for CCSM Elite. I know, it‘s along way but you have to go. I did this in the past 😞

the same problem was discussed here https://community.checkpoint.com/t5/Training-and-Certification/Clarification-on-expired-CCSM/m-p/229...

[the_rock]

Jason always helps, no doubt he will sort it out.

[ilkerd]

Hi,

Put everything aside. Why isn't the CCSM certificate renewed after passing the CCSE exam? Also, I meet all the conditions. From beginning to end, either the certification SK is wrong or the certification team needs to update itself on this matter.

Thanks for your support.

[Jason_Tugwell · Accepted solution]

OK @ilkerd I think I see how the misunderstanding happened.

First off, I'm sorry you have had a lot of trouble getting to the bottom of this issue.

In the future, contact me directly if you have any difficulty. 😊

We have used these graphics since 2021 and I don't remember anyone making this same assumption.

The graphic which falls under the "Certification Paths" section was intended to help someone who had obtained the CCSM understand that they would not have to start over back at CCSA if the CCSM expired. The graphic was to demonstrate that you can recertify back at CCSE to get back on the certification path.

Once you get CCSE, you then would pass 2 Specialists to get back to CCSM. You have shown me that I need to update the graphic.

So, I will be contacting you offline to propose how we can help you out.

Sincerely,

Tug

[ilkerd]

Hi Jason,

Please answer my simple question. What does this image mean? If my CCSM certificate expires, does it mean it won't be renewed when I take the CCSE exam? I already passed this exam.

Please explain to this

[the_rock]

Im sure Jason will confirm, but here is how I understand it...

If your CCSM has already expired, just passing the CCSE exam again will renew your CCSM certification. The fact that you passed CCSE before does not matter; you need to take the current version of CCSE to recertify CCSM.

[Jason_Tugwell]

Hey Andy @the_rock 

Just to clarify, the CCSM will NOT be renewed by passing the CCSE only.

If a user lets the CCSM (and/or CCSM Elite) expire, the user would be expected to recertify the current CCSE + 2 Specialists to get back to CCSM. I will update the graphic and sorry for the confusion. The graphic was intended to identify how to get back on track after a CCSM had expired. 

Thanks for your continued MVP support! 

Tug

[the_rock]

Sorry Tug, my bad, all those graphs are confusing me lol

Thanks for correcting me, appreciated!