As part of that survey, SNIA also discovered that 40 percent of those who took the test did it for career advancement while another 40 percent took the test to get into the storage field. Those who did pass the test indicate that it is paying off as SNIA reports that the typical SNIA certificate holder experienced an 8 percent increase in pay in 2006.

A Brocade Communications Systems Inc. Certified Fabric Professional or Cisco Systems Inc. Certified Network Associate certification rounds out the top five as storage certifications that will help users advance their career in 2007. However, the value of a storage networking certification varies by company, and it lacks the wider appeal that other storage certifications possess with the largest companies finding these certifications the most appealing.

Foote indicates that the key to translating a certification into a promotion is a user's ability to apply it. "The ability to design, configure, administer and optimize a SAN without impacting the current infrastructure or applications is paramount," he says. "Most employers have to grow these capabilities in-house because they cannot find this talent on the open market."

Storage certifications still do not, and probably never will, equate to on-the-job experience. But more IT managers are encouraging internal staff to pursue storage certifications and are making it worth their while once they receive them. Olson says, "I am making storage certifications a job requirement, paying for them to complete the certifications and then rewarding them when they finish it."