SDL, the leading provider of Global Information Management (GIM) solutions, announced today the launch of SDL Certification 2009 for SDL Trados® Studio 2009 and SDL MultiTerm® 2009.  With over 3,000 SDL Certified users and thousands more working towards qualification, the SDL Certification program is the primary technology credential for translation professionals worldwide. SDL training courses support the new certification and the increasing adoption of SDL Trados Studio 2009, which now counts over 11,000 users worldwide, are available through the extensive independent SDL Approved Training Center network.

Building on the success of the 2007 program, the new SDL Certification provides the opportunity for translation professionals to build and demonstrate their expertise in the newly released SDL Trados Studio 2009 and SDL MultiTerm 2009 products. The new program offers separate tracks for translators and project managers, to ensure each user group can maximize their efficiency with SDL translation technology tools, as used in their daily workflows.

The new SDL Certification program has been developed in direct collaboration with existing SDL Certification users and SDL Approved Trainers, to ensure the highest educational quality exam questions and relevance to the individual roles. All SDL Certification exams are supported by SDL Approved Training courses to help maximize knowledge in the technology tools but also to ensure the best preparation to pass the exams. SDL Approved Training is now widely available through a worldwide network of independent SDL Approved Training Centers including Proz.com.

“The translation community would like to see more flexibility with SDL Certification tracks to match individual user roles and technology usage. SDL users have also been requesting local training at competitive pricing,” said Keith Laska, Vice President of SDL TRADOS Technologies.  With SDL Certification 2009  we aim to meet as many customer requirements as possible and improve affordability as we help our clients worldwide maximize their efficiency with the industry-leading translation productivity tools.”

New features of the 2009 certification program include:

• Separate certification tracks for translators and project managers

• New  certification option available for SDL MultiTerm 2009, in addition to SDL Trados Studio 2009 according to user type

• Multi-level certification for translators allowing users to demonstrate their achievement against the three core levels – supported by the Getting Started, Intermediate and Advanced training courses

• Users certified under the SDL TRADOS Certification 2007 program, receive a range of free-of charge upgrade exams  

The SDL Certification program has received widespread endorsement and support from corporations, industry communities, translation agencies and freelancers and has been integrated in the curriculum of 195 Universities across the world. Additionally, the SDL Certification credential is integrated within the online translator profiles at ProZ.com, the web’s leading online translation community, with over 300,000 members.

For more information on the SDL Certification program please visit www.sdl.com/certified