DCPE Rollout: Scaling Performance Engineering Training and Certification across a Very Large Enterprise

Performance engineering is a badly needed skill for implementing and running IT systems, but performance engineers are hard to find in the market. This paper presents our experiences in rolling out training and certification in a first level course on performance engineering across a large enterprise. We present data and lessons learned on the nominations for the rollout, the design and analysis of theory and practical exams, and the methods used to ensure fairness in a rollout spanning hundreds of nominations. We present results that show trainees to perform exceeding well much against conventional wisdom, and we also show how the success of the rollout has led to a number of beneficial initiatives for the company.