Followup: GIAC Certificate Renewals

I recently posted about GIAC's new renewal process, and inquired with SANS about how the renewal tracking would work. Here's their answer:

"SANS training no earlier than two years prior to your certification expiration date is eligible for CMUs toward your certification renewal. Once you register and pay for your renewal, you will need to fill out the Submission Form and fax it 866-627-6387 for review."

Hopefully SANS will follow in the footsteps of their peers as they work with this process, and will automatically count SANS courses toward a rolling renewal total.

New GIAC Certification Maintenance Process - Keep your GIAC cert without retesting

SANS is moving their GIAC certification maintenance to fit a model closer to that used by (ISC)2). Now, options are both a re-certification exam or a "Certification Maintenance Unit" (CMU) approach requiring 36 CMUs over a 4 year time period. The cost to renew - $399 - is still required, although additional certifications that expire within the next two years are done at half cost.

The main options are course based CMUs and GIAC Gold papers, although the standard certification exam remains an option, and a number of smaller CMU count secondary activities are available.

In brief:

• Retaking and passing the test is worth 36 CMUs
  
• A GIAC gold paper is worth 36 CMUs
• A completed 6 day SANS or "qualifying non-SANS" course is worth 36 CMUs
  
• A 1 day course is worth 6 CMUs.
• Documented work experience is worth 12 CMUs
  
• GIAC or SANS community participation is worth 6 CMUs

If you have a SANS certification, this is an attractive option - you'd pay the same for the test, and can likely complete enough coursework over four years to finish 36 CMUs. Will these requirements keep GIAC certification holders up to par? Only time will tell.

I've queried SANS about how they're tracking existing training during the past 4 years for those who have pending renewals, and if they will provide a tracking mechanism like (ISC)2 does for CISSP holders, and I'll post their response.